Al Sharpton

I grew up in the Pentecostal Church. And the whole Pentecostal movement was very theatrical, very passionate, very dramatic. And in many ways, the Civil Rights Movement and the Empowerment Movement is theatrics. Martin Luther King used theatrics-- Birmingham, Selma, the drama of marching, the drama of kids going to jail. So part of that, of course, is deep hard struggle. But the theatrics of it, in a media age, brings the point home absent that. -- THE REVEREND AL SHARPTON

Alfred Charles Sharpton Jr. was born in Brooklyn, New York and preached his first sermon at the age of four, a sign of things to come. Sharpton was first licensed and ordained a Pentecostal minister by Bishop F.D. Washington before he was in middle school. After graduating from high school, he attended Brooklyn College for two years.

In 1971, Sharpton was a tour manager for James Brown. While working for Brown he met his future wife, Kathy Jordan, who was a backup singer. Sharpton became a Baptist during the 1980's and was re-

baptized in 1994, when he became a Baptist minister.

Sharpton is well known for his racial and political activism. He has staged numerous peaceful protests in New York City, most recently after the Sean Bell verdict was announced in May 2008. In hopes of sparking change, Sharpton ran for a seat in the United States Senate, Mayor of New York City and United States President. In 1991 Sharpton founded the National Action Network, a not-for-profit civil rights organization aimed at addressing social and economic injustice experienced by African Americans.