Indiana

Now That the Circus Has Left Town

By Abdul Hakim-Shabazz

I have to admit, I did not stay for all of Al Sharpton’s address last night, I left about 15 minutes before he ended.  I’m on Channel 6 at 5 a.m. on Monday mornings and had a lot of work to do before bed.  And to quote my grandfather, “that Negro was not worth losing sleep over.”   I stayed in touch with a number of  people who stayed until the end so I think I can write this with a pretty informed opinion.

To be honest,  the event was a wash.  Al got the crowd riled up over excessive force by police and he spent time talking about personal responsibility.   Al repeated the demands of the ministers (most of were already in place before they asked for them).  But as I sat there and watched the event, I did finally have a revelation; it must of had something to do with being in a church for the 3rd time that day.  This was not about Al, this was about the pastors who brought him.

Al Sharpton is as Al Sharpton does, so nothing he does should really surprise me or anyone.  What is more telling is the ministers who claim to be the “official voice of the African-American community” are so politically impotent that they had to pay someone to come to town to try to make their case to the public.  And to be honest, Al Sharpton only appeals to a certain segment of the African-American community.

If these guys had the “juice” that they claimed, they would have been able to accomplish this on their own.  If they had the “juice” they would have addressed the 30+ young black men who’ve been victims of murder by other young black men without Sharpton’s help.  If they had the “juice” they would have been able to address the abysmal minority drop out rate.  If they had the “juice” they would be at the forefront of economic development and helping to rebuild portions of this city that have plagued with crumbling streets and abandoned homes.

But instead of having the acumen to solve their own problems, they had to go get hired help.   But I guess I can’t be too upset, I do the same thing when I have no idea what I’m doing either.

Oh, and before I forget.  To my detractors who are livid about what you just read, please remember the following: Al Sharpton is gone and I am still here.  Please make a note of it.

Full post as published by Indiana Barrister on July 12, 2010 (boomark / email).