Business Is Business

Remember Al Sharpton?


Illustration by Gary Aagaard


Back in 2001, some three dozen Jewish leaders, activists, and commentators were asked about Al Sharpton.

There was a consensus about one thing: that he is not an anti-Semite. "I have been with him on numerous times over 15 years, and I have never heard him engage in anti-Semitic actions or words," says civil libertarian Norman Siegel, who ran for public advocate with Sharpton's blessing. Even Dov Hikind, a leader of the Orthodox community and a longstanding Sharpton nemesis, prefers to call him a "racist" who has "indulged in anti-Semitism." Moderate Jewish leaders made this point more decorously. "Having talked to him and looked into his eyes, I feel that he is not an anti-Semite," says William Rapfogel, executive director of the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty. "But I think he has used anti-Semitism."...

...Sharpton insists, he has defended Jews despite ridicule from militants in his own camp. "Khalid Muhammad used to make speeches against me," he notes. "I spoke up for Gidone Busch [a Hasid killed by police in 1999] even though I knew I'd be booed." (Indeed, an angry Hasidic crowd forced the reverend to flee.) Why has he been willing to take such risks? Not for political advantage, Sharpton explains. "I know that even if I did a million reach-outs, I'll never get the majority of Jewish votes. It's only because I have a moral center."...

And more recently:

Rev. Al Sharpton, seven others convicted in Sean Bell protest

The Rev. AL Sharpton and seven others who disrupted traffic in protest over the Sean Bell verdict were found guilty of disorderly conduct Wednesday.

..."If you decide to take a bullet for the team, you should not complain about the consequences," Stephen said as he sentenced each protester to time served and imposed a $95 court fee.

Sharpton, pulling a $50 bill from his pocket, said his National Action Network would pay the fines "with $50 bills representing the 50 shots" fired by the cops who killed Bell and wounded two others.

Well, why bring him up now?

5WPR is a great firm with good connections to the more nationalist camp among Jews in America and the US.

And now this:

Speaker Series: New President and how it affects Race Relations and Business

Guest Speaker: Rev. Al Sharpton

Rev. Al Sharpton is one of America's most-renowned civil rights leaders. Sharpton's devotion to politics has had an irrefutable impact on national politics, and serves as President of the National Action Network (NAN).

Throughout his career, Al Sharpton challenged the American political establishment to include all people in the dialogue, regardless of race, gender, class or beliefs. In February 2007, Al Sharpton was called "the most prominent civil rights activist in the nation" by the New York Daily News. Few political figures have been more visible during the last two decades than Sharpton.


Friday, November 21 – 8:00 AM
5W Public Relations
1120 Avenue of Americas, 7th Floor
between 43rd and 44th Streets

Space is limited

Followed by networking and Q & A

RSVP TO EButler@5wpr.com

I'm sure there's a rational for this.