9781422277751

THE RISE OF AL SHARPTON How did Al Sharpton reach this perch? How did a young preacher turn himself into one of the most well-known civil rights leaders of the past four decades? How did he manage to change his image—from jogging suits and bombastic pronouncements, to fitted suits and a lower-key approach—all while never leaving the public eye? If you wanted a quick look at the key civil rights events since 1985, you could crack open history books, click on search engines—or you could just study the life of the Reverend Al Sharpton. Since the early 1980s, Sharpton has been front and center in the most heated civil rights cases—challenging authorities, organizing marches, drawing copious criticism, and, according to him, standing up for the people who frequently have no voice.

Sharpton leads a march on Staten Island to protest the death of a black man, Eric Garner, at the hands of New York Police Department officers in July 2014.

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C I V I L R I GH T S L E A D E R S : A L S H A R P TON