Al Sharpton Marches on the Majors, Invokes James Brown

The Reverend Al Sharpton followed through on his “march for decency” yesterday afternoon, leading protestors to the offices of some of the music industry’s biggest corporations. According to the Associated Press, Sharpton made stops at the midtown Manhattan offices of Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group and Sony Music during the rally to protest derogatory language in popular music, specifically hip-hop. The Reverend compared recent calls to remove the three words “bitch,” “ho” and “nigger” from the airwaves to similar moves to ban homophobic and anti-Semitic slurs. "You can't have standards for some, and when it comes to women and African-Americans, you don't have standards," Sharpton said. The rally had a special symbolic signifigance as it coincided with what would have been the 74th birthday of music legend James Brown. According to Sharpton, Brown personally asked him to take a more aggressive stance towards degrading music during his last hours.