Al Sharpton tells Oprah why he’s no longer an angry black man
Rev. Al Sharpton joins Oprah Winfrey in an all-new episode of “Oprah’s Next Chapter” airing this Sunday, Nov. 17 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network.
In the episode Oprah sits down with Rev. Sharpton for an open and revealing conversation about race in America, how his role as a civil rights activist has shifted and the moment that changed his life. Interesting to note is Sharpton’s admission to being an angry black man and how he let go. Here’s an excerpt:
WINFREY: So were you, for a very long time, an angry black man?
REV. SHARPTON: Oh, I was very angry. And I was angry not only at society. I was angry at my father. I was angry at some of my mentors. I felt, you know, if I hadn’t lived a middle class life and then went to the ‘hood, I might not have been as angry. But I felt robbed.
WINFREY: Mm.
REV. SHARPTON: I felt I had the right life and y’all took it from me for no reason.
WINFREY: Mm-hmm.
REV. SHARPTON: And then humiliated my mother. My mother went from having a new Cadillac every year to scrubbing floors so I’d have a suit to wear to church on Sunday. I was mad about that.
WINFREY: Mm-hmm.
REV. SHARPTON: I was mad about that.
WINFREY: And some of that anger is what we saw in your protests.
REV. SHARPTON: A lot of that anger was exercising protests.
WINFREY: Yeah.
REV. SHARPTON: And exercising a lot of things in life. Because I never stopped and really analyzed and admitted to myself where is all this anger? I mean, when you wake up mad.
WINFREY: (Laughter.)
REV. SHARPTON: I mean, nothing’s even happened yet. You’re just mad when you wake up. You look at the pillow mad. I mean —
WINFREY: (Laughter.)
REV. SHARPTON: At some point you’ve got to stop and say, what am I so angry about?
WINFREY: Yeah.
REV. SHARPTON: Because you never really dealt with this pain inside.
They also discuss his new book, The Rejected Stone, what drives him to stand up for causes he believes in and his dramatic weight loss. Later his daughters Ashley and Dominique join the conversation in their first interview together to share their perspective on how their father has shaped their lives and their plans for the future.
