al sharpton wife

Alfred Charles Sharpton Jr.[2] (born October 3, 1954) is an American civil rights activist, Baptist minister, television/radio talk show host[3][4] and a former White House adviser for President Barack Obama.[5] In 2004, he was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. presidential election. He hosts his own radio talk show, Keepin’ It Real, and he makes regular guest appearances cable news television. In 2011, he was named the host of MSNBC’s PoliticsNation, a nightly talk show.[6] In 2015, the program was shifted to Sunday mornings.[7]

Sharpton’s supporters praise “his ability and willingness to defy the power structure that is seen as the cause of their suffering”[8] and consider him “a man who is willing to tell it like it is.”[8] Former Mayor of New York City Ed Koch, a one-time foe, said that Sharpton deserves the respect he enjoys among black Americans: “He is willing to go to jail for them, and he is there when they need him.”[9] President Barack Obama said that Sharpton is “the voice of the voiceless and a champion for the downtrodden.”[10] A 2013 Zogby Analytics poll found that one quarter of African Americans said that Sharpton speaks for them.[11]

His critics describe him as “a political radical who is to blame, in part, for the deterioration of race relations”.[12] Sociologist Orlando Patterson has referred to him as a racial arsonist,[13] while liberal columnist Derrick Z. Jackson has called him the black equivalent of Richard Nixon and Pat Buchanan.[14] Sharpton sees much of the criticism as a sign of his effectiveness. “In many ways, what they consider criticism is complimenting my job,” he said. “An activist’s job is to make public civil rights issues until there can be a climate for change.”[15]

Alfred Charles Sharpton Jr. was born in the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City, to Ada (née Richards) and Alfred Charles Sharpton Sr.[16][17] The family has some Cherokee roots.[18] He preached his first sermon at the age of four and toured with gospel singer Mahalia Jackson.[19]

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In 1963, Sharpton’s father left his wife to have a relationship with Sharpton’s half-sister. Ada took a job as a maid, but her income was so low that the family qualified for welfare and had to move from middle class Hollis, Queens, to the public housing projects in the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn.[20]

Sharpton graduated from Samuel J. Tilden High School in Brooklyn, and attended Brooklyn College, dropping out after two years in 1975.[21] In 1972, he accepted the position of youth director for the presidential campaign of African-American Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm.[22] Between the years 1973 and 1980 Sharpton served as James Brown’s tour manager.[23]

In 1969, Sharpton was appointed by Jesse Jackson to serve as youth director of the New York City branch of Operation Breadbasket,[23] a group that focused on the promotion of new and better jobs for African Americans.[24]

In 1971 Sharpton founded the National Youth Movement to raise resources for impoverished youth.[25]

Bernhard Goetz shot four African-American men on a New York City Subway 2 train in Manhattan on December 22, 1984, when they approached him and allegedly tried to rob him. At his trial Goetz was cleared of all charges except for carrying an unlicensed firearm. Sharpton led several marches protesting what he saw as the weak prosecution of the case.[26]

Sharpton and other civil rights leaders said Goetz’s actions were racist and requested a federal civil rights investigation.[27] A federal investigation concluded the shooting was due to an attempted robbery and not race.[28]

On December 20, 1986, three African-American men were assaulted in the Howard Beach neighborhood of Queens by a mob of white men. The three men were chased by their attackers onto the Belt Parkway, where one of them, Michael Griffith, was struck and killed by a passing motorist.[29]

A week later, on December 27, Sharpton led 1,200 demonstrators on a march through the streets of Howard Beach. Residents of the neighborhood, who were overwhelmingly white, screamed racial epithets at the protesters, who were largely black.[30] A special prosecutor was appointed by New York Governor Mario Cuomo after the two surviving victims refused to co-operate with the Queens district attorney. Sharpton’s role in the case helped propel him to national prominence.

On August 23, 1989, four African-American teenagers were beaten by a group of 10 to 30 white Italian-American youths in Bensonhurst, a Brooklyn neighborhood. One Bensonhurst resident, armed with a handgun, shot and killed sixteen-year-old Yusef Hawkins.

In the weeks following the assault and murder, Sharpton led several marches through Bensonhurst. The first protest, just days after the incident, was greeted by neighborhood residents shouting “Niggers go home” and holding watermelons to mock the demonstrators.[31]

Sharpton also threatened that Hawkins’s three companions would not cooperate with prosecutor Elizabeth Holtzman unless her office agreed to hire more black attorneys. In the end, they cooperated.[32]

In May 1990, when one of the two leaders of the mob was acquitted of the most serious charges brought against him, Sharpton led another protest through Bensonhurst. In January 1991, when other members of the gang were given light sentences, Sharpton planned another march for January 12, 1991. Before that demonstration began, neighborhood resident Michael Riccardi tried to kill Sharpton by stabbing him in the chest.[33] Sharpton recovered from his wounds, and later asked the judge for leniency when Riccardi was sentenced.[34]

In 1991, Sharpton founded the National Action Network, an organization designed to increase voter education, to provide services to those in poverty, and to support small community businesses. In 2016, Boise Kimber, an associate of Sharpton and a member of his NAN national board, along with businessman and philanthropist Don Vaccaro, launched Grace Church Websites, a non-profit organization that helps churches create and launch their own websites.[35][36][37]

The Crown Heights riot began on August 19, 1991, after a car driven by a Jewish man, and part of a procession led by an unmarked police car, went through an intersection and was struck by another vehicle causing it to veer onto the sidewalk where it accidentally struck and killed a seven-year-old Guyanese boy named Gavin Cato and severely injured his cousin Angela. Witnesses could not agree upon the speed and could not agree whether the light was yellow or red. One of the factors that sparked the riot was the arrival of a private ambulance, which was later discovered to be on the orders of a police officer who was worried for the Jewish driver’s safety, removed him from the scene while Cato lay pinned under his car.[38] After being removed from under the car, Cato and his cousin were treated soon after by a city ambulance (without visibly Jewish EMTs). Caribbean-American and African-American residents of the neighborhood rioted for four consecutive days fueled by rumors that the private ambulance had refused to treat Cato.[38][39] During the riot black youths looted stores,[38] beat Jews in the street,[38] and clashed with groups of Jews, hurling rocks and bottles at one another[40] after Yankel Rosenbaum, a visiting student from Australia, was stabbed and killed by a member of a mob while some chanted “Kill the Jew”, and “get the Jews out”.[41]

Sharpton marched through Crown Heights and in front of the headquarters of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement, shortly after the riot, with about 400 protesters (who chanted “Whose streets? Our streets!” and “No justice, no peace!”), in spite of Mayor David Dinkins’s attempts to keep the march from happening.[42][38]) Some commentators felt Sharpton inflamed tensions by making remarks that included “If the Jews want to get it on, tell them to pin their yarmulkes back and come over to my house.”[43]

In 1995 a black Pentecostal Church, the United House of Prayer, which owned a retail property on 125th Street, asked Fred Harari, a Jewish tenant who operated Freddie’s Fashion Mart, to evict his longtime subtenant, a black-owned record store called The Record Shack. Sharpton led a protest in Harlem against the planned eviction of The Record Shack.[44][45][46] Sharpton told the protesters, “We will not stand by and allow them to move this brother so that some white interloper can expand his business.”[47]

On December 8, 1995, Roland J. Smith Jr., one of the protesters, entered Harari’s store with a gun and flammable liquid, shot several customers and set the store on fire. The gunman fatally shot himself, and seven store employees died of smoke inhalation.[48][49] Fire Department officials discovered that the store’s sprinkler had been shut down, in violation of the local fire code.[50] Sharpton claimed that the perpetrator was an open critic of himself and his nonviolent tactics. In 2002, Sharpton expressed regret for making the racial remark “white interloper” and denied responsibility for inflaming or provoking the violence.[19][51]

In 1999, Sharpton led a protest to raise awareness about the death of Amadou Diallo, an immigrant from Guinea who was shot to death by NYPD officers. Sharpton claimed that Diallo’s death was the result of police brutality and racial profiling. Diallo’s family was later awarded $3 million in a wrongful death suit filed against the city.[52]

In May 1999, Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, and other activists protested the December 1998 fatal police shooting of Tyisha Miller in central Riverside, California. Miller, a 19-year-old African-American woman, had sat unconscious in a locked car with a flat tire and the engine left running, parked at a local gas station. After her relatives had called 9-1-1, Riverside Police Department officers who responded to the scene observed a gun in the young woman’s lap, and according to their accounts, she was shaking and foaming at the mouth, and in need of medical attention. When officers decided to break her window to reach her, as one officer reached for the weapon, she allegedly awoke and clutched her firearm, prompting several officers to open fire, hitting her 23 times and killing her. When the Riverside County district attorney stated that the officers involved had erred in judgement but committed no crime, declining to file criminal charges against them, Sharpton participated in protests which reached their zenith when protestors spilled onto the busy SR 91, completely stopping traffic. Sharpton was arrested for his participation and leadership in these protests.[53][54]

Sharpton compared the special prosecutor – attorney general Bob Abrams, to “Mr. Hitler”.[55][56]

In 2001 Sharpton was jailed for 90 days on trespassing charges while protesting against U.S. military target practice exercises in Puerto Rico near a United States Navy bombing site.[57] Sharpton, held in a Puerto Rican lockup for two days and then imprisoned at Metropolitan Detention Center, Brooklyn on May 25, 2001,[58] has the Federal Bureau of Prisons ID# 21458-069. He was released on August 17, 2001.[59]

In 2002 Sharpton was involved in protests following the death of West African immigrant Ousmane Zongo. Zongo, who was unarmed, was shot by an undercover police officer during a raid on a warehouse in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. Sharpton met with the family and also provided some legal services.[60]

On November 25, 2006, Sean Bell was shot and killed in the Jamaica section of Queens, New York, by plainclothes detectives from the New York Police Department in a hail of 50 bullets. The incident sparked fierce criticism of the police from the public and drew comparisons to the 1999 killing of Amadou Diallo. Three of the five detectives involved in the shooting went to trial in 2008 on charges ranging from manslaughter to reckless endangerment but were found not guilty.

On May 7, 2008, in response to the acquittals of the officers, Sharpton coordinated peaceful protests at major river crossings in New York City, including the Brooklyn Bridge, the Queensboro Bridge, the Triborough Bridge, the Manhattan Bridge, the Holland Tunnel, and the Queens–Midtown Tunnel. Sharpton and about 200 others were arrested.[61]

On March 11, 2008, Sharpton held a press conference to highlight what he said was unequal treatment of four suspected rapists in a high-profile crime in the Dunbar Village Housing Projects in West Palm Beach, Florida. The suspects, who were young black men, were arrested for allegedly raping and beating a black Haitian woman at gunpoint. The crime also involved forcing the woman to perform oral sex on her 12-year-old son.[62]

At his press conference Sharpton said that any violent act toward a woman is inexcusable but he felt that the accused youths were being treated unfairly because they were black. Sharpton contrasted the treatment of the suspects, who remain in jail, with white suspects involved in a gang rape—which he claimed was equivalent to the Dunbar Village attack—who were released after posting bond.[62]

On August 28, 2010, Sharpton and other civil rights leaders led a march to commemorate the 47th anniversary of the historic March on Washington. After gathering at Dunbar High School in Washington, D.C., thousands of people marched five miles to the National Mall.[63]

In June 2011, Sharpton spoke at a rally in support of Tanya McDowell, who was arrested and charged with larceny for allegedly registering her son for kindergarten in the wrong public school district using a false address. She claimed to spend time in both a Bridgeport, Connecticut, apartment and a homeless shelter in Norwalk, where her son was registered.[64]

Following the 2012 shooting of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman, Sharpton led several protests and rallies criticizing the Sanford Police Department over the handling of the shooting and called for Zimmerman’s arrest: “Zimmerman should have been arrested that night. You cannot defend yourself against a pack of Skittles and iced tea.”[65] Sean Hannity accused Sharpton and MSNBC of “rush[ing] to judgment” in the case. MSNBC issued a statement in which they said Sharpton “repeatedly called for calm” and further investigation.[66] Following the acquittal of Zimmerman, Sharpton called the not guilty verdict an “atrocity” and “a slap in the face to those that believe in justice.”[67] Subsequently, Sharpton and his organization, National Action Network, held rallies in several cities denouncing the verdict and called for “Justice for Trayvon.”[68]

After the July 2014 death of Eric Garner on Staten Island, New York, by a New York City Police Department officer, Daniel Pantaleo, Sharpton organized a peaceful protest in Staten Island on the afternoon of July 19, and condemned the police’s use of the chokehold on Garner, saying that “there is no justification” for it.[69] Sharpton had also planned to lead a protest on August 23, in which participants would have driven over the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, then traveled to the site of the altercation and the office of District Attorney Dan Donovan[70] This idea was scrapped in favor of Sharpton leading a peaceful march along Bay Street in Staten Island, where Garner died; over 5,000 people marched in the demonstration.[71][72][73][74]

On August 28, 2017, the fifty-fourth anniversary of the famous March on Washington at which Martin Luther King Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech, Sharpton organized the Ministers March for Justice, promising to bring a thousand members of the clergy to Washington, D.C., to deliver a “unified moral rebuke” to President Donald Trump.[75] Several thousand religious leaders showed up, including Christians, Jews, Muslims, and Sikhs.[76] Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank wrote that “President Trump has united us, after all. He brought together the Rev. Al Sharpton and the Jews.”[77]

In September 2007, Sharpton was asked whether he considered it important for the US to have a black president. He responded, “It would be a great moment as long as the black candidate was supporting the interest that would inevitably help our people. A lot of my friends went with Clarence Thomas and regret it to this day. I don’t assume that just because somebody’s my color, they’re my kind. But I’m warming up to Obama, but I’m not there yet.”[78]

Sharpton has spoken out against cruelty to animals in a video recorded for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.[79]

Sharpton is a supporter of equal rights for gays and lesbians, including same-sex marriage. During his 2004 presidential campaign, Sharpton said he thought it was insulting to be asked to discuss the issue of gay marriage. “It’s like asking do I support black marriage or white marriage…. The inference of the question is that gays are not like other human beings.”[80] Sharpton is leading a grassroots movement to eliminate homophobia within the Black church.[81]

In 2014, Sharpton began a push for criminal justice reform, citing the fact that black people represent a greater proportion of those arrested and incarcerated in America.[82]

al sharpton wife

In August 2017, Sharpton called for the federal government to stop maintaining the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C., because Thomas Jefferson owned slaves and had children with his slave Sally Hemings. He said taxpayer funds should not be used to care for monuments to slave-owners and that private museums were preferable. “People need to understand that people were enslaved. Our families were victims of this. Public monuments [to people like Jefferson] are supported by public funds. You’re asking me to subsidize the insult to my family.”[83]

Sharpton said to an audience at Kean College in 1994: “We taught philosophy and astrology and mathematics before Socrates and them Greek homos ever got around to it.”[84][unreliable source?] In 2007, Sharpton defended his comments by saying that the term “homo” was not homophobic but added that he no longer uses the term.[85] In 2005, Sharpton called for an end to homophobia in the African-American community.[86]

During 2007, Sharpton was accused of bigotry for comments he made on May 7, 2007, concerning presidential candidate Mitt Romney and his religion, Mormonism:

As for the one Mormon running for office, those who really believe in God will defeat him anyways, so don’t worry about that; that’s a temporary situation.[87]

In response, a representative for Romney told reporters that “bigotry toward anyone because of their beliefs is unacceptable.”[88] The Catholic League compared Sharpton to Don Imus, and said that his remarks “should finish his career.”[89]

On May 9, during an interview on Paula Zahn NOW, Sharpton said that his views on Mormonism were based on the “Mormon Church’s traditionally racist views regarding blacks” and its interpretation of the so-called “Curse of Ham.”[90] On May 10, Sharpton called two apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and apologized to them for his remarks and asked to meet with them.[91] A spokesman for the Church confirmed that Sharpton had called and said that “we appreciate it very much, Rev. Sharpton’s call, and we consider the matter closed.”[92] He also apologized to “any member of the Mormon church” who was offended by his comments.[92] Later that month, Sharpton went to Salt Lake City, Utah, where he met with Elder M. Russell Ballard, a leader of the Church, and Elder Robert C. Oaks of the Church’s Presidency of the Seventy.[93][94]

On February 13, 1994, Sharpton told a student audience at Kean College in New Jersey: “White folks was in the caves while we was building empires,” he said. “We built pyramids before Donald Trump even knew what architecture was. We taught philosophy and astrology [sic] and mathematics before Socrates and them Greek homos ever got around to it. Do some cracker come and tell you, ‘Well my mother and father blood go back to the Mayflower,’ you better hold your pocket. That ain’t nothing to be proud of, that means their forefathers was crooks.”[84]

He has derided moderate black politicians close to the Democratic Party as “cocktail sip Negroes” or “yellow niggers.”[95]

On November 28, 1987, Tawana Brawley, a 15-year-old black girl, was found smeared with feces, lying in a garbage bag, her clothing torn and burned and with various slurs and epithets written on her body in charcoal. Brawley claimed she had been assaulted and raped by six white men, some of them police officers, in the town of Wappinger, New York.

Attorneys Alton H. Maddox and C. Vernon Mason joined Sharpton in support of Brawley. A grand jury was convened; after seven months of examining police and medical records, the jury found “overwhelming evidence” that Brawley had fabricated her story.[96] Sharpton, Maddox, and Mason had accused the Dutchess County prosecutor, Steven Pagones, of racism and of being one of the perpetrators of the alleged abduction and rape. The three were successfully sued for defamation, and were ordered to pay $345,000 in damages, with the jury finding Sharpton liable for making seven defamatory statements about Pagones, Maddox for two, and Mason for one.[97] Sharpton refused to pay his share of the damages; it was later paid by a number of black business leaders including Johnnie Cochran.[39]

In 2007, Sharpton said he would handle the case the same today, with the only difference being that he would not have made it so personal against Pagones. He said that he still felt Brawley had a good case to go to trial, saying in an interview: “I disagreed with the grand jury on Brawley. I believed there was enough evidence to go to trial. Grand jury said there wasn’t. Okay, fine. Do I have a right to disagree with the grand jury? Many Americans believe O.J. Simpson was guilty. A jury said he wasn’t. So I have as much right to question a jury as they do. Does it make somebody a racist? No! They just disagreed with the jury. So did I.”[15]

Sharpton said in 1988 that he informed for the government in order to stem the flow of crack cocaine into black neighborhoods. He denied informing on civil rights leaders.[98][99][100]

In 2002, HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel aired a 19-year-old FBI videotape of an undercover sting operation showing Sharpton with an undercover FBI agent posing as a Latin American businessman and a reputed Colombo crime family captain. During the discussion, the undercover agent offered Sharpton a 10% commission for arranging drug sales. On the videotape, Sharpton mostly nods and allows the FBI agent to do most of the talking. No drug deal was ever consummated, and no charges were brought against Sharpton as a result of the tape.[101]

In April 2014, The Smoking Gun obtained documents indicating that Sharpton became an FBI informant in 1983 following Sharpton’s role in a drug sting involving Colombo crime family captain Michael Franzese. Sharpton allegedly recorded incriminating conversations with Genovese and Gambino family mobsters, contributing to the indictments of several underworld figures. Sharpton is referred to in FBI documents as “CI-7.”[102]

Summarizing the evidence supporting that Sharpton was an active FBI informant in the 1980s, William Bastone, the Smoking Gun’s founder, stated: “If he (Sharpton) didn’t think he was an informant, the ‘Genovese squad’ of the FBI and NYPD officials sure knew him to be an informant. He was paid to be an informant, he carried a briefcase with a recording device in it, and he made surreptitious tape recordings of a Gambino crime family member 10 separate times as an informant. He did it at the direction of the FBI, he was prepped by the FBI, was handed the briefcase by the FBI and was debriefed after the meetings. That’s an informant.”[103] Sharpton disputes portions of the allegations.[104]

Sharpton is alleged to have secretly recorded conversations with black activists in the 1980s regarding Joanne Chesimard (Assata Shakur) and other underground black militants. Veteran activist Ahmed Obafemi told the New York Daily News that he had long suspected Sharpton of taping him with the bugged briefcase.[105]

In 2005, Sharpton appeared in three television commercials for LoanMax, an automobile title loan company. He was criticized for his appearance because LoanMax reportedly charges fees which are the equivalent of 300% APR loans.[106]

In 1993 Sharpton pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor for failing to file a state income tax return. Later, the authorities discovered that one of Mr. Sharpton’s for-profit companies, Raw Talent, which he used as a repository for money from speaking engagements, was also not paying taxes, a failure that continued for years.[107]

On May 9, 2008, the Associated Press reported that Sharpton and his businesses owed almost $1.5 million in unpaid taxes and penalties. Sharpton owed $931,000 in federal income tax and $366,000 to New York, and his for-profit company, Rev. Al Communications, owed another $176,000 to the state.[9]

On June 19, 2008, the New York Post reported that the Internal Revenue Service had sent subpoenas to several corporations that had donated to Sharpton’s National Action Network. In 2007 New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo began investigating the National Action Network, because it failed to make proper financial reports, as required for non-profits.[108] According to the Post, several major corporations, including Anheuser-Busch and Colgate-Palmolive, have donated thousands of dollars to the National Action Network. The Post asserted that the donations were made to prevent boycotts or rallies by the National Action Network.[109]

Sharpton countered the investigative actions with a charge that they reflected a political agenda by United States agencies.[110]

On September 29, 2010, Robert Snell of The Detroit News reported that the Internal Revenue Service had filed a notice of federal tax lien against Sharpton in New York City in the amount of over $538,000.[111] Sharpton’s lawyer asserts that the notice of federal tax lien relates to Sharpton’s year 2009 federal income tax return, the due date of which has been extended to October 15, 2010, according to the lawyer. However, the Snell report states that the lien relates to taxes assessed during 2009.[112]

According to The New York Times, Sharpton and his for-profit businesses owe $4.5 million in state and federal taxes as of November 2014.[107]

In 1971 while touring with James Brown, he met future wife Kathy Jordan, who was a backup singer.[113] Sharpton and Jordan married in 1980.[114] The couple separated in 2004.[115] In July 2013, the New York Daily News reported that Sharpton, while still married to his second wife (the first being Marsha Tinsley[116]), now had a self-described “girlfriend”, Aisha McShaw,[117] aged 35, and that the couple had “been an item for months…. photographed at elegant bashes all over the country.” McShaw, the Daily News reported, referred to herself professionally as both a “personal stylist” and “personal banker.”

Sharpton is an honorary member of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity.[118]

Sharpton was licensed and ordained a Pentecostal minister by Bishop F. D. Washington at the age of nine[119] or ten.[120] After Bishop Washington’s death in the late 1980s, Sharpton became a Baptist. He was re-baptized as a member of the Bethany Baptist Church in 1994 by the Reverend William Augustus Jones[35] and became a Baptist minister.[119][121]

During 2007, Sharpton participated in a public debate with atheist writer Christopher Hitchens, defending his religious faith and his belief in the existence of God.[122][123]

On January 12, 1991, Sharpton escaped serious injury when he was stabbed in the chest in the schoolyard at P.S. 205[124] by Michael Riccardi while Sharpton was preparing to lead a protest through Bensonhurst in Brooklyn, New York. The intoxicated attacker was apprehended by Sharpton’s aides and handed over to police, who were present for the planned protest.

In 1992, Riccardi was convicted of first-degree assault. Sharpton asked the judge for leniency when sentencing Riccardi.[125] The judge sentenced Riccardi to five to 15 years in jail,[126] and he served ten years in prison[125] being released on parole on January 8, 2001.

Sharpton, although forgiving his attacker and pleading for leniency on his behalf, filed suit against New York City alleging that the many police present had failed to protect him from his attacker. In December 2003, he finally reached a $200,000 settlement with the city just as jury selection was about to start.[125]

In February 2007 genealogist Megan Smolenyak discovered that Sharpton’s great-grandfather, Coleman Sharpton, was a slave owned by Julia Thurmond, whose grandfather was Strom Thurmond’s great-great-grandfather.[127] Coleman Sharpton was later freed.[128]

Thurmond was notable as the longest-serving senator (at the time of his death), who was a major advocate of racial segregation during the middle of the 20th century.[129] Thurmond’s illegitimate daughter, Essie Mae Washington-Williams, stated she would welcome Sharpton to the family if a DNA test shows he is a relative.[130] In an interview, Sharpton said he has no plans for the DNA test to see if he is related.[15]

The Sharpton family name originated with Coleman Sharpton’s previous slave-owner, who was named Alexander Sharpton.[131]

After being obese for decades, Sharpton lost over 100 pounds in the four and a half years ending October 2014.[132]

Sharpton has run unsuccessfully for elected office on multiple occasions. Of his unsuccessful runs, he said that winning office may not have been his goal, saying in an interview: “Much of the media criticism of me assumes their goals and they impose them on me. Well, those might not be my goals. So they will say, ‘Well, Sharpton has not won a political office.’ But that might not be my goal! Maybe I ran for political office to change the debate, or to raise the social justice question.”[15] Sharpton ran for a United States Senate seat from New York in 1988, 1992, and 1994. In 1997, he ran for Mayor of New York City. During his 1992 bid, he and his wife lived in a home in Englewood, New Jersey, though he said his residence was an apartment in Brooklyn.[133]

On December 15, 2005, Sharpton agreed to repay $100,000 in public funds he received from the federal government for his 2004 Presidential campaign. The repayment was required because Sharpton had exceeded federal limits on personal expenditures for his campaign. At that time, his most recent Federal Election Commission filings (from January 1, 2005) stated that Sharpton’s campaign still had debts of $479,050 and owed Sharpton himself $145,146 for an item listed as “Fundraising Letter Preparation — Kinko’s.”[134]

In 2009, the Federal Election Commission announced it had levied a fine of $285,000 against Sharpton’s 2004 presidential campaign team for breaking campaign finance rules during his bid for President.[135][136]

Sharpton said in 2007 that he would not enter the 2008 presidential race.[137]

In 1988, during an appearance on The Morton Downey Jr. Show, Sharpton and Congress of Racial Equality National Chairman Roy Innis got into a heated argument about the Tawana Brawley case and Innis shoved Sharpton to the floor.[140]

In 1999, Sharpton appeared in a documentary about black nationalism hosted by Louis Theroux, as part of the ‘Weird Weekends’ series.[141]

During the 2005 Tony Awards, Sharpton appeared in a number put on by the cast of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.[142] In 2009 he hosted WWE Raw.[143]

In June 2005, Sharpton signed a contract with Matrix Media to produce and host a live two-hour daily talk program, but it never aired.[144] In November 2005, Sharpton signed with Radio One to host a daily national talk radio program, which began airing on January 30, 2006, entitled Keepin It Real with Al Sharpton.[144][145]

On August 29, 2011, Sharpton became the host of PoliticsNation, the MSNBC show which originally aired weeknights during the 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time hour.[6] In October 2015 the program was moved to Sunday mornings, one hour per week.[7] He continues to be a regular contributor to Morning Joe.

Sharpton has written or co-written three books, Go and Tell Pharaoh, with Nick Chiles, Al on America, and The Rejected Stone: Al Sharpton and the Path to American Leadership.[146]

Al Sharpton is an American civil rights/political activist, talk show host, and a Baptist minister. Boldly outspoken, Sharpton is popular for his controversial remarks as he is for his tax issues. In 2014 it was revealed that Sharpton and his numerous businesses owed a combined $4.7 million in back taxes to the IRS and New York state. However, per reports in 2015 Sharpton had paid almost $2 million of his debts.

Alfred Charles Sharpton Jr. was born on October 3, 1954, in Brooklyn, New York City. He grew up with his family in a middle-class Brownsville neighborhood but after his parents’ divorce, he moved with his mom to a public housing project in Brownsville. Sharpton preached his first message at the age of 4 and at 10, he became an ordained Pentecostal minister.

Sharpton attended high school at Samuel J. Tilden High School in Brooklyn. After graduation, he attended Brooklyn College but dropped out two years later in 1975.

Growing up, Sharpton was a witness to numerous racial injustices against the black community. As a result, he became involved in civil rights and political activism while still in high school. In 1969, under the mentorship of Jesse Jackson, Sharpton began to serve as the youth director of a Southern Christian Leadership Conference program called Operation Breadbasket. The program was aimed at providing more job opportunities for the African-Americans by pressuring businesses often through protests.

al sharpton wife

Also, during the same period, Sharpton served on the presidential campaign team of black democratic congresswoman Shirley Chisholm. With increasing civil rights and political activities, Sharpton founded his own organization called The National Youth Movement which focused on the financial empowerment of impoverished youths.

In the 80’s, Sharpton became increasingly popular for his activism and represented numerous victims of racial prejudice. One of such was the highly controversial case involving the alleged gang rape of Tawana Brawley by white men which was later discovered to be false. Sharpton was ordered to pay $65,000 following a defamation suit filed by the accused.

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Despite an assassination attempt in 1991 during one of his usual protests, Sharpton has since remained a social and political activist. His attacker Michael Riccardi later served 10 months behind bars. Sharpton filed a lawsuit against New York City for failure to prevent the assassination attempt and received $200,000 settlement fee.

Sharpton has also run unsuccessfully for several political offices including for the Mayor of New York Seat in the State Assembly and US Senate and in 2004 as a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. presidential election.

Sharpton established a civil rights organization called National Action Network in 1991. The non-profit organization has chapters and affiliates across America and receives donations from clergy, labor and a plethora of leading companies like Ford motor, Walmart, Home Depot, the News Corporation, and McDonald’s.

NAN has also benefited hugely from the friendship between Sharpton and President Barack Obama. Twice, (first in 2011 and then 2014) Obama has appeared at NAN’s annual convention which is its biggest fundraising event. At Sharpton’s 60th birthday celebration in 2014, NAN received a $1 million donation.

NAN records an average of $5 million in annual donations and pays Sharpton over $241,000 in salary. In 2015 when NAN collected $6.9 million, Sharpton rewarded himself with a 71% pay rise to over $412,000 including a $64,400 bonus. However, the Baptist minister said the bonus was not an actual raise but to make up for past salaries he didn’t receive. His wealth is estimated at somewhere between $500,000 and $5 million.

Sharpton is the anchorman of MSNBC political talk show PoliticsNAtion. The program premiered on August 29, 2011, on the 6 PM weekday time slot before moving to once a week 8 AM slot on Sundays. From 2013, Sharpton began earning $500,000 per season of the show.

Sharpton also earns from his for-profit businesses including Raw Talent, and Revals (Rev. Al) Communications. The former is a repository for money he garners from speaking engagements. Also an author, Sharpton has penned at least three books.

Sharpton’s tax problems date as far as the late 1980’s when he was charged with 67 felony counts of tax evasion, larceny, and fraud. He pleads guilty in 1993 to the misdemeanor charge of failure to file state income tax for 1986. Sharpton’s tax issues have since intensified, majorly due to poor divisions between business and personal earnings- a common problem faced by entrepreneurs.

Following his 2004 failed bid for the White House, the Federal Electoral Commission discovered improper activities on his campaign team. Sharpton improperly received over $200,000 in private funds and was required to pay back. Also, his NAN which per public records were facing a financial crisis at the time took up financial responsibilities legally meant to be financed by the campaign itself.

Consequentially, NAN was forced to rely on money meant for tax payroll for survival. In 2007, the non-profit came under probe for failure to release proper financial statements as required of non-profits. Subsequently, it was discovered that it owed high six figures in back taxes. Apparently, when business began to bloom, NAN wasn’t paying taxes. Sharpton has since claimed the non-payments to be unintentional.

Sharpton’s for-profit business, Raw Talent was also discovered to be owing back taxes for years.

In 2014, it was revealed that Sharpton and his numerous businesses owed a combined $4.7 million in back taxes to the IRS and New York State. However, Sharpton disputed the figure but admitted that he was paying off what he owed to the government after reaching a negotiation with them.

Rev. Al Sharpton’s first marriage was to Marsha Tinsley and the union lasted for just about one year. His second marriage was in 1980 after he met then backup singer, Kathy Jordan while on a James Brown tour in 1971. The two began dating and walked down the aisle in 1980. They had two beautiful daughters together before their unfortunate separation in 2004 – 24 years after their wedding. Their daughters are, Dominique Sharpton and Ashley Sharpton.

Currently, Al Sharpton is clearly dating someone in what will be his first relationship since separating from his wife, Kathy. He has been conspicuously noticed with a lady, 20 years younger than he is, Aisha McShaw, who without any hesitation has claimed that she is Sharpton’s girlfriend. This in itself would not be an issue, as the reverend is at liberty to date owing to his over a decade separation from his wife. But the issue arises from the fact that he is still legally bound to his former wife as their separation is yet to be legalized into a formal divorce.

July 25, 2018Home

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These days, people usually follow Hollywood celebrities who have either singing talent or acting talent or even a comedian. But very less actually follow the civil right activist like Al Sharpton. People like him also deserve to be in the spotlight that is why we bring you an amazing article about the guy who is famous for leading the fight against racial prejudice and injustice in the USA and has a good net worth.

Some people describe Al as a controversial man who is also a racial arsonist. He is also a political activist. Moreover, to the black American populace, he is someone who went to jail for the advancement of their cause. He recieved ‘The voice of the voiceless and a champion of the downtrodden’ honor by the former present Barak Obama.

al sharpton wife

Sharpton was born on 3rd October 1954 in Brooklyn New York City as Alfred Charles Sharpton Jr. He went to the public school in Brooklyn and later in Queens. He completed his schooling from Samuel J. Tilden High School and graduated in 1972.

He was involved in civil right movements from a very young age and also held a couple of leadership positions when he was in school. He also was prominent in several high profile protests which were poised to bring equality between black and white Americans.

Tune into a special re-airing of #PoliticsNation w/ Al Sharpton at 6pm ET tonight only on MSNBC

A post shared by Rev. Al Sharpton (@real_sharpton) on Jul 22, 2018 at 3:01pm PDT

Soon after he graduated from school, he got enrolled at Brooklyn College where he studied contemporary politics. However, he dropped out of college after two years and established his own organization. The organization was named National Youth Movement which helped to keep media scrutiny on racial murder black teenager, Michael Griffith in 1986.

Now moving on to Sharpton’s married life, he is married to a singer, Kathy Jordan. The duo met when Al was touring with James Brown back in 1971. The duo married in 1980. The couple has two beautiful daughters together, Ashley Sharpton and Dominique. However, the marriage didn’t last for long.

Continuing the conversation regarding Trump’s relationship with Michael Cohen on Morning Joe.

A post shared by Rev. Al Sharpton (@real_sharpton) on Jul 23, 2018 at 5:51am PDT

Al and Kathy separated and officially divorced in 2004. It was also rumored that the social activist had an affair with another woman, Aisha McShaw while he was still married to his wife.

The girl is a personal stylist and baker. Since then, Sharpton and MacShaw have become inseparable. Although the two have not tied the holy knot, they make several together appearances in public functions.

The American Baptist minister, as well as television, radio host, has an estimated net worth of about $500 thousand. He is living a lavish life and loves to travel during his spare time.

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createPerformanceMark(‘first image displayed’);Back in the day: Al Sharpton in 2000. Reuters The Reverend Al Sharpton used to weigh 305 pounds — no surprise, considering that the prominent reverend and activist used to incorporate fried chicken into all three meals of the day.

He added fried chicken to breakfast with grits and eggs, to lunch in a sandwich, and to dinner, when he’d eat half a chicken.

But about 15 years ago, his then 12-year-old daughter punched him in the belly and asked him why he was so fat, he recently told the New York Daily News.

And that was more than the minister could take.

“That was my inspiration to lose the weight. And probably the last time anyone hurt my feelings,” he told the News.

al sharpton wife

Now, while Sharpton’s political presence may be as large as ever, the man himself is more than half gone weightwise — this week he weighed in at 129.6 pounds, about one pound above being classified as underweight, according to the National Institutes of Health’s body mass index calculator.

So how does that happen? Is it some special diet, bariatric surgery, or even some sort of illness?

Nope. He stopped eating and started exercising. But when we say “stopped eating,” we mean it.

Sharpton cut the cake beside Aretha Franklin at his 60th birthday party at the Four Seasons on Oct. 1 in New York. But the word is that he didn’t have any. Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images His daily intake, as told to the News, is this:

Breakfast: Three slices of wheat toast (about 300 calories / 15g of protein) and a Doctor Earth green juice from Juice Press (180 calories / 2g of protein)

Lunch: A salad containing lettuce, tomato, onion, a chopped hard-boiled egg, and balsamic vinaigrette (about 240 calories / 6g of protein, depending on serving size) and a banana (about 100 calories and 1g of protein)

Dinner: Another green juice

With breakfast and lunch he drinks breakfast tea sweetened with stevia, which is basically calorie-free. Occasionally on the weekends he’ll have some grilled fish.

That’s it, according to his interview with the Daily News. And he only added the juice, banana, and toast because a doctor told him he wasn’t eating enough with just a lunchtime salad a day. He still doesn’t eat any solid food after 6 p.m.

That’s about 1,000 calories and 26 grams of protein a day, less than half the normal “recommended diet.”

His workout is less intense, 20 minutes on the treadmill at 3 mph.

So is it healthy, or is it an eating disorder?

A doctor might recommend such a low-calorie diet for extreme weight loss, but it’s likely overkill at this point — especially for someone teetering on the edge of being underweight.

“Certainly compared to weighing 300 pounds, this is preferable,” David Seres of the Institute of Human Nutrition at Columbia University Medical Center told the News. But he might be pretty vulnerable if he got sick, according to Seres. “His intake would make a nutrition expert nervous.”

His meal plan may also seem a bit boring and not enough for most of us, to be sure, but Sharpton told the News that he isn’t bothered by it. “I’m conditioned now so that I never get hungry,” he said.

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Al Sharpton was born on October 3, 1954 in Brooklyn, New York, USA as Alfred Charles Sharpton Jr. He is an actor, known for Mr. Deeds (2002), Malcolm X (1992) and Madea Goes to Jail (2009). He has been married to Kathy Jordan since October 31, 1980. They have two children.

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