Last Saturday, Oct. 3, was a busy day for me, beginning with attending the 72nd birthday celebration of Rev. Al Sharpton at the National Action Network at its new location, and then on to Riverside Church for a memorial service for attorney Clarence B. Jones, who died on May 22 at 95. I had no idea how the two events would later interconnect.
Sharpton’s birthday tribute, as expected, saw a strong turnout of elected officials, including Gov. Kathy Hochul, Mayor Zohran Mamdani, and several others who praised the civil rights activist for his ongoing commitment. After recounting her experience with the late John Lewis, the governor brought the moment to the present, observing how Sharpton “embodies the spirit of fight that’s in this room. He takes it all over the national news … and without him, I do not know where we would be,” she said.
There were several testimonials via video, one from attorney Benjamin Crump and others from Attorney General Letitia James; James Brown’s daughter Deanna Brown-Thomas; Martin Luther King III and his wife, Andrea; Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.; and even from Spike Lee and actor Robert De Niro.
Sharpton, as is his wont, used his birthday to put the moment in historical context. “When I was born in 1954, that was the same year as Brown v. Board of Education,” he began. “My parents had grown up in the Deep South, under Jim Crow laws … and when I was born, Thurgood Marshall and the lawyers at that time had a breakthrough … to understand what happened then obligates us now, because too often we operate outside of context.”
Before delivering lessons from American history, Sharpton cited a bit of biblical history, connecting passages to the necessity of civil rights activism. “We cannot come in the name of the Bible and take out what the Bible tells us to do, and that is to stand up to wickedness and high praise,” he declared. Then it was back to Black history: “You have to remember that for 100 years preceding … Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, we only had 12 years of Reconstruction and the forces that were against us came back into power.”
He then touched on the Civil War, Dred Scott Decision, and the advent of Jim Crow, to the murder of Emmett Till, courageous acts of Rosa Parks, and the emergent Civil Rights Movement. After evoking Dr. King’s legacy, Sharpton dealt with some of the current problems, noting “you [have] right-wing Christians, rather than right Christians … you cannot be a Christian and not stand up for God’s children.”
It was vintage Sharpton: a little taste of religion, a portion of politics, and a heavy dose of important history. As usual, the right reverend ended the ceremony, lecture, and celebration with the crowd joining him in song. I only heard a verse or two before bolting out the door to Riverside Church for Clarence B. Jones’s service. I wasn’t in my seat there for only a few minutes before Rev. Al and his crew marched down the aisle. He was listed on the program and they had changed it to accommodate him. (If you’re interested in his comments, see my article about Attorney Jones).
Happy birthday, Al.
