"Somewhere, somehow, you gotta make up your mind it's time to get up," he told about 200 people, mostly black, who crowded into St. James United Methodist Church on Johns Island. It is the same church where Sharpton's mentor, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, preached in 1978.

Using the fifth chapter of the Gospel of John for inspiration, Sharpton compared blacks to the cripple who reclined by a pool waiting for someone to put him in the water, until Jesus came along and healed him.

Sharpton lamented the passivity of the black community and the nihilism of the black youth culture.

"We don't try to be anything, and we celebrate being nothing," Sharpton said.

Sharpton, 48, grew up in the ghettos of New York City, raised by a single mother on welfare. He saw himself as a minister as soon as he could talk, preaching to his sister's dolls when he was 3, signing his papers in the fifth grade "The Reverend Al Sharpton," and being ordained a Baptist minister when he was 10.

Earlier this year, Sharpton became the first black person to enter a presidential race since Jackson's unsuccessful bid in 1988. Now he's been joined by a second black candidate, former Illinois U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley Braun.

Nine people have declared themselves candidates for the Democratic spot in the 2004 presidential election. The others are former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean; Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina; Rep. Richard Gephardt of Missouri; Sen. Bob Graham of Florida; Sen. John F. Kerry of Massachusetts; Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich of Ohio; and Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut.

The S.C. primary in early February will be a key indicator of who continues in the race. Sharpton has been to South Carolina more than a dozen times in the past several months, and this is his second trip to Charleston this year.

Most consider him a long shot for president. He says he wants to win, but he also says his main goal is to reignite some passion among black voters.

"This isn't about Al winning," he said. "It's about all of us winning."

He recalled the days when blacks were yelled at, bitten by dogs and sprayed with hoses as they stood up for their rights. Now, as he travels around, he says he meets too many blacks who are living in "moral surrender."

"And you wonder why folks won't do more for us, because we won't do anything for ourselves," he said.

Sharpton's political platform includes four constitutional amendments: equal education, equal health care, equal rights for women and the right to vote.

The right to vote amendment would put national elections under control of the federal government. Reform is needed to avoid another situation such as what happened in Florida, where unclear ballots led a judge to declare George Bush the winner over Al Gore in the 2000 presidential election, Sharpton said in an interview after his talk.

Sharpton introduced Charleston City Councilman Kwadjo Campbell, who was present, as his local campaign leader.

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