Million Man March

I thoroughly enjoyed Mike Terry's First Person perspective of the Million Man March in "For a Moment at Least, an America for Everyone" (Oct. 18). As a middle-class white man, I have never had to experience the racism that so strongly exists in today's society. I've never had to experience being pulled over by a peace officer because of my color. I've never had to experience salespeople following me around a store, waiting to catch me stealing something because of my color. And I've never had to fly 3,500 miles to a march just to feel a sense of solidarity with people of my own race.

A sea of angry taxpayers marched on the Capitol on Saturday afternoon. That much is certain. But even before the march was over, the news media, bloggers and rally supporters were wrangling over the crowd count, with estimates ranging from 60,000 to 2 million. The Daily Mail in England initially reported that 1 million people flooded the west lawn of the Capitol, protesting what they called the dangerous big government policies of President Obama. Some conservative blogs claimed 2 million attendees.

The crowd of people attending the "Million Man March" in Washington is being recounted by a Boston University research center at the request of the National Park Service. The count has been disputed since the march. Park Police estimated the crowd at 400,000, based on 35-millimeter photographs taken from a helicopter. The Nation of Islam, which helped organize the march, estimated the crowd at more than 1 million.

Re "She Set Wheels of Justice in Motion," obituary, Oct. 25 Today we think of civil rights marches as large-scale events, like the Million Man March. As they say, there is safety and strength in numbers. What made Rosa Parks' act of defiance so incredible was that she was just a solitary, tired, 42-year-old seamstress who refused to give up her bus seat to a Southern white man, a courageous act that could have easily gotten her beaten up or killed. Obviously, her convictions were stronger than her sense of safety.

There will be no marching and no one knows how many men will be here. But the nation's capital is scrambling to get ready for an influx of buses and people for next week's Million Man March. Capitol Police urged members of Congress and their staffs to car-pool to work on Monday, warning all commuters to expect clogged roads and jammed subways during the all-day event for black men. "You've really got to plan for the most; if they say a million, that's what you plan for," U.S.

His voice booming across an outdoor courtyard at Cal State Northridge on Monday, Fabian Speights reminded his classmates that the Million Man March--and its message of black empowerment--wasn't limited to the nation's capital. "We know that everybody can't go to D.C.," the 22-year-old president of the Black Student Union declared, staring out at a sea of African American faces gathered in the University Student Union. "There are black people right here in Northridge."

Vowing to build a powerful black political force, organizers of last fall's "Million Man March" drafted an urban policy agenda Saturday calling for a new party and an end to church burnings. "We are going to build a God-centered mass movement for empowerment," the Rev. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. told a news conference after a two-day national-issues hearing that drew participants from around the country. Chavis billed the meeting as a follow-up to the Oct.

They couldn't make it to the Million Man March for various reasons, so a group of African Americans attended a discussion forum here Monday to voice their support for the historic rally being held in the nation's capital. At the city's Community Center, more than 50 people gathered to take the opportunity to meet other African Americans in a county where they make up only 2% of the population. They lamented about the racial divide between blacks and whites.

It cost slightly more than $2 million to put together the Million Man March in October and more than $66,000 in unpaid bills remain, organizers said in releasing a long-awaited audit of the event. The Rev. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., national director of the Million Man March, said the audit proves that the day of spirituality and atonement for black men was a success. Chavis also noted that some vendors are still owed because they didn't bill until this year.

This will be an army that will be in Washington filled with the spirit of love for self, love for each other, love for our families and filled with the determination that we should no longer and never again be looked at as the criminals, the clowns, the buffoons, the dregs of society. --Minister Louis Farrakhan Even the name--"Million Man March"--has an alliterative appeal.

Echoing the Million Man March of a decade ago, a huge crowd gathered on the National Mall on Saturday to hear a star roster of black activists and artists demand social and economic equality and call for personal responsibility. As at the event of October 1995, leaders and participants hoped it would lead to a generation of action.

The epiphany came to P. Jesus Patrick a decade ago in Washington as he stood shoulder to shoulder amid a sea of black men at the Million Man March. He was not the only young black man whose father had chosen drugs over family. He was not the only one who had dabbled in drug dealing and car thievery, not the only one who felt lost in a life riddled with struggle. And men like him who wanted to change their lives surrounded him.

We have now seen the Million Man March, the Million Woman March, the Million Mom March and the Million Family March, each of which attracted sequentially fewer marchers; last week's Million Family March was only attended by "tens of thousands." Clearly it's time for something new. I propose a Million Millionaire March. Generally, the Million Millionaire March will be the same as previous marches: Marchers will agitate for social, economic and political change.

Five years ago, retired schoolteacher Lillie B. Johnson put on her grown son's pinstripe suit and hat and disguised herself as a man so she could blend unnoticed into the crowds at the Million Man March. She didn't have to do that Monday. She came by bus from Shannon, Miss., this time dressed in her own clothes. "I came so I could witness this grand march, and this pulling together of families, which we need so badly," she said.

Five years after hundreds of thousands of black men heeded the call of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan and filled the National Mall for the Million Man March, a more inclusive Farrakhan is urging American families of all races and creeds to mark the day by gathering to "rise above their symbols." The mood is different in advance of Monday's Million Family March, with less wariness about Farrakhan and his intentions. "The change is in the broadness of my view," Farrakhan said.

"Crimes of Violence Hit 24-Year Low" (Dec. 28) associates the drop in crime with more police apprehending more criminals and gun control. The article failed to mention the role an expanding economy and low unemployment have played in reducing the crime rate over the last five years. Law enforcement is necessary to treat the problem of crime. Improving the effectiveness of law enforcement will influence the crime rate to some extent. But, to meaningfully reduce crime, one must consider the causes, and unemployment is certainly a major one. A prospering economy has a more powerful influence on the crime rate than increasing law enforcement.

The consensus that once supported the social welfare state is no more. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I have a dream" speech was delivered from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial; it is fitting that Louis Farrakhan's "day of atonement" oration was delivered from the Capitol, at the opposite end of the Mall. Symbolic bookends for an era: The 1963 rally anticipated the legislation that built the Great Society; Monday's assembly coincides with the dismantling of Lyndon Johnson's anti-poverty edifice.

They had no money for gas or food, but they piled into the van anyway, headed to Washington and last year's Million Man March. Whenever Tony Kelsey and his four friends saw the gas gauge move close to empty, they knew what to do. "We'd pull off the freeway, jump out of the van, and I'd sing a cappella," said Kelsey, 25, who had plenty of copies of a tape he had made. "As soon as I would generate a crowd, the tapes were as good as sold."

This weekend in Atlanta, young people were set to gather for the Million Youth Movement, sponsored by the NAACP, the Nation of Islam and leaders of the civil rights community. Another rally--named the Million Youth March (after the Million Man March of 1995)--was scheduled in New York. The controversy over the latter threatens to drown out the message of both. The New York gathering was called by Khalid Abdul Muhammad.

Along the East Coast, from the South and the Midwest, women drove or boarded buses, planes or trains Friday bound for the Million Woman March. Philadelphia hotels and homes filled up with people for today's march and rally, designed to strengthen bonds in the black community and lift women's spirits. "I've been hearing about it all the time. It's been real exciting just to be a part of history," said Jackie Wright, 53, who arrived early from Okemos, Mich.