Martin Luther King III and the Rev. Al Sharpton have joined forces in trying to infuse some spirit into the moribund civil rights movement. As leaders of that movement's second generation, the two men have seen many changes since the days when black protesters forced America to address the lingering legacy of our racist heritage. But the success of those protests in opening doors of opportunity largely accounts for the lack of activism that many now bemoan.

Yet there are two issues that still provoke anger and generate protest: racial profiling and police brutality. These served as the theme for the "Redeem the Dream" march that the two men organized in Washington in August. Hoping for a symbolic boost to jump-start the movement's revival, the march took place on the 37th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington, when Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous "I Have A Dream" speech.

At the event, which drew an estimated 100,000 people, King called for President Clinton to issue an executive order outlawing racial profiling. "The day my father dreamed about has not yet been realized in our lending institutions, nor in our employment offices, nor even in our nation's courtrooms," King told the crowd. "We will be satisfied when African-Americans are no longer deemed guilty until proven innocent."

Two years ago, King was selected as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), the same organization led by his father during the height of the struggle for civil rights. But various improvements in the racial landscape apparently have convinced many African-Americans that organizations like the SCLC may no longer be necessary. Support for the group is tepid. The 42-year-old son of a legend seeks to change the perception of the group's growing irrelevance and remind African-Americans that social protest remains a crucial element of black progress.

There is no better exemplar of that protest dynamic than his partner, the Rev. Al Sharpton. When New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani tried to play down the police killing of Amadou Diallo, an unarmed Guinean immigrant who died in a hail of 41 bullets in February 1999, Sharpton skillfully organized a huge protest campaign that made the Diallo killing an international issue. From his shrill beginnings as a rabble-rousing child evangelist and a deceptive champion of hoaxer Tawana Brawley, Sharpton has matured into a wily activist and politician. He has made two credible runs for the state Senate and one for mayor of New York City.

In the process he has gained considerable respect from mainstream leadership. Sharpton also has converted many of his black critics who once dismissed him (with his flowing mane) as just another self-promoting preacher, long on rhetoric but short on dedication. Some of them now rank among his staunchest supporters.

Sharpton created the National Action Network in 1991, but concentrated most of his energy on issues in the New York metropolitan area. Lately he has been trying to extend his influence, showing up in cities around the country, helping to organize protests against police brutality and other discriminatory practices. Last year, for example, he organized a very successful demonstration in St. Louis to protest Missouri's failure to hire minorities for work on highway maintenance. He has been so successful, the National Action Network now has chapters in 45 cities.

It's easy to criticize civil rights marches for attempting to apply old-school techniques to contemporary realities, but such events remain useful. They help mobilize and organize social dissent, and they bring attention to issues the corporate media would rather ignore. The issues of police brutality and racial profiling may have disappeared from the headlines, but they remain critically important to many in the African-American community. The unique union of northerner Sharpton and southerner King is one significant response to that crisis.

Salim Muwakkil is a senior editor of In These Times.