Reverend Al Sharpton

[steve2470]

I really don't know much about him, and I see the criticism aimed at him in GD. Please educate me. Thank you kindly, as always. Happy Holidays

Steve

eta: I know I can go to Wikipedia, but I think this is better.

[BronxBoy]

1. I'll post later but I am posting some stuff in that thread

[steve2470]

2. thanks BronxBoy! :) nt

[marym625]

3. I'm curious to see responses

I think he's one of those guys that some is fabulous, some, not so much. I think it's a little generational

[1StrongBlackMan]

5. Yes, this ought to be interesting ...

far more so, if this question weren't posted in this group; but, the GD, instead.

[marym625]

7. Oh that would be scary! !

[1StrongBlackMan]

10. No ... Just revealing ...

in the other thread, I could just hear all the mumbled words that no Duer ever uses ... except when they do!

[marym625]

16. I don't know what

"The other thread" is. I don't think I want to either.

[BlueCaliDem]

17. No, you really don't want to know, marym625. I never thought the Rev was so blatantly

disliked on DU. After reading some posts in that other thread, it's clear that some on DU really, really don't like him.

[marym625]

20. see?

That's why I said, "scary"

[BlueCaliDem]

22. Scary and sad. I just don't understand it. I really don't.

[marym625]

23. I would have to check

This "other thread" to try to get it. I don't want to. I'm happy in my ignorance

[BlueCaliDem]

24. In this case, believe you me, ignorance *is* bliss, marym625. eom

[1StrongBlackMan]

18. No. I don't think you do ...

DU at it's, completely tone-deaf finest.

White folks telling Black folks what is best for them ... complete with the caveat that they - white folks - would never presume to tell us what is best for us ... because they would be happier with someone else. And for the bonus ... they say some Black folks agree with them.

[marym625]

19. oy!

Man, some people just don't get it. I know because my gay, black, transgender friend told me

Hee hee

[1StrongBlackMan]

21. LOL ...

I know because my gay, black, transgender friend told me

Well ... There it is!

I'm still looking for a straight, white, male to befriend to definitively inform me on gay, black, transgender issues.

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

26. He is black and outspoken, that is all you need to know...

Some refer to it as "uppity"

[bravenak]

4. My generation loves Sharpton.

He stand up for us when nobody else notices. He never criticizes the youth for their clothing. He's religious but not annoying about it. If a cop shoots your child, he will hop the next fucking thing smoking to hold your hand. He'll buy you baby formula if you see him on the street and ask, then he'll help you find resources. If you get raped, you can tell him, he won't blame you or ask why you were drunk.
He's real. People hate realness. He won't apologize fir believing Twana Brawley. He still believes her.

[steve2470]

6. he sounds pretty awesome

I've never had an issue with him. He seems to be the most effective civil rights leader today. I wanted to hear the real scoop here in a safe group instead of in GD for obvious reasons.

[heaven05]

40. +100

[BronxBoy]

8. Al Sharpton....

came to the public eye as an advocate of injustices against Black people. The Sharpton you see today is nothing like the Sharpton back in the 80s and 90s. Back then he was large, some might say fat and he wore running suits and carried a bullhorn. He was loud and aggressive. More than any other Black leader of that era, he was the most in your face, "I don't give a shit what the White man says" type of guy. Those qualities endeared him to many people, especially POC but also earned him the animus of a great many folk including some Blacks.

What a lot of people don't understand is that back then, Rev Sharpton gave a voice to those who were sick and tired of seeing Black and Brown people brutalized in the city. Sharpton would listen and take up the cause, quite loudly many times, when other leaders wouldn't. So in many instances of brutality, people would go to Sharpton because many felt that he would hear them and advocate for them.

Now he wasn't perfect......the Tawana Brawley case being probably the highlight of his missteps. In fact, I wish he would just do some mea culpas regarding that, apologize and move on. But as far as the Black community is concerned, he does way more good than harm and a lot of us feel that a lot of criticism of him comes from a place where White people want to pick our leaders ande we feel we have the right to choose our leaders warts on all.

Hope this helps

[steve2470]

11. it does, thanks! nt

[BronxBoy]

13. If I were to find fault with the Rev...

It would be that as his stature rose, he probably didn't do as much due diligence as he should have on certain issues that he got involved in. And I think this is at the root of a lot of problems he has with certain parts of society today. But having said that, no one was locked away for years because of anything he did and no one was certainly killed, unarmed or otherwise. The same thing cannot be said for other public figures of that time

[wellst0nev0ter]

34. Guess He Messed Up By Not Hiring A Team Of PIs Or Something To Investigate Brawley Back Then

like he should for EVERY alleged victim apparently and believed her story without question. And of course he was the one who started the Crown Heights riots and he never apologized for Freddie's Fashion Mart

ETA: Comment not directed toward you, just against the endless stream of Sharpton naysayers.

[BronxBoy]

36. Understood...n/t

[gwheezie]

14. Something bad happened to that girl

I remember seeing her on the news thinking she had been drugged with something like angel dust. She might have made up most of her story but maybe she was dusted and didn't remember or maybe it was ptsd. But something happened to her. Her story made no sense but something happened to her.

[1StrongBlackMan]

15. I agree with much of your summation ...

However, I refer you to his 2004 Presidential run message ... He talked a lot about income inequity and the wealthy; before it was fashionable.

[freshwest]

28. That is more I didn't know... Thanks for that. I've always supported him and Jesse.

It gained me a lot of derision, but I haven't changed my opinion. I believe he comes from a good place in what he says and does, and is strong in his belief.

[Number23]

37. My admiration and respect for Rev Al started to grow with his presidential run

Up until then, I had no use for him. But he spoke so passionately and so beautifully about inequality during his presidential run and it made such an impression on me.

[1StrongBlackMan]

38. I said, at the time, Reverend Al ...

Didn't have a shot in hell of winning the Democratic nomination, and I didn't think he had any serious thoughts that he could; but, he did a magnificent job of using the platform to truly speak truth to the power that is.

Too bad liberals couldn't hear him because 30 years ago, he ...

[heaven05]

41. +100

[1StrongBlackMan]

9. The Reverend Al Sharpton is a man ...

not afraid to speak his truth. Many, including some on DU, have adjudged him a "race hustler"/"poverty pimp" ... butthat is to be expected because his message is straight forward and brutally uncomfortable for those that expect/want a Black person to "heal racial wounds" or bring together communities.

But if you really want to get a feel for The Reverend Al ... find some video/transcripts of his 2004 Presidential campaign. Good stuff that one would think DU would love. He spent a lot of time talking about income inequity and the wealthy powers that be ... long before it was fashionable.

[freshwest]

29. I'll see if I can't find and post them.

I doubt he got any positive MSM and the way they treated Jesse in his run, and still do, pisses me off. The campaign should be about the quality of the ideas, and nothing else. I know things have been in some ways messy, but these men are never forgiven by MSM, no more than they did ACORN for their 'alleged' crimes. I knew folks in ACORN decades ago and they were not crooks or scammers, and that's better than their detractors could ever claim

[freshwest]

31. Al Sharpton - Running for a Reason - USA

[freshwest]

32. 2004 DemConvention Speeches: Al Sharpton

[freshwest]

33. Rev Al Sharpton preaching at Ebenezer AME Church 2004

Makes remarks that fit people who have been slammed.

That's part of the reason for the Reverend Al hate fest, too.

That's all for today.

[gwheezie]

12. He has always been a lightening rod

Because he was not the quiet type. He was in your face and on the news. He's mellowed some but I never doubt his motives. I'll never forget his speech at the 04 convention. I know people remember Obama's but I also remember his. He came up hard, never forgot his roots and people can count on him.

[jakeXT]

25. James Brown's manager ?

[steve2470]

27. Sharpton can dance lol nt

[freshwest]

30. Steve, check out this link. It shows the character of Sharpton and details the NYC environment:

Sharpton Is Stabbed at Bensonhurst Protest

By ROBERT D. McFADDEN - January 13, 1991

The Rev. Al Sharpton was stabbed in the chest yesterday as he prepared to lead a protest demonstration through the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn with the parents of Yusuf K. Hawkins, the black youth slain there by a white mob 17 months ago.

Police officers assigned to monitor the demonstration immediately seized and subdued a suspect, a white Bensonhurst man with a record of assaults who investigators said was drunk...

The flamboyant 36-year-old civil rights advocate had been subjected to taunts, threats and racial epithets in leading many earlier protest marches in the predominantly white neighborhood, but had not encountered violence there.

Governor Mario M. Cuomo, Mayor David N. Dinkins and the Brooklyn District Attorney, Charles J. Hynes, who prosecuted the Bensonhurst cases, expressed abhorrence at the attack, urged New Yorkers not to blame the community and appealed for calm...

http://www.nytimes.com/1991/01/13/nyregion/sharpton-is-stabbed-at-bensonhurst-protest.html

to NoGOPZone:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025992877#post177

The Keyboard Warriors can't begin to equal Reverend Sharpton's real life courage and determination. A real activist gains enemies, by which we know them and him.

Those whose passion cause them to say he incited riots forget the riot in slow motion that is racism and oppression. And that it takes two sides to have a riot, or a war.

Al didn't create that riot or war, he called for it to end. The means aren't pretty because the situation isn't pretty. A lot that wasn't fair to the Rev was exposed on that thread.

[ellenrr]

35. surprised no one mentions his career as an FBI informant

which he admits to.
"The reverend and civil rights activist insists he went to the FBI only after his life was threatened by mobsters. ‘I did what anybody would do ... other than a thug,’ he says."
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/al-sharpton-mob-informant-article-1.1749419

I appreciate what he does in comforting the families, and in bringing the spotlight to the cases.
Personally I wouldn't trust someone who used to be an FBI informant.

[heaven05]

39. just your search engine use

and spell Tawana Brawley. A lot of people never forgave him for that 'sin'. Good holiday to you.

[steve2470]

42. hope your holidays have been great, heaven05! :)