al sharpton

FILE PHOTO: Clergy and people of faith counter-protest a white supremacist rally Aug. 12 in Charlottesville. Photo by Heather Wilson (@aNomadPhotog) / Dust & Light Photo.
 

The “One Thousand Ministers March for Justice,” expected to proceed Monday from the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial to the Justice Department, originally was planned to protest increased hate crimes, mass incarceration and discrimination and to call on the Trump administration and Attorney General Jeff Sessions to address those issues.

Ryan Stewart 12-14-2014
A protester holds a sign at the Justice for All march on Saturday in Washington.

A protester holds a sign at the Justice for All march on Saturday in Washington. Image courtesy Ryan Stewart/sojo.net

“Excuse my ignorance, I thought I was a free black man.”

“I’m 11 [years old], I matter.”

 “You can choose to look away, but never again can you say you didn’t know.”

“How many times do we have to protest the same [s**t]?”

“White silence is white violence.”

 “We have nothing to lose but our chains.”

These signs, and many others, lined the horizon of Pennsylvania Avenue on Saturday in Washington, D.C. In a ‘Justice for All’ march organized by Al Sharpton and the National Action Network, thousands of protesters gathered to protest police actions that have resulted in the deaths of unarmed young black men across the United States.

After marching from Freedom Plaza to the U.S. Capitol, protesters listened to speakers from national racial justice organizations address some of these most recent acts of police brutality.

Al Sharpton sought to draw attention to the diversity present on the streets.

 “This is not a black march or a white march. This is an American march for American rights,” he said.

Indeed, the black community was not alone in speaking up against police brutality. One Latina activist encouraged her Latino brothers and sisters to “voice their pain” from police harassment and “come forth and unify with the African American community so we can be strong together.”

“¡Ya Basta!” she concluded. [“Enough is enough!”]

the Web Editors 11-19-2012

Jim Wallis, President and CEO of Sojourners, met with President Barack Obama and other key officials at the White House on Friday to discuss the fiscal cliff, and urge a fair budget deal that does not harm the poor and vulnarable. After the meeting, he sat down with Rev. Al Sharpton on MSNBC's Politics Nation to talk about the results of the meeting. 

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the Web Editors 4-11-2012

Appearing at the Rev. Al Sharpton's fourth annual National Action Network convention in Washington, D.C., Wednesday afternoon, the parents of Trayvon Martin -- Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton -- called on their supporters and others who are anxiously awaiting a special prosecutor's announcement later today about charges in the shooting death of their son, 17-year-old on Feb. 26 in Sanford, Fla., to remain calm no matter the outcome.

Richard Land. Photo via Getty Images.

Richard Land. Photo via Getty Images.

A top Southern Baptist official has accused President Obama and black civil rights activists of using the Trayvon Martin shooting to foment racial strife and boost the president’s re-election chances.

“Rather than holding rallies on these issues, the civil rights leadership focuses on racially polarizing cases to generate media attention and to mobilize black voter turnout,” Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission and the denomination’s top public policy official, said on his radio program on Saturday (March 31).

“This is being done to try to gin up the black vote for an African-American president who is in deep, deep, deep trouble for re-election and who knows that he cannot win re-election without getting the 95 percent of blacks who voted for him in 2008 to come back out and show they are going to vote for him again.”

Edward Gilbreath 10-16-2009

One of the big conversations in my household this year has revolved around the question of whether my 9-year-old daughter is ready to get her hair "permed." Some girls at her school have already been initiated into the world of relaxed hair, so the peer pressure is in effect.

Alan Bean 7-08-2009

What lessons do we take away from the Jena 6 story? Six young men won't be dragging a felony conviction into adult life. That's reason for rejoicing, but as this saga approaches its third birthday, it's fair to ask if we have learned anything.

Efrem Smith 3-12-2009

It's always difficult to find just a few minutes from Pastor Efrem's sermons to highlight on the blog. With this sermon, it was impossible. So for a change, here's the entire sermon, in which he preaches from Proverbs 3 and talks about: