DURHAM - Civil rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton will speak at N.C. Central University on Sunday as part of Family and Friends Day for Mount Vernon Baptist Church.

The event is set for 10:45 a.m. at the B.N. Duke Auditorium on the campus. It was moved from the church, at 1007 S. Roxboro St., because of renovations to the sanctuary.

The Rev. Jerome J. Washington, pastor of the church, is bringing Sharpton to Durham through a friend.

Sharpton, who preached his first sermon at a church in Brooklyn, N.Y., when he was 4, was licensed to preach by his denomination only five years later. Sharpton is the host of a daily radio show that is heard in more than 40 markets around the country. He was a Democratic candidate for president in 2004.

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