I am still on a high after meeting the man I pay homage to
every time I am referred to as Ale Sharpton.
Whoa!
After my awesome Forbes article written by Gary Stoller went viral this past Wednesday, I was floored by the positive response and praises from my followers, family, friends, and even strangers who simply wanted to show me love. I truly appreciated it. And then it happened: I got a message from a PR representative of the Reverend Al Sharpton requesting my presence; he happened to be in Atlanta for the African American Leadership Summit. After reading the article documenting my great respect for him explaining why I named myself Ale Sharpton, the Reverend wanted to link, take pictures with me, and show support for my endeavors. You know I was tripping! I always wanted to meet him in person and tell him what the article stated and it actually was happening. I honestly didn't know what to expect but was ready to embrace whatever. I wasn't missing this.
When we linked up at his headquarters on the West End, I gave Reverend a big hug and he asked me questions about me, including upbringing, schooling, and what motivated me to be "Ale." I broke it down, then we took some pics, and then he was off to catch a flight. He was sharp, very polite, showed no celebrity arrogance, no shunning of alcohol consumption (he doesn't drink), or straight-up negative energy. Most importantly, it was his official validation of using the Sharpton name. It was a very cool, chill vibe. He went on to post it on his Instagram, I did the same the next morning here, and we both followed up by Tweets here and here, and Facebook posts. God is amazing.
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| Photo by Andrea Janise. |
I am looking forward to building as Ale Sharpton and continue the journey of helping make the craft beer industry a great, enlightening, industrious, and inclusive one, while meeting great people along the way.
And for you reading this, thanks for riding along with me. I couldn't do it without you.
Peace!
Ale
