Al Sharpton Slams Donald Trump For Saying That His Indictments Appeal To Black voters

Days after Donald Trump commented that Black people relate to him because of his legal troubles, Rev. Al Sharpton spoke out against the likely Republican presidential nominee during an appearance on MSNBC's Morning Joe.

March on Washington anniversary comes amid voting rights, affirmative action battles

ABC News spoke with organizers of the 60th Anniverasy of the March on Washington event,Rev. Al Sharpton and Martin Luther King III. They both state that much work still needs to be done to achieve King's dream.

Watch Al Sharpton eulogize Tyre Nichols and call out those who killed him

Watch Rev. Al Sharpton give the eulogy at the funeral for Tyre Nichols and admonish those police officers who killed him.

Rev. Al Sharpton test positive for Covid-19

Legendary civil rights leader, reverend and NAN (National Action Network) founder Al Sharpton has announced that he has tested positive for Covid-19. The statement came a day after he had officially received his results.

“On Friday, I tested positive for COVID-19 but have not displayed any symptoms at this time. On my doctor’s advice, I am quarantining over the next several days to keep those around me safe,” Sharpton stated. “I will continue to do my radio and TV shows remotely over that time. Please continue to get vaccinated and boosted if you haven’t already.”

Civil Rights Leaders Request Meeting With NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell To Discuss Hiring Practices

The Rev. Al Sharpton and other prominent civil rights leaders promised “direct action” at this month’s Super Bowl if the NFL does not immediately address allegations of racism and a lack of diversity highlighted in a blockbuster lawsuit.

In a letter on Thursday to National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell, the civic leaders said they want to huddle with team and league executives to discuss what the league plans to do to increase the number of Black coaches and general managers.

“Despite continued efforts and commitments, we are still sitting here today with 32 teams, not one Black owner and only one Black coach,” the letter said. “This is an outrage at best, and requires your immediate attention.”

The meeting request comes days after former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores shook up the sports world with a class-action racial discrimination lawsuit against the powerhouse sports league.

The letter to Goodell was signed by Sharpton, National Urban League President Marc Morial, NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson, Black Women’s Roundtable President Melanie Campbell and Barbara Skinner, co-convener of the National African American Clergy Network.

“In light of the recent lawsuit filed by Brian Flores, it has brought this attention back to the forefront of our community, and it is important that you have an immediate open dialogue with Civil Rights leadership,” the letter says.

“We are being asked to do everything within our power, including direct action at next week’s Super Bowl, as well as appealing to local municipalities that underwrite and give special considerations to stadiums to pressure the NFL and its owners to get more serious about enforcing the ruling law.”

[SOURCE: NY DAILY NEWS]

SPEAKER PELOSI TO JOIN MARTIN LUTHER KING III & FAMILY FOR MLK DAY PRESS CONFERENCE ON VOTING RIGHTS

On Monday,  the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi will join Martin Luther King III, Arndrea Waters King and Yolanda Renee King, as well as other elected officials and civil rights leaders at a press conference to discuss the critical need for action on voting rights legislation. The press conference comes as the Senate heads for a vote on the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act on Tuesday. Mr. King and others will call on the Senate to do away with the filibuster in order to pass this bill.

The list of speakers includes:

• Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi  
• Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH), Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus 
• Rep. Terri Sewell (D-AL), United States Congress
• Martin Luther King III, Chairman of the Drum Major Institute
• Arndrea Waters King, President of the Drum Major Institute
• Yolanda Renee King, Director of Youth Programming for the Drum Major Institute and Granddaughter of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King
• Rev. Al Sharpton, President of National Action Network 
• DaMareo Cooper Co-Chair of the Center for Popular Democracy 
• Kelly Robinson, Executive Director of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund and Vice President of Advocacy and Organizing at Planned Parenthood Federation of America 
• Maria Teresa Kumar, President and CEO of Voto Latino  
• Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers 
• Becky Pringle, President of the National Education Association 
• Melanie Campbell, President and CEO of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation 
• LaTosha Brown, Co-Founder of Black Voters Matter
• Rahna Epting, Executive Director of MoveOn
• Donald Cravins, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the National Urban League
• Rev. Lis Theoharis, Co-Chair of the Poor People’s Campaign 
• Ramón Cruz, President of Sierra Club 
• Stephanie Young, Executive Director of When We All Vote 
• Taifa Smith Butler, President of Demos
• Virginia Kase Solomón, CEO of League of Women Voters 
• 
  

In the morning before the press conference, Martin Luther King III, Arndrea Waters King, Yolanda Renee King and representatives from partner organizations will join the D.C. MLK Holiday Committee for their D.C. Peace Walk: Change Happens with Good Hope and a Dream. The King family will not be formally speaking at the Peace Walk; however, media is invited to capture footage and photos of the family crossing the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge.

Rev. Al Sharpton Reacts To Derek Chauvin Sentence

Reverend Al Sharpton reacted to Derek Chauvin’s sentence of 22 and a half years in prison for the murder of George Floyd, saying the judge’s order sends “an incomplete message” of accountability.

Al Sharpton Denounces Attacks On Police

Civil rights activist, Al Sharpton said on MSNBC that he prays for the LA County police officers shot in Compton in the same prayer as he does Jacob Blake and George Floyd. He also asked that ALL senseless violence whether it’s committed by police or civilians stop.

"I think that the protesters that have been, for months, out there now, I among them, should be saying we are not anti-police and we are certainly not for killing or shooting police," said Al Sharpton on MSNBC's Morning Joe. "We are there saying that police should not be wrongfully killing or shooting civilians, particularly in the Black community. And for people to try to associate us with murder and ambushing and death is doing more to hurt the cause than anything else. Some, I suspect in my own way of thinking, could be planted in order to hurt us because that is so extreme from our position."

"Let me be real clear, I pray for the lives of those two officers just like I pray for Jacob Blake who was shot in the back seven times in Kenosha, Wisconsin and I pray for the family of George Floyd," Sharpton added. "And I pray for all of them in the same prayer. I don't have separate prayers for police victims and for police that are victimized. The same prayer: that we stop this senseless violence and this senseless lawlessness. This is where we must be. This is Dr. King's tradition. This is what Nietzsche wrote about. John Lewis. Anyone on the other side whether they claim that they're left or right are wrong, that's what they are."

Mike Bloomberg to do interview with Al Sharpton on MSNBC

Democratic presidential hopeful Mike Bloomberg is slated to do an interview with civil rights icon the Rev. Al Sharpton on Sunday amid scrutiny of the former New York City mayor's past support for "stop and frisk."

Sharpton has criticized Bloomberg in the past over the practice and said this week he would have to “repair the damage” caused by stop and frisk, while noting that other candidates have “baggage” as well.

“I also … don’t want to see him as a leaf that the other candidates dump some of their racial baggage,” he said on MSNBC earlier this week. “I want to know what Bernie’s gonna say about the vote he did for the [1994] crime bill, where people went to jail.”

Bloomberg's interview will air at 5 p.m. Sunday on Sharpton’s “Politics Nation” program on MSNBC.

[SOURCE: THE HILL]

Al Sharpton smacks down Trump for calling him a con man

President Donald Trump, after a weekend of attacks on Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., and his Baltimore-area district, began Monday by blasting the Rev. Al Sharpton as someone who "hates whites and cops." and calling him a con man.

Sharpton came back with a witty and biting response:

NEW: Rev. Al Sharpton responds to Pres. Trump's attack this morning: "If he really thought I was a con man, he'd be nominating me for his Cabinet." https://t.co/07y027HWeS pic.twitter.com/014y5jCELb

— ABC News (@ABC) July 29, 2019

Kamala Harris speech at 2019 National Action Network Convention

Speaking at the National Action Network's conference in New York, California Sen. Kamala Harris pledged to double the size of the Justice Department's civil rights division and to sign legislation creating a commission to study reparations to African Americans hurt by slavery. Watch her entire speech below:

Cory Booker speech at 2019 National Action Network annual convention

Democratic Presidential Candidate Cory Booker spoke at the 2019 National Action Network annual convention in New York City. Booker spoke about the importance of the Black Church and the moral crisis facing the United States when it comes to clean water and the injustice in the criminal justice system. Watch his full speech below:

Sen. Elizabeth Warren seeks to solidify backing of African Americans

Sen. Elizabeth Warren is seeking to solidify her connection with African-American voters as she prepares to launch a potential presidential campaign amid criticism of her approach to race and identity.

The Massachusetts Democrat visited Morgan State University in Baltimore Friday, marking her third trip this year to a historically black college or university. It follows her widely panned October release of a DNA test meant to bolster her claim to Native American heritage. Her speech Friday offered an opportunity to regain her footing.

``I'm not a person of color,'' Warren said. ``And I haven't lived your life or experienced anything like the subtle prejudice, or more overt harm, that you may have experienced just because of the color of your skin. Rules matter, and our government _ not just individuals within the government, but the government itself _ has systematically discriminated against black people in this country.''

Warren could face additional pressure from Democrats to address race. Bakari Sellers, an attorney, Democratic political analyst and former South Carolina Democratic state representative, urged Warren to more publicly say that ``you were wrong in the way that you interpret and address race.''

``Having that moment of ignorance _ we all do, but we need to address the fact that we were wrong,'' he said. ``I love the fact that she's making attempts to make inroads with the African-American community, but her path is very narrow.''

Mo Elleithee, a veteran Democratic strategist and founding executive director of Georgetown University's Institute of Politics and Public Service, described Warren's outreach to African-American and other minority groups as even more vital to her potential campaign in light of the DNA test's poor reception.

``I think it has sort of knocked her off balance a little bit when it comes to issues of identity and minority outreach, broadly,'' Elleithee said, adding that ``the stakes are a little bit higher when you are one of the more recognized candidates at this early part of the process.''

Warren's work to spotlight racial as well as economic inequities is significantly more advanced than her fellow New England liberal icon, Sen. Bernie Sanders. The Vermont Independent is weighing his own 2020 Democratic campaign after struggling to break through with minority voters during his 2016 run.

The theme that Warren struck Friday _ that minorities don't get a level playing field in America _ is one she's long tackled. She drew acclaim from Black Lives Matter activists for a 2015 speech that acknowledged ``we have not made enough progress'' toward creating fairness and opportunity for African-Americans. She slammed the nation's criminal justice system as ``racist'' in August during a Q&A with Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Cedric Richmond, with whom she partnered again this week on affordable housing legislation backed by civil rights groups.

Democratic strategist Symone Sanders said Warren ``does a good job of authentically and honestly speaking not just to communities of color'' but also ``incorporating race into policy prescriptions.''

Sanders, a former campaign aide to the Vermont senator who is not currently working with any 2020 hopeful, said Warren's ``trip at the finish line'' on her DNA analysis isn't ``indicative of Elizabeth's Warren's understanding of communities of color, or of the type of presidential campaign she would run.''

In remarks last month to the Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network, Warren reiterated her critique of a justice system that research has shown gives black offenders stiffer punishment.

Warren has ``proven that she has the skills to relate to an audience that is of color,'' Sharpton told The Associated Press. ``Her image before was a New Englander, academia-type policy wonk. And she's been able to, in her delivery, show some real passion toward things of concern like health care, criminal justice and the kinds of things that you don't expect a New England professorial type to show passion and connection.''

Asked if Warren's ancestry was a fight that he would have advised her to pursue, Sharpton said: ``I might have fought it differently, but I would have fought it.''

Richmond described ``the passion and the commitment'' that Warren displayed in remarks to their members that led to ``a natural relationship'' working on issues. Four CBC members introduced the House counterpart to Warren's housing legislation on Tuesday.

Richmond also took no issue with Warren's presentation of the story of her past: ``People are always going to look for the negative in no matter what you do. And I just think that she's very authentic, very open, and sometimes that's going to open you up for some criticism on how you did it, why you did it.''

DeJuana Thompson, a former DNC and Obama administration staffer and the founder of WokeVote, recalled that Warren was among the first people that she heard from following the work that her group did in Alabama to help turn out black voters in support of Democratic Sen. Doug Jones.

``She contacted us literally the day after we won and said, `I'm so proud, this is the kind of work that we need to be doing across the country,'' said Thompson, who is not currently supporting any of the prospective candidates. ``It felt genuine, it felt authentic, and it felt like she had been following and watching our work, and I had no idea.''

Aimee Allison, the founder of She The People, an advocacy group focused on political leadership for women of color, called Warren's efforts on race ``authentic'' but candidly described the DNA test release as ``a big stumble,'' adding that the senator's challenge going forward is similar to the one facing other white presidential hopefuls.

``As a white candidate for president, the demographics and the politics and I think zeitgeist really calls for a difference kind of leader than before,'' Allison said, adding that candidates who can't deftly address race ``I don't believe will make it through at all.''

[SOURCE: NAVAJO TIMES]

Al Sharpton: 'Progressives' are shortchanging African Americans — again.

Food for thought! While African Americans are not monolithic and Al Sharpton does not speak for all of us, he is on target with this opinion piece that he wrote for USA Today about progressives failure to speak to African Americans. George L. Cook III African American Reports.

By Al Sharpton

Democrats might care about issues that are important to us. But are they fueling African-American participation or interest? Not even close.

When Jesse Jackson ran for president during the 1980s, as when I ran in 2004, there were progressives in America just like there are today. Those progressives were well meaning individuals and politicians who shared our views and strongly believed in what we believed in. Despite this progressive political presence, our presidential campaigns were so important and necessary because the voices of black, brown and poorer white voters were not heard by the elites in American politics and government. Our agendas were not getting carried out. There was a great deal of talk back then, but no real action. That same dynamic holds true today.

The press speaks a great deal about the supposed fact that the “Democratic base” is riled up and activated by the state of play in America. This assessment ignores the most important segment of that base: the African-American voter. We are not motivated by anyone right now. While Sen. Bernie Sanders did a remarkable job in the 2016 presidential primaries and went further than anyone thought possible, he did so without the African-American vote, losing among African-American voters by more than 50 percentage points.

While that progressive coalition purported to speak FOR the African-American voter, it did not talk TO African Americans. The so-called Hillary Clinton base of the party, while crushing Sanders, attracted substantially fewer black voters to turn out than in recent presidential primaries, and in the general election, running against a novice, the black voter turnout rate declined for the first time in 20 years in a presidential election, falling 7 percentage points compared to 2012. Arguably, that disinterested black vote cost Clinton the presidency.

Read more: Al Sharpton: 'Progressives' are shortchanging African Americans — again.

Al Sharpton to lead We Shall Not Be Moved March in Washington DC

Rev. Al Sharpton & National Action Network (NAN) along with other major civil rights group to hold a We Shall Not Be Moved march in Washington DC just six days before Donald Trump's inauguration. The march is part of a series of other marches and rallies that are meant to remind Trump that voting rights, civil rights, and healthcare are important issues to many people of color. Learn more here: https://www.facebook.com/themarch2017/

On January 14, thousands will converge in Washington, D.C. as the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday begins — just six days before Donald Trump’s inauguration. We will rally and put him (and the nation) on notice that there are some things that will not be changed no matter who is president and what party dominates the House and Senate. Protecting the civil rights of citizens and the voting rights of people that have been excluded, providing health care for all Americans and equal opportunity should supersede any of the beltway partisan fights that we are inevitably headed into. Some have given their lives and others dedicated their lives to try to make Dr. King’s dream a reality, and now they have added to that mission by preserving the legacy of President Obama. Groups come and go, elections come and go, but some things must remain constant and non-negotiable.

March Route

· Assemble at 9am at the National Sylvan Theater

(Sylvan Theater, Independence Avenue Southwest & 15th Street NW, Washington, DC 20024) Light Rally will take place.

· March from National Sylvan Theater to West Potomac Park via Independence Ave SW beginning at 11am

· Rally at West Potomac Park beginning at 12pm

(West Potomac Park, Washington, DC 20418)

Directly across from Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial

Al Sharpton confronts Larry Wilmore over calling Obama the N word

Larry Wilmore joined Al Sharpton's MSNBC show, Politics Nation to discuss his now much-discussed performance at the White House Correspondents' Dinner. Watch their exchange below:

Al Sharpton not happy with Larry Wilmore's use on the N-Word toward Pres. Obama

Civil rights activist, TV show host, and Radio show host Al Sharpton is none to happy with Larry Wilmore after the comedian referred to President Obama as "My ni@@a" at the White House Correspondence Dinner.

Speaking to the LA Times, Al Sharpton made the following comments:

"Many of us are against using the N-word period," Sharpton told the Times at MSNBC's after party that followed the event at the Washington Hilton. "But to say that to the President of the United States in front of the top people in media was at best in poor taste."

Sharpton said Wilmore's comic monologue at the dinner "was all right until he dropped the N-word."

"I think he was trying to in his own way to act like he was relating," Sharpton said. "But relating to who? Or what? I really didn't like it."

Full Speech: Bernie Sanders National Action Network

Here is the full speech from Bernie Sanders speaking at the National Action Network's convention on 04/14/2016.

SPIKE LEE, OTHERS CALL FOR NATIONAL ANTI-GUN VIOLENCE INITIATIVE

Film director Spike Lee, the director of ChiRaq a movie about gun violence in Chicago and the Reverend Al Sharpton are part of a major new national push to end gun violence. Lew cites the murder of a 9-year-old boy, TyShawn Lee in Chicago as an example of how severe the epidemic has become.

During the press conference Lee pointed out you can't be vocal after Laquann McDonald was shot 16 times by a Chicago police officer and silent after 9-year old Tyshawn Lee was killed.

"Tyshawn Lee is led to an alley and executed," he said. "It's not an either/or situation. It has to be both." Watch Spike Lee and others discuss this initiative below.

Al Sharpton to deliver eulogy at Corey Jones' funeral

The Rev. Al Sharpton will deliver the eulogy at the funeral this weekend for a Florida church drummer shot dead by a plainclothes police officer while waiting by his disabled car.

Sharpton, founder and president of the National Action Network, has delivered eulogies at the funerals of several people whose deaths caught the nation's attention. Sharon Walker from the Carriers of the Glory International Ministries in Tallahassee, Fla. will also deliver a eulogy.

Corey Jones, 31, died around 3:15 a.m. on Oct. 18 while waiting for a tow truck. The Palm Beach Gardens Police Department says officer Nouman Raja got out of his car to investigate what he thought was an abandoned vehicle and was suddenly confronted by "an armed subject" who the officer then shot dead. Authorities say a gun was found on the scene.

Read more: Al Sharpton to deliver eulogy at Corey Jones' funeral