Skip Al Sharpton’s March on Washington on Saturday, the president of the National Black Church Initiative told members of the network’s 34,000 churches Friday afternoon.
NBCI’s statement, released just a day before Sharpton’s march, slammed the Rev. for squandering his “carte blanche access” to the Obama White House, claiming that he “blew an opportunity to secure critical issues that affect the African American community.” Instead of pursuing meaningful changes, “Al Sharpton and his liberal friends took the time to get rich,” the news release says.
On Saturday morning, NBCI’s president, Rev. Anthony Evans, explained his opposition to Sharpton’s march in an interview with Heat Street.
“They’re asking our churches to march when they’ve had all the power for the past eight years? We’re not doing that. That’s poppycock. … We’re holding Sharpton accountable. We’re not participating in Sharpton’s speech. We have created our own agenda,” Evans said.
On the day of the march, Sharpton’s spokeswoman did not immediately respond to Heat Street’s request for comment on the NBCI statement.
In the past, NBCI has said that the Democratic Party has not met the needs of its black constituents, slamming both Sharpton and the National Black Caucus. It has also been highly critical Donald Trump, whom NBCI has called “the biggest racist since Bull Connor.”
Sources interviewed by Heat Street varied in their assessment of NBCI’s political influence. Evans said the group’s 34,000 affiliate churches together have 15.7 million members, spanning 15 denominations.
NBCI’s takedown of Sharpton comes as he has struggled to draw a crowd to his March on Washington on Saturday.
A source at Sharpton’s march estimated that 2,000, at most, were in attendance– a number that matched the Reuters estimate later in the day. Another source put that number below 1,000. CPSAN’s live-stream of event showed a sparse-looking crowd.
Speaking at the March, Sharpton tried to ward off criticism about the low turnout. “They’re going to lie tomorrow and say wasn’t but 200 of us, but look at this crowd in the rain,” Sharpton said as he addressed attendees.
Sources close to the Rev told Heat Street he hoped for at least 5,000 attendees. Last week, a spokeswoman for Sharpton estimated more than 100 buses would be bringing people in.
Even that 5,000-person target was embarrassingly small, given that the rival Women’s March on Washington, organized by two of Sharpton’s former protégés, currently has more than 190,000 who have committed to attend, with an additional 254,000 expressing interest on Facebook. The organizers of the Women’s March have refused to create a leadership role for Sharpton.
