Essay 4717

From The New York Daily News…

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Meet Al Sharpton, the healer

By Errol Louis

The Rev. Al Sharpton is expected to preach at Tuesday’s funeral for Khiel Coppin, the troubled 18-year-old from Bed-Stuy who was killed in a hail of police gunfire under tragic, confusing circumstances.

The very mention of Sharpton’s name is enough to send many New Yorkers into eye-rolling fits, sputtering accusations like “fraud,” “charlatan” and “publicity hound.” But the hate ignores an important point.

For sure, Sharpton ranks among the most media-exposed public figures in America, hosting a three-hour radio talk show that’s broadcast every weekday in dozens of markets around the country—New York, it so happens, is not one of them—as well as a local Sunday night “hour of power” radio show on Kiss FM.

This is not a man who needs more press.

But what Sharpton’s many critics never mention, and perhaps don’t know, is that his organization, the National Action Network, is one of the few groups anywhere that step forward in times of crisis to help the families of violent crime victims handle the tangle of emotional, logistical, legal and financial problems that come crashing down on them in an instant.

For about 24 hours after Coppin’s killing, for instance, his family was barred from entering their home—the NYPD treated it as a crime scene. Nor were they allowed to see Khiel’s body at Woodhull Hospital. Meantime, the story of the shooting, including hastily released tapes of the 911 call that brought police to Coppin’s home, had become national news and brought protesters into the streets of Bed-Stuy where the killing took place.

The family’s need to round up legal help, manage scores of reporter inquiries and find a place to stay for the night—all while absorbing the fact that a son and brother had died—was the kind of tall order that local pols and ministers tend to run from. There are tricky, can’t-wait problems, like paying for a funeral nobody expected and raising money for parents whose grief shatters their ability to work.

Working through these issues is difficult, thankless work.

“There is a shock and disbelief after a homicide because it’s an unnatural death,” says Vilma Torres, director of the Families of Homicide Victims Program at Safe Horizon, a crime victims’ support group. “Many times, there’s a physical reaction: vomiting, nausea, shortness of breath.”

Torres’ group provides a wide range of services, from grief counseling to financial assistance, to crime victims and their families who call (866) 689-HELP.