Findings

Oratorical

Lanes

Blogs

Online Programs

Speeches

Black Information Highway Blog

BIHMST Channel on YouTube

 Statements main

BIHMST Stores

STATEMENT FROM REV. AL SHARPTON REGARDING THE MEETING WITH PEPSICO & THE FAMILY OF EMMETT TILL

Wednesday, May 08, 2013 – “The meeting today with PepsiCo representatives, the family of Emmett Till, and me at corporate headquarters was a positive meeting. PepsiCo apologized to the family again and they accepted while agreeing with me that this is a “teachable moment” and we must work with younger hip-hop artists so they know their civil rights history and become more engaged in the community. National Action Network (NAN) doesn’t want the end result to be the penalization of artists-although they clearly need to be corrected--but rather them becoming more engaged and conscientious of civil rights history. We agreed to work as partners to try and sit down with younger hip-hop artists, corporate executives, and people in the civil rights community.”

Rev. Al Sharpton, President of National Action Network and MSNBC host

BACKGROUND:

 Lil Wayne's made insensitive remarks toward Emmett Till in his verse on the remix of Future's "Karate Chop" and as a result PepsiCo has cut ties with Wayne in light of the controversy. Wayne referenced Till, an African-American teenager whose brutal murder helped to spark the Civil Rights Movement, with the line "beat the p-sy up like Emmett Till."