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Media Credit: Victoria Webbe Rev. Al Sharpton spoke about preaching social justice at the Black Ministerial Cancus' annual Martin Luther King Jr. lecture yesterday [Click to enlarge]

Rev. Al Sharpton trans-formed the Dorothy Young Center for the Arts into a church service yesterday. He gave a lecture that quickly turned into a revival. One of the most diverse crowds that an event at Drew University could draw turned out for the electrifying speech given by the civil rights leader and former presidential candidate. Students, professors, visiting scholars and college-aged to senior citizen community members filled the Concert Hall to hear the lecture that was, by all accounts, rousing.

�It was a great presentation,� Black Ministerial Caucus Faculty Advisor Arthur Pressley said. The audience repeatedly expressed that same feeling during the event�s question-and-answer session. The words �inspirational� and �moving� came up each time a new audience member spoke, underlining the religious tone of the lecture, which was peppered with �Amens� and �Hallelujahs.�

The podium on stage became a pulpit before Sharpton even spoke. His lecture was preceded by a prayer by Rev. James Woodley and a hymn sung by BMC treasurer Zavette Smallwood.

�Have we never pastored a church? We have never pastored a building,� Sharpton declared in his speech. The civil rights activist spent his time with the crowd � less than an hour � explaining that religious leaders today need to constantly engage the members of their congregation and move them to action.

�We are losing the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,� he said. �We don�t know his struggles.� The reference to King highlighted the goal of the lecture series to keep King�s legacy alive.

Lecturing the crowd about how a minister should engage the world, Sharpton pointed and gestured to them for emphasis. His voice filled the room with a musical quality, making the concert hall an appropriate venue. He settled into a rhythm that had the crowd yelling and some audience members on their feet. The atmosphere in the DOYO was more reminiscent of a church revival service than a lecture. When he brought the crowd in, they followed enthusiastically.

�There is no praise without struggle,� Sharpton said. He told the audience that there are more problems that need to be fixed in the world today, citing the war in Iraq, the aftermath of Katrina and teen pregnancy as some examples.

He also said people cannot shy away from those problems. �Dr. King never knew what a cell phone was � we have 50 ways of communicating today, but we don�t use them,� he said.

The connection between the early methods of the civil rights movement to modern issues was another theme of Sharpton�s speech to which the audience responded enthusiastically. �The leaders of the movement must be different from the artists of the movement,� he said. Sharpton recognized that hip-hop is an important cultural emblem, but at the same time, young people cannot face �the hard test� � his term for social struggles � if the only person to lead them is Kanye West. Sharpton expanded upon this appeal to the younger members of the audience when he discussed hot-button political issues like Iraq and Katrina, though always in a spiritual context.

�The best part of his speech was when [Sharpton] explained what the youth need to do today,� Sydney Smith, a third-year Master of Divinity student, said.

�There�s a commonality of where [different religions] want to go,� Sharpton said during the question-and-answer session that ended the event in response to a question from senior Ben Weisman about how a young Jewish man could become involved in the social justice movement. �We need to get past our dogmatic differences,� he said, appealing to Jewish members of the audience.

�He�s on line. We need to keep our eye on the prize,� Sloane Drayson-Knigge, an adjunct professor at the Theological school who is also Jewish, said. Associate Chaplain Akiva Roth agreed. �[Sharpton] gave a very Jewish message. He quoted the Old Testament often. He was speaking to everyone at Drew,� he said.

Sharpton�s lecture adds his name to the many others that have graced the lecture circuit at Drew. Among many others, King, his father and his daughter spoke here.

The BMC was pleased with the event. Pressley�s only reservation was that the event, and particularly the question-and-answer session, only gave a �thumbnail sketch of [Sharpton�s] breadth of thinking.�

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