SHARPTON - Slimmer and pensive

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[OG Note: He's fasting yet lost only 23lbs in a month? Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't see how he can be fasting--as I undersand the meaning of the word--if that's all he lost. I lost that much in six weeks on my diabetic diet and it included plenty of food, I can tell you! My guess is the key word "liquids." That could include stuff like Slim-Fast. Wait for the commercial. . .]

NYDailyNews

Slimmer Sharpton Pensive in Pen

When he vowed last month to go on a hunger strike, the Rev. Al Sharpton thought it might last a few days, maybe more.

By then, he and the other members of the so-called Vieques Four would no doubt be released from a federal lockup, and he could resume his life and his normal diet.

But things don't always turn out according to plan, and so Sharpton sits behind bars in Brooklyn, talking to the Daily News about the topics of the day: food, injustice and the Rev. Jesse Jackson.

"I had no idea at the time I said that [I would fast], that we would actually be in here this long," said Sharpton, who has shed 23 pounds.

"But these past 30-odd days of not eating any solid foods has given me insight and perspective on many things."

Sharpton and two of the Vieques Four — Bronx Democratic chief Roberto Ramirez and Assemblyman Jose Rivera (D-Bronx) — will break their fast next Friday. The fourth member, City Councilman Adolfo Carrion (D-Bronx), ended his fast after a week.

All but Sharpton will go home that Friday; the good reverend will remain behind bars for two more months for protesting the continued naval bombing of the Puerto Rican island of Vieques.

He sat in a conference room down the hall from his tiny cell, sporting a salt-and-pepper beard. "It will be one of the first things to go," he said. His wife, Kathy, vetoed keeping it. He wore prison-issued khakis, which now fit him much more loosely. And Sharpton, who usually sports Italian loafers, wore rundown high-top skips. ("You will probably never see me in sneakers again when I get out of here," he joked).

A lot of attention has been paid to Sharpton. He does, after all, know how to get attention.

Take, for example, his televised comments last week about Jackson.

In the TV interview, Sharpton made reference to the "bloody shirt." Many believe that Jackson smeared the blood of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on his shirt after King's slaying and paraded around in it for days to draw attention to himself. But Sharpton insists he only brought it up to illustrate how the media will use certain things to take down a leader — as the Tawana Brawley case has been used against Sharpton.

"There is too much work to be done for me to try to bump off anyone who is fighting for human rights," Sharpton said. "Jesse and I are not feuding. That's just ridiculous."

Letter of Apology

On Wednesday, Sharpton issued a letter of apology to Jackson, who has been in constant contact with Sharpton's wife, Kathy.

"How could I feud with my mentor?" asked Sharpton. "Sometimes when people are as close as we are there will be some friction. Heck, your teeth will bite your tongue sometimes because they are so close, but do you rip out your teeth? Jesse and I will continue to communicate and find ways to further the cause. There is room for both of us."

There is room, hopefully, in black America for many more leaders. There is much talk about Sharpton's possible run for President in 2004 and his ability to deliver the "black vote." What exactly is the black vote? Black people are not a monolith nor do black people vote as a unit or even agree on every issue.

There is clearly enough work to go around.

"During the civil rights era there wasn't just Martin Luther King Jr.," said Sharpton. "There was Malcolm X in Harlem, Adam Clayton Powell Jr. in Congress, Thurgood Marshall in the Supreme Court. There was Medgar Evers, Fannie Lou Hamer, John Lewis and I can go on and on. We've never had just one black leader. And that can't be the case today, either."

-- Anonymous, June 22, 2001


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