Million Man! Stop Marching And Start Doing. Time Is Running Out.

I was deeply moved by the last Million Man March in 1996. As a Black man, I knew that the over 1 million Black men who decended on Washington DC came out of the hurt and pain they were feeling but more importantly they came with the desire for change. What kind of change? Economic.

All men, no matter what race, want to have the money to provide for their families. Earning a living is not easy for anyone, but it has been increasingly more difficult for many Black men. I watched CNN that day and heard all the speechs. I heard all the wolf  tickets about what whites need to do for us. But I did not hear a plan of what we are going to do for ourselves. There was no system in place to collect the names. address, phone, numbers or email address of every Black man that was there to follow up with a plan.

Who made money from the march? Let me see.....the airlines, bus, trains and gas stations made money from Black men who needed to get there . The hotels made money from the folks who needed a place to stay. The restaurants, street vendors and convenience stores made money feeding these hungry Black men. But after it ended what happened...NOTHING.

Jump ahead 9 years and there is another Million Man March. Do you think the organizers and the speech makers learned from the mistakes of the past and decided that this time we are going to offer a plan. Better yet an economic plan to help Black people to better direct the $800 billion we spend in this economy toward impowering ourselves. Again, there were wolf tickets and chest beating but nothing came out of it.  And the same people who made money on the first march, were there to make money again.

Oh I forgot to mention, the shoe companies also made money from all the brothers who needed new shoes after marching...What do you think?

Comments

[LM]

PEACE:

Did you listen long enough for Minister Farrakhan to come on and outline the 10 points covered under the Movement? Clearly not. Check out this page:
http://www.millionsmoremovement.com/about.htm

Ten years ago, the Minister did tell Black men to first atone to themselves, their families, and then their communities. Then he said:

"Go back, join the NAACP if you want to, join the Urban league, join the All African People's Revolutionary Party, join us, join the Nation of Islam, join PUSH, join the Congress of Racial Equality, join SCLC - the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, but we must become a totally organized people and the only way we can do that is to become a part of some organization that is working for the uplift of our people.

We must keep the local organizing committees that made this event possible, we must keep them together. And then all of us, as leaders, must stay together and make the National African American Leadership Summit inclusive of all of us."

If you see NOTHING as being accomplished from the Historic MMM in 1995, it's because YOU were not doing anything (except, of course, complaining). Don't look for one man, or a few group leaders, to do for you what you should be taking the lead and doing for YOURSELF. The 8 steps of Atonement, detailed by the Minister in 1995, was the critical self-awaking first step. You now have your "Marching Orders" (check that link). Do something!

LM

[Ati]

What do I think?
I think you need to do further research, stop propagating falso information, and stop engaging in wanton criticism that leads the mind absolutely nowhere.

1. You cannot evaluate or assess the Million Man March (1995, not 1996) based upon what YOU thought it should do. Rather, it should be assessed based upon the benchmarks and goals set by the organizers (over 80+ Churches & Black organizations) and its principle convener, Min. Louis Farrakhan.

2. What came out of the MMM? Well, let's first take a look at what we were called to do:
a. Adopt Black babies
b. Regiser to vote
c. Join a religious institution of your choosing
d. Join an organization of your choosing
e. Get involved in your community
f. Make an atonement and change for wherever you are failing as a man, husband, father

I won't go into details, you can look up some of this information at MillionsMoreMovement.com.
-However, The Natl. Black Social Workers Assoc. recorded thousands of Black children being adopted immediately following the MMM.
-Over 1.7 million more Black men registered to vote 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.”
-Also reported immediately after the MMM by such organizations like the NAACP, was the large increases across the country of brothers joining organizations and religious institutions.

Now, I'm not sure if you were at the same MMM where over 2 million brothers gathered, but there was NOT an emphasis placed on what Whites should be doing for us, but rather, what WE need to be doing for ourselves. Are you sure you were there?

Sure there is always room for improvement and lessons were learned from 1995 such as building a database--which was put in place before the Millions More Movement commenced. If you're one of those people who like to pick, pick, pick, then I am sure you will ALWAYS find something wrong and nothing right. Regarding follow up plans and keeping up with the latest information on follow up, I'd like to suggest that you sign up to receive updates. Go to millionsmoremovement.com.

Blessings
Ati

[Keith W. Dotson JR.]

Yo,I'm glad I check out this site
Wow some of the stuff I read was
deep.Well this is my veiw coming
from Christian believeing family
1st.I do believe Jesus was black.
2nd.I believe the truth of the matter is the color thing is just
another monkey wrench in the game.My beloved brother in order for us to live in true harmony is love not color from one black man to another black man.