Sharpton Burnishes National Rep At NYC Event
As prospective 2016 front-runners sign leases in Brooklyn and launch campaigns in Kentucky, one local political player will be showcasing his ability to shape the debate from a Times Square hotel.
That's where Rev. Al Sharpton hosts his annual National Action Network Conference this week. In years past, the event has drawn the likes of President Barack Obama, Attorney General Eric Holder and Mayor Bill de Blasio, who have offered both praise to their host and perspective on various civil rights challenges.
I just want everyone to know I am proud to stand with Reverend Sharpton. I'm proud every time I get to work with Reverend Sharpton, de Blasio gushed during the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the start of last years event. After the applause quieted, he added, because to borrow a phrase from our youth, Reverend, he's the real thing.
So real, President Barack Obama delivered the keynote address in 2014.
For critics, perhaps too real. After tabloids, police unions and Republicans skewered the mayor for being too close to Sharpton, their relationship has been on a back burner for months.
While de Blasio is expected again at this year's event, Sharpton is showing off his ability to win new friends with long-shot 2016 hopefuls dotting the conference schedule.
The lineup includes Democrat Martin O'Malley, the former Governor of Maryland; Dr. Ben Carson, a conservative Republican who is also African American; and Independent U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, who spoke to WNYC by phone from his office in Burlington, Vermont.
Reverend Sharpton has been I think a very effective leader not only within the African American community but crossing racial lines, said Sanders who plans to spend much of the time during his plenary session talking about the need to fight what he calls grotesque levels of income inequality.
In that audience there will be many people who have devoted their lives to social and economic justice, the senator said. These are people whose names may not be on the front pages of the newspaper but people who will go back into their community, who are fighting for their kids, fighting for decent schools, fighting for jobs. And its an honor for me to have an opportunity to speak with those folks.
Its also an opportunity.That Sharpton can still pick up a phone and galvanzine people in Ferguson or LA shows he still has national influence, says Fordham University professor Christina Greer.
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Sharpton Burnishes National Rep At NYC Event