Million Man March
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The Million Man March was a political march convened by Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan in Washington, DC on October 16, 1995. Minister Benjamin Chavis Muhammad was the National Director of the Million Man March. The event included efforts to register African Americans to vote in US Elections and increase black involvement in volunteerism and community activism. Speakers also offered a strong criticism of the conservative offensive of Republicans after the 1994 congressional elections (most notably the Contract with America), characterized as an attack on programs like welfare, Medicaid, housing programs, student aid programs and education programs. Many whites were critical or ambivalent about the march due to some of the more controversial figures associated with it (such as Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam, criticized as racist, sexist and anti-Semitic). The event itself, being a male-only event, was considered sexist by some. death row inmate, Mumia Abu-Jamal (along with others of the political left) praised the large turnout of blacks but criticized the event's religious overtones and lack of radicalism.
According to voter registration statistics, one and a half million black men registered to vote in the months following the March, leading David Bositis of the Joint Center for Economic Studies to remark, "In reviewing the sharp increase in the black male vote, I might find it highly implausible that there was another factor that rivaled the Million Man March in bringing about this change."
Following the 1995 Million Man March, The National Association of Black Social Workers (NABSW) reported a flood of 13,000 applications to adopt black children. Concurrently to the march, the NABSW launched an initiative, the Fist Full of Families Nationwide Adoption Initiative, as part of its goal to limit transracial adoption and encourage African-American families to adopt African-American children.
Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, an African-American Fraternity was one of the co-sponsors of the March. They provided space and additional resources for March organizers at its Washington, D.C. International Headquarters.
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[edit] Crowd size controversy
March organizers estimated the crowd size at between 1.5 and 2 million people while the United States Park Police officially estimated the crowd size at 400,000. Farrakhan threatened to sue the National Park Service due to the controversial low estimate from the Park Police.
Three days after the march, Dr. Farouk El-Baz and a team of ten research associates and graduate students at the Center for Remote Sensing at Boston University released an estimate of 870,000 people with a margin of error of about 25 percent. They arrived at this figure by enlarging aerial photographs taken by the Park Service and counting crowd density.[1] They later revised that figure to 837,000 +/- 20% (669,600 to 1,004,400). This revision was made when the Park Service provided original 35mm negatives; the first count was made with scanned printed photographs.
After the Million Man March, Roger G. Kennedy, the Park Service director, said Congress had provided the "structure and canons" for counting people, but it had not demanded that the exercise actually be done. He contemplated informing Congress, "Thank you for telling us how to do it, but we won't be doing it [1]. In the 1997 appropriations bill for the Department of the Interior, Congress included language that prohibits the National Park Service from conducting crowd estimates. The legislation also states that if event organizers want crowd estimates, they should contract with an outside agency. [2]
[edit] See also
- March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, the historical precedent for the Million Man March, in 1963
- Millions More Movement, launched by a broad coalition of Black leaders to mark the commemoration of the 10th Anniversary of the historic Million Man March.
- Timeline of the American Civil Rights Movement
- List of protest marches on Washington, DC
- Get on the Bus, a 1996 Spike Lee movie related to the march.
[edit] Other movements that based their name on the Million Man March
- Million Mom March, gun violence awareness group.
- Million Marijuana March, an annual worldwide rally to promote cannabis awareness and drug war reform.
- Million Worker March, response to jobs lost under the George W. Bush administration.
- Million Family March, October 2000, also sponsored by the Nation of Islam and open to all groups.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Federal Parks Chief Calls 'Million Man' Count Low, NY Times, October 21, 1995
- ^ Leef Smith, Wendy Melillo. If It's Crowd Size You Want, Park Service Says Count It Out; Congress Told Agency to Stop, Official Says Washington Post: Oct 13, 1996. pg. A.34
