Al Sharpton, 1989 Protest March, Brooklyn NY

Al Sharpton leading the first of dozens of protest marches after 40 white teenagers murdered Yusuf Hawkins, a 16 year old black youth in the (then) white neighborhood of Bensonhurst in Brooklyn.

Al Sharpton bravely led marchers through the Bensonhurst every week for over a year, despite shouts and catcalls and threats to his life. He was stabbed in 1991 during another march in Bensonhurst.

I happened to be home from college during the murder and the first protest march. I stumbled upon Rev. Sharpton and his group assembling in my grammar school's playground and then followed them through the neighborhood. I saw one white guy charge at Reverend Sharpton, only to be quickly knocked to the ground by the police. I saw another guy come out of his house weilding a kitchen knife who the cops also cuffed and led away.

Spike Lee's film Jungle Fever is dedicated in memory of Yusuf Hawkins, and his photograph appears at the beginning of the film.