National Youth Movement was established in 1971, by Reverend Al Sharpton

Al Sharpton

Alfred Charles "Al" Sharpton, Jr. is an American Baptist minister, civil rights activist, and television/radio talk show host. In 2004, he was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. presidential election...

 at the age of 16 years old. After Jesse Jackson

Jesse Jackson

Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr. is an African-American civil rights activist and Baptist minister. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as shadow senator for the District of Columbia from 1991 to 1997. He was the founder of both entities that merged to...

 left the Southern Christian Leadership Conference

Southern Christian Leadership Conference

The Southern Christian Leadership Conference is an African-American civil rights organization. SCLC was closely associated with its first president, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr...

over his administrative suspension, and Sharpton—who was mentored by Jackson—left the SCLC in protest and formed the National Youth Movement.

The mission of the organization was fighting drugs and raising money for impoverished children in the inner-cities.