Al Sharpton’s mother Ada Sharpton passed away in the early morning hours today. Sharpton announced his mother’s passing on his Twitter.com social account today.

His spokeswoman says Ada Sharpton died early Thursday morning in Dothan, Ala., following a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

Rachel Noerdlinger says Sharpton will fly to Alabama to make arrangements for his mother’s funeral after attending a rally Thursday evening in Sanford, Fla., for Trayvon Martin. Source

Despite his personal grief, Sharpton tweeted that he was on a plane heading to central Florida to go ahead with his plans to attend a rally for Trayvon Martin, the youth who was gunned down by a racist neighborhood watch person last month.

The rally has been moved to Mellon Park in Sanford, Florida at 7pm due to “overwhelming demand” Sharpton tweeted.