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VOLUME 73 - NUMBER 42
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - SATURDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1995 TELEPHONE
& FAX (919) 682-2913 PRICE: 30 CENTS
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THE DURHAM POSSE WAS THERE!
1.5 Mil. At Unity My
By Barry Cooper
Martin Luther King would have
been proud.
One million black men stood
proudly as one in the nation’s capi
tal, promising to help end black
folks’ dependence on welfare and
to stamp out black-on-black crime,
drug abuse and teenage pregnancy.
Police officials claimed that far
fewer than one million black men
showed up, that the actual figure
was closer to 400,000. But in the
black community, these two words
were being embraced:
ONE MILLION!
One million, 1.5 million, 400,000
— the actual attendance doesn’t
matter. This was the greatest dis
play of solidarity among black men
ever. It was also one of the largest
demonstrations ever in the nation’s
capital — and entirely peaceful.
In 1963, blacks and whites
gathered for a massive march call
ing for civil rights. This time, 32
years later, blacks walked alone.
The historic march in ’63 led by
Martin Luther King drew some
200,000 people. Many Americans
still remember King’s stirring "I
have a dream" speech, a speech in
which King told of dreaming "that
one day on the red hills of Georgia,
die sons of former slaves and the
sons of former slaveowners will be
able to sit down together at the
table of brotherhood."
Racial harmony was one of the
themes of the Million Man March,
too, but speakers talked more about
self-help, of steering black folks off
Welfare, and developing more
responsible young black men. That
means a return to responsible
fatherhood, an emphasis on educa
tion, morals, and family values. A
return to the great Afio-American
work ethic. The black men were
reminded of some sad statistics: 60
percent of households with children
are headed by single parents and
one in three black men in their 20s
is in jail or on probation.
Million Man March organizers
challenged black men to turn those
numbers around, to abstain from
unloving, unfeeling sex, and to dis
avow violence and excessive booze
and drugs.
Speaker after speaker spoke, in
cluding the Rev. Jesse Jackson.
"The idea of a million men has
touched a nerve deep in the heart of
people yearning to breathe free,"
Jackson told the incredible crowd.
"Big meetings were not allowed on
the plantation. We’ve always
yearned for a big meeting. Today
we’ve left the plantation."
The crowd began chanting as
Jackson said, "1 am somebody. I
am God’s child."
The keynote address was
delivered by Louis Farrakhan, who
held the crowd spellbound for more
than two hours. The head of the
black Muslim Nation of Islam, told
those present that his dream was of
blacks turning around their own
lives without white help.
"Black man, you don’t have to
bash white people. Ail we have to
do is go home and turn our com
munities into decent safe places to
live, dot the black communities
with businesses and then white
folk, instead of driving by using the
‘N’ word, they will say ‘Look at
them, they are marvelous,’" said
Farrakhan.
Rev. Benjamin Chavis, who
helped organize the march, told
CNN people would be watching for
visible signs of change in the black
community in coming months.
"The measure of success of the
march will be ... if black-on-black
crime will go down, if drug addic
tion and alcohol abuse will go
NAACP Monthly Meeting
Sunday, October 22, 4-6 PM
Liberty St. Community Center
(Liberty St. Public Housing Development)
down ... if employment would go
up, if education would go up, if
black men taking care of their
families would go up," he said.
MILLION MAN MARCH
ONE OF LARGEST EVER
Here is a list of Washington mar
ches or rallies that drew 200,000 or
more people, according to National
Park Service crowd estimates:
Million Man March to rekindle
pride in black men, organized by
Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of
Islam, Oct. 16. 1995: 400,000.
(Note: Organizers dispute the Na
tional Park Service’s estimate, in
sisting that nearly 1.5 black men
ntarched).
— Vietnam War moratorium ral
ly, Nov. 15, 1969: 600,000
• Vietnam War "Out Now" rally.
April 24. 1971: 500,000
— National Organization for
Women march and rally, April 5,
1992: 500.000
— 20th anniversary civil rights
march, Aug. 20, 1983: 300,000
— NOW pro-choice march, April
9, 1989: 300,000
— Solidarity Day labor march,
Sept. 19, 1981: 260,000
— Marlin Luther King Jr. civil
rights march, Aug. 28, 1963:
200,000 to 250.000
— Solidarity Day labor march,
Aug. 31. 1991:250,000
— March on the Pentagon, Oct.
21, 1967: 200,000
— Washington for Jesus rally,
April 29, 1980: 200,000
— Martin Luther King Holiday
rally, Jan. 15, 1981:200,000
— Gay rights march, Oct. 14,
1987:200,000
— Pro-choice march, Nov. 12,
1989:200,000
— Right to life march, April 28,
1990: 200,000
DISPUTE OVER CROWD
SIZE NOT UNUSUAL
Four hundred thousand or 1.5
million? We may never know how
many black men really were in
Washington, D.C., for Uie historic
Million Man March.
Through the years, march
organizers and government offi
cials have always disagreed on the
size of crowds. That is why no one
is surprised that the National Park
Service and Million Man March
can’t agree on how many people
participated in the march on Wash
ington.
At noon, the Rev. Benjamin
Chavis announced that one million
black men had gathered, and later
in the day, Louis Farrakhan, leader
of the Nation of Islam, said there
were a million and a half to two
million.
Then the U.S. Park Service,
which handles demonstrations and
gatherings for such events, official
ly estimated the crowd at 400,000
people. That’s the figure most
media outlets published.
No one really knows. Organizers
usually guess. Park Service offi
cials lake aerial photographs from
helicopters and then place the pic
tures on a grid to calculate the
number of square feet occupied by
the crowd. It then uses a mathe
matical formula to determine crowd
size. Chavis said March organizers
didn’t guess, though. He said an in
dependent architectural firm was
hired to estimate the crowd.
Sandra Alley, a spokeswoman for
the Park Service, said agency offi
cials "know how many people each
piece of land holds" and lake into
account "whether people are stand
ing, spread out or sitting down."
She said the Park Service also
gets information from other agen
cies about such indicators as the
number of subway riders, the num
ber of cars or buses in parking lots,
and the amount of traffic on high
ways leading into the city.
MARCH DRAWS FULL
RANGE OF EMOTIONS
Here are quotes from the Million
Man March, many showing a wide
range of emotions, thoughts and
ideas:
"Abraham Lincoln saw in his day
what President Clinton sees in this
day. He saw the great divide be
tween black and white. ... There are
still two Americas — one black,
one white, separate and unequal."
— Minister Louis Farrakhan.
"I pledge that from this day for
ward, I will never raise my hand
with a knife or gun to beat, cut or
shoot any member of my family or
any human being, except in self-
defense," — a chant by the crowd
after the day-long gathering amid
the nation’s monuments.
"Give us strength to put down our
guns and pick up our babies."
— Prayer by the Rev. George A.
Stallings, archbishop of AME
Catholic Congregation.
"He’s not a man of hate. He’s tru
ly a man of love...You tell people ‘I
was part of the march and I love the
message and we love the mes
senger, Louis Farrakhan.’"
— Leonard Muhammad, chief-of-
staff for Louis Farrakhan.
"Nation of Islam is the Nation of
Hate."
— Sign held by members of the
New York City-based Coalition for
Jewish Concerns.
"One million men are right to be
standing up for personal responsi
bility, but one million men do not
make right one man’s message of
malice and division."
— President Clinton on Farrakhan
in a speech in Austin, Texas.
"There has been an attempt to
separate the message and the mag
nitude of this march from the mes
senger. We’re not going to let that
happen."
— Benjamin Chavis, former
NAACP director and executive
director of the march.
"I was concerned my presence on
the stage with Farrakhan ws.v.* ,
give him a level of credibility I
would not like to have seen."
— Colin Powell, retired chairman
of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, ex
plaining why he didn’t want to at
tend the march.
"Let.us go back home from this
place, my brothers, renewed,
regenerated, resurrected from the
grave of violence and self-
destruction."
— The Rev. Joseph Lowery,
Southern Christian Leadership
Conference.
"I know it’s hard when you’ve
been shackled, but stand up black
man. ... Some of us would rather
stand on our feel than die on our
knees."
— The Rev. A1 Sharpton.
"I am somebody! Protect me.
Respect me. Never neglect me.”
— The Rev. Jesse Jackson urging
the crowd to repeat his words.
"The night has been long. The
wound has been deep. The pit has
been dark. And the walls have been
sleep. ... Draw near to one another.
Save your race."
— Poet Maya Angelou
"All for one, one for all. There’s
no way we will reach our greatest
height unless we heed the call."
— Singer Stevie Wonder.
FARRAKHAN: ‘WHITE
SUPREMACY’ POISONS US
Here are excerpts from an inter
view given to Reuters Television
by Nation of Islam leader Louis
Farrakhan Oci. 4 and released just
prior to the Million Man March:
ON WHITE SUPREMACY:
"The idea of white supremacy,
which is at the root of the Western
world’s powers, has poisoned the
bloodstream of religion, education,
politics, jurisprudence and econom
ics. As a result of that we have had
to struggle against all of the odds to
gain some upward mobility in this
society.
"The Nation of Islam was estab
lished, we believe, by God under
the guidance of the Honorable
Elijah Muhammad to free us from
the burden of white supremacy and
our own inferiority, which was a
by-product of wliiic supremacy.