The Rejected Stone: Al Sharpton and the Path to American Leadership

by Al Sharpton

  If that all sounds too grand for you, if you lean more toward humility, try this one on for size: He made this world a better place.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  My sincerest thanks go to the National Action Network (NAN), which allowed me to work on this book while continuing to be president and spokesman for the organization, starting with our chairman, Rev. Dr. W. Franklyn Richardson, and our committed board members, including Vice Chairman Donald Coleman, Lamell McMorris, Rev. Frederick D. Haynes III, Rev. Michael A. Walrond Jr., and the more than twenty other board members who represent NAN.

  Thanks to NAN’s national staff, chapter leaders, and members, who do the work every day whether they get public recognition or not, headed by Executive Director Tamika Mallory and Executive Vice President and General Counsel Michael A. Hardy, who helped me co-found the organization and who has been a close friend.

  I want to thank Nick Chiles not only for using his brilliant skills as a writer to help me in this book but also for being meticulous and extremely careful to preserve my voice, my words, and my message. So what you get is totally from me. He is a brilliant writer, who has immersed himself in a project that is bigger than myself, and I will be eternally grateful for this brother who is truly unique and much appreciated by me.

  Thanks to my companion and trusted friend Aisha McShaw, who helped me with this project.

  Thanks to Kedar Massenburg, my friend and partner for many years, who is a legend in the music world and our community and who made this book possible and mandatory.

  Thanks to Rachel Noerdlinger, who has been with us for more than a dozen years and has done a phenomenal job managing my brand and image.

  Thanks to Phil Griffin, who gave me the opportunity to talk to millions as the host of PoliticsNation on MSNBC and believed in me, despite criticisms, by helping to democratize the airwaves of cable America. And to Matt Saal, the senior producer of PoliticsNation, who has worked with me and bonded with me in an unusual and heartwarming way. And to the staff at PoliticsNation, who do the best research and produce the best show on television today.

  Thanks to Cathy Hughes and Alfred Liggins, who eight years ago gave me a voice with a daily syndicated radio show and were among the first people to invest in my message and our community. There would not be many of the things that have happened in the twenty-first century for the advancement of human and civil rights without Radio One and TV One, the brainchildren of Cathy Hughes, a black woman unparalleled in American history, and without the development by Alfred Liggins, an unequaled black entrepreneur and communications mogul.

  Thanks to Tom Joyner, who has been here for every battle and has given me a weekly voice across America, and to Steve Harvey, who as a radio and television host and author has lent his name and commitment to the betterment of America, and to Ricky Smiley, who follows in the great tradition of black communicators.

  Thanks to my best friend and adviser, who has helped keep my focus and helped guide me through my transformation, Dwight McKee, and to many of my partners in progress who work side-by-side with me, along with some younger than I who will continue this long after I am gone, such as Bishop Victor Tyrone Curry in Miami, Rev. Charles Williams in Detroit, Rev. K. W. Tullos in L.A., Mary Pat Hector, head of NAN Youth Move, who reminds me of my National Youth Movement days, and Janaye Ingram, who heads our Washington Bureau office with great diligence, and the list goes on and on.

  Thanks to my siblings and family members who have grown closer since the passing of my mother and to Kathy, who did an outstanding job of raising our daughters and remains my friend and supporter.

  REVEREND AL SHARPTON is a political and social activist and one of the nation’s most-renowned civil rights leaders in the fight against injustice. He is the founder and President of the National Action Network (NAN), a not-for-profit civil rights organization headquartered in Harlem, New York, with over sixty chapters nationwide including a Washington, DC Bureau and regional offices from coast to coast. Reverend Al is currently the host of PoliticsNation, a daily television show on MSNBC; Keepin’ It Real, a nationally syndicated radio show; and House of Justice, a weekly Saturday broadcast from NAN’s Harlem Headquarters.

  COVER DESIGN BY MICHAEL NAGIN

  PHOTOGRAPHY BY DEBORAH FEINGOLD

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  COPYRIGHT © 2013 REVEREND AL SHARPTON

  THE REJECTED STONE:

  AL SHARPTON AND THE PATH TO AMERICAN LEADERSHIP

  www.SimonandSchuster.com

  Copyright © 2013 by Reverend Al Sharpton

  Cash Money Content™ and all associated logos are trademarks of Cash Money Content LLC.

  Massenburg Media™ and all associated logos are trademarks of Massenburg Media.

  All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the publisher, except where permitted by law.

  This work is a memoir. It reflects the author’s present recollections of his experiences over a period of years. Certain names and identifying characteristics have been changed.

  First Hardcover Edition: October 2013

  Book Layout: Peng Olaguera/ISPN

  Cover Design: Michael Nagin

  Cover Photography: Deborah Feingold

  www.CashMoneyContent.com

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2013942088

  ISBN: 978-1-936399-47-5 hc

  ISBN: 978-1-936399-48-2 ebook