Go and Tell Pharaoh

Fascinating background to this reluctant Icon's adventures: a Preacher at four; Community Organzier at 16; James Brown accompanist in the recording studio, on stage....and at the White House; candidate for the Senate. Pseudo-FBI Informant? Rabble-Rouser? Race Baiter? These last three descriptions are dissected by Al Sharpton in this very readable, often hilarious, tome. Was he a victim of the same curved camera lens that made him a celebrity? The Chapter describing his relationship with Superstar James Brown could have made a great book in itself. All the dialogue rings with reality - I can absolutely hear Brown admonishing Sharpton - but in a serious Paternal way - when the latter needed a "Father Figure"...and when the former needed a "Son Figure", if you will. As a JB fan, who watched him on Soul Train in 1973 and on stage at Madison square Garden on July 4th, 1974, my heart quickened to learn that the Reverend was behind the scenes in one and on stage in another. I recall vividly when Sharpton presented an award to JB on stage. He talks about the flight to and Concert in Zaire later that year...and how it almost didn't come about. Al was put in charge [a presumptive assistant to Charles Bobbitt] of assuring the appropriateness of the compensation...yes, the project was a success. Seems sometime in the '80s, overseas, an even more complicated assignment was completed when assurance was needed in the area of financial translation, shall we say. Outside of music, there were, of course, distressing reports of violence against individuals who contacted Sharpton, and who relied upon him for support and representation. It's hard to understand the "evidence" as presented here, thoigh, and serious issues involving off the cuff accusations of officials and malfeasance on the legal team get very little analysis. When it was all said and done, when the case was said to have no merit, we read of how the case really didn't get full due process. I'm a little surprised that such a gifted speaker apparently needed a co-writer for this book. As a lifelong Preacher, seems odd. Well, maybe just another mystery in the life of a very complex man.

For several years now I've watched references in various newspapers to see how Al Sharpton is portrayed. In general, the references are negative. He is called a racist, a demagogue, a hate-monger, a rabble-rouser, a charlatan, and opportunist...I never saw any column or article that spoke well of him, so I was pleased to find he had this book out, which tells his side of the story.It seems to me he's gotten a bad rap. His fame comes mainly out of the Howard Beach and Bensonhurst murders and the Tawana Brawley affair. In the Brawley affair he apparently was duped. In Howard Beach and Bensonhurst his actions were, in my view, exemplary and necessary. Compare the aftermath of the Rodney King verdict in LA to the aftermath of Howard Beach. In LA they had a massive riot. In Howard Beach Reverend Sharpton led a series of peaceful protest marches. It's not farfetched to suggest that a riot could have occurred after Howard Beach. Instead, Sharpton organized marches in the best tradition of nonviolent protest.Even if Michael Griffith had not been chased out onto the Belt Parkway and struck by a car and killed, the protest marches would have been justified. The reason he was chased was that his car broke down in a neighborhood where the inhabitants had the peculiar idea that they were entitled to decide who could come into their neighborhood, and who could not. It was "their turf ". The same was true of Bensonhurst. The people of Bensonhurst had the idea, supported by years of official acquiescence, that they were entitled to keep blacks out of their neighborhood.In the South forty years ago that was known as segregation, and people deliberately marched and rode in the front of busses and drank from water fountains to put a stop to it. In New York in the eighties it didn't go by the name of segregation and it wasn't written into the city charter, but it was by and large the same thing. Sharpton could have incited a riot, or given his tacit blessing to the people who are always ready to go that route. Instead, and to his credit, he chose the tactics of Martin Luther King, Jr.Sharpton rightly points out that New York liberal Democrats don't like to be compared to Dixiecrats, but none of the Democrats in power at the time helped him break down the racial barriers: not Mayor Koch; not Governor Cuomo. They could have helped him take the first steps in the desegregation of Howard Beach and Bensonhurst, but they chose not to, preferring instead a comfortable (for them) status quo.On the other hand, Rev. Sharpton is completely inaccurate in suggesting the "rage" of the Howard Beach racists was built up by Ronald Reagan and George Bush. In an otherwise well-written and thoughtful book, he claims that Republicans have been "telling white folks that the reason the country doesn't work is blacks..."Why are your taxes so high? Blacks. They're all on welfare and their bankrupting us. Why is there so much unemployment in Howard Bea

I found it rather silly old chap.It made me want to stick my head on the barby.