‘Millions More’ March in D.C.
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
WASHINGTON – In a gathering already being labeled by critics as a “who’s who of racists,” the leader of the Nation of Islam, Louis Farrakhan, plans to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Million Man March with a Millions More Movement here this weekend.
In October 1995, Mr. Farrakhan led a massive demonstration at the capital, in which over a million black men gathered to “take responsibility for themselves,” according to the Farrakhan organization. Ten years later, the plight of black men in America is still dire, according Mr. Farrakhan, made all the more so as a result of the difficulties inflicted on the black community as a result of Hurricane Katrina, Mr. Farrakhan has said.
Hurricane Katrina will be a focal point of this weekend’s festivities, which will culminate in a march and demonstration on the Mall tomorrow. Organizers say they expect to attract a million participants, but according to press accounts, participation in preparatory activities is down from the 1995 event – suggesting the anniversary celebration may not in fact generate “millions more” demonstrators.
According to the Millions More Movement’s Web site, the march’s other goals include demanding “full and complete Reparations for the descendants of slaves,” and addressing “the misuse and abuse of governmental power to destroy Black organizations and leaders.” Eliminating the “prison industrial complex,” too, will be a focal point of the weekend, as march participants “demand an end to police brutality, mob attacks, racial profiling, the herding of our young men and women into prisons and the biological and chemical warfare perpetrated against our people.”
In addition to tomorrow’s rally, the Millions More weekend will include a hip-hop benefit concert tomorrow night and a pre-march “Black Family Conference” today.
The conference, to be held at the Scripture Cathedral Church in downtown Washington, is generating outrage among critics of the Farrakhan event, particularly the Anti-Defamation League, which identified participants in the conference as a “who’s who of racists” and “anti-Semites on the extremist fringe.”
