WASHINGTON, D.C.
AUGUST 26, 2023
Can't tell you what Martin Luther King Jr. was doing in the hours, minutes, before he delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech, but I can tell you that sixty years later, Alfred Charles Sharpton Jr. is sitting in an upholstered wooden chair in his trailer, parked on a fence line behind the Lincoln Memorial, fielding calls on his cell phone about today's rally, at which he will deliver his own speech. Can't tell you the logistical concerns MLK solved himself in the minutes before he gave his most famous public address, but I can tell you that Sharpton's cell is ring ring ringing with handlers and schedulers panicked about the lineup, about having the event shut down by the National Park Service for the bureaucratic alibi that it has run past its permitted time.
On the umpteenth such call, Sharpton, who's about as calm as an August breeze, tells the anxious messenger to get ahold of Stephen K. Benjamin, a senior advisor to President Biden, and have him handle it.
There were 250,000 people at the original March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. But today's continuation-that's what he's calling it, a continuation, not a commemoration-appears not to reach the 75,000 estimated by Sharpton and Martin Luther King III, two of its chief organizers. Still, King is present with his wife and their daughter, MLK's only grandchild. And Sharpton? Coretta Scott King herself once described him as a leader "in the spirit and tradition of Martin Luther King Jr." Nonetheless, over his long career as a rabble-rouser, there have been no few folks naysaying how well he has bent the moral arc of the universe toward justice, who've questioned whether he's deserving of inclusion on the esteemed short list of civil-rights icons.
Denne historien er fra March 2024-utgaven av Esquire US.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra March 2024-utgaven av Esquire US.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
hasan minhaj had a very strange year
The comedian felt the wrath of the Internet AND lost a career-defining job opportunity. NOW he's back with an interview series, A NEW NETFLIX SPECIAL, and a fresh perspective on his COMEDY.
the perfect girl friend
Flirty, sexy, seductive, supportive. Your AI companion can be whatever you want her to be. And now a growing number of men are turning to bots to ease their loneliness or satisfy their kinks. The choices are endless. The emotions are real.
thinker
Andrew Garfield has big ideas about life and death-even a theory about the nature of time. Over an afternoon at one of his favorite New York City haunts, the actor let us into his world.
priceless
At Hermès, Axel de Beaufort will make whatever you imagine. Its value can be measured not in dollars but in the hours spent crafting it and the beauty it adds to the world.
shoes with staying power
The Shannon lace-up from Church's is a study in enduring style
THE MIDLIFE CRISIS? TRY THE THREEQUARTER-LIFE QUANDARY.
Black men's life expectancy is short, thanks to history. At 49, am I on the downslope?
HOW THE DEMOCRATS GOT THEIR GROOVE BACK
They've been flinching ever since Reagan, but the party has finally figured out who they are.
WRITTEN ON THE BODY
As we age, we're fighting a losing battle against memory. Maybe that's why, in my 40s, I've tattooed myself with everything I can't bear to forget.
I Wore This Jacket to Death. Now It's Even Better.
Menswear designer Aaron Levine, who helped revitalize brands like Abercrombie & Fitch and Club Monaco, explains why he reaches for his Carhartt again and again and again
Check Yourself
Todd Snyder and Woolrich have teamed up to create a new breed of wearable luxury fashion. The iconic buffalo plaid remains a staple.
