Man March

Anne Arundel County's planners for the Million Man March have scheduled a rally for 7 p.m. tomorrow at the Newtowne 20 recreation center on Forest Drive in Annapolis to sign up black men who want to join the march Monday in Washington.Lewis A. Bracy, Anne Arundel County coordinator for the march, said those who wish to leave from Annapolis to attend the march should attend the rally.March planners in the county have distributed 3,000 fliers in majority-black neighborhoods, Mr. Bracy said.

We black Americans seem to need a major event or outrage every so often to revive our mass energies in ways that remind us of the 1960s civil rights movement. In the 1980s, we had mass arrests at the South African embassy to protest apartheid. In the 1990s, there was the Million Man March to redeem black fatherhood and proper role modeling. In 2007, we have the "Jena 6." Thousands flowed by the busload into tiny Jena, La., last week. They came to march on behalf of six black youths who were originally charged with attempted murder for allegedly beating up a white youth last December at the local high school in what many describe as a schoolyard fight.

MAYOR KURT L. SCHMOKE, Rep. Kweisi Mfume and other politicians, local and national, are taking a big risk by endorsing Monday's Million Man March that is the brainchild of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan."

The Million Man March of 1995 has not yet achieved the mythic aura of the "I Have a Dream" speech of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. But it has become a modern landmark for African-American men, symbolizing a rededication to home, family and moral values. Clips from a new documentary being made to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Oct. 16, 1995, Washington march will be shown tonight at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture. An anniversary march, the Millions More Movement, will be held this weekend in Washington.

THE MOST FREQUENTLY expressed fear before the Million Man March was that it would anoint Louis Farrakhan, the anti-Semitic head of the Nation of Islam, as the singular African-American leader. Two months later, there is scant evidence that has happened. And with the naming of the charismatic Kweisi Mfume to head the NAACP, there is less reason for those, who insist black people need a principal spokesman, to look to Mr. Farrakhan to fill that role.Mr. Farrakhan has been treated with more deference by former critics since succeeding in bringing tens of thousands to Washington.

David Miller, a young man committed to improving livesaround him, used to teach basic life skills to prison inmates. Then he attended Louis Farrakhan's Million Man March -- which celebrates its third anniversary today -- and returned to Baltimore determined to reach black youngsters before they reach the criminal justice system."

Ayinde Jean-Baptiste, who gained notice at age 12 for his speech at the Million Man March in Washington, spoke last night on the continuing legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. at the Anne Arundel County NAACP's 15th annual awards dinner in Linthicum. "Truth isn't always easy or beautiful to hear," Jean-Baptiste told a crowd of about 1,200 before elaborating on continuing problems across the United States and the world. He said King advocated more than just tolerance. In keeping with King's legacy, he encouraged people to think globally, including speaking out for the rights of Palestinians and urging caution in dealing with Iraq.

The best way to translate the spirit of the Million Man March into a stronger black community is to organize neighborhoods to attack the economic and political problems that affect people of color, said the Rev. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., national director of last year's march.Chavis, former executive director of the NAACP, spoke yesterday to an estimated 5,000 people at "Baltimore's Men of the March: A Day of Commitment" at the Baltimore Arena, a follow-up to October's Million Man March in Washington.

An array of African-American community leaders exhorted a gathering of male high school students last night to study their culture's history, take advantage of educational opportunities and assume responsibility for their lives.The Summit for Young Males, held at Carver Vocational-Technical High School in West Baltimore and attended by about 150 students and adults, was an attempt to capitalize on the spirit and euphoria of the Oct. 16 Million Man March in Washington, organizers said."Take what you get and be responsible for yourself because we've gotten away from being responsible for ourselves," said True Asiatic Allah, project coordinator for the Male Involvement Project at St. Bernardine's Head Start Center.

Baltimore Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke plans to participate in a march of African-American men on Washington next month that is being promoted as a show of unity and moral commitment.Mr. Schmoke has come out squarely in support of the Million Man March, which has gained momentum with endorsements from prominent black leaders but continues to be controversial because it was conceived by Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan and it excludes women.All of the city's 26,136 employees will be free to use personal or vacation time to take part in the Oct. 16 demonstration on the National Mall.

On Oct. 16, 1995, hundreds of thousands of African-American men from around the nation poured into Washington, D.C., in search of spiritual renewal and fraternal strength. As they stood together on the Mall, basking in the autumn sun, the men of the Million Man March pledged to take responsibility for their actions, to serve their families and their communities, and to improve themselves and the world in which they lived. Kurt Schmoke, then mayor of Baltimore, brought his 24-year-old stepson.

Glenelg High School will present The Music Man from March 10 to 13 in the school's newly renovated arts wing. A cast of 85 will perform the musical under the direction of drama teacher Sue Miller. Doors will open at 7 p.m. for Thursday, Friday and Saturday performances and at 2 p.m. for Saturday and Sunday matinees. Tickets, which can be purchased at the school, are $8 in advance; $10 at the door. Information: 410-313-5528. The school's award-winning Jazz Ensemble will present its annual concert, this year featuring woodwind artist Chris Vadala.

Ayinde Jean-Baptiste, who gained notice at age 12 for his speech at the Million Man March in Washington, spoke last night on the continuing legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. at the Anne Arundel County NAACP's 15th annual awards dinner in Linthicum. "Truth isn't always easy or beautiful to hear," Jean-Baptiste told a crowd of about 1,200 before elaborating on continuing problems across the United States and the world. He said King advocated more than just tolerance. In keeping with King's legacy, he encouraged people to think globally, including speaking out for the rights of Palestinians and urging caution in dealing with Iraq.

David Miller, a young man committed to improving livesaround him, used to teach basic life skills to prison inmates. Then he attended Louis Farrakhan's Million Man March -- which celebrates its third anniversary today -- and returned to Baltimore determined to reach black youngsters before they reach the criminal justice system."

MEMORIES of the acrimony that preceded the Million Man March of 1995 have blurred. Fears raised by Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan's plans for that mass rally are not recalled as vividly as stories of the harmonious event that took place.Years hence, will that also be the case with the Million Youth March to be held this weekend in Harlem? One can only hope.New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani tried to withhold a parade permit for the march, organized by former Nation of Islam henchman Khalid Abdul Muhammad, whose anti-Semitic rhetoric was deplored even by Mr. Farrakhan.

AS THE CONTROVERSY continues over the Million Youth March that its conveners concede will draw only a small fraction of that number, one has to ask: Is marching overrated these days?The question is all the more relevant because we just marked the 35th anniversary of the mother of all marches, the one that took place in Washington on Aug. 28, 1963. Originally called by labor leader A. Philip Randolph to demand "jobs and freedom," it eventually became a demand that the president and Congress enact civil rights legislation then languishing in committee.

The message of "giving back" that resounded at the Million Man March was a sweet note in Lonnie J. Carr's ears.As president of 100 Black Men of Maryland, Mr. Carr has been preaching the sermon that successful African-Americans ought to go into depressed communities and lend a hand.But the march gave the sermon a wider, more captive audience."It's sent a message we've always sent to the African-American community," said Mr. Carr, whose organization was formed in 1991 and encourages men to help disadvantaged city youths by helping them academically and taking them to cultural and sporting events.

THE PALTRY turnout for an African-American political convention that Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan promoted as the next step after the Million Man March was in a way more evidence of the power of that earlier event.Thousands of African-Americans who participated in the 1995 rally in Washington said the experience was spiritual and personal. They praised Mr. Farrakhan for staging it, but insisted the march was not about him. Sure enough, only a few hundred registered for the black political convention last weekend in St. Louis, an event that Mr. Farrakhan's surrogates had predicted 30,000 would attend.

If all goes as planned, as many as 500,000 women from around the country will join together in Philadelphia tomorrow to offer unity and support for black women.Organizers of the Million Woman March -- which began at the grass-roots level with two unknown Philadelphia women -- hope to get women together to improve their communities and heal and strengthen themselves and each other.Margaret Thompson-Bey supports those goals.She'll leave at 6 a.m. from Mondawmin Mall with members of the Moorish Science Temple in West Baltimore on one of hundreds of buses leaving from the Baltimore area.

WASHINGTON -- When Promise Keepers fills the National Mall with people and prayers today, it hopes to make history. Certainly, it's got the setup to do so.Just look at what the Christian men's group has assembled for its first national rally: 44 guest speakers, 11 JumboTrons (the group wanted a few extras, but the Rolling Stones had first dibs), 100-plus sound speakers, 24 generators (with hushed motors to preserve a prayerful ambience on the Mall), 210 phone lines, 130 stage lights, 1 million free Bibles, 1,500 portable toilets and much more.