Early Life
| “ | What I do functionally is what Dr. King, Reverend Jackson and the movement are all about; but I learned manhood from James Brown. I always say that James Brown taught me how to be a man. | ” |
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—Sharpton on Brown as a father figure. |
Alfred Charles Sharpton Jr. was born in the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, to Ada (née Richards) and Alfred Charles Sharpton, Sr. He preached his first sermon at the age of four and toured with gospel singer Mahalia Jackson.
In 1963 Sharpton's father left his wife to have a relationship with Al Sharpton's half-sister. Ada Sharpton took a job as a maid, but her income was so low that the family qualified for welfare and had to move from middle class Hollis, Queens, to the public housing projects in the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn.
Sharpton graduated from Samuel J. Tilden High School in Brooklyn, and attended Brooklyn College, dropping out after two years in 1975. He became a tour manager for James Brown in 1973.
Read more about this topic: Michael Riccardi
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