Our guest is the Rev. Al Sharpton, whose activism has made him a fixture in the press for decades in his hometown of New York City. Lately, though, we often see him as the eulogist at funeral after funeral of those taken too soon through violence. He does it with enormous grace and power, including after the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020. And there’s a reason for that. As Rev. Sharpton explains to Kevin Burke in this rare interview, there’s a traumatic incident that happened to him a long time ago, when he was 9 years old, that gives him the ability to speak to children who are in pain, because there is a pain deep inside of him that permanently shaped the arc of his formation as a preacher and future civil rights leader. It’s a story he doesn’t tell often, because it’s so surprising and unexpected, but in this episode, you’ll hear him share it in the most personal way. In listening, you’ll also gain an understanding that may forever alter the way you see this icon of our times. 

 

Your Hometown is a show where the local is the epic. Visit yourhometown.org to subscribe to the podcast and our various social media channels.

 

Our co-presenter this season is the Museum of the City of New York. For more, including information on live events, check out our NYC series page at mcny.org/yourhometown-podcast.

 

Show Notes

 

Music

Ernestine Washington – “Teach Me How to Wait” 

Mahalia Jackson – “Walk In Jerusalem” (1963)

Mahalia Jackson – “No One Knows the Trouble I've Seen” (1963) 

James Brown – “The Payback” (1973)

James Brown – on Soul Train (1973) 

 

Archival

Bishop F. D. Washington Preaching at the COGIC Holy Convocation in 1978 

Rev. C. L. Franklin – “Lo, I Am With You Always” 

Adam Clayton Powell Jr. – “Keep The Faith, Baby” (1967)

Sermon Excerpt - Dr. William Augustus Jones, Jr. 

"I am somebody!" - Historical footage of Rev. Jesse Jackson leading a crowd in a chant of solidarity

Reverend Al Sharpton delivers eulogy at George Floyd’s funeral (2020)

George Floyd Funeral: Rev. Al Sharpton Delivers Eulogy (2020)

Jan. 21, 2013: Inaugural Ceremonies for President Barack Obama

 

Illustration

Nick Gregg 

 

Poem

Walt Whitman, “Song of Myself,” Part 52, Leaves of Grass (1855)

 

“I bequeath myself to the dirt to grow from the grass I love, If you want me again look for me under your boot-soles.

 

“You will hardly know who I am or what I mean, But I shall be good health to you nevertheless, And filter and fibre your blood. 

 

“Failing to fetch me at first keep encouraged, Missing me one place search another, I stop somewhere waiting for you.”

 

Special thanks

Rebecca Stanford