Al Sharpton

The Reverend Alfred Charles Sharpton Jr. (born October 3, 1954) is an American politician, minister, and civil rights activist. A Pentecostal, Sharpton was the first major black presidential candidate of the 21st century to run for the Democratic Party nomination, doing so in 2004.

Early years

Al Sharpton was born in 1954 to a middle-class family in Brooklyn, New York. His father was a boxer and landlord, owning several buildings in Brooklyn. Until the age of ten, Al lived a comfortable life in a ten-room house in Queens. He preached his first sermon at the age of four, and soon became famous in Brooklyn as the "wonderboy preacher," even touring with gospel singer Mahalia Jackson. By the age of nine, he was a fully ordained minister. http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20010416&c=3&s=sherman

Related Topics:
1954 - Brooklyn - New York - Boxer - Queens - Gospel - Mahalia Jackson

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http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1203/p01s04-uspo.html

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In 1963, his parents separated. Sharpton recalls in a 2002 interview "My daddy walked out on us, and he married my half-sister, Tina. Tina was my mother's daughter from a previous marriage." Al's mother took a job as a maid, and went on welfare; the family moved from their middle-class home in Queens to the projects in Brownsville. http://newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/news/politics/national/2004race/5570/index.html

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1963 - 2002 - Projects - Brownsville

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Sharpton's first attempts at protest were in high school, where the minister protested cafeteria food and the dress code. In 1969 he was appointed as youth director of Operation Breadbasket by Jesse Jackson, a group that focused on the promotion of new and better jobs for black Americans through negotiations and community-wide boycotts. He has also spoken out against cruelty to animals in a video recorded for People for The Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). http://www.kentuckyfriedcruelty.com/sharpton.asp

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1969 - Operation Breadbasket - Jesse Jackson

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In the 1970s after two years at Brooklyn College, Sharpton dropped out to be a tour manager for James Brown, where he met his future wife, Kathy Jordan, a backup singer for James Brown. Sharpton and Jordan married in 1983. In 1971 Sharpton founded the National Youth Movement to fight drugs and raise money for impoverished youth.

Related Topics:
1970s - Brooklyn College - James Brown - 1983 - 1971

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