Al Sharpton

American Baptist minister, activist and talk show host

Al Sharpton is an American civil rights activist and Baptist minister who founded the National Action Network. He has hosted a radio talk show and worked as a political analyst for MSNBC. However, Sharpton has also faced controversies over his comments and involvement in the Tawana Brawley case.

Table of Contents

About the Al Sharpton

Alfred Charles Sharpton Jr.is an American civil rights and social justice activist, Baptist minister, radio talk show host, and TV personality, who is also the founder of the National Action Network civil rights organization. In 2004, he was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. presidential election. He hosts a weekday radio talk show, Keepin’ It Real, which is nationally syndicated by Urban One, and he is a political analyst and weekend host for MSNBC, hosting PoliticsNation.

Sharpton is known for making various controversial and incendiary comments over his career. He has been accused of making homophobic, antisemitic and racially insensitive remarks as well as inciting incidents of violence. In 1987 he was highly active in publicizing the Tawana Brawley accusation in the media; the allegation was later proved to be false.

Frequently Asked Questions

Al Sharpton is an American civil rights and social justice activist, Baptist minister, radio talk show host, and TV personality. He is the founder of the National Action Network civil rights organization.

Al Sharpton was born on October 3, 1954.

In 2004, Al Sharpton was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. presidential election.

Al Sharpton hosts a weekday radio talk show called Keepin’ It Real, which is nationally syndicated by Urban One. He is also a political analyst and weekend host for MSNBC.

Al Sharpton has been accused of making homophobic, antisemitic and racially insensitive remarks, as well as inciting incidents of violence. He was also highly active in publicizing the Tawana Brawley accusation in 1987, which was later proved to be false.

39 Quotes by Al Sharpton

  1. 1.

    I was there during the first elections in South Africa. I watched them take down the apartheid flag and raise the new flag.

    Al Sharpton

    American Baptist minister, activist and talk show host

  2. 2.

    I was raised by a single mother who made a way for me. She used to scrub floors as a domestic worker, put a cleaning rag in her pocketbook and ride the subways in Brooklyn so I would have food on the table. But she taught me as I walked her to the subway that life is about not where you start, but where you’re going. That’s family values.

    Al Sharpton

    American Baptist minister, activist and talk show host

  3. 3.

    I’ve never done anything else in my life other than preach and be an activist. Way before I was known.

    Al Sharpton

    American Baptist minister, activist and talk show host

  4. 4.

    My ministry’s always been one of social activism. I think a responsible minister must be at some levels involved in the social order.

    Al Sharpton

    American Baptist minister, activist and talk show host

  5. 5.

    We have defeated Jim Crow, but now we have to deal with his son, James Crow Jr., esquire.

    Al Sharpton

    American Baptist minister, activist and talk show host

  6. 6.

    One of the reasons I get so much joy out of my own children’s childhoods is that I’m having my first childhood myself.

    Al Sharpton

    American Baptist minister, activist and talk show host

  7. 7.

    During my 2004 presidential campaign, I was fond of saying that it was high time for the Christian right to meet the right Christians.

    Al Sharpton

    American Baptist minister, activist and talk show host

  8. 8.

    I won vice president of my student body in high school. That doesn’t mean anything.

    Al Sharpton

    American Baptist minister, activist and talk show host

  9. 9.

    I was the first candidate to come out against this war, spoke at every anti-war march.

    Al Sharpton

    American Baptist minister, activist and talk show host

  10. 10.

    The promise of America is one immigration policy for all who seek to enter our shores, whether they come from Mexico, Haiti or Canada, there must be one set of rules for everybody. We cannot welcome those to come and then try and act as though any culture will not be respected or treated inferior. We cannot look at the Latino community and preach “one language.” No one gave them an English test before they sent them to Iraq to fight for America.

    Al Sharpton

    American Baptist minister, activist and talk show host

  11. 11.

    It is true that Mr. Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, after which there was a commitment to give 40 acres and a mule. That’s where the argument, to this day, of reparations starts. We never got the 40 acres. We went all the way to Herbert Hoover, and we never got the 40 acres. We didn’t get the mule. So we decided we’d ride this donkey as far as it would take us.

    Al Sharpton

    American Baptist minister, activist and talk show host

  12. 12.

    Who defines terrorists? Today’s terrorist is tomorrow’s friend.

    Al Sharpton

    American Baptist minister, activist and talk show host

  13. 13.

    I grew up in the 1950s and ’60s, when it was almost a holiday when a black act would go on Ed Sullivan.

    Al Sharpton

    American Baptist minister, activist and talk show host

  14. 14.

    Bill Clinton strikes me as the kind of guy who goes wherever the polls lead him, rather than leading the polls.

    Al Sharpton

    American Baptist minister, activist and talk show host

  15. 15.

    If you can get the proper definition of trouble, then we can find out who the real troublemakers are.

    Al Sharpton

    American Baptist minister, activist and talk show host

  16. 16.

    Dr. King’s general principles are universal. But the things he confronted took place in another era.

    Al Sharpton

    American Baptist minister, activist and talk show host

  17. 17.

    I’ve seen enough things to know that if you just keep on going, if you turn the corner, the sun will be shining.

    Al Sharpton

    American Baptist minister, activist and talk show host

  18. 18.

    Evangelicals catapulted George W. Bush back to the White House.

    Al Sharpton

    American Baptist minister, activist and talk show host

  19. 19.

    The United States government has the obligation to educate all young people in this country.

    Al Sharpton

    American Baptist minister, activist and talk show host

  20. 20.

    The right wing always mobilizes around constitutional amendments: the right to bear arms, school prayer.

    Al Sharpton

    American Baptist minister, activist and talk show host

  21. 21.

    How do you make things fair?

    Al Sharpton

    American Baptist minister, activist and talk show host

  22. 22.

    Dr. King used Gandhi’s commitment to non-violence and to passive resistance.

    Al Sharpton

    American Baptist minister, activist and talk show host

  23. 23.

    We’re not anti-police… we’re anti-police brutality.

    Al Sharpton

    American Baptist minister, activist and talk show host

  24. 24.

    James Brown became my father. He would talk to me the way a father talked to a son. He became the father I never had.

    Al Sharpton

    American Baptist minister, activist and talk show host

  25. 25.

    The dream was not to put one black family in the White house, the dream was to make everything equal in everybody’s house.

    Al Sharpton

    American Baptist minister, activist and talk show host

  26. 26.

    It seems some have chosen to ignore or have simply forgotten the big-picture vision promoted by Dr. King and his kin.

    Al Sharpton

    American Baptist minister, activist and talk show host

  27. 27.

    I very rarely read any fiction. I love biographies; I read about all kinds of people. I love theology and some philosophy.

    Al Sharpton

    American Baptist minister, activist and talk show host

  28. 28.

    I do believe the Democratic party has moved far to the right. I do believe that the party has a bunch of elephants running around in donkey clothes.

    Al Sharpton

    American Baptist minister, activist and talk show host

  29. 29.

    I’m a patriot in the truest sense of the word.

    Al Sharpton

    American Baptist minister, activist and talk show host

  30. 30.

    If you play the theatrics too much, you get in the way of your own cause.

    Al Sharpton

    American Baptist minister, activist and talk show host

  31. 31.

    The United States has got to adopt a policy of befriending and creating allies around the world.

    Al Sharpton

    American Baptist minister, activist and talk show host

  32. 32.

    We’re not willing to give black leaders second chances because, in most cases, we’re not willing to give them first chances.

    Al Sharpton

    American Baptist minister, activist and talk show host

  33. 33.

    National Action Network, the group I founded, has affiliates or chapters in over 40 cities around the country.

    Al Sharpton

    American Baptist minister, activist and talk show host

  34. 34.

    If Charlton Heston can have a constitutional right carry a rifle, why can’t grandma have a constitutional right to health care?

    Al Sharpton

    American Baptist minister, activist and talk show host

  35. 35.

    My ordination in the Church of God in Christ was at age 9, and I later became a Baptist minister, which I am today.

    Al Sharpton

    American Baptist minister, activist and talk show host

  36. 36.

    If O.J. had been accused of killing his black wife, you would not have seen the same passion stirred up.

    Al Sharpton

    American Baptist minister, activist and talk show host

  37. 37.

    The boxing world is full of all kinds of corruption.

    Al Sharpton

    American Baptist minister, activist and talk show host

  38. 38.

    We need an amendment that gives us the right to vote protected by the federal government and the Constitution.

    Al Sharpton

    American Baptist minister, activist and talk show host

  39. 39.

    I’ve seen too much in life to give up.

    Al Sharpton

    American Baptist minister, activist and talk show host