One million deep. One million strong. One million proud.
On Monday, Oct. 16, 1995, more than 1 million men converged at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in a powerful demonstration of unity, responsibility, and hope for Black people — and all people. The Million Man March wasn’t just an event; it was a turning point in society; a statement not only to the United States, but to the rest of the world, suggesting that Black and Brown men would and will stand in solidarity, demanding justice, healing, and progress. Four men out of those million spoke to the AmNews, reflecting on the day and how it affected them.
Andre T. Mitchell-Mann: A call to action and community transformation
For Andre T. Mitchell-Mann, founder of the community organization Man Up, Inc. in Brooklyn, the Million Man March was a spark that ignited a lifelong commitment to community activism.
“We can put all our differences to the side when we have to, and we can come together like we did then, and we can be a force to be reckoned with,” he said. “We were viewed and looked upon differently from that day forward, and that’s something that I walked away with … to apply myself to my community. That was one of the marching orders that [Minister Louis Farrakhan] had mentioned in his piece … he wanted us to go back to our communities, go back to our neighborhoods, to our barrios, let them see us as the men of the community.”
“It did have a huge impact on [my] starting the nonprofit, because my level was so high, my participation and my love and passion to reduce gun violence in the community, to create healthy, peaceful communities — it was all sparked from the Million Man March.”
Mitchell-Mann thinks that some progress has been made in the last 30 years, but much more work needs to be done.
“We are still under attack as a species, our families and our communities and our future depend, and is still dependent, on us to get it right,” he said. “People are rooting for us, and I have the utmost confidence in us getting together to be able to do like what we did 30 years ago.”
Dr. Shango Blake: Contemporary Challenges, a continuing legacy
The former school principal, activist, equity advocate, and president of Black Influencers United, shared his deep reflections on the enduring significance of this historic day. Known as the “Hip Hop Principal,” Blake was one of the organizers of the Million Man March, and his experiences continue to shape his leadership and activism in Queens.
“The Million Man March was born out of a vision and a call from the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, head of the Nation of Islam, who saw at that time that there was an inordinate amount of killing going on in our community,” he said. “Interesting, it’s 30 years later, we’re talking about the National Guard and the armed forces going into places like Chicago, [and] D.C. The reason why it was called on a Monday was because we wanted to create a situation where we were sacrificing something like going to work, … it was also a day of absence. We were not at our places of employment. We sacrificed maybe a day’s pay.”
Reflecting on the period leading up to the march, Dr. Blake, who served as Chair of the Education and Youth Committee of the Million Man March Coordinating Council of Queens described the Black community as grappling with both progress and a destructive mindset. Most news stations in the mid-90s would regularly broadcast the mounting number of homicides in the city, highlighting the gravity of the situation. Blake also highlighted the overt disconnection between older and younger Black men. The sharing of wisdom between both generations wasn’t evident. Blake believed that many young Black men were carrying the burdens of trauma, were angry and felt hopeless amid mass incarceration, and the devastating effects of the crack epidemic.
“It was a time where there was a lot of hopelessness in our community and we needed something, one, to unify the older Black man with the younger Black man,” he said. “To give these Black men who had maybe been involved in drugs, whether they were addicted or selling it, an opportunity to show that they could do something else and come back instead of being destructive in their community, to be someone who could be a light to their community.”
Blake credits his experience of organizing the march as foundational to his development as a community leader and educator, noting that the organizational and leadership skills he gained shaped his career as a principal in the New York City Department of Education.
“The Million Man March has deeply impacted me and has shaped who I’ve become as a leader within my own community,” he said. “I was able to see leadership around me, learn from those who were my elders, and then add my own spin or approach to what I thought would get young people out at that time. I’m forever thankful for the Million Man March.”
He has observed that many of the same challenges faced by the community back then are resurfacing.
“I think that the spirit of the Million Man March must continue to live on,” he said. “I think that we as Black people have to begin to extol the principles of that march.”
March. (Photo courtesy Andre T. Mitchell-Mann) 2. Participants in Million Man March raise their fists on Mall in Washington. (Doug Mills/AP photo) 3. & 6. The Million Man March Coordinating Council of Queens marches in preparation for the coming march on Oct. 16, 1995. (Photos courtesy Dr. Shango Blake) 4. The Million Man March on the Mall in Washington Oct. 16, 1995.
(Mel Wright photo) 5. Background image: The Amsterdam News archive of the 1995 Million Man March.
Dr. Wayne Tuckson: A surgeon’s reflection on brotherhood and healing
Dr. Wayne Tuckson, a retired colon and rectal surgeon from Washington, D.C., now residing in Louisville, Kentucky, recalls the Million Man March as a healing moment for a wounded community, believing that the Black and brown community is victimized by how they’re portrayed in the media.
“I’m going to begin with a negative, and that is that I did not take my son with me,” he said. “I really wish I had, so that he could have experienced it. Now, the positive: I went with a friend of mine. We went down there, and I’ve seen many things in Washington, but I have never seen such a collection of African American men of all stripes who were respectful of one another, courteous to one another, and the amount of energy and drive that was there was just overwhelming … And yet, everybody was so polite, so nice.”
For Tuckson, the march symbolized more than just unity; it was a call to personal responsibility and service.
“It reminded me that coming out of this event, I had to redouble my effort to make sure that what goes on in our community is about uplifting people and providing [for] them, that they can live not only their best quality of life, but push them to be uncomfortable to achieve goals that they had not previously thought that they could achieve,” he said. “… (The march) was a thing that also showed me that other people felt this way and that I wasn’t the only one.”
Just like he has, throughout his years as a doctor.
Radio Rahim: Pride and power in collective action
For Radio Rahim, a sports broadcaster and boxing journalist from Oakland, California, the March was “one of the proudest moments in my life.” Covering events nationwide, he has witnessed many positive things, but none that matched the dignity and impact of the Million Man March.
“It feels like something we did,” he said. “It feels like something that happened organically. It was a collective moment that every participant, and sadly, probably some who didn’t actually make it to D.C., but wanted to and were unable to attend for whatever number of reasons, knew that moment needed to happen … It wasn’t an effort that I made independently; it was a moment I was a part of.”
It was a no-brainer for Radio Rahim; attendance was required.
“The way that I was raised, in my worldview, [was] that when Minister Louis Farrakhan called for a moment of Black unity amongst men, to show up in a peaceful way, with a determined outcome of unity and what ultimately was coined as atonement, you show up,” he said. “I don’t remember wrestling with (the idea of) whether or not we’re going to the Million Man March. We are the Million Man March. We got to walk there. We’re getting there. That’s always the mindset.”
He feels that this helped him become a better man, which, in turn, helped him become a better sports reporter.
Farrakhan’s national assistant, Brother Ishmael Mohammed, will deliver a message in commemoration of the 30th anniversary on Sunday from the NOI headquarters in Chicago, Illinois, at 10 a.m. EST.
It was a huge waste of time and money. The only winner was the DC tourism bureau. Straight haired light skin pimp gave a useless speech no one remembers. That is what you get when you chase fake @ss pretend Muslims.
Farrahkan was in no position to demand atonement from anyone since he never atoned for his role in the assassination of Brother Malcolm X. He’s a conman leading a cult that has never made an impact in American life beyond giving us Brother Malcolm X!