Another Million Man March?
 

Farrakhan May Hold Another ‘Million Man March’
by George E. Curry
NNPA Editor-in-Chief

WASHINGTON (NNPA) – Minister Louis Farrakhan is considering organizing another national march next year – the 10th anniversary of the Million Man March – to encourage African-Americans to keep a larger share of their $688 billion annual spending in the Black community.

That disclosure was ignored last week after the Nation of Islam leader held a 2-hour speech/news conference at the National Press Club here that dealt primarily with the U.S. occupation of Iraq, the Middle East and foreign affairs.

“I’m not so much interested in a march,” Farrakhan said, replying to a question. “I’m not too much interested in gathering a million or 2 million men in one place – unless it is to direct those men to do that which will liberate our people.”

Warming to his subject, he said, “There is no reason for Morris Brown [a financially troubled Black college in Atlanta] to close. There is no reason that we don’t have hospitals and clinics across this nation to service our needs. It’s the misuse of our dollars. So, I don’t see any reason to call 2 million men again, unless we’re calling them for serious work.”


Read the rest HERE

What gains have we made since the last MMM? :confused:

I was just wondering the same thing, myself. :o

Hmmmm.....
 

**scratching my head**

Somebody help me....why did he bring Morris Brown into it? I was under the impression there was mismanagement of funds taking place at the college and that is one of the primary reasons why it's in trouble. :confused:

Maybe his theory is that WE as AA should take ownership for the plight of our HBCUs. He probably wants us to take a more proactive role in ensuring that these institutions continue to thrive and prosper.

:confused:

I wanted to pose that as a question but did not want to appear biased in my thinking.

I think the MMM did some good some where for somebody but not enough long term effects were realized in 1995.

Yeah. I guess so. I guess if the efforts were localized, then we might see more of an impact.

I was in grad school back then. I don't remember men from BR coming back doing "anything special" because of the MMM. It was the same ole same ole. :confused:

ETA: What was his call during MMMI? Atonement. That's it.

An update:

Black Leaders Want New Million Man March

WASHINGTON - Black leaders called Monday for a rally in Washington this fall to mark the tenth anniversary of the Million Man March, this time including women.


Organizers are promoting a Day of Absence from work and school on Friday, Oct. 14, followed by a march in Washington on the 15th, and religious services the next day.

I just don't think this is the way to make any fundamental changes in black America.

I was watching the state of black america on cspan a few months ago and Jesse J. was there and when it was his turn to speak, he started saying a bunch of stuff about we need to march on such ans such a day and all that. No one said anything...not even a clap.

I just feel that the nature of the beast has not changed, but the way the venom is spewed has. Racism IS a major cause of the problems we face...STILL. I don't care what people say. Even if the problems are off-shoots of what happened years, decades, centuries ago, its still a huge cause. Having said that, I think that the WAY racism effects us and is perpetuated today is different from 40 years ago and marching may have been effective them based on what was going on then, but it does not have the same effect today. There is far much more money going around, more resources, more educated people, etc. etc. etc. We have to figure out what exactly needs to be done in our communities and lives and channel resources to combat the problems.

Marching won't be a ground breaking event. Its time now to actually make some changes. Bringing masses of black people into the educational fold and out of the prisons is one thing. Changing the image of ourselves that is projected to our kids day in and day out displaying a few people's idea of what is to be strived for in life is another. There is a lot that we have physical control over that we just need to buckle down and do, forget marching.

A Day of Absence from work and school? That will benefit us how?

Phasad,
I feel you on a lot of what you're saying, but with each generation, we grow a little more diverse in our thinking, a little more specialized in our talents. This is good, but it makes the collective "what we all must do now" a little harder to organize. That being said, I think there will always remain some element of a "cultural collective" that holds us together, shared experiences that bring us to our current states of mind, and give us a foundation on which to build.

To that end, "we" must:
1. reestabish our Godly-inspired purposes;
2. continue to develop and support minority-owned businesses in our community. These businesses ought to, in turn, continue re-investing in our communites, jobs, scholarships, talent development, wealth creation, etc... With economic standing, political standing will follow;
3. consume less, produce more. and people, put some $ in the bank, please;
4. continue, as the D9 does, tackling the social/behavorial problems we face; reclaiming our communites one at a time.

Haha!!

They (Farrakhan, Sharpton, Dorothy Height, and another lady whose name escapes me) were on the local news yesterday. The news reporter posed the very question that many of you have posed within this post

What has changed in the Black community since the Million Man March or what changes has the MMM made?

Of course they all had some long answer that talked about how many more black-owned businesses there are and this and that. They spoke on all the positive things that have happened in the Black community inthe past ten years, but they can not say that the actions are a direct result of the MMM.

Just because one thing happens before another does not mean that the first caused the second.

With the ten year reunion they planned to include women and children as they said they are a big part of the Black community and we need to all come together and show unity and some other stuff, but we can all come together but the real thing is what do we do when we get back home.

I agree that more needs to be done on a local level and that would also make things easier to measure as what the new MMM actually changed.

That's what I'm talkin' bout.

Soror, I don't know any specific gains off the top of my head but I have to believe that our world is better off b/c of it. Perhaps people were motivated and took steps in their communities to make change but b/c it is not Jesee or Rev. Al, we haven't heard about it.

Ok, Phasad, so what do you suggest? What would be your plan?
SC

Ya'll it is so easy to sit back and pick apart someone else's ideas but that does not benefit us either. So what do we think are good ideas?

Come on ya'll (digging out my country dialect).

Thank you Tony for actually putting forth some ideas. So are you saying that we basically need to take an each person approach instead of trying to have some grand movement together?
SC

Sort of.

With no disrespect to a lot of the historic national organizations that have had success (i.e. NAACP, et.al), I think our community "solutions" will be found in local initiatives that emerge from the ground up, rather than in top-down national directives.

If we (be it the Alphas, coalitions of concerned citizens, or whomever) try a program in my community and it's successful, then share it with another community. If that second community's conditions are similar enough, they may be able to benefit as well, or make the needed variations and have success another way. But at least they've benefitted from the shared information.

Either way, the tools of our success rest in our own hands.

...now Imma go hit my CNN webpage and wait to read about Summerchild settin' Chicago on fiyah with her bold, new local initiative. :p

Bringing masses of black people into the educational fold and out of the prisons is one thing. Changing the image of ourselves that is projected to our kids day in and day out displaying a few people's idea of what is to be strived for in life is another. There is a lot that we have physical control over that we just need to buckle down and do

For starters. This was actually what I said in my initial post.

I know! You know that I have to try to bring something new to set it off right in Chicago! Shoot a sister is tired of tutoring kids and talking during career day. We need something bold and new! I really like the rites of passage programs. Has anyone ever put one together? What's involved?

SC

Oh my fault Phasad, I didn't catch your initial post. When you say educational fold, is that the same as increasing the numbers that are educated? I would love to change the image of ourselves projected to kids. Of course we can all do this by being role models ourselves. Do you have another approach?

Without re-envisioning and re-invention of ourselves as to what it means to be of African descent without the influence of oppression, we will never move beyond what we are witnessing now...

And without struggle, there is no progress...

So how far are we willing to go to prove we need our own stuff and prove a point to folks?

The minute something in the 'hood works, "they" will find it illegal, steal it from us, or some other crazy stuff... Been there, done that and gotten a T-shirt that says please screw me over again and again...

"They" don't want US educated--causes to many problems with freedoms they are ready for us to have...

In the meantime, what can we do about it while you and I are living?

Don't hate the playa, hate the game... I'm justa squirrel trying to getta nut--tryin' to make a dolla outta 15 cents...

I dunno? :confused: Why does this kinna thing ALWAYS happen when Republicans are in office? I think there are other folks that are getting disenfranchised too who actually are died in the wool red staters that voted for Dubya this go-round...

But whatever it is, the last time they had the MMM, some white dudes started hounding me as to why black men had to be together and hook up?

I coulda said, "Why not?" then have gotten into an argument...

I coulda said, "I don't agree with it", but I would have felt like a sell out...

But what I said stopped them in their tracks:

"What's wrong with a million men!!!"

And the white girl who I worked with had the perfect timing who said, "All in ONE place!!!"

Needless to say, they didn't harass me after that... :cool:

Yes, but in addition, I also mean developing a culture that values education and the rewards of being leaders in the academic arena and not just artistic, musical and entertainment arenas. I know that there are plenty of Black people who love, value and live for their educational goals and pursuits, but that isn't much of the culture that is being touted to the youngsters. I think this goes hand in hand with the deterioration of Hip Hop and Black music that we talk about now and again on here. There needs to be more of a balance of what the kids are being mentally fed. In the thread that dealt with "The Whisper Song', I said that I think one answer would be to listen to what Sharpton is trying to say when he says the FCC needs to deal with the state of the radio and what is put out over the air waves just as they pounded Janet Jackson for her superbowl fiasco. He is concerned about the heavy flux of gangster life, sex, drugs, crime and misbehavior that is spat out all day long on the radio infiltrating the innocent minds of the children. We need to replace that influx of being musically and sports talented with promises and positive rewards of being academically talented. With the kids I work with, most of what I see is school being a pass-time and something that they just have to do. They pay no attention to the broader picture of their future paths being mapped out through the hard work that they should be doing and the learning that they need to do. I hate it. An entire generation of young black youth is, yet again, being swepped by the wayside and if this continues to happen, many of the gaps that exist now won't close. It's not as simple as saying, ok, you're complaining, so what do you propose we do about it, because these issues are very complex. If the answer was one that could be articulated over greekchat, I think the problem would have been solved a long time ago. I do think, however, that somewhere in all of this that I have said, a suggestion or two can be found.

What do these changes have to do with racism?

On your initial post you blamed da man and racism for the problems, but your solutions to the problem are changes from within.

I will only slightly dignify your dumb behind with a response, then I want you to go somewhere and sit down.

OBVIOUSLY the root of many of the circumstances socially that drive and influence behavior and beliefs of black americans has to do with racism and the psat of this country. That is just the truth. What I am saying here is DESPITE that truth, in order for us to get to where WE want to be and not where someone else thinks we should be, the things I mentioned above need to happen. That part of the concept is simple...maybe still not simple enough for you though. :(

If I were blaming "da man" for the problems of my community and that was it, then that is all I would have said.

I wholeheartedly agree. With national initiatives it might take years of planning, fundraising and publicity before the help trickles down to those who need help the most. Local initiatives usually deal with immediate community issues more quickly and because local community organizations (be it sororities and fraternities, local NAACP chapters or churches) live or work in these communities, they have a better sense of what the community needs and know how to get resident/participant input to make a project a success.

Much of the Civil Rights Movement's gains occurred through direct, immediate grassroots organizing. I always felt that the MMM was more inspirational rather than concrete. It was as if people went home and waited for Farrakhan to tell them what to do next b/c with the ascension of dynamic leaders like King and Malcolm X, black folks became dependent on "great" leaders as if one person was responsible for the movement. We have to stop looking outside ourselves for the answers. All we have to do is look right outside our windows and there are so many problems we can tackle right in our own backyards. I firmly believe that the age of the great Black leader is a thing of the past b/c even with someone as dynamic as say, Barack Obama, we have so many people who will take issue with that leader b/c of religious or class differences that we will never get pass first base in tackling real community problems.

PhDiva

That is the most important goal IMO

TonyB06 and RBL, I agree.

However, I am annoyed at us/AAs not taking individual responsibility for our selfish actions....As a matter of fact, we have NOT even arrived psychologically to take responsibility for our actions. For example, just our attitudes towards one another on college campuses and/or in the work place. We continue to cut each other down because we are afraid of someone else getting ahead!

Until this is done (which I strongly doubt this will ever come to past), then we can begin to tackle other problems.

Forget a march, we need to pray and work on ourselves...:(

Soror, forgive me for messing up this quote for I am not a new testament scholar but isn't prayer w/out works dead (or something like that LOL)?
It seems to me that we as AAs use prayer as a cop out (not saying that you are using it as a copout soror, referring to AA generally) sometimes b/c it is easier to say, let's pray about it than to get up on saturday morning at 8am and kick off a program in our community. for that reason, i think that it's dangerous to say that we need to pray about it. some of us just take that and run with it and then basically do nothing. how many churches are collecting thousands each sunday and don't have a single ongoing, regularly-occurring community food or homeless shelter program. yet, the pastor is "sitting on dubs."

sc

I have to commend the organizers for at least making an attempt to get folks together tand charging them with taking individual responsibility for our communities. It was absolutely great to see so many Black men in the same place, sharing in an emotional and historic moment.

I was a disappointed when they started having a million everything march every year after that (or so it seemed). For me, that really diminished the significance of the initial march especially since there were no major national programs that came out of it all. It is one thing to have a march and another to make something out of the energy that it evokes in people. Maybe this time it will be different...

Millions More March
 

This is the most recent thing I have read on the "Millions More Movement"

The Millions More Movement: The Power of One

By Dora Muhammad, Managing Editor
Final Call Newspaper

Washington, DC (BlackNews.com) - It is the substance of things hoped for by generations of oppressed Black people in America. It is a tangible force that touched all those present yearning for the uplift of our communities. It is a moment that answered prayers in recognition of a greater common cause. It is the unity of Black leadership across ideological lines manifested in a coalition formed to launch the Millions More Movement. It is the Power of One.

For the standing-room capacity audience that filled the grand ballroom of the National Press Club May 2 to attend the national kick off for the commemoration plans for the 10th anniversary of the Million Man March, the press conference delivered more than a message-it delivered the fulfillment of Black leaders standing together for the people despite the crafty calls for their division by those who prosper from our disunity. The press conference, which was broadcasted live on C-SPAN, officially announced the evolution of the historic 1995 Million Man March into a mass mobilization movement.

Even up to that morning, several hours before the 10 a.m. meeting was scheduled to begin, opposing forces to the rise of the Black community came forward on the front page of the website of the ADL to issue a so-called "letter to the leaders" who support the Millions More Movement, urging them to step away from the coalition.

However, this morning, our leaders listened to a different rhythm-one of harmony and patience-to say that they are committed to mobilize our people to maximize our power. "God has called us to this moment. By whatever name you call Him, we could not be in here together if He had not called us. He called us to serve His purpose, not only to free our people from their suffering," Minister Farrakhan said in his remarks concluding the platform of speakers. "We called it a Millions More Movement. We already had millions at the Mall for the Million Man March. Our Sisters had millions in Philadelphia for the Million Women March. Our youth organizers in New Yorkand Atlanta had hundreds of thousands for the Million Youth March and the Million Youth Movement.

"Millions more," he explained, "means that we are reaching for the millions who carry the rich on their backs. Millions more means we intend to create a tsunami, because the tsunami in Asia started at the bottom of the ocean-and the rich live from the poor, but the poor have no advocates."

Joining with the international peacemaker on the Millions More Movement platform were Rev. Willie Wilson, senior pastor of Union Temple Baptist Church and national director for the Commemoration; Dr. Conrad Worrill of the National Black United Front; Rev. Jesse Jackson of Rainbow/PUSH Coalition; Dr. Dorothy Height of the National Council of Negro Women; Dr. Maulana Karenga of US, founder of Kwanzaa; Councilmember Marion Barry, former D.C. mayor and his wife, Cora Masters Barry; current D.C. mayor Anthony Williams; Author/columnist Dr. Julianne Malveaux; Rev. Dr. Barbara Skinner of the Skinner Leadership Institute; Rev. Al Sharpton, former Democratic presidential candidate; Nation of Islam Chief of Staff Leonard Farrakhan; Minister Benjamin Chavis Muhammad of the Hip Hop Action Network and former national director of the Million Man March and the Million Family March; and Fredricka Bey of Women in Support of the Million Man March.

Letters of support were sent by three illustrious women, Coretta Scott King, Maya Angelou and Bishop Vashti Mckenzie, the first female bishop in the AME Church. Co-conveners of the Commemoration in the audience included Atty. Malik Zulu Shabazz of the New Black Panther Party; Phile Chionesu of the Million Woman March; Dr. Leonard Jeffries of City University in New York; Dr. Ron Daniels of the Center for Constitutional Rights, Dr. Ron Walters and singer/songwriter Erykah Badu, who was brought to the podium by Min. Ben to share a few words. In his opening of the program, Rev. Wilson heralded the moment launching the Millions More Movement as monumental, unprecedented, historical, dynamic, powerful and beautiful.

"Ten years ago, more than one million African American men peacefully assembled on the national Mall to make an international statement of atonement, reconciliation and responsibility," Rev. Wilson recalled. "The Million Man March not only served as an international wake-up call, it also spawned the Million Woman, Million Family, Million Moms, Million Youth, Million Workers and Million Reparations marches in an unprecedented succession of grassroots calls for action."

Although these marches were important, historical footnotes, he noted, "the conditions affecting millions of poor and distressed communities around the nation still have not improved and, in far too many instances, people remain even worse off than they were before."

Marches are not movements, he continued. "What we need is a movement," he insisted. "We need an ongoing, sustained, consistent, concerted, divinely inspired movement to uplift the poorest and the most downtrodden among us."

The Millions More Movement will come to D.C. for a weekend of events Oct. 14-16. On Friday, Oct. 14, a Day of Absence will be observed. All people who can are asked to not go to work, school, businesses and sports and entertainment venues for this one day. It should be a day to look inward and focus on the meaning of the Millions More Movement and the necessity of spiritual and ethical grounding in our families, communities and organizations.

A mass assembly at the National Mall will be held on the following day, officially opening the Movement at 10 a.m., with pre-event activities as early as 6 a.m. A diverse group of national and international leaders will outline the significance and meaning of the Millions More Movement and lay the foundation for individual and organizations activities that will take the energy, spirit and intent of the day back to communities where the real work of the movement will be done.

On Sunday, Oct. 16, services of worship throughout the city will be observed, dedicated to spiritual renewal and revitalization. Early Sunday evening, a mass Unity Interfaith, Interdenominational Service will be held to set the tone and ignite the fire and spiritual energy of the movement.

"On behalf of the residents of our city, I am honored to share in the spirit of the 10th anniversary of the Million Man March," shared Mayor Anthony Williams during the press conference. As host mayor for the Commemoration, he said that he is looking forward to the Millions More Movement in October, which he expects to be "one of, if not the, largest event ever to take place" in the city.

What will make this Commemoration so large is that men, women and children will be attending this time-making the Movement more reflective of the condition of our people.

"Every issue that we talk about that African American men face, African American women and children face as well," Dr. Julianne Malveaux stressed to the audience. "There is a war on Black people. You cannot fight a war if you dismantle half of the army. So, the army is here, united, because Minister Farrakhan had the vision," she observed.

"We realize, again, that we must come forward every day and declare our commitment to assume a new and expanded responsibility to sustain a free and empowered community, a just and good society and a good and sustainable world," declared Dr.. Maulana Karenga in a poetic, powerful call for action. "We must be aware that we make this commitment in an era in which this is needed as never before and in which we cannot morally choose otherwise. I call on you to realize this means standing up, standing together as men and women, standing in practice and in principle, consciousness and commitment, standing together in harmony and unity as men and brothers, as women and sisters, and partners in loving struggle."

To become a registered supporter of the Millions More Movement, visit the website www.millionsmoremovement.com or www.millionmanmarch.org



Any thoughts?