"I Will Be Playing Myself."

I'm a Black person. Pleased to meet you. My political affiliation is pretty easy to determine from my previous posts. I mention that only to prevent any confusion as I discuss a topic that I have a definite stake in: leadership in the Black community, or lack thereof. As for the quote above, well, you'll see.

There comes a time when any leader, regardless of color, decides that he is unable, or unwilling to lead, and, to put it in biblical terms, he has to lay his staff down. Like when LBJ, worn out by the failures in Vietnam, decided not to seek another term as President. Or when Al Gore, after the hard-fought 2000 Presidential Election, stepped away from politics into the private sector. Or when Jesse Jackson had a child out of wedlock.

Well, for Reverend Al Sharpton, his resignation took a different form. According to news reports, Rev. Al is working on a situation comedy pilot for CBS. Get this: It will be called "Al in the Family." And, according to the Rev, "I will be playing myself." I don't think anyone will argue with that.

I'm vexed by this, but not for the same reasons other people probably are. Out of last year's Democratic Presidential candidates, Sharpton alone impressed me with his feistiness, naturalism, and grace under pressure. In debates with drones like Lieberman, Kerry, etc., he frequently seemed like the only person on the dais with a pulse. And he brought focus to issues (like poverty and racism) that more "mainstream" candidates ignored, until Hurricane Katrina washed them up into our national consciousness, however briefly, this year. With Bush apparently dying a slow death from self-inflicted wounds, why step out of the fray now?

The answer is pretty simple: Nobody is gonna vote for Al Sharpton. Not Black folks, and certainly not White folks. All White folks know about him is the Tawana Brawley debacle. All Black folks know about him is the jogging suits and the conked-up hair. And the media! Sharpton rocked the house at the Democratic Convention last year, summoning up images of the Civil Rights era, and NBC's Chris Matthews dismissed the speech as "riffing" on something or other.

So with prospects of extending his leadership role into a paying job limited... Well, that showbiz, she is a seductive bitch. Stories floated last year about a reality show for Sharpton, but he apparently held out for the scripted show. Good move, Rev. Martha Stewart and Fox have killed reality shows.

I can't help but wonder though, if this might be a new opportunity opening up, maybe for a sitcom star to take Sharpton's place. Keisha Knight-Pulliam's grown, college-educated, and quite fetching, I understand. Or maybe Urkel's finally finished with the awkward growth spurts. Gary Coleman, a waiting nation turns its eyes to you!

UPDATE: As it turns out, Al Sharpton won't be starring in a sitcom, after all.

In a statement last week, Sharpton stated (paraphrase): "I don't want to be Carroll O'Connor. I'd rather be George Bush." Funny, I thought he had higher aspirations than that.

And he's still doing commercials for that seedy short-term loan company, just in case anybody thinks he's taking the high road...