The Rev. Al Sharpton speaks about the long friendship he had with Rev. Jesse Jackson

Описание: (17 Feb 2026)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
New York - 17 February 2026
1. Rev. Al Sharpton approaches podium
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Rev. Al Sharpton, President, National Action Network:
"Jesse Jackson changed American politics. Jesse Jackson changed the civil rights movement. He was a consequential and transformative figure."
++BLACK FRAMES++
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Rev. Al Sharpton, President, National Action Network:
"When Dr. King died, he was killed in '68, he was talking to Jesse Jackson and Ben Branch over the rail at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. And Reverend Jackson was literally one of the two last people to speak to him. I always wondered how much trauma that must have been for him to witness Reverend King's assassination. He never would talk about it too much, but it drove him. He kept saying we got to keep Dr. King's dream alive."
++BLACK FRAMES++
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Rev. Al Sharpton, President, National Action Network:
"So I'm not talking about somebody that just is some removed figure in history. He literally changed American politics, New York politics, and kept the civil rights movement going, and then raised some of us that have been in the forefront in the first part of the 21st century to do what we do, and he's been there with us. When we did George Floyd, he was right there at the church with us when I did the eulogy. He was there with Trayvon Martin. He never stopped."
++BLACK FRAMES++
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Rev. Al Sharpton, President, National Action Network:
"Don't forget, he went and got hostages from Iraq, hostages from Syria, that no one else could get for this country. Never got the credit he was due, but he said to me that those that need the credit don't deserve it, and those that deserve the credit don't need it. Well, I'm gonna make sure as long as I'm alive he gets the credit, Reverend Jesse Jackson."
++BLACK FRAMES++
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Rev. Al Sharpton, President, National Action Network:
"He opened my eyes that we could make a difference, we could made change, that we could not be cynical. So by him running has never had been an elected official. With most black elected officials at that time, not with him in '84. When he ran and did that, I believed that we could make a difference. We could change laws, and which is why I went from just being bitter to trying to be better."
++BLACK FRAMES++
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Rev. Al Sharpton, President, National Action Network:
"I once said to him, you're already in history, you've gotten all the honors, why do you keep going? He said, I never learned how to retire. He said you got to remember Al, Dr. King was killed at 39 years old, Medgar Evers was killed at 39 years old, Malcolm X was killed at 39. We were never raised to be 40 years old. He said, I woke up one day at 55, there's no retirement plan for us. And he kept going until this morning."
8. Rev. Al Sharpton walking away from podium
STORYLINE:
At press conference in New York on Tuesday, the Rev. Al Sharpton spoke about their long friendship he had with Rev. Jesse Jackson. They met when Sharpton was 13 and first becoming involved in civil rights activism through the church.

Sharpton said Jackson’s tireless work was not only an inspiration to his career, it was also vital to keeping the civil rights movement alive.

“I always wondered how much trauma that must have been for him to witness Rev. King’s assassination. He never would talk about it too much, but it drove him. He said ‘We’ve got to keep Dr. King’s legacy alive.’”


AP Video by Joseph Frederick



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