A documentary tracing civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton's evolution from Brooklyn rabble-rouser to sought-after figure in the U.S. political arena debuts on Friday. It’s arguably the most nuanced look at the leader to date.
. In between those bookends, viewers see an in-depth exploration of Sharpton’s upbringing by his mother, Ada Richards Sharpton, mentorship by the Rev. Jesse Jackson and soul music icon James Brown, as well as his headline-grabbing activism in New York in the 1980s.Directed by Josh Alexander and executive produced by singer-songwriter John Legend, “Loudmouth” has alreadyChicago, Philadelphia, Martha’s Vineyard and Denver film festivals. Its nationwide release comes at a “critical point” in U.S.
“If he’s saying the same things now that he’s been saying for decades, but now he’s celebrated and back then he was castigated, what does that tell us not about him but about the media ecosystem at the time?” Alexander told the AP. By the ’80s, a young adult Sharpton constantly courted controversy for using inflammatory language against his opponents. His most fiery rhetoric was reserved for the elected officials from whom he demanded action on cases of racial violence and police brutality.
“Later in life, I became more conscious,” Sharpton says in reflection in the documentary. “I saw Tawana, in many ways, like the Black mother I had that was fighting for kids. ... I saw in her a Black woman that Black men wouldn’t stand up for, and I wasn’t going to be the one to walk away from her. No matter how hot it got, I just wasn’t going to do it.”
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