The Fight For Might

(2 of 3)
Walker is an ally of Sharpton's, but he is also a credible voice--an influential Baptist leader who once served as King's chief of staff. His rage stems from an incident in January, when Jackson, freshly stung by the scandal, was trying to escape the sabbatical from public life he had promised to take. His strategy: organize rallies that would make it appear that the black masses were clamoring for his return. Jackson asked Walker if Canaan was available and Walker said yes, but only for a "service of penance" during which Jackson would make a public apology. But as he wrote in a letter to Jackson that was later made public by the Village Voice, Jackson "disrespected me, my pulpit and my people" by turning the event into a media circus, complete with pro-Jackson speeches by politicians like Congressman Charles Rangel. Jackson sent Walker a letter apologizing for "any error in judgment and communication," and Walker accepted it. Privately, he grumbles that "it wasn't much of an apology."

Such blunt criticism would have been bad news for Jackson under any circumstances. But the fact that Walker is also chairman of the board of Sharpton's organization, the National Action Network, based in Harlem, made it even worse. Some Jackson allies see Walker's attack as the first step in an effort by Sharpton to knock Jackson off his perch.

Sharpton denies any such intention. Jackson has been his role model since Sharpton's days as a child evangelist. "I'm not one to think that Rev. Jackson's finished," he says. "I'm not trying to take advantage of his travail. My rise is not at Jesse's expense. If I'm rising it's because I've done the work on issues like police brutality that affect huge numbers of our people."

Maybe. But Sharpton's supporters can hardly contain their glee when they cite their evidence that Sharpton is ascending as Jackson sinks. They point out that when rioting erupted in Cincinnati, Ohio, last month over the police shooting of an unarmed black teenager, black clergymen prevailed on Sharpton to cut short a fact-finding tour about slavery in Sudan and fly in to lead a rally. They claim, without offering proof, that Jackson was rebuffed when he tried to wrangle a similar invitation. "Jesse's not the go-to guy anymore," says a Sharpton admirer. Jackson, who denies scrounging for the invitation, says going "would not have been rational" because N.A.A.C.P. head Kweisi Mfume was already there.

Sharpton has been practicing the role of New Jackson for years. He has patterned his career on Jackson's, mimicking his every move. Sharpton's National Action Network is modeled on Jackson's Rainbow/PUSH Coalition. Sharpton's Madison Avenue Initiative, which pressures white companies to buy more ads in black-owned media, resembles Jackson's Wall Street Project, which pressures corporations to create more investment opportunities for blacks. And now Sharpton is planning to rip the ultimate page from Jackson's book by running for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004--the same strategy Jackson used 20 years ago to cement his position at the top.