Rev. Sharpton Joining CNBC As Commentator
NEW YORK - Rev. Al Sharpton (news - web sites) is joining CNBC as a political commentator for its coverage of the upcoming Democratic and Republican National Conventions, the network announced Thursday.
The outspoken civil rights leader and former candidate for the 2004 presidential nomination will share his views on "Capital Report," "Dennis Miller (news)" and the new "McEnroe" (scheduled to premiere in July), among other CNBC shows.
"Having run for the Democratic nomination, Rev. Sharpton brings to our viewers an insider's perspective on presidential politics," said Cheryl Gould, supervisor of CNBC's political coverage.
Sharpton, a 49-year-old New York native, was ordained as a minister when he was 10, and has long reigned as a social activist and media personality. In December, he was guest host of "Saturday Night Live."
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Al Sharpton's Skeleton Closet
Al Sharpton is showbiz -- a former boy preacher, turned reckless demagogue, turning (he hopes) into an elder statesman of Black America. He has always loved the limelight and hung out with celebrities such as Mahalia Jackson, James Brown, Michael Jackson and Don King. Say what you want about him, he's certainly entertaining.
He grew up in a prosperous, suburban family (his dad was a landlord and businessman) and was a child prodigy as a preacher. By age 7, he was touring with gospel great Mahalia Jackson and Bishop F.D. Washington, the renowned Pentacostal minister of Brooklyn's Washington Temple Church of God in Christ as "the Wonder Boy Preacher."
At age 10, however, his parents divorced due to an affair his dad had with Sharpton's half-sister (ie his dad's step-daughter.) Sharpton's mother was forced to go on welfare, and at one point they went without electricity for 6 months. Al became an ordained minister shortly after his parents' divorce.
Al got involved in social activism during his teenage years, organizing several youth protests before he graduated from high school in 1972, and forming a national youth movement, named "National Youth Movement." After two years of college, he dropped out and worked as national touring manager for singer James Brown, where he met his wife Kathy. (They have two teenage daughters.)
Since then he has led numerous publicity grabbing protests following incidents of racial attacks and police brutality (such as the police assault of Haitian immigrant Abner Luoima) and formed a national action network (called "National Action Network") with 20 chapters around the country. In other words, like Pat Buchanan and Jesse Jackson, he is a political figure famous for incendiary talk and not much else.
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Quotes
""He's sort of a cult leader, actually." -- author Stanley Crouch
"...they will say that Al Sharpton cannot get the majority of the white vote. The fact is--no Democrat has gotten the majority of the white vote in many years. Bill Clinton didn't get the majority of the white vote. The Democratic Party has been able to put together a coalition of a sizeable portion of the white vote, the overwhelming majority of black votes and Latino votes. That has been their winning strategy..." -- Sharpton
BUSTED: Caught on an FBI Surveillance Tape Discussing a Cocaine Deal
The television show HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel showed a 1983 FBI videotape in which Al Sharpton is seen talking about laundering drug money with former mobster Michael Franzese, a Mafioso-turned-undercover-FBI informant posing as a cocaine dealer. Now you might think something like this might be bad news for a presidential candidate, but to hear Sharpton talk about it, there's nothing unseemly about it.
Now, to be fair, no indictments were issued and the sting operation was never completed. But those are pretty thin excuses for a president of the United States. (At least he didn't blame a DUII on his political enemies.)
Sharpton got into this mess through his friendship with boxing promoter Don King, a longtime friend of his. Franzese, a former Colombo family captain, alleges that a South American drug dealer looking to launder money through boxing promotions approached him. According to Franzese,Sharpton was going to arrange a meeting between the dealer and King.
But the drug dealer was really an undercover FBI agent in a probe of boxing corruption. Sharpton claimed the tape was a "total attempt to set up and criminalize people," that it was leaked to scuttle his possible presidential bid, and that HBO distorted the evidence by showing only selected portions of the tape. He also clamed that a second tape existed that exonerated him.
Sharpton sued HBO for defamation and asked for $1 billion in damages. (As if he had a billion dollar reputation before the tape aired.) HBO Sports spokesman Ray Stallone described the suit as "so silly that it is unworthy of comment." Nothing has come of it since it was filed.
Known Associate of Michael Jackson
Any leader needs to build coalitions among diverse groups and individuals. And no individual is more diverse than Sharpton's recent ally, Michael Jackson.
They appeared together at a news conference where Jackson complained that his recent crappy album "Invincible" sold poorly because of a "racist conspiracy" by Sony Music to "turn the public against me." Yeah, we were all with you Michael until Sony told us to drop you like a hot potato. Jackson went on to say "When you fight for me, you're fighting for all black people, dead and alive." When pressed about his color, Jackson (who reportedly has had numerous skin whitening treatments and nose jobs to appear more Caucasian) said "I know my race. I just look in the mirror. I know I'm black."
NEW YORK - Rev. Al Sharpton (news - web sites) is joining CNBC as a political commentator for its coverage of the upcoming Democratic and Republican National Conventions, the network announced Thursday.
The outspoken civil rights leader and former candidate for the 2004 presidential nomination will share his views on "Capital Report," "Dennis Miller (news)" and the new "McEnroe" (scheduled to premiere in July), among other CNBC shows.
"Having run for the Democratic nomination, Rev. Sharpton brings to our viewers an insider's perspective on presidential politics," said Cheryl Gould, supervisor of CNBC's political coverage.
Sharpton, a 49-year-old New York native, was ordained as a minister when he was 10, and has long reigned as a social activist and media personality. In December, he was guest host of "Saturday Night Live."
-----------------------------------------------
Al Sharpton's Skeleton Closet
Al Sharpton is showbiz -- a former boy preacher, turned reckless demagogue, turning (he hopes) into an elder statesman of Black America. He has always loved the limelight and hung out with celebrities such as Mahalia Jackson, James Brown, Michael Jackson and Don King. Say what you want about him, he's certainly entertaining.
He grew up in a prosperous, suburban family (his dad was a landlord and businessman) and was a child prodigy as a preacher. By age 7, he was touring with gospel great Mahalia Jackson and Bishop F.D. Washington, the renowned Pentacostal minister of Brooklyn's Washington Temple Church of God in Christ as "the Wonder Boy Preacher."
At age 10, however, his parents divorced due to an affair his dad had with Sharpton's half-sister (ie his dad's step-daughter.) Sharpton's mother was forced to go on welfare, and at one point they went without electricity for 6 months. Al became an ordained minister shortly after his parents' divorce.
Al got involved in social activism during his teenage years, organizing several youth protests before he graduated from high school in 1972, and forming a national youth movement, named "National Youth Movement." After two years of college, he dropped out and worked as national touring manager for singer James Brown, where he met his wife Kathy. (They have two teenage daughters.)
Since then he has led numerous publicity grabbing protests following incidents of racial attacks and police brutality (such as the police assault of Haitian immigrant Abner Luoima) and formed a national action network (called "National Action Network") with 20 chapters around the country. In other words, like Pat Buchanan and Jesse Jackson, he is a political figure famous for incendiary talk and not much else.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quotes
""He's sort of a cult leader, actually." -- author Stanley Crouch
"...they will say that Al Sharpton cannot get the majority of the white vote. The fact is--no Democrat has gotten the majority of the white vote in many years. Bill Clinton didn't get the majority of the white vote. The Democratic Party has been able to put together a coalition of a sizeable portion of the white vote, the overwhelming majority of black votes and Latino votes. That has been their winning strategy..." -- Sharpton
BUSTED: Caught on an FBI Surveillance Tape Discussing a Cocaine Deal
The television show HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel showed a 1983 FBI videotape in which Al Sharpton is seen talking about laundering drug money with former mobster Michael Franzese, a Mafioso-turned-undercover-FBI informant posing as a cocaine dealer. Now you might think something like this might be bad news for a presidential candidate, but to hear Sharpton talk about it, there's nothing unseemly about it.
Now, to be fair, no indictments were issued and the sting operation was never completed. But those are pretty thin excuses for a president of the United States. (At least he didn't blame a DUII on his political enemies.)
Sharpton got into this mess through his friendship with boxing promoter Don King, a longtime friend of his. Franzese, a former Colombo family captain, alleges that a South American drug dealer looking to launder money through boxing promotions approached him. According to Franzese,Sharpton was going to arrange a meeting between the dealer and King.
But the drug dealer was really an undercover FBI agent in a probe of boxing corruption. Sharpton claimed the tape was a "total attempt to set up and criminalize people," that it was leaked to scuttle his possible presidential bid, and that HBO distorted the evidence by showing only selected portions of the tape. He also clamed that a second tape existed that exonerated him.
Sharpton sued HBO for defamation and asked for $1 billion in damages. (As if he had a billion dollar reputation before the tape aired.) HBO Sports spokesman Ray Stallone described the suit as "so silly that it is unworthy of comment." Nothing has come of it since it was filed.
Known Associate of Michael Jackson
Any leader needs to build coalitions among diverse groups and individuals. And no individual is more diverse than Sharpton's recent ally, Michael Jackson.
They appeared together at a news conference where Jackson complained that his recent crappy album "Invincible" sold poorly because of a "racist conspiracy" by Sony Music to "turn the public against me." Yeah, we were all with you Michael until Sony told us to drop you like a hot potato. Jackson went on to say "When you fight for me, you're fighting for all black people, dead and alive." When pressed about his color, Jackson (who reportedly has had numerous skin whitening treatments and nose jobs to appear more Caucasian) said "I know my race. I just look in the mirror. I know I'm black."
