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EAST LANSING -- A man not unfamiliar with criticism, Rev. Al Sharpton Thursday called on a crowd at Michigan State University's Wharton Center to not back down from activism in the 21st century.

Sharpton, the third and final speaker in the university's Dr. William Anderson From Freedom to Slavery: An American Odyssey lecture series, is used to being criticized for being at the forefront of many sensitive conversations in the country.

On Thursday, he said many are looking to tear down activists while lauding those who have come before -- as many have done with the release of the movie Selma -- because they're afraid of doing the hard work.

"We love to talk about what other generations did. The tension comes when the present generation talks about what we must do," Sharpton said.

He added, "We will find any reason to besmirch or smear a movement, because we really want to find a reason not to do what others did so well before us."

Sharpton -- who received $5,000 for speaking at the university, according to contract documents obtained by The State News -- followed speeches by Harry Belafonte and Rep. John Lewis, D-Georgia, who both spoke earlier this month. Belafonte's lecture cost the university $25,000, according to The State News report, and Lewis spoke for free.

Speaking for about 45 minutes Thursday, Sharpton hit on many of the same themes that Belafonte and Lewis touched. He especially emphasized how far African Americans have come in the fight for equality while giving examples on how far the community has to go.

He told a story about finding out that former South Carolina Sen. Strom Thurmond's ancestors owned his ancestors as slaves before the Civil War, and talked about how his mother had to endure segregation. Many people who tell the black community not to focus on race don't understand how close it is to home for African Americans, he said.

"It's easy for people to talk about getting over something they never had to get over," he said. "... They call us race baiters. No, we (sic) talking about our family tree."

Sharpton also talked about the protests in Ferguson, MO, and Staten Island in New York City in the summer of 2014. Sharpton was involved in the organization of protests in both cities at the request of the families of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, he said.

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Rev. Al Sharpton calls for activism despite criticism: 'If you don't fight, you are guaranteed to lose'

Axelrod Defends Rev. Wright, President #39;s Relationship With Al Sharpton

By: PoliticalTurkey1

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Axelrod Defends Rev. Wright, President's Relationship With Al Sharpton - Video

The Rev. Al Sharpton may soon be booted from his weeknight television host role on Politics Nation and relegated to the pile of less-watched weekend fare, one source within MSNBCs ranks said, citing the need for the cable provider to bolster slagging audience numbers.

Company President Phil Griffin said that the outlets Republican-bashing days are pretty much over and that as part of the image overhaul, its now being surmised that Mr. Sharptons show may move from its prime 6 p.m. Monday-through-Friday slot, the Daily Mail reported.

Going left was a brilliant strategy while it lasted and made hundreds of millions of dollars for Comcast, one MSNBC source told the Daily Beast. But it doesnt work anymore. The goal is to move away from left-wing TV.

Mr. Sharptons show, which has run for more than three years, attracts a 35 percent black audience, the Daily Mail reported.

Everybody in the [company] food chain, from top to bottom, understands that the [Keith] Olbermann era is over, the source said, the Daily Mail reported.

Mr. Olbermann, an outspoken liberal news commentator, left MSNBC in 2011 to take a job with ESPN. The talk of Mr. Sharpton comes as the company canceled the afternoon shows of both Ronan Farrow and Joy-Ann Reid due to poor ratings.

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Al Sharpton moving? Talk turns to MSNBC host losing prime nightly spot

Garner Family Calls Front Page Story 'Deeply Misleading' February 24, 2015 11:12 PM

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) The Rev. Al Sharpton is firing back at a report questioning his motives for his involvement in the Eric Garner case.

The New York Post, citing a video released byconservative activist James OKeefe of the investigative internet site Project Veritas, claims that Eric Garners daughter was secretly recorded saying Sharpton is only interested in money.

In the video, which the Post says was secretly recordedby a reporter during a protest at the St. George Ferry Terminal on Staten Island last month, a woman is heard asking Erica Garner if she thinks Sharpton is kind of like a crook in a sense.

She replies, Hes about this, and rubs her fingers together.

Hes about money with you? the woman asks.

Yeah, Garners daughter responds.

The headline of the article reads, Garners daughter on Sharpton: Hes all about the money.' But Sharpton says the story contradicts its own headline.

Later on in the article, the Post says Garners daughter denied that she had accused Sharpton of being a money-grubber in an interview with the paper Monday night.

No, I didnt say that I think Al Sharpton is all about the money, she told the Post.

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Sharpton Fires Back At NY Post Report Saying Eric Garners Daughter Slammed Him

A lawsuit against Comcast, Time Warner Cable Inc., Rev. Al Sharpton and the NAACP alleges that the mediacompanies discriminated against black-owned businessesand paid activists like Sharpton towhitewash its practices.The complaint alleges that Comcast gavelarge donations toSharpton, the NAACP and other civil rights groups to make it appear that the cable company was promoting diversity, even while it was failing to follow through on a promise to do so.

The lawsuit, seeking $20 billion,was filed in Los Angeles federal court Friday by Entertainment Studios, a television company founded by black producer and comedian Byron Allen and the National Association of African-American Owned Media (NAAAOM).The complaint, which comes as regulators mull a $45-billionmerger between Comcast andTWC, alleges that Comcast has refused to do business with Allen and other black media executives.

Comcast has engaged in, and is engaging in, pernicious, intentional racial discrimination in contracting, itreads. Whether or not it gets anywhere is another question. Anyone can file a lawsuit alleging anything and claiming any amount of money.

Both Sharpton and Comcast dismissed the allegations Monday.In an interview with Variety, Sharpton calledthe lawsuit a bogus statement from a person who has no credibility and he told the Hollywood Reporter that he will bebringing counterclaims for defamation.

The National Action Network also questioned Allens credibility initsstatement to the Hollywood Reporter.

We would gladly defend our relationship with any company as well as to state on the record why we found these discriminatory accusations made by said party to be less than credible and beneath the standards that we engage in.

[Related: The public life and private doubts of Al Sharpton]

The lawsuit also accuses Sharpton, the National Action Network (the non-profit civil rights organization he founded in 1991), the NAACP and the National Urban League, claimingthat the groups signedsham diversity agreements with Comcast in exchange for donations, knowing that the cable company would leverage the agreements to mask itsdiscriminatory practices.

The complaint particularly calls out Sharpton and his non-profit, which it says has a business model and track record of obtaining payments from corporate entities in exchange for his support. This critique has been leveled at him before, in the Daily Beast and the New York Post, though neither accusation came of anything.

Thisis the second complaintfrom Entertainment Studios and NAAAOM, whose president Mark DeVitre is also an executiveat Allens company. In December the groupfiled a $10 billion lawsuitagainst AT&T and DirectTV, accusing the groups of similar discrimination. No otherblack-owned companiesjoined the accusations against Comcast.

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Lawsuit accuses Comcast, Al Sharpton of discriminating ...