The Rev. Al Sharpton and Martin Luther King III marched through Over-the-Rhine Saturday night with the Rev. Damon Lynch III and members of the Cincinnati Black United Front to show their support of the boycott.

        Both national civil rights leaders said they endorsed the boycotts called for by the BUF and Coalition for a Just Cincinnati and pledged their support.

        The two men were in town to celebrate the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth's 80th birthday. The Rev. Mr. Sharpton also paid a visit to his longtime friend the Rev. H.L. Harvey, who was celebrating his 25th anniversary at New Friendship Baptist Church in Avondale.

        Mr. King, president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and son of the slain civil rights leader the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., said his organization has a database of more than 5,000 that would be “sympathetic” to the issues blacks in Cincinnati are facing. He said the SCLC plans to send letters to all of them telling them not to come to Cincinnati until substantial economic and police reform has occurred.

        “My impression is there clearly should have been more dialogue between city leaders and black leaders. But for whatever reason that dialogue hasn't taken place,” said Mr. King. “This boycott is going to continue gaining steam unless the community leaders, and it will probably have to be the business community, steps up and says it's time to talk.”

        On a chilly Saturday night, the Rev. Mr. Sharpton and Mr. King walked the mostly deserted streets of Over-the-Rhine with about a dozen boycotters.

        Their first stop: Martin's Club No. 3 at the corner of Green and Elm streets. Inside, the Rev. Mr. Sharpton and Mr. King III were greeted with handshakes, hugs and the blare of hip-hop music.

        Staying there only a few minutes, the group proceeded to 15th Street then onto Vine Street where a few curious passersby waved at the national leaders. Some in cars driving by honked their horns.

        “Hey, Al Sharpton!” a young black female said as she ran across the street then proceeded to give the minister a hug.

        “No matter what they say don't let them stop you. Don't let them scare you,” she told the Rev. Mr. Lynch as she clasped his hand.

        The Rev. Mr. Lynch led the civil rights leaders down Vine Street to 13th Street then onto Republic Street and the alley where Mr. Thomas was shot. BUF members told the Rev. Mr. Sharpton and Mr. King III about how they had cleaned up the alley in Mr. Thomas' honor.

        In the alley, the two men looked at what was left of the shrine built in the dead 19-year-old's memory. Afterward, Mr. King III said a prayer for the city of Cincinnati and those working for change.

        “It is sad that after Timothy Thomas' death nothing has changed here in Cincinnati,” Mr. King III said. “The fact that three police officers were acquitted...it says the life of an African-American man means nothing.”

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