Fox News had previously attacked Elmo and Sesame Street for having a liberal bias and “dumbing down African Americans.

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For most, he appears to be an untouched, can-do-no-wrong figure that represents the progression of a race. Many Blacks from the 1960s civil rights era never thought they would see the day the White House welcomes a man of color. Obama ran his campaign on change and hope, and many African Americans believed that change had finally arrived.

But behind the foggy mirrors, not much has changed for Black Americans. Ten percent of African American men remain incarcerated, Black youth are far behind their white counterparts in education, and the unemployment rate in the community is at a high of 16.2 percent.

Even with such disheartening numbers, the majority of Black America stands behind their president. In fact, 85 percent of Blacks approve the job performance of the president. While that number has slightly dipped, 85 percent is rather significant.

Of course, not all Blacks are exalting our nation’s president. Black public figures such as Cornel West, Tavis Smiley, and more recently hip-hop artist Lupe Fiasco, have publicly denounced the president for his seemingly failed policies.

Oftentimes Black supporters vehemently attack such Obama dissidents, sometimes questioning their level of “Blackness.” It appears that when it comes to lambasting the president, emotions mount. Those emotions stem from the idea that if you do not support the Black president, that somehow you are slamming the Black agenda.

That idea is characterized in Rev. Al Sharpton’s refusal to criticize Obama in fear of aiding the attitudes of the president’s most notable adversaries.

So which stance does Black America take?

In an age of racial bigotry on the right wing, capitalizing Obama’s shortcomings as ammunition to remove him from office, there is much difficulty in taking a critical stance on the president.

Condemning the president does not have to render one to relinquish their allegiance to Obama. One can be both Black, a supporter of Obama, and yet critical of his job performance. That criticism, however, should always be legitimate, honest, and used with discretion.

Tara Wall, a conservative columnist for The Daily Caller recently begged the question, “Why aren’t African Americans outraged at Obama over [the] economy?”

Truth be told, many of us are. But in the midst of the political crusade against Obama, it would behoove us to choose our battles wisely.

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I just returned from the Measuring the Movement forum hosted by Rev. Al Sharpton in New York City. The forum was insightful and empowering as it pertains to getting members of African American leadership to see the value of accountability.  NAACP President Ben Jealous gave time to the forum, and even President Barack Obama came through to give a speech.

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In many ways, the convention was arguably the most successful gathering of its kind. I find Sharpton’s approach to action-oriented solutions to be refreshing, and as a person who sat on a panel with both Jealous and Sharpton, it’s a relief to be involved with a forum where the goal is not to simply provide the best sound bite. “Sound bite leadership” in the black community needs to die and be replaced with strong, direct action that recognizes the urgency of our deadly situation.

The day after the forum, I got off an airplane to hear that Rev. Sharpton got into a heated debate over the black agenda with Cornel West. I knew the conversation would be volatile, and I was concerned about the imagery of two black men going to war on MSNBC. Ed Schultz was the host of “A Stronger America: The Black Agenda,” a show that allowed a few voices to air their perspective on what a black agenda should look like in the age of Obama.  Personally, I wonder why such a show was not positioned on a black network, or at least with an African American host.

As I expected, the argument came to a predictable boiling point.  Consistent with the views of his close colleague, Tavis Smiley, Cornel West fought hard to short-circuit the partnership between President Obama and Rev. Al Sharpton. Sharpton,  a man not known to back down from anyone, defended his positions well and also challenged those who “sit in the ivory tower” and talk without much action (I do not consider Cornel West to be one of those people; he believes what he says and acts on it).

I watched the entire exchange shaking my head, primarily because I knew that such a fight was simply inevitable.  As I wrote on the Huffington Post a couple of weeks ago, the Obama Presidency has created a divide among black public figures that I pray does not cripple our community.  I love both Rev. Sharpton and Cornel West, and it was sad to watch them get into such a personal and nasty fight on national television.

My perception is that Cornel is coming from a genuine place.  I cannot say the same about Tavis Smiley, who seemed to have a problem with Barack Obama’s disrespect toward him during the 2008 presidential election.  West’s statements about the elitism of the Obama Administration (he mentions that Obama would be glad to speak out if a wealthy banker were stopped by police, but not if it were a poor black man) are on point.  He is also correct to note that the administration has been slow to readily acknowledge African American suffering.

In Sharpton’s defense, the truth is that having an African American figure on the inside of the Obama Administration gives our community a better chance to grab the ear of the president.  What’s yet to be determined, however, is whether or not the president is listening to Sharpton’s concerns or giving priority to the issues being faced by other constituencies.  Women’s groups, the gay community and the Latino community have gotten high priority from the Obama Administration, but African Americans remain at the back of the bus when it comes to our primary concerns, including mass incarceration and growing unemployment rates of over 15 percent.  My belief is that Cornel West and Al Sharpton are both witnessing the community’s struggle up close, and Sharpton hopefully serves as a true and passionate surrogate for those who are frozen out of Obama’s big white house.

President Obama has reason to be concerned about losing much of his steadfast African American support.  According to a recent survey conducted at YourBlackWorld.com, 34.4% of black respondents said that President Obama failed to meet their expectations after being elected.  This disappointment may not translate to votes for the Republicans, but it can manifest itself in reduced voter turnout in the African American community.

Another survey at YourBlackWorld.com reveals that nearly two-thirds (62.3%) of black respondents do not see President Obama as a civil rights leader.  Given that Obama is not a civil rights leader, we must be careful not to feel that his presence reduces the significance of true civil rights leaders like Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and others.  This means that we need genuine and empowered advocates within black America who can mobilize the people to put pressure on any administration that is in power so that our rights as Americans can be secured.

In other words, sitting around and hoping that President Obama will look out for our interests is not nearly as effective as pursuing our interests ourselves.  Work must be done on the ground to lay out a black agenda, putting pressure on both Congress and the Obama Administration to see to it that our community is not left behind.  Both West and Sharpton would likely agree with this assertion, and this can begin the quest for common ground.

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Palin’s politics of grievance and group identity, according to these critics, is a betrayal of conservative principles. For decades, it was a standard line of the right that liberals cynically promoted victimhood to achieve their goals and that they practiced the politics of identity — race, sex and class—over ideas

Matt Labash, a longtime writer for the Weekly Standard, said that because of Palin’s frequent appeals to victimhood and group grievance, “She’s becoming Al Sharpton, Alaska edition.”

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When asked about the article, Sharpton told NY Mag that the GOP has lost control of Sarah Palin.

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I am in Akron, Ohio sitting at my laptop thinking about tomorrow’s events. Rev. Al Sharpton and I are in the state to rally for Kelley Williams-Bolar, the single mother who was jailed for sending her kids to a school outside their home district. In addition to going to jail for nine days, Ms. Williams-Bolar faces the possibility of never being able to teach in the state of Ohio for the rest of her life.

When we first started to talk about Kelley’s case, not many people knew what was happening.  But to my surprise, the news spread like wildfire, with Kelley getting international support from citizens around the world who were outraged at what was happening to this single mother of two.  ColorofChange.org and Change.org were able to gather hundreds of thousands of signatures in a matter of days, and the issue was immediately brought to the desk of Ohio Governor John Kasich. Kasich has agreed to have the parole board investigate and we continue to fight to protect Kelley and her family.

But the case is far bigger than Kelley Williams-Bolar, at least that’s not my primary reason for coming all this way. Every single day, my email inbox is filled with messages from citizens around the country who need help in very serious situations, and the truth is that I simply cannot help everyone.  So, I decided long ago that I would try to avoid engaging in individual crusades.   As someone who strongly believes in our nation’s quest for civil rights, it is my argument that our efforts are best utilized when pursuing matters that have the broadest socio-political implications.

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Kelley Williams-Bolar’s case affects millions of people because there are countless mothers who’ve risked the same persecution as Kelley to get their children access to a high-quality education.  Too many of our schools don’t have enough books, quality teachers or other resources necessary to prepare our children for a productive future.  Others came together to support Kelley because they could feel her pain.  Millions also seem to agree that we should not live in a nation where mothers must break the law in order to obtain something that should be a fundamental American right.

If Kelley’s children had been athletic like another Akron native by the name of LeBron James, they likely would have been allowed into the school without incident.  It is unfortunate that black children are worth something to others when they are presented as athletic, rather than intellectual commodities.  In fact, the idea that the labor of our youth has become such a powerful economic asset for the prison industrial complex has served to make our public school systems into feeders for America’s penitentiaries.

It’s time for this to change.  The denial of an adequate education for black and brown children across America is nothing less than a blatant violation of our human rights.  The Obama Administration should take the lead on this issue and have the necessary political courage to deal with this persistent and destructive problem.   Citizens who care about educational equality should do everything in their power to give our political leaders all the support they need to get the job done.  We shouldn’t settle for anything less, and that’s why we’re rallying in Ohio.

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We’re not telling Rush don’t say what he wants to say. Say it at home,” Sharpton said in December. “Don’t get on publicly regulated radio and television that are selectively given licenses and do that to offend someone because of their race or their gender.

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New York — Former GOP Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, a pro-life champion, locked horns with civil rights leader Al Sharpton over the issue of abortion in a heated debate Monday night.

The primary matter at hand was a racially-charged volley lobbed by Santorum at Obama over the president’s belief that women should be given a right to choose. “I find it almost remarkable for a black man to say ‘now we are going to decide who are people and who are not people,’” Santorum said of the Obama’s belief in abortion rights an interview last week.

Santorum, as he has proven in the past week, appeared happy to again dig in his heels and stand by this contention during the argument Monday.

“They were denied rights under the Constitution,” Santorum said, speaking of blacks before the passage of the 14th Amendment, before connecting that to his argument that abortion rights are inherently an infringement on the civil rights of fetuses.

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(HARLEM-WNYC)

Al Sharpton teamed up with the NYPD for a gun buy back on Harlem, New York City. WNYC reports:

A gun buyback held in Harlem by the New York Police Department and the Reverend Al Sharpton’s National Action Network brought in more than 350 weapons. Saturday’s event at Saint Mark the Evangelist and Memorial Baptist Churches took place as Sharpton and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly held an anti-violence summit blocks away.

Officials say 185 revolvers, 122 semi-automatics, eight shotguns, eight rifles and 31 other firearms were exchanged for $200 bank cards, no questions asked.

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Earlier this week, the New York Daily News shined a spotlight on Reverend Al Sharpton’s non-profit organization The National Action Network. Highlighting Sharpton’s executive salary, the story attempts to portray activist Sharpton as someone more committed to building his personal fortune than advancing his mission of social justice.

Instead, articles like these points to a growing pattern of unfair and exaggerated scrutiny of Black leaders.

What seems most newsworthy to the Daily News is that NAN paid Sharpton a salary of $250,000 last year, even as the organization was still paying off its tax debt. Despite their acknowledgment that Sharpton has been more generous than most, often donating his sizable speaking fees, and has forgone a salary for the past two years, the paper still led with the headline: “Tax Debt Doesn’t Stop Sharpton’s Salary.” [11/23/10].

So while the Daily News touted that Sharpton paid himself $250k while NAN is in the red, the undisputed facts are that Rev. Sharpton only received a net of $50k because the NY Daily News intentionally left out the fact that Rev. Sharpton had recently loaned almost his entire salary to NAN. Similar to what was done to Shirley Sherrod who became a sacrificial lamb when reckless charges were made against her by a blogger who posted a misleading and highly edited video of her and recklessly charged her with racism, Rev. Sharpton was disparaged by the Daily News who printed distorted and misleading information about his finances even after Rev. Sharpton went to meticulous extents to make sure the writer had all the facts. (Neither the writer or editor of the article were available for comment.)

A former presidential candidate, Al Sharpton has focused his work on securing civil rights for all Americans for the last three decades. His National Action Network has been at the forefront of these actions from anti police brutality efforts (such as Amadou Diallo and Sean Bell in NYC), partnering with the NYPD to buy back guns and decrease violence, touring the country with Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Newt Gingrich to decrease the racial achievement gap, protesting military exercises in Vieques, to last summer’s Reclaim the Dream March on the 47th anniversary of The March on Washington. This work has enhanced our democracy.

Over the past few years, there has been increased attention given to CEO salaries within the non-profit sector.  The IRS, the entity responsible for regulating charities for the federal government, has increased their focus on CEO compensation to help uncover fraudulent non-profit activity.  They have even redesigned the tax return forms charities submit to them annually, in part, to provide greater transparency around non-profit compensation. Given this, Sharpton’s $250,000 salary award (which becomes $83,333 each year when averaged over 2008-2009, the years he didn’t collect one) becomes even more appropriate.

According to a recent study by Charity Navigator, the average CEO of an educational non-profit earns an average of $272,000 annually.  For a large charity with > $13.5 MM expenses, the annual compensation rises to more than $280,000.  High profile organizations, like Sharpton’s, also command far higher executive pay.  The CEO of the Wildlife Conservation Society has a $503,000 base salary, the head of the NY Philharmonic $850,000. Conservative non-profit groups like The Brookings Institution pay $425,000, the Heritage Foundation $947,999 [source]. Given these statistics, it’s clear that significant salaries are warranted for leaders who are sought after for their ability to manage multi-million dollar institutions and are tasked with the huge goal of serving those who are less fortunate.  Reverend Al Sharpton is one of those leaders.

As the country struggles to survive the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, it can’t do so without non-profits. The past few years have hit non-profit organizations across the US pretty hard. Earlier this fall, a survey of the top 400 non-profit charities [source] found that income was down in 2009 and even though half expected to do better in 2010, the funding levels remain down by almost $7 billion. These non-profits will not be able to close the funding gap and continue to be effective without great leadership. And these leaders from civil rights groups to aid groups have to be paid fairly.

In a climate of increasing racial division that has ironically come about since the election of President Barack Obama, the attack on Sharpton is part of a pattern of increased and unfair scrutiny of Black leaders. In the same article, the Daily News also reported on an unresolved tax bill by the Sharpton led civil rights organization as a new development, even though the taxes in question made headlines several years ago. At that time, Sharpton responded that he worked out a payment plan with the IRS, a point the Daily News story only acknowledges. The suggestion is that Black leadership is disproportionately corrupt. But these tactics have no place in civil society.

My mother and I have worked with Reverend Al Sharpton for over thirty years, fighting to bring human rights and economic empowerment to African-Americans across this country. He has dedicated his life to this cause. I call on all Americans, especially those in our media outlets, to resist attempts like these to fan the flames of racial division with the spread of misinformation, and instead, join together with us in our universal fight for justice and equality.

Alfred C. Liggins III is the CEO / President of Radio One, Inc and the CEO of Interactive One.  Interactive One is the sole owner of NewsOne.com

www.interactiveone.com

www.radio-one.com

www.nationalactionnetwork.net

Rev Al Sharpton on NewsOne.com

New York — While appearing on Ed Schultz Show on MSNBC, Al Sharpton was asked about Rush Limbaugh’s racist comments and he responded by saying that  Limbaugh should not be supported by federally regulated radio.

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They held a press conference together Friday.

Sharpton has been a longtime critic of the New York Police Department. But he says he’ll do all he can to help the NYPD stem gun violence. He says it’s important to stop gun violence in the black community.

Kelly says 73 percent of the city’s shooting victims are black.

Sharpton says he plans to promote the NYPD’s Gun Stop program. The program offers a reward to anyone who turns in a weapon — no questions asked.

Shootings in the nation’s largest city are up this year. There have been 1,590 victims of gun violence reported, about 60 more than through the same time last year.

He reminds the crowd of the struggle and fight our ancestors dealt with in order to give us the right to vote. He also talks of the struggle to get the same crowds that supported Obama, full force, in 2008 to show up at the polls even now.

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Early voting is happening now and election day is around the corner. Click here for more information on Local Voting locations and events.

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Al Sharpton spoke up against the Tea Party at a recent NAACP state convention in New Jersey, the Courier-Post reports.

The Rev. Al Sharpton told guests at the NAACP’s state convention here Saturday that civil rights are under fire and that “the basis of the Tea Party is antithetical to civil rights.”

Asked whether the Tea Party rallying cry “Take back our country” is code for “take back the country from its first black president,” Sharpton replied curtly, “Take it back from whom to whom?”

“If they (Tea Party) are advocating states’ rights,” said Sharpton, keynote speaker at the three-day convention, “that’s always been the enemy of civil rights.”

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The Rev. Al Sharpton unleashed a formal assault on Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. today, accusing it of dredging up old tax debts for his civil rights organization in retaliation for holding his Reclaim the Dream rally the same day as Fox News TV host Glenn Beck’s Restoring Honor event, which took place at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial nearly two weeks ago.

The New York Post, which, like Fox News, is owned by News Corp., reported on Tuesday that an April 2 audit of Sharpton’s National Action Network, headquartered in New York City, revealed that it is in financial disarray. NAN owed an estimated $1.3 million in city, state and federal taxes at the end of 2008, according to the Post.

But a letter dated Sept. 7 from the group’s accounting firm said the story did not accurately reflect or quote any written statement from the audit and that NAN has made significant improvements. The civil rights group has 38 chapters across the nation, including Los Angeles and Chicago. Sharpton told The Root he plans to open 15 more by the end of the year.

“This was a totally bogus attack from the people in that company based on the success of our ability to get tens of thousands of people out there against Glenn Beck,” Sharpton said in an exclusive interview with The Root. “They’re also trying to get those who contribute to NAN to worry that we are about to close. We’re not. We’re stronger than ever and our tax liabilities are close to being settled, with 95 percent of the debt already paid.”

“His claim is unworthy of a response,” the New York Post said today in response to Sharpton’s claim.

Click here to read more at TheRoot

Click here to view photos:

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Thousands of people joined the Rev. Al Sharpton and other leaders Saturday to commemorate the anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s March on Washington in 1963. The event, billed as “Reclaim the Dream,” included a five-mile march that culminated at the Mall, where conservative talk show host Glenn Beck had organized the simultaneous “Restoring Honor” rally.

In an interview before the gathering began at Dunbar High School in Northwest Washington, Sharpton said he called the event to show respect for the ideals of King, who made his famous “I Have a Dream” speech 47 years ago near where Beck spoke to thousands Saturday.

“People are clear in what Dr. King’s dream was about, and we will not react to those who try to distort that dream,” Sharpton said. He was one of several prominent leaders who condemned Beck’s rally, despite cries from organizers that “Restoring Honor” was not intended to dishonor King or his work.

Read more at WashPost

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Read more at Woldcnews.com

Broadcaster Glenn Beck and tea party activists have a right to rally in the nation’s capital but not to distort Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision, the Rev. Al Sharpton said Friday.

Sharpton described the demonstration planned for Saturday by Beck and his supporters as an anti-government rally advocating states’ rights. And he said that goes against the message in King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech, in which the civil rights leader appealed to the federal government to ensure equality.

Beck’s “Restoring Honor” rally will be held at the Lincoln Memorial, where King delivered his speech exactly 47 years earlier. Beck and other organizers say the aim is to pay tribute to America’s military personnel and others “who embody our nation’s founding principles of integrity, truth and honor.” The broadcaster toured the site Friday as supporters cheered.

Sharpton wasn’t the only one upset with circumstance surrounding the event.

Leaders in the nation’s capital said they were offended by a tea party blogger’s warning to those attending to avoid two of Washington’s subway lines because they go through certain neighborhoods. Many parts of the city are safe, he wrote, “but why chance it if you don’t know where you are?”

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D.C. Council Chairman Vincent Gray, who is running for mayor, invited visitors into the city’s neighborhoods and said Friday he would urge any tea partiers he meets to ride the subway.

“Frankly, we need to put an end to that venom,” he said at a news conference. “This is a city of 600,000 people —

people who enjoy living here, people who pay their taxes.”

“Let’s not let them get away with portraying the District of Columbia as some kind of frontier city,” Gray said. “We live in peace.”

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The original post early Monday morning by blogger Bruce Majors was offered as a visitor’s guide for those coming to the district for the rally. It offered hints on cheap eats, free wireless Internet spots —

and the home addresses of Democratic political leaders, with the note, “Feel free to protest!”

Majors also wrote that the population includes “refugees from every country, as the families of embassy staffs of third world countries tend to stay in D.C. whenever a revolution in their homeland means that anyone in their family would be in danger if they went back.”

He also wrote that taxi drivers and waiters and waitresses frequently are from foreign countries.

Majors, who said he has lived in D.C. since 1980, did not respond to telephone messages requesting comment Friday.

On Saturday, Sharpton and others plan their own rally at a high school and a march to the site of a planned King memorial not far from the Lincoln Memorial to mark the anniversary of his speech.

During a news conference Friday, Sharpton questioned whether Beck and others understand King’s words.

“They have the right to rally. But what they don’t have the right to do is distort what Dr. King’s dream was about,” he said.

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He said King’s legacy is not owned by black people alone, and others can have different views of him. But he said they can’t have different views of King’s speech.

“His speech says clearly that he wanted to see a nation where the federal government protects us from those and states that would not uphold our civil rights,” Sharpton said.

“You can’t have a march telling government to leave us alone and say you’re reclaiming a march where they came to appeal to government to protect us,” he said. “They’re having an anti-government march on a day that King came to appeal to government. You can’t have it both ways.”

The Rev. Walter Fauntroy, who formerly represented the District of Columbia in the U.S. House, said Beck’s rally organizers “seized the hallowed ground of the 47th anniversary … to promote their universal vision of exclusion.”

“Their purpose is to turn the clock back in a time in America” when blacks and other minorities lacked rights, he said.

“It would be wrong for us to allow those who espouse the universal value of exclusion to hijack the site and the message of that marvelous day and to use it against the very vision that Martin Luther King Jr. articulated so magnificently,” he said.

Civil rights activist the Rev. Al Sharpton vowed this week to file a federal inquiry into the death of Mitrice Richardson, a missing 25-year-old woman thought to be mentally ill whose remains were found last week. She had been allowed to leave a sheriff’s station nearly a year ago against the wishes of her parents.

“The National Action Network will send a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to ask for an official inquiry,” Sharpton told The Root exclusively. “The incident must be raised to a review of what the process was compared to others in the area. It could be a test case of what’s going on around the country, where missing African Americans are not considered a priority for law enforcement or the media.”

Read more at TheRoot

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Al Sharpton stood by the comments he made at a birthday party for Congressman Charles Rangel on MSNBC’s Mornig Joe show Friday. At the party he said that the media “started and executed the political crucifixion” and on MSNBC said that Rangel would be resurrected by voters in Harlem.

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Last week, Newsweek featured the legendary Rev. Al Sharpton on their front cover. The article focused on the reinvention of the Reverend. It speaks on everything from his controversial Tawana Brawley episode, to race in the age of a Black President. We attached the link below so you can read his feature if you haven’t already.

Click here: The Reinvention Of The Reverend Al

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Jackson deflected questions about the resolution at a news conference during the annual convention of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in Kansas City.

Check out our gallery of Civil Rights leaders:

“We will not be diverted or otherwise distracted by any other message except putting America back to work,” Jackson said a day after convention delegates approved the resolution. “We want jobs and justice and peace.”

Sharpton was a little more direct, saying issues surrounding the tea party go beyond claims of racism. He said the civil rights movement sought to pressure the federal government to step in when states were enforcing segregation laws, and the tea party’s focus on states’ rights puts people at risk.

“They talk about restoring dignity. They are really talking about restoring a time before the federal government intervened and protected the rights of people,” Sharpton said.

He noted Arizona’s new law that directs local and state law enforcement to take on federal duties by questioning people about their immigration status, after they’ve been stopped for another crime, if there’s reason to suspect they’re in the U.S. illegally.

“There clearly are some racial leaves in their tea bag,” Sharpton said. “But this is not just about race. It is about how you see government.”

The resolution, approved Tuesday by delegates attending the conference, calls on tea party activists and others to “repudiate the racist element and activities” within the political movement. Tea party organizers quickly disputed its claims of racism and asked the NAACP to withdraw the resolution.

Mark Williams, a spokesman for the Tea Party Express, said Wednesday it was unfortunate that the NAACP has chosen to “profiteer off race-baiting and fear mongering” when it could be doing so much to help the black community.

He also questioned the motives of Sharpton, Jackson and NAACP officials, suggesting they were taking advantage of the publicity the resolution generated.

“I’m not surprised they are jumping into the fray here because the NAACP just tapped a Gulf oil well full of cash contributions that will arrive from this resolution,” Williams said. “And I know Al and Jesse want their piece of it. The slave traders of the 16th century should have been as good at exploiting Africans as these people are, because it’s just disgusting.”

When asked about the tea party, Jackson talked about jobs. He said the country has a plan for fixing other problems, but not for helping the millions who are without jobs — a disproportionate number of them minorities.

Sharpton stressed the Oct. 2 march in Washington, saying it would remind Congress and President Barack Obama about the challenges facing minority neighborhoods. NAACP President Ben Jealous said more than 150 organizations were involved, including civil rights, religious and labor groups.

Civil rights leaders also are planning a smaller event on Aug. 28 at the site where the Martin Luther King Jr. monument will be unveiled next year. Conservative pundit Glenn Beck also is planning a rally in Washington on the anniversary of King’s 1963 march on the nation’s capital, which was capped with his famous “I Have a Dream” speech.

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From TheGrio.com:

African-American leaders denounced TV and radio pundit Glenn Beck’s Tea Party rally next month that will occur on the same date and at the same spot where the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech nearly 50 years ago.

And as Beck hosts his “Restoring Honor” event Aug. 28th at the Lincoln Memorial, civil rights organizations, including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the National Urban League and the National Action Network, will hold events to commemorate King’s legacy and the March on Washington.

“It is just an outright attempt to flip the imagery of Dr. King and the imagery of that march, and distort it for some opposite purposes,” said the Rev. Al Sharpton, president of the National Action Network, which is hosting the “Reclaim the Dream” rally in Washington, D.C. at the same time as Beck’s “Restoring Honor” event. “They’re not talking about celebrating Dr. King, they’re talking about circumventing him and distorting him.”

But some African-American Tea Party members said there was nothing wrong with Beck holding his “Restoring Honor” rally at the Lincoln Memorial on the 47th anniversary of the March on Washington.

Click here to read more.

Click here to view photos:

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The head of the nation’s largest and oldest civil rights organization, fearing a loss of momentum since the 2008 election, plans to use the group’s annual convention to get people “off the couch” and renergized to fight back against a tea party movement that opposes much of President Barack Obama’s agenda.

The NAACP convention, set to start Saturday, also will focus on education and the mounting jobs losses that have disproportionately affected minorities. Headliners will include First Lady Michelle Obama and the Revs. Jesse L. Jackson and Al Sharpton.

“We have to close the enthusiasm gap and remind people that the majority that existed two years ago still exists today,” said Ben Jealous, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, in a phone interview.

Since the presidential election, the tea party has emerged, espousing a political philosophy of less government, a free market, lower taxes, individual rights and political activism.

To Jealous, the movement is pushing the country backward. He said that when people “get hit in the pocketbook, they start looking for scapegoats, and they start tearing the country apart.” What is crucial, he said, is to talk about issues that unite the United States.

“The danger of the tea party is that people see them and think about periods in history when groups like them were much more powerful than they are now,” he said. “And so a lot of what we spend energy doing is explaining to people what reality is, and that the reality is that the majority from 2008 still exists. It went no where but back on the couch, and our biggest challenge is to get it back off the couch and back to the streets and back on the battlefield.”

Greg Ward, a Kansas real estate agent and a tea party activist who cofounded a group called the Kansas 912 Project, disputed assertions that the group doesn’t want progress and said its members have made extra efforts to include black conservatives who are concerned about the direction of the country.

“I think part of the tea party thing is people are just tired of the polarization and the lack of the government being in touch with the majority of the people,” Ward said.

Beyond increased activism, Jealous said the top short-term goal is jobs. The convention, which will take place in Kansas City and goes through Thursday, will include a session on green jobs, and speakers will talk about how the BP oil spill is affecting several disenfranchised communities, including Vietnamese, American Indian and black fishermen and oil workers.

“Nothing happens unless people get back to work,” Jealous said. “We don’t have money for schools. We don’t have money to pay mortgages with, so jobs are key.”

Speakers at the convention also will include Education Secretary Arne Duncan, who has pushed to turnaround faltering schools in poor communities. Duncan also has vowed increased vigilance to make sure students have equal access to everything from college prep classes to science and engineering programs.

Other highlights during the week:

• Wells Fargo, whom the NAACP sued over claims it forced blacks into subprime mortgages, is one of the event’s sponsors. The lawsuit was settled in April, and Wells Fargo staff will be at the convention talking to borrowers about modifying loan terms. Several other NAACP lawsuits against lenders are pending.

• Speakers, including the president of the National Medical Association, will talk about childhood obesity and other health issues that are hitting minority communities hard.

• NAACP leaders and representatives from various federal agencies, including the Department of Justice and Housing and Urban Development, will talk about new efforts to improve civil-rights enforcement. Starting this week, the NAACP is launching a system called “All Allert” that will provide a way for witnesses and victims of police misconduct or hate crimes to report directly from their cell phone.

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DETROIT — Civil rights activist the Rev. Al Sharpton gave a rousing eulogy Saturday for a 7-year-old girl killed in a police raid, challenging the hundreds of mourners to take responsibility and help stop a spiral of violence that has swept the city.

Sharpton lobbed some criticism at Detroit police, whose explanation of how Aiyana Stanley-Jones died from a gunshot has been contradicted by the girl’s family. But he mostly offered a broad cultural message to a city where at least three children and an officer have been killed in recent weeks.

“I’d rather tell you to start looking at the man in the mirror. We’ve all done something that contributed to this,” he said referring to Aiyana’s death.

“This is it,” Sharpton said at Second Ebenezer Church. “This child is the breaking point.”

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The congregation stood and applauded Sharpton, the final speaker at a nearly two-hour service that included stirring gospel music and remarks from clergy.

Aiyana was shot in the neck while sleeping on a couch May 16. Police hunting for a murder suspect say an officer’s gun accidentally fired inside the house after he was jostled by, or collided with, her grandmother. A stun grenade was also thrown through a window.

A lawyer for Aiyana’s family, Geoffrey Fieger, is suing and claims the shot was fired from outside the house immediately after the grenade was used. A camera crew working on the A&E reality series “The First 48″ accompanied police on the raid.

“Do they throw these flash grenades in everybody’s neighborhood? Would you have gone in Bloomfield Hills and did what you did?” Sharpton said, referring to a wealthy Detroit suburb. “Have you ever heard of putting on a light and calling people to come out?”

Before the service, Aiyana’s coffin was open for people to pay their respects. An arrangement of pink and white roses shaped like a princess crown and bearing her name was on a stand.

A few days earlier, Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox, a Republican running for governor, criticized Sharpton’s visit, saying he was disgusted and accusing the New Yorker of a “drive-by at the scene of a tragedy.”

“I’m disgusted when I look at a 7-year-old baby in a casket,” Sharpton said during his eulogy. “And rather turn to each other, we name-call and ego-tripping and trying to jump in front of a camera rather than stand up and say, ‘Enough is enough.’”

Sharpton said children need guidance and respect and maybe Aiyana’s death will be the catalyst.

Young men carried Aiyana’s white casket on their shoulders out of the church to a horse-led cortege for burial at Trinity Cemetery.

The mourners included Erica Milioni of Adrian, her husband and their seven children. They are trying to move to Detroit to get involved in urban farming and had heard about the tragedy.

“The Bible says weep with those who weep. I thought it was a blessing. I was blessed by the mix of truth and the pursuit of peace,” Milioni said of the service.

Aiyana’s cousin, Rachel Conley, 34, of Eastpointe said she was inspired by Sharpton and plans to start a program called “Aiyana’s Angels” to give young girls a safe place to be, perhaps a few times a month.

Roshell Johnson, 9, was wearing a shirt with a picture of Aiyana, her best friend. The funeral program said she liked Disney’s “Hannah Montana” show and all the Disney princesses.

“Why did the police do it to her?” Roshell said after the service. “I loved her so much. I want her to come back alive.”

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Today, and every Friday, NewsOne editor Ashton Lattimore joins the Rev. Al Sharpton on his radio show, “Keeping It Real,” for the NewsOne news hour. We’ll be discussing all of this week’s hot topics in news, from Obama’s Gulf Coast visit to the racial gap in swimming ability that’s endangering Black children. Click here to listen to the live broadcast.

I just returned from the “Measuring the Movement” forum, hosted by The Rev. Al Sharpton and the National Action Network.  The event was off the chain, with an amazing crowd and an outstanding panel of guests.  We were joined by Rev. Al Sharpton, Ben Jealous, Marc Morial, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rep. Charles Rangel, Democratic Whip James Clyburn, Charles Ogletree, Michael Eric Dyson, Roland Martin, Tom Joyner, Jeff Johnson, Judge Greg Mathis, Education Secretary Arne Duncan, and a list of other intriguing panelists.  The event was truly amazing.

RELATED: Tavis Smiley Calls On Black Leaders To Discuss Black Agenda Under Obama

One name that wasn’t mentioned, at least not in my presence, was that of Tavis Smiley.  Smiley’s name seemed to be that which cannot be mentioned, like the evil character, Lord Voldemort, in the Harry Potter films.  In case you don’t recall, simply saying Voldemort’s name was forbidden on Harry Potter’s Hogwarts campus, since his name would conjure up evil spirits.

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I don’t think that Tavis Smiley is evil, but I will confess that I wasn’t interested in saying his name much either.   There didn’t seem to be a point, since Tavis presents an abnormally contentious perspective on how to best work with President Obama.   Some of the attendees may even consider Tavis to be an enemy of progress, given that he seems to want Obama removed from office (he has a direct incentive to see Hillary Clinton become successful).  But what must also be understood is that in spite of the fact that Tavis presents an alternative point of view from Rev. Al Sharpton, the truth is that they are actually helping one another when it comes to getting things done.

RELATED: DR. BOYCE: Al Sharpton, Tavis Smiley Fight Is Post-Obama America

The logic is simple:  ”Good cop, bad cop” is a highly effective negotiating tactic.   Most of us are familiar with the concept, but I can quickly remind you of how it works.  When police interrogate a suspect, there is the “bad cop”:  the one who gets in the defendant’s face, talks about his mother, pulls out his gun and threatens to shoot him on the spot if he doesn’t confess.  He’s the out-of-control maniac who doesn’t seem to care about staying within the confines of decent behavior.

Then, there is the “good cop”:  The one who offers the defendant a cigarette and something to eat when the bad cop is out of the room.  He gains the trust of the defendant and tells him, “Look, that guy’s nutts.  But if you tell me where the body is, I think I can help you out of this mess.”  Of course the defendant gives the information to the good cop without realizing that both cops are working together.  Effectively, by presenting a worse alternative, the good cop looks that much more enticing. Without the bad cop raising hell and annoying the defendant, he would probably disrespect the good cop and not even speak to him.

Although I don’t think they are working together, the truth is that when it comes to dealing with the president, Al Sharpton has become the good cop and Tavis Smiley has become the bad cop.  Smiley is marginalized by The White House since he was part of the Hillary Clinton crew, which lost the election.  Had Clinton become president, Smiley would have likely gotten the cabinet position he feels that he deserves.  Resulting from what appear to be sour grapes, Tavis likes Obama about as much as Sean Hannity.  He screams at the top of his lungs about what Obama is not doing, and doesn’t make much room for encouragement of the president or acknowledgement that perhaps Obama has done at least one thing right.  He is the bad cop, throwing temper tantrums and making everyone incredibly uncomfortable with his highly irrational behavior.  Forgive me for putting it that way, but I have to tell it like it is.

Sharpton, as the good cop, helps President Obama deal with the valid criticism coming from the Tavis Smiley crew.   While I do not believe that Tavis would be happy with President Obama under any circumstances, the truth is that some of his colleagues (Michael Eric Dyson, Cornel West, Julianne Malveaux, Jesse Jackson) have critiques that are quite valid: Black unemployment has increased while white unemployment has stabilized, and President Obama has hardly said the words “black man” in public since he was elected.  Obama has shown himself to be sensitive to this criticism, primarily because some in the black community are becoming skeptical of just how much Obama’s success has translated into their own success.  Obama needs a way to counter these consistent attacks.

As Harvard Professor Charles Ogletree rightfully mentions, Sharpton is a critical piece of President Obama’s strategy to connect to the African American community.  By working with Rev. Sharpton in an honest and forthright way, Obama can directly engage African Americans and mute the critics coming from the Smiley camp.  Obama knows that he has to deal with black America and our “leadership” on some level, and Sharpton has extended the most effective olive branch available.  But with that olive branch, there does not come an invitation for Sharpton to be used as a tool for the administration.  Instead, there is an expectation that President Obama will give the “good cop” what he and his constituents are demanding.  Sharpton and Smiley are effectively asking for the same thing:  a black agenda from the president that reflects the interests of people of color.  The only difference in their viewpoints is the relatively meaningless semantical technicality of whether or not it should actually be called a “black agenda.”  While the words used to describe the agenda can be important, President Obama is not in a place where he can ballyhoo an agenda that is exclusively designed for African Americans.  All the while, it must be made clear that if black unemployment continues to rise, the community has valid reason to keep criticizing the president.

Sharpton and Smiley don’t agree when it comes to President Obama.  Their public fights have been real, and I am not sure how or when they are going to be resolved.  But what is most ironic is that Smiley’s presence opens additional doors for Sharpton, since President Obama realizes that both of these men have valid reasons to be skeptical of all politicians.   The world is better with both Smiley and Sharpton than it would be without them – that’s the bottom line.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and the author of the book, “Black American Money.” To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.

NEW YORK — The Rev. Al Sharpton is a “lightning rod” for President Barack Obama on inner city streets, Obama’s former Harvard mentor and friend said Saturday at a forum in Harlem.

But Sharpton, who led the event, told The Associated Press that America’s first black president “has to work both for us and for others,” and that if Obama were to push a race-based agenda, “that would only organize the right against him.”

Sharpton spoke on the last day of an annual conference organized by his National Action Network. Speakers included three members of Obama’s Cabinet and Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, as well as Charles Ogletree, the president’s Harvard Law School professor, now a friend.

“Al Sharpton has become the lightning rod in moving Obama’s agenda forward,” Ogletree told the AP, describing Sharpton as a conduit between the disadvantaged and powerful leaders. “And he has access to both the streets and the suites, to make sure that the people who are voiceless, faceless and powerless finally have some say.”

Standing at the back of a balcony overlooking Harlem’s ornate First Corinthian Baptist Church, the 57-year-old lawyer said that some black Americans may be disappointed the president they helped elect isn’t doing more for them.

“And President Obama expected to do a lot more,” said Ogletree, referring to the challenges Obama faces in two wars and the struggling economy. Still, he predicted, the new health care law would affect uninsured black Americans more than any other segment of the population.

But clearly, Sharpton was at the center of this forum. Saturday, the front page of The Washington Post featured a photo of him with a headline that read: “Activist Al Sharpton takes on new role as administration ally.”

Sharpton chuckled at the notion.

“I’ve been as much in this White House as I was in George (W.) Bush’s – it’s only when Bush invited me to the White House, it was him reaching out; when Obama invites me, all of a sudden, we’re allies,” Sharpton joked during a break, sitting in a pew on the altar that served as a high-tech stage.
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Amid a heated national debate over whether black leaders should align themselves with the president, Sharpton has defended Obama against criticism from television host Tavis Smiley that “black folk are catching hell” and Obama should do more to help them.

Black Americans, Sharpton said, “need to solve our own problems.”

Sharpton told the AP that he is working to expand his Harlem-based organization to 100 cities from the current 42, with about 200,000 members, “and to really deliver against unemployment that is disproportionate in the black community, and for health care and education reform.”

The four-day conference, focusing on a 12-month plan of action for black leadership, brought together prominent figures from dozens of fields, tackling topics as diverse as finding jobs for men leaving prison and federal subsidies for black farmers.

Sharpton’s “12-month action plan” to better life for black Americans measures its success by individual goal-setting – “every day, every week, every month,” said Mayor Michael Nutter of Philadelphia.

Nutter has a big goal: to reach and teach a half million adults in his city who are considered “low-literate,” which means they can read, technically, but have difficulty understanding a newspaper article or even a utility bill.

“It is impossible for parents to help their children if they can’t read,” said Nutter, who leads the largest American city with a black mayor. “It is almost impossible to lift yourself out of poverty if you can’t function at a high enough level.”

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Here is President Barack Obama’s letter to Al Sharpton for his National Action Conference

Dear Reverend Sharpton:

Congratulations to you and the National Action Network for another year of fighting for the rights of those who have no voice, and lifting up causes that would otherwise go unnoticed. I regret that I am unable to join you at what is sure to be a wonderful 2010 National Action Network convention.

This has been one of the most challenging times in our nation, but because of the work and investments we made through the Recovery Act and other policies during our first year, the economy is beginning to show signs of strength.

However, we are acutely aware of the unacceptably high unemployment rate – particularly for African Americans – and we understand the critical need to create jobs and develop pathways to opportunity. That is why we have provided $1 billion in capital for small and minority businesses in underserved communities and authorized innovative programs to develop more than 100,000 jobs for TANF recipients in 21 states. We are also investing in a skills agenda by increasing the amount of Pell Grant awards and improving support for community colleges so that workers have the tools needed to take advantage of future opportunities.

Our success enacting health insurance reform, coupled with the First Lady’s initiative on childhood obesity, will serve to reduce the alarming health disparities among African Americans. New benefits include free preventive care and increased access to medical attention through community health centers. In addition, no patient can be denied coverage based on a pre-existing condition, or lose their health care when they are sick and need it most. More than 32 million uninsured Americans will have access to health care, and millions of them are African American.

Another important agenda for this Administration is building a world-class education system that supports the aspirations of all Americans from cradle to career. Your leadership and work with those on both sides of the aisle have drawn much needed attention to this critical issue. In schools across the nation, dropout rates are too high, expectations are too low, and too few African Americans have the opportunities needed to prepare for college and careers. We are calling for more rigorous and relevant standards and accountability in our schools, and investing billions to advance reform, turnaround our most troubled schools, and reduce dropout rates. We will do more to raise the bar and improve outcomes for our youngest children before they reach kindergarten, while also investing $1 billion in black colleges and universities over the next 10 years to chart a course for a better life and brighter future.

Since its founding, the National Action Network has stood up for those without help and without hope. While many are talking about the need for transformational action, this organization is working to see it carried out. Today’s forum “Measuring the Movement” offers an opportunity to advance more solutions to the challenges we face as a nation.

We know that too many communities of color were living on the margins even before the recession hit. My Administration is dedicated to turning these great challenges into greater opportunities that significantly improve the lives of many throughout the country.

Again congratulations on today’s event, and best wishes in your pursuit of economic security, social justice, and peace for all Americans.

Sincerely,

Barack Obama

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Rev. Al Sharpton has been holding his annual National Action Network Conference this week in New York City and NewsOne.com, in collaboration with TV One & Roland Martin, has your inside scoop!

Can’t attend the lively discussion this morning? No problem! Watch it streamed live right here!

Roland Martin will be moderating a discussion titled “Measuring the Movement,” which will cover the Black agenda and a 12-month for emerging leaders. The panel will include such big names as Warren Ballentine, Dr. Charles Ogltree of Harvard Law, Judge Greg Mathis, and NewsOne’s own Dr. Boyce Watkins.

WATCH IT LIVE HERE @ 11 A.M. Saturday, April 17:

Click here to get more information about TV One’s EXCLUSIVE coverage of this historic event!

Click here to view photos!

Rev. Al Sharpton has been holding his annual National Action Network Conference this week in New York City and NewsOne.com, in collaboration with TV One & Roland Martin, has your inside scoop!

Can’t attend the lively discussion this morning? No problem! Watch it streamed live right here!

Roland Martin will be moderating a discussion titled “Measuring the Movement,” which will cover the Black agenda and a 12-month for emerging leaders. The panel will include such big names as Warren Ballentine, Dr. Charles Ogltree of Harvard Law, Judge Greg Mathis, and NewsOne’s own Dr. Boyce Watkins.

WATCH IT LIVE HERE @ 11 A.M. Saturday, April 17:

Click here to get more information about TV One’s EXCLUSIVE coverage of this historic event!

Click here to view photos!

Michael Steele addressed the National Action Network Conference yesterday and called Al Sharpton a “strong leader” and a “friend.” He also alluded to some of the Republican party being similar to an Elephant’s ass, saying:

“I work every day in this job, as I like to put it, to turn the elephant, Now, I don’t know if you ever had to turn an elephant, but the end you have to start with is not necessarily the best place to start.

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Fox News host Bill O’Reilly was booed at Reverend Al Sharpton’s National Action Network Convention in New York on Wednesday, when the TV personality insisted race is no longer a “real” issue, and told the crowd, “It’s time to drop the race stuff.”

O’Reilly didn’t stop there. He continued by saying “Black people need to stop playing the race card.” At one point, Rev. Sharpton turned to the audience and jokingly said “You can boo that one…” encouraging the crowd to express their discontent with O’Reilly’s comments.

Click here to view photos of Obama Haters:

In an effort to calm a noticeably tense crowd, O’Reilly praised President Obama for not using race to further his own agenda. The O’Reilly factor host also thought it was necessary to defend Tea Partiers by saying “a few bad apples shouldn’t ruin the bunch.”

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From the NY Post:

Al Sharpton’s ex-wife and daughter are off the hook for allegedly F-bombing cops during an October traffic stop in Harlem.

Kathy Jordan, 53, and her daughter, Dominique, 23, will see their misdemeanor grab bag of charges — including obstructing governmental administration, resisting arrest, harassment and disorderly conduct — dismissed providing they are not rearrested in the next six months.

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“In America, you have the right to object to police action,” said their lawyer, Michael Hardy. “And certainly you should not be arrested and prosecuted for objecting if you’ve committed no crime.”

Cops had claimed the two women profanely lit into cops when they were stopped for allegedly blowing a red light at 110th Street and 8th Avenue on Oct. 30.

“I have a play to go to — this is f—ing bullshit!” the daughter allegedly yelled. “Get the f— off me! You can’t harass me! Why the f— am I getting a summons,” she allegedly continued.

Click here to read more.

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The walls have been closing in on Paterson for weeks (with plenty of help from the NY Times, which is enthusiastically reporting every detail and angle of his downfall). But if tonight’s Harlem meeting goes south and Black leaders opt to make a unified call for his resignation, it’s hard to imagine him hanging on much longer. After all, once Paterson reaches the point where the media and other politicians can point and say, “Look, even Black people don’t support you!”, it’s a pretty short trip out the front door of the governor’s mansion. – NewsOne Staff

From NY Daily News:

ALBANY – A group of prominent black leaders will meet Thursday night in Harlem to discuss whether scandal-plagued Gov. Paterson should resign, a source told the Daily News.

“There are a lot of things that people now see as indefensible,” the source said. “A lot of people think it’s time to move on – not just for the state, but for David as well.”

The meeting comes just five days after the same group met and agreed that Paterson should be given an opportunity to serve out the remainder of his term.

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Paterson announced on Friday that he would not seek election to a full four-year term.

Since that Saturday meeting in Harlem, another round of damaging stories has emerged, leaving even his closest supporters to consider whether it’s time for Paterson to step down.

It was revealed this week that Paterson asked two people to reach out to a woman who accused one of the governor’s top aides of assaulting her to change her story. And on Wednesday, the state Public Integrity Commission said Paterson violated state law by accepting free World Series tickets last October and then lied under oath about the matter.

“The purpose of this meeting is to discuss whether he should resign,” the source said.

The idea is for the leaders who attend the meeting, which was called for 8:30 p.m. at Sylvia’s Restaurant by the Rev. Al Sharpton, is to “come together to as a cohesive voice.”

Click here to read more.

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As I sat and listened to the argument between Tavis Smiley and Rev. Al Sharpton, I was sad.  Both Tavis and Rev. Al have made tremendous contributions to the black community, and it seems that the “Great Obama Divide” has plagued our ability to move forward with a concerted agenda.  No one knows what the future holds or which ideas are going to work, so everyone believes that their approach to leveraging the opportunity that comes with a black president is the one that will work the best.  Our Black Leadership Boat is in uncharted waters, and every leader has an oar pointed in their own direction.

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Smiley and company seem to feel that President Obama isn’t engaging in enough blatant effort to prove to the world that he is committed to supporting black folks.  He argues that Obama’s efforts to reach across the isle often lead to him stretching his political legs across a pool of disgusting racism in order to establish connection with those who hate his people.   Smiley is correct in that our needs are usually put on the back burner, and that black people are suffering more than nearly anyone else during this economic crisis.

RELATED: Obama Meets With Black Leaders To Discuss Economy

Sharpton feels that Obama has the capacity to show compassion toward the black community and that he is attempting to do that.  His meetings with Obama have at least bore rhetorical fruit, with the president agreeing to follow-ups in the future to discuss the needs of African Americans.  This communicates, at the very least, that our president is open to genuine black advocacy.  The problem, however, is that there are some who are reluctant to challenge Obama the way they would if he were a white man.   Whether we hold our politicians accountable should be more readily reflected by the institutions they represent, rather than the color of their skin.  What is also true, however, is that both Smiley and Sharpton are holding Obama accountable.  The difference is that Smiley is forced to attack from the outside in, and Sharpton is fighting from the inside out, leading to serious conflicts of interest.

Honestly, I am not sure if there is anything that President Obama could do that would not make Tavis Smiley dislike him.   But either way, the rift between Sharpton and Smiley is an introduction to the post-Obama America, where being black no longer means being on the same page.  It means that the man (Smiley) who once referred to Bill Clinton as the first black president cannot look a real black president in the eye and give him the benefit of the doubt.   It means that Al Sharpton and other civil rights leaders are forced to do the dirty work on racial equality because our black president has been terrorized into political silence on issues of race.

RELATED: Tavis Smiley Calls Obama’s Health Care Victory “Small Change”

The post-Obama America is one where the heterogeneity of the black community becomes more prominent and undeniable.  Being a black Democrat now has a number of possible meanings, not just one.

While I hope that Smiley and Sharpton overcome their problems, I don’t think they ever will.  Sure, the public may get a chance to see them reconcile, but there are some divides that simply can’t be bridged.  Sharpton’s greatest incentive is to protect his relationship with the White House to enhance his ability to be effective.  Smiley, who has been exiled by Obama (but not Hillary Clinton), has every incentive to undermine the president’s vast support within the African American community (which is not going to work).  The Great Obama Divide is with us and won’t go away anytime soon.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.

NEW YORK – The boyfriend of one of the Rev. Al Sharpton’s daughters was charged Thursday with punching her in the face and shoving her out of a car, but a defense lawyer said the boyfriend hurled nothing more than words at her.

Latrell Peeks, 23, was released without bail after his arraignment on assault and harassment charges. He didn’t enter a plea.

Prosecutors said the 6-foot-7 Peeks punched 23-year-old Dominique Sharpton, daughter of the civil rights activist, repeatedly in the face Tuesday while the two were in a car in Manhattan’s Harlem neighborhood. She was treated at a hospital for a cut on her lip and a swollen jaw, Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Daniel Brody said.

Peeks, also 23, didn’t enter a plea. But defense lawyer Jennifer Wu said that the couple had only a verbal dispute, and that Sharpton left the car voluntarily.

A lawyer for the Sharptons, Michael Hardy, declined to comment. So did Peeks when he left the courthouse.

His grandmother, Leova Jenkins, called the charges “ridiculous.”

“He’s a good kid,” she said. He is a full-time college student also looking for work, his lawyer said.

He’s due back in court March 24, the day after Sharpton and her mother, Kathy, are set to go on trial on resisting arrest and other charges stemming from an Oct. 30 traffic stop in Harlem. Police say the two cursed at the officers, ignored orders to return to their cars and resisted being handcuffed.

Hardy says they committed no crime. They have pleaded not guilty.

Kathy Sharpton is Al Sharpton’s ex-wife; Dominique Sharpton is their eldest child.

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I talk to Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton on a regular basis.  In fact, I spoke to both of them on Sunday and Monday.  I have to start off by telling you this so you’ll know that my perspective on these two individuals might be a bit different from others.  I am never on board with everything that another person says, but I’ll admit that getting to know these men behind the scenes gives a point of view that others are not so quick to understand.

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Let me explain:  You see, mainstream media has an issue with African American men, particularly unapologetic African American “leadership,” (whatever that means).  You probably can’t think of one strong African American advocate who has not been made into a clown or had his dirty laundry aired in public.  This is not because black “leaders” have more dirty laundry than others.  I argue that it’s because the media doesn’t protect the images of black public figures the way it does for their white counter parts.  If you dig into the past of almost any respected white “leader,” you would probably find a whole lot more dirt than the media has presented to the American public.  But when it comes to Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and Louis Farrakhan, all bets are off.

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With that said, I think it should be made clear that neither of these men are perfect, and neither was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  In fact, Dr. King died a very unpopular man and his heroic legacy was only restored after his death.  America has never loved black people who’ve pushed the envelope and forced America to look at itself in the mirror.  It is for their struggles and commitment to fighting for something greater than themselves that I will always respect Rev. Jackson and Rev. Sharpton.   In general, I believe in respecting my elders, for their contributions pave the way for the rest of us.

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There are also deeper issues to consider in America’s fight for fairness.  One of the things I find most interesting is that people who complain about men like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton aren’t doing a damn thing themselves.  They will stare at the TV as armchair quarterbacks and complain about this and that, all the while, they aren’t doing anything to advance the causes that they expect their “leaders” to promote.  I get the emails every single day:

“We had a lady get shot in our neighborhood, and where was Jesse Jackson when that went down?  Naw, he was on TV making his money.”

“Al Sharpton wasn’t in California when the black man had his rent money stolen.  He only cares about himself.”

When I get these emails in my inbox (I get tons of them), my reactions to people are the following:

a) Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton nor anyone else can be in all places at once. Even when you travel constantly to do as much as you can (exhausting yourself in the process), there are still going to be incidents that you simply don’t have time to address.  The “Super Negro” Theory for Civil Rights must be abolished.

b) The person who is doing all the complaining in their email is usually doing absolutely nothing himself. So, my first response to the person who asks me why I’m not doing this or doing that is to say, “As soon as you send me a list of all the things you’re doing to help black people, I’ll send you a list of my own.”

My response is not meant to belittle the person’s comment or to attack them.  It is to remind them that this fight belongs to all of us, not just a few figure heads that we see on TV.  The Chicago Bulls were never a great team when the players stood around watching Michael Jordan take all the shots.  They were a great team when everyone got the ball and everyone played a role.  Dr. Martin Luther King’s dream doesn’t just live in a fantasy, it lives inside of you.  So, as you get tempted to complain about what others are and are not doing, or find yourself upset that their strategy doesn’t match the one you’d endorse, find the time to get involved in the fight yourself.  You might find that it’s far more difficult than you think.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.