Читать книгу Freedom Facts and Firsts - Jessie Carney Smith - Страница 83

A decade after the Million Man March, several leading African Americans, including Louis Farrakhan and then-U.S. Senator Barack Obama, planned another march on Washington called the Million More Movement that was to be a three-day affair. Planners aimed to mobilize black people to create a movement—not just a march—that would appeal to blacks to address the conditions of the poor. Issues included unity, spiritual values, education, economic development, political power, reparations, health, artistic/cultural development, and peace. The event was held in Washington, D.C., opening with a mass meeting at the National Mall on October 15, 2005; this was followed by a mass ecumenical service on October 16. Both the NAACP and the Congressional Black Caucus endorsed the event. The celebration called for a Day of Absence on October 14, meaning that black men should march instead of going to work. Those who did not march should stay at home and refuse to make purchases in order to demonstrate the significance of blacks on the economy. Farrakhan also called for women and youth to join in the movement. Economist Julianne Malveaux, who later became president of Bennett College for Women, was one who criticized the march of 1995 for its focus on black men, but she supported this new effort. In Crisis magazine, she said she saw the Millions More Movement in a different light and, after talking with Farrakhan, was assured that the new effort was an inclusive march and that “everyone was welcomed at the table.” The movement called for unity in black leadership, too.

Jessie Carney Smith