THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, October 17, 1995 TAG: 9510170282
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A11 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DENISE WATSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium: 56 lines
Before dawn Monday, 100 Hampton Roads men piled out of a bus at an RFK Stadium parking lot.
Gentry Hadden of Portsmouth asked the group: ``Are we going to take the transit or will we walk? I hear it's about 10 blocks away.''
Someone offered: ``We've come here to march. Let's march.''
So the men set off along East Capitol Street, walking to the Capitol, where the Million Man March was forming.
They were part of a contingent - perhaps 2,000 strong, based on the number of buses chartered - that traveled from Hampton Roads for the march.
For them, the event provided a sense of instant community. Black men called one another brother and shared potato chips, sandwiches and bottled water with people they'd just met.
Ron Craig of Virginia Beach found what he was looking for. ``I think this march is a renewal of a message,'' he said.
Craig compared Monday's rally with the famous 1963 demonstration during which Martin Luther King Jr. gave his ``I Have a Dream'' speech.
``I was here for the '63 march on Washington, and at that time there was a feeling that you were going to achieve something. Then there seemed to be a lull, but now we have this renewal.''
Three generations of Hatten's family took part in the march. Hatten's father drove up with friends, while his teenage son rode the bus.
By noon Monday, Hatten had lost his son among the throngs near the Capitol. He scanned the crowds on the Mall below.
``Look at this. Peaceful. Look at this for what it is,'' Hatten said. ``If we can do this, what else can we do? There's so much that's attainable. It all starts with one step.''
From his coat pocket, Hatten pulled a thick stack of brochures and booklets, on black history and other topics, that he'd picked up from other marchers. ``See, I have all these notes, networking tips, all geared toward blacks,'' Hatten said.
``Where else can you find out things like this? This is beautiful, this is not a bunch of black men lying on the lawn complaining about how bad things are for blacks.''
Andre Jones of Chesapeake said the march was much more than he had expected.
``This is wonderful. We're orderly. No one's fussing. No one's cursing,'' Jones said. ``When I go home tomorrow I'll tell everyone they missed a very important part of history being made.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color Staff photo by Huy Nguyen \The Virginian-Pilot
A march participant raises his flag in front of the capital.
KEYWORDS: MILLION MAN MARCH by CNB