Al Sharpton

The Reverend Al Sharpton is the founder of the National
Action Network. Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s
Sharpton led a series of direct-action campaigns and
crusades to fight racism in the criminal-justice system-from
Howard Beach and Bensonhurst to Wappingers Falls and Los
Angeles. As one writer said during that time, "Sharpton is
literally reviving the Civil Rights Movement." In 1991,
Sharpton formed the National Action Network. The NAN, formed
to combat racial and civil rights violations, fights for
progressive, people-based social policies by providing
extensive voter education and registration campaigns,
economic support for small community businesses and by
confronting corporate racism.