Editing Al Sharpton (section)

==Personal life==
In 1971 while touring with [[James Brown]], Sharpton met future wife Kathy Jordan, who was a backing singer.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/president/sharptonprofile.htm |title=Campaign 2004: Alfred Sharpton |date=May 20, 2005 |access-date=June 19, 2007 |work=[[USA Today]]}}</ref> Sharpton and Jordan married in 1980.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1355/is_14_100/ai_78729057 |title=Rev. Al Sharpton And Wife Kathy Renew Their Wedding Vows |date=January 17, 2001 |access-date=June 19, 2007 |work=[[Jet (magazine)|Jet]]}}</ref> The couple separated in 2004.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2004-11-07-sharpton_x.htm |title=Al Sharpton, wife announce separation |date=November 7, 2004 |access-date=July 10, 2007 |work=[[USA Today]]}}</ref> They have two daughters, Ashley and Dominique.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nationalactionnetwork.net/staff/dominique-sharpton/|title=Dominique Sharpton: Director of Membership|accessdate=July 25, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://nationalactionnetwork.net/staff/ashley-sharpton/|title=Ashley Sharpton: Founder & Director of NAN Youth Huddle|publisher=National Action Network|accessdate=July 25, 2024}}</ref> In July 2013, the [[Daily News (New York)|New York ''Daily News'']] reported that Sharpton, while still married to his second wife (Kathy Jordan),<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/22/us/al-sharpton-fast-facts |title=Al Sharpton Fast Facts |date=March 27, 2013 |access-date=July 25, 2013 |work=[[CNN]]}}</ref> now had a self-described "girlfriend", Aisha McShaw,<ref>{{cite news |first=Jennifer |last=Fermino |date=July 17, 2013 |title=Al Sharpton finds new love in a decades-younger Westchester stylist |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/al-sharpton-finds-new-love-decades-younger-article-1.1400703 |work=[[Daily News (New York)|Daily News]] |location=New York}}</ref> aged 35, and that the couple had "been an item for months.... photographed at elegant bashes all over the country". McShaw, the ''Daily News'' reported, referred to herself professionally as both a "personal stylist" and "personal banker".

Sharpton is an honorary member of [[Phi Beta Sigma]] fraternity.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pbs1914.org/press_releases/rev._al_sharpton_inducted_into_phi_beta_sigma |title=Rev. Al Sharpton Inducted into Phi Beta Sigma |publisher=Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. |access-date=March 12, 2012 |year=2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111227170610/http://www.pbs1914.org/press_releases/rev._al_sharpton_inducted_into_phi_beta_sigma/ |archive-date=December 27, 2011 }}</ref>

===Religion===
Sharpton was licensed and ordained a [[Pentecostalism|Pentecostal]] minister by Bishop [[F. D. Washington]] at the age of nine<ref name=NPR>{{cite web |url=https://www.npr.org/programs/specials/democrats2004/transcripts/sharpton_trans.html |title=Al Sharpton Interview Transcript |date=June 13, 2003 |access-date=June 19, 2007 |work=[[Morning Edition]] |publisher=[[NPR|National Public Radio]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070609062909/http://www.npr.org/programs/specials/democrats2004/transcripts/sharpton_trans.html |archive-date=June 9, 2007 |url-status=live}}</ref> or ten.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.greatertalent.com/AlSharpton |title=Reverend Al Sharpton |access-date=May 11, 2008 |publisher=Greater Talent Network Speakers Bureau |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080523203408/http://www.greatertalent.com/AlSharpton |archive-date=May 23, 2008}}</ref> After Bishop Washington's death in the late 1980s, Sharpton became a [[Progressive National Baptist Convention|Baptist]]. He was re-baptized as a member of the Bethany Baptist Church in 1994 by the Reverend [[William Augustus Jones Jr.|William Augustus Jones]]<ref name=NAN>{{cite web |url=http://www.nationalactionnetwork.net/html/history.html |title=Reverend Al Sharpton's Bio |author=Stefan Friedman |access-date=June 19, 2007 |publisher=[[National Action Network]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070519171359/http://www.nationalactionnetwork.net/html/history.html |archive-date=May 19, 2007}}</ref> and became a Baptist minister.<ref name=NPR/><ref name="Jones NYT">{{cite news |last1=Jones |first1=Charisse |title=Sharpton Is Rebaptized As Baptist in Brooklyn |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/02/07/nyregion/sharpton-is-rebaptized-as-baptist-in-brooklyn.html|date= February 7, 1994|access-date=December 23, 2014 |newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>

During 2007, Sharpton participated in a public debate with [[Atheism|atheist]] writer [[Christopher Hitchens]], defending his religious faith and his [[theism|belief in the existence of God]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nysun.com/article/54047 |title=Hitchens, Sharpton Spar Over the Almighty |author=Matthew Chayes |date=May 8, 2007 |access-date=July 3, 2007 |work=[[The New York Sun]] |archive-date=January 25, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080125032918/http://www.nysun.com/article/54047 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20091019013409/http://fora.tv/2007/05/07/Al_Sharpton_and_Christopher_Hitchens/#fullprogram "Al Sharpton and Christopher Hitchens."]}} [[FORA.tv]]. May 7, 2007. Retrieved August 6, 2009.</ref><ref>{{Citation|last=ChristopherHitchslap|title=Christopher Hitchens Debates Al Sharpton - New York Public|date=December 6, 2011|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPYxA8dYLBY |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/HPYxA8dYLBY| archive-date=2021-12-11 |url-status=live|access-date=May 10, 2019}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

===Assassination attempt===
[[File:Ps205.jpg|The schoolyard of P.S. 205 in Brooklyn, c. 1991|thumb]]
On January 12, 1991, Sharpton escaped serious injury when he was stabbed in the chest in the schoolyard at P.S. 205<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/01/13/nyregion/sharpton-is-stabbed-at-bensonhurst-protest.html |work=The New York Times |first=Robert D. |last=McFadden |title=Sharpton Is Stabbed at Bensonhurst Protest |date=January 13, 1991}}</ref> by Michael Riccardi while Sharpton was preparing to lead a protest through [[Bensonhurst, Brooklyn|Bensonhurst]] in [[Brooklyn]], New York. The intoxicated attacker was apprehended by Sharpton's aides and handed over to police, who were present for the planned protest.

In 1992, Riccardi was convicted of first-degree assault. Sharpton asked the judge for leniency when sentencing Riccardi.<ref name="lueck"/> The judge sentenced Riccardi to five to 15 years in jail,<ref>Daniels, Lee A. [https://www.nytimes.com/1992/03/17/nyregion/attacker-of-sharpton-is-sentenced.html "Attacker of Sharpton Is Sentenced"]. ''The New York Times'', March 17, 1992.</ref> and he served ten years in prison<ref name="lueck"/> being released on parole on January 8, 2001.

Sharpton, although forgiving his attacker and pleading for leniency on his behalf, filed suit against New York City alleging that the many police present had failed to protect him from his attacker. In December 2003, he finally reached a $200,000 settlement with the city just as jury selection was about to start.<ref name="lueck">Lueck, Thomas. [https://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/09/nyregion/city-settles-sharpton-suit-over-stabbing-480789.html "City Settles Sharpton Suit Over Stabbing"]. ''The New York Times'', December 9, 2003.</ref>

===Indirect connection to Strom Thurmond===
{{see also|Strom Thurmond}}
In February 2007, genealogist [[Megan Smolenyak]] discovered that Sharpton's great-grandfather, Coleman Sharpton, was a [[slave]] owned by Julia Thurmond, whose grandfather was [[Strom Thurmond]]'s great-great-grandfather.<ref>Fernanda Santos, [https://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/26/nyregion/26sharpton.html Sharpton Learns His Forebears Were Thurmonds' Slaves], ''[[The New York Times]]'', February 26, 2007.</ref> Coleman Sharpton was later freed.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/report-al-sharptons-ancestors-were-slaves-owned-by-strom-thurmonds-relatives |title=Report: Al Sharpton's Ancestors Were Slaves Owned by Strom Thurmond's Relatives |date=February 25, 2007 |agency=Associated Press |publisher=Fox News |access-date=April 15, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111118184749/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,254482,00.html |archive-date=November 18, 2011 |url-status=live  }}</ref>

The Sharpton family name originated with Coleman Sharpton's previous owner, who was named Alexander Sharpton.<ref>Al Sharpton Jr.,
[https://web.archive.org/web/20140422064451/http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-sharpton1mar01,0,7761346,print.story My link to Strom Thurmond], ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', March 1, 2007.</ref>