20th Anniversary Of Million Man March Inspires New Rally In Washington, DC

The chief of staff for the Nation of Islam said Friday that the organization has accepted an apology from the chief of the U.S. Capitol Police for wording in a newsletter and that several hundred thousand people are expected to arrive in Washington for the 20th anniversary of the Million Man March.

Yet the newsletter from the Capitol Police intelligence office says of Farrakhan: “Incendiary, antagonistic, confrontational, race-baiter, are but a few of the adjectives used to describe [him]”, adding, “long considered somewhat of an opportunist, [Farrakhan] is no novice when it comes to fanning the flames of fire”. Led by Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, the march was billed as a day of atonement.

Millions watched live coverage of the 1995 march on television as Farrakhan and other civil rights leaders spoke about increasing pride and responsibility and condemned negative racial stereotypes about black men. Farrakhan has called for federal and state government intervention in police investigations, and for greater responsibility in the black community for the violence in the inner city. Tens of thousands of black men from across America gathered at the base of the Capitol, and the Mall, in a rally of unity, self-affirmation and protest.

“You can’t have people putting out inflammatory comments and not holding them accountable”, Konczos told the Post.

Attendees at the Million Man March raise their fists October 16, 1995 in Washington, DC. It turned out to be one of the largest gatherings on the National Mall since the 1963 March on Washington, where Martin Luther King Jr. called for an end to racism in his “I Have A Dream” speech. The teams will be identifiable with black and silver jackets with OPC on the back and they will include OPC executives, attorneys, and investigators who are armed with audio and video recorders.

National Action Network Executive Director Tamika Mallory, a co-convener of the Justice or Else rally, said: “Over 200 families [affected by police violence] will be joining us here”. Saturday’s march will also focus on the relationship between African-American men and the police. “We are not [terrorists], we are citizens who have been terrorized”. “We just want folks to come get on the bus”, Willis said.

[Street closures planned Saturday for Justice or Else/Million Man March]. The program begins at 10 a.m.