THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 24, 1995 TAG: 9508240509
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Charlise Lyles
LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
A million African-American men marching on Washington!
If they are as fine as those at the National Association of Black Journalists' convention in Philadelphia last week, I want to be there to meet them all.
Unfortunately, I can't be part of the Oct. 16 ``Million Man March,'' to which Minister Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam black Muslim sect has summoned African-American men across the nation.
No women allowed, Farrakhan says. Fine.
I don't need to see marching. I need to see momentum from the march fuel effective family and community action when the men come marching home.
At a press conference Wednesday at Second Calvary Baptist Church in Norfolk, three local ministers and others endorsed the march.
They said the Rev. Benjamin Chavis, former NAACP president, will be here Sept. 10 at Christian Temple United Church of Christ to sanction it.
The ministers urged local organizations to mount information campaigns and to charter buses.
The goal: seven busloads from Hampton Roads.
The purpose of a million black men marching in the back yard of Newt Gingrich, President Clinton and Clarence Thomas?
The Rev. Milton A. Reid of Gideon Riverside Fellowship sees it as a show of political might.
``In 1963 we went to the seat of government, calling international attention to our plight,'' said Reid, recalling the historic March on Washington led by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
``As a result, we had a Voting Rights Act passed . . . Now we know there are cutbacks on the table for all social programs. . . . Our presence will let it be known that our economic strength, our dollars, our political power, we're going to give to those who support us.''
The ministers called on men of all faiths and affiliations to join. The Rev. L.P. Watson, a former officer of the Norfolk NAACP, offered his personal support.
The NAACP is not on the long list of official endorsers. You will recall last year's schism between the NAACP's national board and Chavis over his support of Farrakhan.
Jacqueline McDonald, founder of Mothers Against Crime who lost two sons to street violence within the last decade, sees the march as a brotherhood of healing. ``In every neighborhood, there's a mother who has lost a son,'' she said.
McDonald doesn't whine because women aren't invited. She knows, like I do, that a good woman supports her man.
Does she worry that the march could turn violent? Though Farrakhan has said ``a million men can create tremendous havoc,'' McDonald trusts that he can preside over brotherhood.
The Rev. Dr. Geoffrey V. Guns of Second Calvary sees self-help as the march mainstay.
``The Affrican-American race is desperately in need of internal solutions,'' said Guns. ``The government has failed us. . . . We have to say to young black men, `It's not OK to shoot each other. It's not OK to father children that you're not going to take responsibility for.' ''
The march ``won't change the economy or stop a murder,'' Guns added. ``But it might get black males to dialogue with themselves and see that we're the answer to our own problems.''
March on. ILLUSTRATION: Minister Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam says no women
will be allowed to join the ``Million Man March'' Oct. 16 in
Washington.
For information on transportation to the Oct. 16 Million Man
March in Washington, call: 627-3100
by CNB