Sharpton Urges Congress To Do More For African-American Communities

By Sarah Mamula - Talk Radio News Service

Rev. Al Sharpton said Tuesday that more must be done in the education and housing sectors to improve the lives of African-American across the country. The reverend acknowledged the successes of the African-American community in the political arena, but pushed for even more action to be taken during President Obama’s first term.

“We are in the White House. We have chairmen in the [congressional] committees and 42 blacks in Congress. But, we have a clock that’s running,” Sharpton said. “They did not give President and Ms. Obama the deed to the White House…they gave them a lease.”

Citing Nelson Mandela, Sharpton said, “We proved now we can win an election, now we need to prove we can govern. Can we govern?”

Hosted by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Tuesday’s conference sought to educate and inform African-American faith based leaders on how to use federal grants to confront challenges facing African-American communities in New York.

Sharpton commended Gillibrand for being proactive in helping the African-American community and organizing the summit, but he questioned the priorities of other leaders of Congress who he believes need to do more.

“Y’all [the government] got enough money to fund two wars, to bail out Wall Street, to bring the banks back,” he said. “What is available for our people?”

In remembrance of the Civil Rights Movement, Sharpton said he will host a commemorative march in Washington, D.C. on August 28. The march falls on the 47th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech.