Million Man March Remembered
Every year, the autumn leaves always remind me of the most significant 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 U.S. history. It was a gathering assembled in response to a nationwide 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 on the Mall of the U.S. Capitol building, over a million Black men from every corner of the country 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 pro-found magnitude of the once in a life time event.
On a windy autumn Sunday evening, a caravan of buses organized by the local Nation of Islam mosque embarked at M.L.K Park for the 10 hour bus ride from Buffalo to D.C. All the busses were full to capacity with brothers from all walks of the community. Lawyers, doctors, community activists, politicians, educators, businessmen, entertainers, fathers, grandfathers, and just plain brothers of conscious with a desire to answer the clarion call of Black manhood. The trip down was uneventful, but everyone realized something special was happening when we arrived at our first 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 and stress free the entire march was. Every phase seemed to be well thought out and executed flawlessly by the brothers of the FOI whose presents commanded respect and deference from everyone.
We arrived in the greater D.C. around 5 a.m. in the morning and was offloaded into the MARTA rail system that took us directly to Mall area where I walked out into the largest mass of humanity I had ever experience that my life. And all Black men for as far as the eye could see, Black men that seemed to have a twinkle in our eyes because we knew we were witnesses to a historic 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 there product by noon. Everyone had to get a souvenir to commemorate the day.
Interestingly there was not much visible police presents which inspired a tension-free atmosphere that did not need to be watched over like children, On that day Congress and President Bill Clinton and the Supreme Court Justices left town. (Although it was later revealed that the National Guard was deployed and on standby underground).
When Farrakhan took the stage, we all raised our 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 América.
I have to keep it real, I fell asleep under a tree halfway through Farrakhan’s speech, But that illustrates how peaceful and harmonious the crowd was. I didn’t fear a stampede happening.
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 that attended the Million Man March and proudly rocked my M.M.M. merchandise for a weeks.
One interesting story that came out of the march, that epitomized the spirit of the march was – as part of the agreement to get the city permit to hold the event, the organizers were required pay a $10,000 clean up security deposit in advance. After the march, the D.C. Department of Sanitation refunded $20,000 to the organizer, because there was not one shred of paper left on the lawn afterwards.
There was one negative I recall. After the march, the D.C. 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 million men on the Mall that day.
Sadly, most young people today have no idea about the Million Man March and the significants 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 91 years-old now, and his time amongst us is becoming limited. When the deal is done, Minister Farrakhan will go down in history as the greatest leader of Black people to ever live.