ROANOKE TIMES  
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Friday, February 23, 1996              TAG: 9602230038
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: B-1  EDITION: METRO  
SOURCE: MARY BISHOP STAFF WRITER
MEMO: ***CORRECTION***
      Published correction ran on Harold Cannaday II is a teacher's aide at 
      William Ruffner Middle School. He was incorrectly identified as a 
      teacher in several recent stories about today's "Thousand Man March" in 
      Roanoke.

MEN'S MARCH AIMS FOR POSITIVE

THE THOUSAND MAN MARCH set for Saturday is attracting men from numerous counties. But there are always a few detractors.

Put the words "black" and "march" in the same sentence, and some Roanokers get the wrong idea.

Most response to a schoolteacher's Thousand Man March on Saturday has been positive. Bedford County is sending a bus. People are coming from Pulaski, Franklin, Rockbridge, Botetourt and Montgomery counties. A Roanoke-born minister is coming from Youngstown, Ohio.

But some callers to the home that march organizer Harold Cannaday II shares with his elderly parents have been hostile and have accused him of having political motives. "I am not a political candidate of any sort," he said Thursday, "and I'm not pushing my religion or philosophy on anybody."

"What we're trying to do is make it a wholesome affair. This march for me is no different than the March of Dimes or the march for leukemia. [It's] for the men to stand up for community."

Unlike many cities, Roanoke hasn't had many large all-black marches in its history.

"He's concerned that everyone knows it's nonviolent," said his mother, Dollie Cannaday, who fielded many of the calls.

Roanoke's mounted police decided it was too political for them. They aren't going to provide an escort for the event, which begins at 10 a.m. in Washington Park, as they told Cannaday earlier they would.

For one thing, Lt. Doug Allen said, Harold Cannaday "wasn't too hepped up" about a female officer leading a march for men. "It's also been compared with the Million Man March," Allen said. "If that wasn't a political statement, what was? The city Police Department cannot take any political views one way or the other."

Cannaday, a special education teacher at William Ruffner Middle School, was disappointed that the police backed out. He saw it as a chance for them to take part in a positive event in a black neighborhood.

After the march, women and men are invited to an 11:30 a.m. program at Addison Middle School, but Cannaday wants the march to be predominantly male to give black men and boys a chance to stand together in a rare act of valleywide solidarity. He said, however, that he wouldn't turn away women who want to march.

Each February for three years, history lover Cannaday has organized a modest celebration of Roanoke Valley black history at Addison. He got a lot more attention this year when he capitalized on the success of Washington's Million Man March and decided to call it the Thousand Man March.

He's organized the event in the meager spare time he has after teaching school and taking four classes at night. Snow canceled the march on its first planned date, Feb. 17. The weather looks better for this weekend, and Cannaday intends for the march to go ahead, rain or shine.

LENGTH: Medium:   63 lines
ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC:  Chart: Roanoke's Thousand Man March.