Million Man March Remembered
Every year, the autumn leaves always remind me of the most significate day of my life—other than my wedding— and the lives of over one million African American men. A day that saw the largest assembly of Black people in one place in US history. It was a gathering assembled in response to a nation wide clarion call to black men from Nation of Islam leader the honorable Louis Farrakhan. It happened 24 years ago but, in my mind, it seems like last year; on Monday October 16th, 1995, at the mall of the US Capitol building, over a million black men from every corner of the nation came together for a day of “atonement and unity.” It was a moment in time that is nearly indescribable, it was almost spiritual. It was one of those things that you had to be there to understand the profound magnitude of the once in a lifetime event.
On a windy autumn Sunday evening a cara van of buses organized by the local Nation of Islam Mosque embarked at M.L.K Park for the 10-hr to Washington DC. All the busses were filled to capacity with brothers from all walks of the community: lawyers, doctors, community activist politicians, educators, business men, entertainers, educators, fathers, grandfathers and just plain “Brothers of Conscious.” All with a desire to answer the clarion call of black manhood. The ride down was quiet, but everyone realized something special was happening when we arrived at the rest areas for a dinner break, and buses from across the nation were lined up, miles deep with brothers from across the country. All D.C. bound. What I remember most is how well organized the entire march was. Every phase was well thought out and executed flawlessly by the brothers of the F.O.I whose presence commanded respect and deference from everyone.
We arrived in D.C around 5 AM and our buss offloaded into the MARTA rail system around 10 miles outside the city, which took us directly to Mall area where we walked out into the largest mass of humanity I had ever experience in my life. All black men for as far as the eye could see. Black men that seemed to have an earnestness in our eyes because we knew we were witness es to a momentous once in a lifetime b moment in time. One thing some people might remember is the amount of money the street vendors made that day. There biggest complaint was most sold out of their product by noon. Every one had to get a souvenir to commemorate that day.
Interestingly, there was not much visible police presents which inspired a tension free atmosphere that did not need to be watch over like children. On that day, Congress and President Bill Clin ton and the Supreme Court Justices left town—Although it was later revealed that the national guard was deployed and on stand by underground.
When Farrakhan took the stage, we all raised or right hands and pledged in unison to “be better men, respect family and strive to be upright and moral in everything we do.” It was a special moment to hear the echo of a million black men reverberating across America. I must keep it real; I fell asleep under a tree halfway through Farrakhan’s speech but that illus trates how peaceful and harmonious the crowd was. I remember several donation baskets being passed around brimming to the rim with cash and there wasn’t a hint of larceny in the air. It was later reported that on that day there was no reported black on black crime anywhere in the nation. At the end of the day, I couldn’t wait to get home that next morning. I was proud to be a Black man who attended the Million Man March and proudly rocked my M.M.M. merchandise for weeks.
One interesting story that came out of the march, as part of the agreement to get the city permit to hold the event. The organizers were required to pay a $20,000 cleanup secu rity deposit in advance. After the march, the D.C. Department Sanitation refunded all $20,000 to the organizer; there was not one shred of paper left on the lawn afterwards.
There was one nega tive I recall. After the march the DC parks department erroneously estimated the crowd was 700 thousandth short of a million, in an attempt to diminish the event in the eyes of the mainstream media, but that number was debunked by satellite imagery that estimated the crowd to be 1.7 mil lion Men on the mall that day. Sadly, most young people today have no ideal about the million-man march and the significates of that day. Today’s youth do not have any leadership in their lives like Louis Farrakhan.
Today the man that organized a million men is banned off most social platforms and mainstream media. And his words are considered a taboo by whites and many black people. Minister Farrakhan is 92 years old now and his time amongst us is becoming limited. When the deal is done Min. Farrakhan will go down in history as the greatest leader of Black people to ever live.