Robert "Sonny" Carson

Robert Carson Jr. was born on May 22, 1936, in Orangeburg, South Carolina, but moved to Brooklyn as a child. In his youth, Carson joined a street gang called the Bishops. Carson was arrested after robbing a Western Union messenger and was sent to a juvenile-detention center. where he claimed to have met a Korean soldier who asked him, "Why would a black man fight for a country that would not let you drink from the same water fountain in Mississippi?" He broke from the organization in 1968, stating that it had not done enough to help African-Americans. Carson's later founded a group called the Committee to Honor Black Heroes. Carson was incarcerated for 15 months in the Sing Sing prison. Advocate against drug use In the 1980s Carson became an advocate against drug use, founding a group called "Black Men's Movement Against Crack". Protesting police brutality In the 1980s, Carson organized a number of demonstrations protesting police brutality. ==Controversies==

Carson organized the controversial Family Red Apple boycott of Korean-American owned stores in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn in 1990. He was also involved in the 1991 Crown Heights riot. Family Red Apple boycott Carson took a central role in organizing the Family Red Apple boycott, also known as the Flatbush boycott. Carson was investigated by the FBI, under the suspicion that he violated the civil rights of the Korean shopkeepers. Antisemitism Carson was charged by his critics for being antisemitic. Carson responded, "That's absolutely absurd, 'antisemitic.' And so that you don't ask the question, I'm antiwhite. Don't limit my antis to just one group of people." Protest philosophy Carson's political tactics often involved the use of public protest. His protest philosophy considered disrupting social order to draw attention to the plight of African-Americans. Several of Carson's protests turned violent. In an interview with The New York Times in 1987, Carson said: "You don't give us any justice, then there ain't going to be no peace. We're going to use whatever means necessary to make sure that everyone is disrupted in their normal life." David Dinkins released a statement apologizing for involving Carson in his campaign. Following one of Carson's "Anti-White" statements, Dinkins released a public statement critical of Carson stating: "Sonny Carson's comment represents the kind of bigotry and intolerance I utterly reject and have fought against my whole life. Had such comments come to my attention, he never would have played a role in my campaign." == Death ==

A few months before December 2002, Carson suffered two heart attacks and became comatose. He was admitted to the Manhattan Veterans Affairs Medical Center, where he remained until his death on December 20, 2002, at the age of 66. ==References==