Rev. Al Sharpton with Trayvon Martin's family and legal team watching the press conference where George Zimmerman was charged with second degree murder in Trayvon Martin's killing (Getty Images)

Rev. Al Sharpton called in to the Steve Harvey Morning Show today to discuss the latest development in the case of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin.

As we reported yesterday, neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman has been charged with second degree murder in the killing of Martin, who was unarmed when Zimmerman shot and killed him in the Orlando suburb of Sanford.

Listen to what Rev. Sharpton had to say about the Trayvon Martin case below:

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As a leading voice championing justice for Trayvon Martin, supporting this organization is important.

Founded in 1991, NAN works within the spirit and tradition of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to promote a modern civil rights agenda that includes the fight for one standard of justice, decency and equal opportunities for all people regardless of race, religion, national origin, and gender.

Click here to view the full schedule and to find registration information for National Action Network’s 14th Annual Convention.

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Al Sharpton, Samuel Jackson Honored at Star-Studded Drum Major Awards in Atlanta

President Obama: “If I Had A Son, He’d Look Like Trayvon” [VIDEO]

Rev. Al Sharpton, Samuel L. Jackson, outgoing Morehouse College president Dr. Robert Michael Franklin and Sean Penn were among those recognized at this year’s Drum Major for Justice Awards in Atlanta.

The ceremony, which took place on Wednesday at a downtown Atlanta hotel, pays tribute to those that have made contributions in the areas of service, justice and achievement in their respective fields.

Other honorees included: CNN news anchor, Don Lemon; former NFL player Chris Draft; LaTanya Richardson Jackson (actress and wife of actor Samuel L Jackson); and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, Isabel Wilkerson.

Now in its 33rd year, the star-studded awards dinner is held annually on the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s death, to salute individuals and organizations that carry on the spirit of King’s work through social justice, leadership and excellence.

Civil Rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton was described by veteran journalist Angela Robinson, who hosted the event, as a man who uses his platform to “to give a voice to the voiceless.”

In an emotional speech about Trayvon Martin’s death, Sharpton said, “We managed to move from the back of the bus to the White House, so surely we can get one guy arrested in Florida.”

“We carefully choose our honorees based upon Dr. King’s legacy – those who give of themselves for the greater good of humankind,” said Mrs. Evelyn Lowery, Founder and CEO of the SCLC’s Women’s Organizational Movement for Equality Now, which organizes the yearly event.

Chris Draft and mental health advocate, Terrie M. Williams, were both honored for their work in Health Awareness. Draft was recognized for his commitment to the Chris Draft Family Foundation, which empowers families to live healthy lifestyles. The former NFL player lost his wife, Keasha, to lung cancer last year. The couple had been married for just one month.

Williams, the president and founder of The Terrie Williams Agency and The Stay Strong Foundation, told theGrio that the award “has given me time to think about what I have accomplished” and to remind her “that her work has made a difference.”

“I started my business at when I was eight-years-old, and I knew my main focus would be to give something back to the community,” said 11-year-old Maya Penn, who was honored for her work in Youth Leadership.

Penn is the CEO and owner of her own eco-friendly online fashion company called Maya’s Ideas, which gives 10 percent of its proceeds to charities and global relief organizations.

Mrs. Lowery and Martin Luther King III closed out the evening with dedications to Dr. King.

SOURCE: The Grio

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Al Sharpton Emerges As Major Ally Of President Obama

Al Sharpton Says The Tea Party Is Antithetical To Civil Rights

Radio host, author and activist Michael Baisden appeared on Rev. Al Sharpton’s MSNBC show “Politics Nation” last night where the two discussed the GOP, the upcoming presidential election and more.

Michael was his usual outspoken self when talking about the Republican Party! Watch the interview below!

The Michael Baisden Show airs Monday through Friday from 3pm – 7pm on Majic 107.5 / 97.5.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

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Al Sharpton Says The Tea Party Is Antithetical To Civil Rights

NATIONAL ACTION NETWORK (NAN), ALONG WITH LABOR & CIVIL RIGHTS LEADERS TO ATTACK JOBLESSNESS & VOTER ID LAWS THAT ARE THREATENING PEOPLE’S VOTER RIGHTS ACROSS THE COUNTRY ON DECEMBER 9TH AS PART OF 25-CITY RALLY FOR JOBS & JUSTICE

NATIONAL ACTION NETWORK & REV. AL SHARPTON, ALONG WITH LABOR LEADERS & COMMUNITY ACTIVISTS TO LEAD RALLIES IN OVER 25 CITIES ON DECEMBER 9^TH FOR JOBS AND JUSTICE ——

ATLANTA RALLY TO TAKE PLACE AT PROVIDENCE MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH

WHO:

Reverend Gerald Durley, Pastor of Providence Missionary Baptist Church

Marcus Coleman, (Event Coordinator) Founder, Atlanta Chapter of NAN

Mary-Pat Hector, National Youth Director , NAN

Troya Sampson, Head of Leadership Committee Atlanta Chapter of NAN

Senator Vincent Fort, State Senate District 39

Nancy Flake-Johnson, CEO Atlanta Urban League

Joe Beasley, Exec Director of Rainbow Push Coalition

Alisha Thomas Morgan, Ga House Rep District 39

Helen Butler, GCPA (Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda)

Able Mable Thomas, Former Georgia House Rep, Civil/Human/Political Rights Activist

Gregg Fann, Exec Director Local 3, AFSCME (American Federation of State County and Municipal

Employees)

Deborah Scott, Exec Director Georgia STAND-UP (Strategic Alliance for New Direction & Unified Policies)

Ron Allen, Occupy Atlanta Organizer

Brian Beane, Founder, Mentor To Millions

Mike Render aka Killer Mike, Youth Advocate, Community Organizer/ Grammy award winning Atl artist

Shelley Wynter, Internet Radio, The Ugly Truth

Bro Andree Wideman, Worshipful Master South Fulton Lodge No. 598

Vincent Kee, CEO Solar Tronixx Tech

And Others…

WHAT:

Rally for Jobs & Justice

WHERE:

2295 Benjamin E. Mays Dr. SW

Atlanta, Ga. 30311

WHEN:

Friday, December 9, 2011 – 6p.m.-8p.m.

BACKGROUND:

Rev. Al Sharpton and National Action Network (NAN), along with partners in labor, civil rights, and clergy from across the country, will hold a rally in over 25-cities on December 9^th, 2011 as a follow-up to the mass march for jobs and justice that NAN held October 15, 2011. The December 9^th rallies will continue to focus on growing economic disparity, lack of employment, and equality issues surrounding our current economic state. The 25-city rallies will call attention to key issues that have not yet been remedied and will call attention to the disproportionate layoffs of Blacks, Latinos and other groups, and the growing wealth gap.The rallies will be held in cities that are most impacted by joblessness and attacks on workers rights.

In recent years, too many American families have lost economic ground. Over the decade ending in 2009, median family income fell by $3,800. And the gap between the wealthiest Americans and those with the least is growing every day, making it tougher to enter into the middle class. With African American unemployment at an unacceptable 15%, this is a clear sign that we need action-inaction is not an option. Black layoffs have only skyrocketed as the public sector – heavily comprised of a Black workforce – continues to slash jobs. And as a result, not only has Black wealth diminished, but so too has the existence of much of this nation’s Black middle class itself. Black, White or Brown – that is a startling reality that should have all of us deeply concerned.

According to a study released earlier this year by the Center for Labor Research and Education at the University of California, Blacks were 30% more likely than other workers to be employed in the public sector. And while the private sector has added 1.6 million jobs as reported in a recent New York Times piece, public employment has seen massive layoffs across the board. Whether its teachers, firefighters, police officers, or any other form of municipal work, the public sector has been under attack from Wisconsin to NJ and everywhere in between. From losing their bargaining rights to bearing the brunt of city and state budget cuts, public service employees are watching their entire life savings disappear. And because about 1 in 5 Blacks work in civil service, we are disproportionately suffering yet again during these tough times.

In the U.S. postal service alone, about 25% of employees are Black. It is precisely because of work in this industry and in other government entities that we were finally able to climb the economic and societal ladder, and eventually begin to achieve the proverbial American dream of home ownership. An entire Black middle class emerged via civil service jobs, and we are now tragically close to witnessing the greatest stumbling block to progress that will literally set us back decades. But we can – and we must – do something to halt this injustice that so clearly threatens our immediate future.

Cities where NAN Rallies are taking place:

New York City, NY

Philadelphia, PA

Cleveland, Ohio

Indianapolis, IN

Atlanta, GA

Chicago, IL

Houston, TX

Las Vegas, NV

Akron, Ohio

Memphis, TN

Montgomery, AL

Shreveport, LA

Baltimore, MD

Detroit, MI

Boston, MA

New Haven, CT

Columbus, MO

Newark, NJ

Charlotte, NC

Columbus, Ohio

For more information visit www.nationalactionnetwork.net.

Rapper/actor Heavy D, who was known for his free-flowing, playful hip-hop style, was remembered by family and friends — and President Obama — in a funeral service held today in New York.

Last week, the 44-year-old rapper collapsed outside his Beverly Hills, Calif., condominium.

He was rushed to a Los Angeles hospital, where he was pronounced dead on Nov. 8.

“We extend our heartfelt condolences at this difficult time. He will be remembered for his infectious optimism and many contributions to American music. Please know that you and your family will be in our thoughts and prayers,” the president wrote in a letter, which the Rev. Al Sharpton read at the service, The Associated Press reported.

Read more at ABC News.

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Al Sharpton was in Cleveland recently for the ‘Get Out The Vote’ rally. He addressed the community about how important this midterm election is to the black community.

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

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

RELATED: President Obama Talks To Steve Harvey [EXCLUSIVE]

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From EURweb.com :

In a Newsweek cover story titled “The Reinvention of the Reverend,” writers Allison Samuels and Jerry Adler give their perspective of the “indefatigable” Al Sharpton who still has work to do and what his evolution tells us about race and politics in Obama’s America:

Each generation of black America gives birth to its own incarnation of the charismatic preacher-activist who confronts the white power structure in the streets and talks circles around it on Meet the Press.

Sharpton burst onto the national stage as the fiery advocate for Tawana Brawley, a New York teenager who claimed to have been raped by a gang of white men, including a policeman.

In that incarnation he still haunts the popular imagination: a bulky, bullhorn-toting figure in a neon-hued tracksuit, topped by a preposterously high, wavy pompadour. About all that remains today is a bare suggestion of the pompadour and roughly two thirds of the 300-pound 1980s-vintage Sharpton himself, now typically clad in an impeccable custom-tailored suit.

His erstwhile ally, rival, and adversary, former New York City mayor David Dinkins, maintains that of course Sharpton has “grown up and matured, as most people do if they live long enough.”

Read more of this article at Newsweek.

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Among the outspoken African-American political and social figures that have criticized President Obama for not doing more for black Americans in these tough economic times, Al Sharpton has emerged as the voice of support for Obama’s presidential initiatives designed to help all Americans.

According to an article written for The Wall Street Journal, “President Barack Obama has turned to Mr. Sharpton in recent weeks to answer increasingly public criticism in the black community over his economic policy. Some black leaders are charging that the nation’s first African-American president has failed to help black communities hit hard by the downturn, leaving party strategists worried that black Democrats will become dispirited and skip November’s congressional elections.”

Sharpton used the platform of his national radio show to fire back stating that “The president does not need to get out there and do what we should be doing,” adding that if the President did just that, it would create just the right climate for conservatives and other Obama critics to defeat legislation that would actually assist blacks, rather than hurt them.

On one particular show, Al Sharpton and Tavis Smiley, prominent black talk show host, butted heads over this issue where Mr. Sharpton stated that “…it was a ‘double standard’ for Mr. Smiley and other critics to expect more from a black president than they would demand of a white Democratic president.”

Although during most of his campaign, President Obama steered clear of historically radical black civil rights leaders, Al Sharpton is now an unlikely ally in addressing the concerns of some black leaders and establishing solidarity for the president.

To read the entire article “Obama’s New Partner: Al Sharpton,” visit The Wall Street Journal online.

Listen to the big debate between Tavis Smiley and Al Sharpton:

VIA: Allhiphop.com

Hip-Hop activist Erica Ford, CEO and founder of Life Camp Inc., is teaming with the Reverend Al Sharpton to lead an emergency day of protest against violence across the country, on November 23rd.

Sharpton will lead a rally in Atlanta Georgia while other rallies are scheduled to take place in major cities such as New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.

The coalition was organized by NAN and will include families of victims of gun violence, activists, elected officials and concern citizens.

Ford, Sharpton and the National Action Network (NAN) and community leaders from across the country will lead the “National Day of Outrage” on November 23rd, in a number of U.S. cities.

“We must be just as vigilant against the shootings that are random, gang related or intentional because we are in a crisis state and too many lives are being forsaken. We’ve got to come together across all lines to fight this battle,” Reverend Al Sharpton told AllHipHop.com in a statement.

Erica Ford, who runs the “Bury Da Beef” program in New York, has worked with rappers like Tupac Shakur, Ja Rule, KRS-One and many others.

Read more here.

For more information, visit the National Action Network’s Web site.