Loudmouth

We begin tonight with a man who's been called everything

from a troublemaker and charlatan

to a one-person civil rights movement.

Media manipulator, a rabble-rouser,

a tireless harbinger of racial discord.

A blabbermouth, a loudmouth, too flamboyant, or an agitator,

a racist, a race-baiter.

- Yeah. - : Right?

- Oh yeah. - All of those things?

Right.

The question that I always hear from whites,

"Reverend Al, why do you make everything about race?"

The white media has painted Reverend Al Sharpton

with a broad stroke.

The Black media rejects this negative image.

And the Black question that's just as troubling is,

"Why are you doin' that? Ain't nothin' gonna change."

And that's the price you pay

or that's the price you want to pay?

That's the price you pay for being someone

that gets involved in a high-profile fight

all for things you believe in.

It's somewhere between these two questions

that I've had to do a lot of my work in activism.

Many people in the Black community see him

as reflecting the spirit of such men as Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey,

Dr. King, and his mentor, Adam Clayton Powell.

: You're a civil rights leader.

And then there's this other side of you, you know?

You live in a fancy place--

First of all, I don't see that as a contradiction.

We fought for access.

I think he's in the civil rights business.

I don't think he's a civil rights leader.

To explain to whites that every Black born in America

is born into "it's all about race."

The story of the lion and the hunter would be a lot different

if the lion could read and write.

My fellow Americans,

I am about to sign into law the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The reason the hunter always comes off glorious

is he's the one that writes the story.

Let us close the springs of racial poison.

: The lion is always depicted as less than

what he is.

Let us lay aside irrelevant differences

and make our nation whole.

And that has been the problem with many of us

that have fought the system in various ways.

But the system writes the story.

: In more than 100 cities,

violence broke out.

: Detroit is afire.

100 square blocks are now under siege.

Looting, murder, and arson have nothing to do with civil rights.

We've legitimatized opposition to the police

and disobedience to law.

Shoot me, goddamn it!

Dr. Martin Luther King

has been shot to death in Memphis, Tennessee.

: What effect Martin Luther King's death

has had on you?

They're bending over backwards to idolize him.

- : I am! - : I am!

- Somebody! - : Somebody!

- I am! - I am!

- : I am! - Somebody!

I stand before you today as a candidate

for the Democratic nomination

for the presidency of the United States of America.

I am not the candidate of Black America,

although I am Black and proud.

The way to end discrimination against some

is not to begin discrimination against others.

: New York City has more racial tensions

than any other American city.

Goetz shot four young men on the subway.

The shootings on the crime-ridden

transportation system touched off a wide debate,

with some calling the man a hero.

Reverend Sharpton is a relatively new face

among New York activists,

and is asking the US Attorney to have Goetz indicted

on charges of violating the young mens' civil rights.

Every time we come into a case,

the first thing we have to do

is fight the wrong narrative of the story.

The issue here is there was no mugging.

They talk about subway punks?

Nobody proved they were subway punks.

They would try to criminalize and demonize the victim.

The issue here is there was an illusion in his mind,

that he has a right to shoot people with that illusion.

: Were there racial slurs?

No, there were no racial slurs.

: Did anybody say "nigger," the word?

Maybe the word "nigger" was said.

If they behaved themsleves in this neighborhood,

maybe they could walk the streets and be free.

Is your community racist, yes or no?

: Every fight that I've fought

to use for a bigger issue, 'cause people don't understand

that it's not just the case.

Is the criminal justice system working for people?

Eleanor Bumpurs, Michael Stewart.

Nobody went to jail on any case.

You are, though, a media animal.

If you're an activist, the media is a tool

to get your message across.

We've got to turn these stations upside down!

They like to fight, so let's fight!

We demand a special prosecutor.

Special prosecutor.

We need a permanent special prosecutor

to investigate racial crime.

Sometimes you have to be loud to let people know

that is not the real story.

You people are making it racist.

No one looked at it that way

until you people started to brainwash people.

: We must deal with reality.

Either we have a racial problem

or Black people have a mass hallucination going.

All of our lives you had to fight

to make sure that you controlled the story.

And I want the folks at CBS to know,

if you can't tell the story right,

don't tell it at all!

One of these days I'm going in the door,

and I'm gonna give 'em the news.

Al Sharpton has some photographers

who are videotaping us as we are being videotaped for you.

We don't know exactly what purpose it'll be used for,

but we do wanna make note of it.

Because whoever wrote the story is gonna write it

and slant it their way.

Whatever you do, Reverend Al told you personally,

Keep it real.

Keep it real.

Keep it real!

Talk to you tomorrow.

Alrighty.

Good evening and welcome to PoliticsNation.

As the impeachment inquiry

into President Trump's abuses of power continues,

2020 candidates will have to thread the needle

while campaigning with voters.

You and I may disagree on politics,

but you're one of the smart analysts

and observers of politics.

If the president is impeached,

how will it affect the 2020 election, general election?

Well, thank you, Al, for the kind words--

I think you've got happy birthday cheer

overflowing in your cup, there.

I appreciate that. Um, I--

Right, after the TV show Saturday.

What I'm trying to say is

I want to do the TV show from 30 Rock Saturday,

go down to and speak at Howard,

and fly back and do the TV show again from 30 Rock Saturday.

- Appreciate you, Rev. - Thank you.

- Keep fighting. - I'm gonna try.

- : Hey. - Happy birthday.

What's up?

Everything good?

65, Doc.

You're going to my--your first Grandpa's birthday.

Happy Birthday, Grandpapa!

You lookin' in the camera?

You like cameras already, huh?

This is for the Democratic debate?

: Yes.

It's the only one that looks pretty decent.

: Well, let's go with it.

: What's so special about having

some of your famous friends here tonight?

: It's always good to have these kind of people

wish you a happy birthday.

We fight a lot. We struggle a lot.

And for them to find some value in our work is important,

especially now in this day of Donald Trump,

where a lot of what we have fought for is at risk.

It's time for all of us to come together

and really show we're gonna stand together

and protect voting rights and civil rights.

One, two, three, four

Get up, get on up

Get up, get on up

Stay on the scene, get on up

Like a sex machine, get on up

: I watched you on television, you're great.

I mean, really, really-- you're really good.

: There's one of the Central Park 5.

: Randall, let him know

I'm mic'ed for a documentary, so don't say nothin' stupid.

We told him.

That's right!

: I raised you well.

Birthday boy!