Mediaboss Marketing

Q&A By Adelle M. Banks | 22 mins ago

The Rev. Al Sharpton speaks with local African-American clergy members on Aug. 8, 2017, in Woodlawn, Md. Sharpton addressed Baltimore's upswing in violence and urged clergy in attendance to participate in the Thousand Ministers March from the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial to the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., which will take place Aug. 28. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

(RNS) The Rev. Al Sharpton says his thousand-minister march is all the more urgent now than when he began planning it months ago.

The Pentecostal-turned-Baptist minister says the recent violence in Charlottesville, Va., has sparked more interest and a greater need for clergy of many faiths to speak up at the march set for Aug. 28, the 54th anniversary of the March on Washington.

The march will begin at the Washington memorial honoring the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and end at Justice Department offices to protest increased hate crimes, discrimination and mass incarceration.

The 62-year-old president of the National Action Network, a predominantly black, Christian organization, talked with RNS about his plans. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Charlottesville was a very startling and repulsive reminder to us of the issue of hate and the issue of racism and anti-Semitism that is still alive and practiced in the country. It seems now to have been revived and, in many ways, given moral equivalency with those that protested by the president of the United States. We need a president thats clear that anti-Semitism and hatred and the kind of public display of bigotry that we saw is unacceptable.

We had already called for 1,000 ministers of all faiths Jewish, Christian, Hindu, Buddhist and Muslim to meet at Kings memorial and march to the Justice Department, saying we do not want to see the moral authority of Dr. Kings dream undermined no matter who the president. And weve had several hundred ministers already sign. After Charlottesville happened and then the presidents reaction it has intensified and were getting calls from all kinds of ministers from all faiths saying we must make a statement.

Our hope is that when you looked at those Nazis carrying torches talking aboutYou will not replace us, we can contrast that with rabbis linking arms with Baptist ministers and Muslims marching in the spirit of Dr. King. They went to Robert E. Lees monument. Were going to Kings monument and marching to the Justice Department. I heard growing up that the best way to expose a dirty glass is put a clean glass next to it. Faith leaders must stand up and show a dignified, nonviolent way.

Our security concerns have grown cause we always now have to be concerned about whether some people will try and do a counter thing Im talking about from the right. I get up every day facing death threats. Thats normal when youre high-profile. So our security concerns increase although weve had no direct threats.

As Ive talked to a lot of the ministers that have called and joined in now, a lot of them said that, yes, we always agreed with the idea of a march but I think we didnt understand the urgency until we saw that footage on Saturday night. I think what that has done is brought back, into everyones living room, why we need to keep marching. This is much worse than we thought in terms of a spirit of hate and immorality.

RELATED: We Shall Not Be Moved marchers honor King, fight fear of Trump

This one is for faith leaders. Weve only asked for ministers. Now, others might come but it will be led by and the program will be rabbis, clergy members of the various parts of Christendom, Muslims and Hindus. Because we want to make a statement that hundreds of faith leaders came to Washington on the day of Dr. Kings dream. That is a big difference from us bringing tens of thousands of people we want to make a clear statement from the moral and the faith leaders of this country.

The Rev. Al Sharpton, center, founder of the National Action Network, joins other civil rights leaders at the front of the We Shall Not Be Moved march in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 14, 2017, ahead of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. RNS photo by Adelle M. Banks

Dont forget Dr. Kings organization was named the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He was very specific that it was religious-based and National Action Network is that as well. Weve not heard from the faith community in a very public, united way and thats the difference this march is.

It gives hope that there are people that are willing to stand up. Weve gone through rough periods in our history before and faith leaders leadus through. What do we remember about the 60s? We remember when Rabbi (Abraham Joshua) Heschel joined Dr. King in Selma. We remember how it was a rabbi that was the speaker right before Dr. King at the March on Washington. When we all started coming together and raised the high moral questions, it set the climate for change. And you will always have other things going on, but when people know that those whom they go to on their Sabbath to get guidance are standing up, it brings it to another dimension. And I think it is extremely important that we do this, particularly at this time.

I think that theyve got to get into the community. Theyve got to get into the schools. Theyve got to get into the local gatherings, the town halls, the planning board meetings. And weve got to beat back this spirit of hate. Weve got to go and do the work. Faith without works is a dead thing, the Bible says. And I want to lay that challenge out at the march: Weve got to come off our pulpits and out of our cathedrals and save the soul of this nation.

Adelle M. Banks, production editor and a national reporter, joined RNS in 1995. An award-winning journalist, she previously was the religion reporter at the Orlando Sentinel and a reporter at The Providence Journal and newspapers in the upstate New York communities of Syracuse and Binghamton.

Excerpt from:
Rev. Al Sharpton's thousand-minister march gains steam after Charlottesville - Religion News Service