John Jay’s Malcolm/King Awards Breakfast is the longest running John Jay program on campus, and on February 28, our community celebrated the 30th Malcolm/King Awards Breakfast with one of our country’s most dynamic speakers, Rev. Al Sharpton.

The event started off with a welcome from Jessica Gordon-Nembhard, Ph.D., Chair of the Department of Africana Studies and Malcolm/King Awards Breakfast Committee. Schevaletta Alford, Ph.D., Associate Professor in the SEEK Department, asked the audience to remember their ancestors as she performed a libation ceremony. And, the event’s honorees—Kenneth M. Holmes, Vice President of Students Affairs at Howard University, and Yvonne W. Purdie, Director of Undergraduate Student Services in the Department of Public Management at John Jay—were applauded for their continuous support of the African-American community and encouragement to the next generation of scholars to follow in the footsteps of Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

President Karol V. Mason told the audience how powerful it was for her to travel down to Montgomery, Alabama with our Honors students this past January, visiting Civil Rights sites such as the Edmund Pettus Bridge, The National Voting Rights Museum, and The Southern Poverty Law Center. “I was born nine days before the Civil Rights Act of 1957 was passed. As a 62-year-old woman—whose parents experienced segregation themselves—I got to see these historical events in African-American history through the eyes of our thoughtful, courageous students,” said Mason. “And today, looking at students like our Malcolm/King Award winners, I can’t be anything but optimistic about our future. These five young women perfectly illustrate how our students embrace the importance of community building and cultural understanding. They’ve set their sights on becoming counselors, educators, lawyers, authors, and artists—all with the goal of uplifting communities of color.” Then Mason had the award recipients—Ahshaki Long, Alexandra Shoneyin, Bianca Hayles, Hadja Kadiatou Bah, and Idalina Marin—all stand up to be acknowledged.

Professor Ilyasah Shabazz, the daughter of Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz, introduced the event’s keynote speaker and her family friend. “Today we acknowledge that African-American history is American history. It should not only be celebrated during the 28 days of February, it should be included in our educational curriculum throughout the year,” said Shabazz.

“Today I have the opportunity to introduce my dear friend, Rev. Dr. Al Sharpton. When all of the terror and trauma continues to affect our communities, we all look to Dr. Sharpton, and he’s there. We needed a dynamic speaker, and we called on Dr. Sharpton, and here he is.” These are some of the highlights and guiding points that Sharpton wanted to share with our students.

“We needed Malcolm and Martin.”
Rev. Sharpton explained that he grew up in a time when people would get into debates about being with Martin or with Malcolm. He said that since Malcolm X’s life and career were inextricably bound to New York City, being a King follower in New York was not a popular concept. “The perception was that you couldn’t be a Martin person in a Malcolm town. But as time went on, what became interesting to me, is where the King/Malcolm images have been distorted by writers,” said Sharpton. “The ones that understood it better than anyone were their widows, because Dr. Betty, who I got to know, and Coretta Scott King, who I got to know well, formed a friendship and a bond long before their followers understood that there is one movement even though we may have different tactics.” Sharpton was in the hospital before Dr. Shabazz’s death. He was visiting with Ilyasah and her sisters in the hospital when Coretta Scott King came to see Dr. Shabazz. “They were always there for each other. There was something about the shared pain of these women; they both watched their husband’s death by assassination at the same age, 39. They could reach beyond the philosophical, ego-based battles to deal with the bigger picture. I would encourage you to do that,” said Sharpton. “We needed Malcolm and Martin. We needed the direct action, but we also needed the self-esteem to know who we were while we did the direct action. We needed the non-violence, but we also needed the cutting edge. We did not need to choose between them. And you, in the generation coming behind us, you are the beneficiaries of the lineage in your intellectual bloodstream. You’re getting the benefit of Malcolm and Martin.” Sharpton went on to explain that the people who denied African-Americans equal rights to vote, the people who denied African-Americans equal educational opportunities, and the people who wouldn’t give African-Americans equal financial opportunities never asked if African-Americans were with Malcolm or Martin, if African-Americans were Baptist or Muslim. “They saw us as one,” said Sharpton. “The problem was we had to start seeing ourselves as one.” 

“We Deserve Our Human Rights and Our Civil Rights.”
Sharpton wanted the students in the audience to understand they should always be fighting for both human rights and civil rights. “If someone landed from abroad and got off the plane at JFK, they should have human rights. They should not be killed, they should not be molested, they should not be treated in any way unfairly. That’s a human right,” said Sharpton. “But they don’t have the civil right to vote. They don’t have the civil right to participate in events that only citizens can participate in. So, Blacks, Latinos, Asians, and LGBTQ folks should not have to choose between these rights if they were born here or are United States citizens. We deserve our human rights and our civil rights. Choosing is like arguing if you should love your mama or your daddy—you should love both of them. Or whether we want integration or separation,” said Sharpton. He went on to explain that Dr. King fought for de-segregation, which is different from integration or separation. “The myth is that Dr. King was fighting because he felt that there was something divine about eating in white folks’ diners, or sitting on a toilet next to somebody white. The position was, if we pay the same taxes that secures policing near your diner, the same taxes that gives the streetlights outside your diner, then we outta have the same right as anyone else that pays taxes to eat in your diner. If we pay the same bus fare, we should be able to sit wherever we like, just like everyone else that’s paying the same bus fare. It’s not about who you’re sitting next to, it’s about if you’re going to have integrated money, then we’re going to have integrated services for that money.”

“All of us have a role to play.”
Sharpton explained to the audience that he was fully aware that many people viewed him as a publicity magnet. “I do like publicity. An activist’s job is to put light in dark situations. Don’t nobody call me to keep a secret,” Sharpton said to the delight of the audience. “Eric Garner’s mother didn’t call me and say, ‘the police choked my son, now please keep it between us.’ She called me to help blow it up. That’s what I do, I’m the blow-up guy.” But, he went on to explain that just as much as activism is needed, we also need lawyers to help with legal representation, and legislators to change laws. To illustrate that point, Sharpton told a story about a peaceful demonstration of civil disobedience that he was involved in. Several hundred people went down to the Brooklyn Bridge, listened to his rousing words, then laid down and got arrested. When they were in the bullpen behind the judge’s chambers, Sharpton saw a lawyer he knew. He asked the young man what he was doing there. “He said, ‘Well, I was at the bridge and you inspired me so much, I just had to lay down with everybody else.’ I said, ‘Well, who’s going to get us outta here?’ Play your role.”

“Life is not about where you start. Life is about where you’re going.”
Sharpton said that while he was growing up, he always knew that people suffered and died for him. People had chosen to shed their blood so that people like him could have opportunities they never had. It was because of this knowledge that Sharpton was always proud of his heritage, even when times were tough. “I thank God that I was raised that way. I never knew I was underprivileged until I got to Brooklyn College. I was in a Sociology class, and the professor said, ‘We’re going to study the underprivileged.’ I said that’s alright with me,” Sharpton recalled with a shoulder shrug. “He said, ‘We’re going to study kids living in housing projects, in single-parent homes, who are on welfare and go to the store to buy their food with food stamps.’” With a hand on his chest acting out exasperation and shock, Sharpton said, “He was talking about me!” Because his mother never told him what he wasn’t, but raised him with expectations, Sharpton never saw himself as underprivileged. “My mom would always tell me, ‘Life is not about where you start. Life is about where you’re going.’ Don’t let anybody tell you where you can go, and don’t let anybody cut off your dreams. Dream, even if you’re in the worst of conditions, dream. You today should not only celebrate the life and legacy of Malcolm and Martin, you should emulate in your life the Malcolm and Martin in you. There’s something in you that only you can deliver. Don’t let anybody devalue you.”

“Make your doubters become your fans.”
In his closing, Sharpton really brought home the idea that John Jay students should aim high, no matter what anyone says to them. He explained that a year ago, as he was walking through LaGuardia Airport, he was stopped by a woman connected to a figure from his past. The Caucasian, middle-aged woman said that her mother was his seventh-grade teacher. “After she gave me her last name, I stopped and said, ‘Sure, I remember her. She was my homeroom teacher.’ I didn’t tell her why I remembered her mother. When I was in the seventh grade, she asked the class what they wanted to be when they grew up. Everybody said what they wanted to be, and when they got to me, I said that I wanted to be a community leader like Adam Clayton Powell. She said, ‘Oh Al, why don’t you do something with your hands.’ I never forgot that,” said Sharpton. As he got older, he was determined to show this teacher that he could contribute to society like his Civil Rights hero. “I didn’t tell that to her daughter, instead I asked her if she was still alive. She said, ‘Yes, she’s in her 80s and will be 90 soon. Every Saturday and Sunday evening we can’t call her because she’s sitting in front of the television, watching your television show, you’re the highlight of her week.’ The woman that told me not to worry about speaking and leading, she ended up having to watch me on TV. Make your doubters become your fans. Make your disbelievers become the ones that exalt you. Stand up and be who you were born to be.”

Read more about our Malcolm/King Award recipients.

More scenes from the event:

To support informed participation in our democracy, the College provides access to public officials in their official capacity and candidates without regard to political party affiliation or policy views. Views expressed are the speaker’s own and do not necessarily reflect the position of the College. See http://www.jjay.cuny.edu/sites/default/files/legal_counsel/pol_activities_memo.pdf