Man March

WASHINGTON -- Thirty-two years ago, trepidation filled Washington as the city braced for a massive march predominantly of black Americans demonstrating for civil rights and greater job opportunity. Fears were openly expressed of mayhem in the streets, but it didn't happen.What did happen was an overwhelmingly peaceful march of an estimated 200,000 blacks and whites, joyously clapping and singing in a festive celebration of racial unity. The highlight was the historic ''I have a dream'' speech by Martin Luther King Jr. preaching that unity.

Edwin Avent felt empowered last fall at the Million Man March as he stood alongside other African-American men who were trying to make a difference in their communities. But the Baltimore man also left the event somewhat disappointed."We were there to see how we could bring our collective strengths together to better the situations in our communities," said Avent, a local entrepreneur. "But a lot of us went there looking for a master plan."Organizers of a daylong summit tomorrow in Baltimore on the African-American community say they hope to devise such a master plan for people like Avent.

For Andrey Bundley the spirit of the Million Man March lives on in the small things, walking the streets of his old Reservoir Hill neighborhood, paying his respects at a funeral for a young man from the area, and setting an example."

Schmoke's speech is a rouser, even if unscheduledStanding on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, Baltimore Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke was so inspired by the crowd that he clasped the hand of the man next to him and in an emotional, rousing speech urged all to work hand-in-hand toward a better future.He did not come to the march to speak, but Mr. Schmoke joined Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer and Washington Mayor Marion Barry in addressing the masses of men. Mr. Schmoke described it as "one of the most uplifting experiences I've ever had."

Sure, some people used to think he was nuts, says Dick Gregory, but that was decades ago. Today they know better.Today, says Mr. Gregory, folks can see he was onto something in the 1960s when he accused the U.S. government of involvement in the murders of John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. And when he told a nightclub audience that FBI director J. Edgar Hoover was hostile to homosexuals because he was one. Even when he said the Central...

If 1 million men actually show up in Washington Monday for the Million Man March, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan will have staged an event of truly historic proportions.It will easily dwarf the 1963 March on Washington during which Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his immortal "I Have a Dream" speech. It will eclipse the massive anti-Vietnam War rallies of 1969 and 1971. And it will far exceed all Washington marches on behalf of gay rights, pro-choice, anti-abortion and labor solidarity.

Mourners packed Jones Tabernacle Baptist Church Friday night, pouring out the door, standing along the walls and forming a serpentine line that wound its way around the church so all could get a final look at Laroy Keith Hopkins.Hopkins, a city public works employee and part-time security guard at the Phase III nightclub in Waverly, was gunned down Feb. 5 after he ordered the driver of a double-parked car to move. The tragic irony of Hopkins' death is that he worked with the Rev. Willie Ray's "Stop The Killing" campaign.

We miss work of cartoonist Rob SnyderNot exempt from the harsh, cost-cutting realities of corporate America, The Sun is reportedly in the process of downsizing its work force throughout the metropolitan area. One apparent casualty of this reduction in force is cartoonist Rob Snyder, whose entertaining, incisive cartoons no longer greet us on Sunday mornings.Many will miss the trenchant wit and honest independence of Mr. Snyder's work, which others hopefully will get to enjoy as we have in recent years in Anne Arundel County.

Mid-afternoon on Oct. 16, director Marion McClinton headed to Washington for the Million Man March. Center Stage couldn't find him, he says with a grin. "I had a day of absence."The phrase "day of absence" is one that was used by Louis Farrakhan in calling for the march. Its origin, however, is the title .. of the play McClinton is directing at Center Stage, Douglas Turner Ward's "Day of Absence."A broad farce about what happens in a small Southern town when all the black residents leave for a day, "Day of Absence" was written in 1965.

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.