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TUESDAY

Even in the first grade, the “Reverend Alfred Sharpton” refused to sign his schoolwork any other way. Nearly four decades later, Sharpton is almost as stubborn, though his new autobiography, Go and Tell Pharaoh, shows that the combative New Yorker has mellowed somewhat: Setting aside his usual sputtering, he carefully explains why he believed Tawana Brawley in 1987, and he calls for both blacks and Jews to work together again. Still, he asks silly questions like, “Why is it that when gays march it’s about gay rights, but when the blacks march it’s about who called the march?” He ignores that the media always focuses on the North American Man-Boy Love Association’s participation in gay marches. And he ignores that Louis Farrakhan is a bigot. Such sentiments won’t help him “bring the disaffected groups of the country together,” as he says he wants to, but perhaps he can draw a crowd at 6 p.m. at Vertigo Books, 1337 Connecticut Ave. NW. FREE. (202) 429-9272.CP