The Rejected Stone

October 15, 2013
Sharpton has come a long way from street activist to political commentator on MSNBC. Does his high status hurt his image as a rabble-rouser? Sharpton argues that leadership requires adaptability and the wisdom to change when it's appropriate. Interweaving life lessons learned from relationships with larger-than-life personalities, from Adam Clayton Powell Jr. to James Brown to Michael Jackson, Sharpton emphasizes the importance of persistence and hard work. Placing himself in the context of a liberal progressive, he nonetheless criticizes the degrading elements of hip-hop culture and laments high rates of illegitimate births among African Americans. But while promoting black success stories, he is short on analysis of the complexities that have led to self-destructive behavior among black youth. A staunch Obama supporter, in defense of criticism of the president by liberals, he notes that the president cannot read our minds and charges black leaders with responsibility to push a black agenda that the president cannot because he is the president of all Americans. In his own way, Sharpton is telling black leadership that it is time to step up.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)