TCHULA — National civil rights leader the Rev. Al Sharpton will appear Saturday at a get-out-the-vote rally in Tchula.
The event, billed as Holmes County Day, features the theme “Making Your Vote Count.”
Holmes County Day begins at 4 p.m. at S.V. Marshall High School. Sharpton is scheduled to speak at 6 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
Sponsored by the Holmes County Day Committee, the event has been organized by the Rev. Eddie Carthan.
Carthan, a Democratic candidate for Beat 5 supervisor, said he and Sharpton have known each other for a long time.
“We go back to the 1970s, when I was mayor of Tchula,” Carthan said.
Carthan, who has made two unsuccessful bids to recapture the Tchula mayor’s post, said Sharpton will bring two messages with him Saturday.
First, “he is encouraging people to vote and to vote for me,” Carthan said. The Democratic primary is Tuesday.
The second aspect of Sharpton’s remarks will be pointing out that “Holmes County is No. 1 for everything that’s bad, from unemployment to crime to teen pregnancy” and “50th in everything that’s good,” Carthan said.
He said it is possible to totally transform the county.
In 1977, Carthan became the first black elected as mayor of Tchula.
A host of legal controversies shrouded his tenure as mayor. He was forced to resign after being convicted of assaulting a police officer. Carthan was later convicted of bank fraud charges and served two years.
A jury acquitted him of charges of hiring two men to kill a Tchula alderman.
Carthan said during this time of legal tribulations when he spoke in New York — part of an 86-city world tour where he proclaimed his innocence — he became friends with Sharpton, president and founder of the National Action Network.
Sharpton, who ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for president in 2004, first emerged on the national stage in the case of Tawana Brawley, a 15-year-old black girl, who alleged she was raped by six white men, including some police officers, in Wappinger, N.Y., in 1987.
Following a seven-month investigation a grand jury determined Brawley had fabricated her story.
Sharpton also ran unsuccessfully for mayor of New York in 1997.
Carthan said other candidates are welcome to speak at Saturday’s rally, including his two Democratic opponents, incumbent Willie Townsend and fellow challenger Sammie Epps.
Carthan said Bill Luckett, Democratic candidate for governor, and state Attorney General Jim Hood have indicated they will attend as well. Candidates vying for various regional boards and commissions will also speak, he said.
Candidates from other races who cannot attend will be sending representatives, Carthan said.
The candidates will speak beginning at 4 p.m. Carthan said he expects Sharpton’s remarks to last 30 minutes to an hour.
Carthan said a wide selection of gospel, rap and blues artists will perform Saturday. Free refreshments will also be provided.
• Contact Bob Darden at bdarden@gwcommonwealth.com.
