Million Man March (1995)

Mon Oct 16, 1995

Image: This photograph taken from the US Capitol Building shows thousands of people gathered on the Mall during the “Million Man March” in Washington D.C., on October 16th, 1995.

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On this day in 1995, a collaborative rally of various civil rights and black liberation groups known as the “Million Man March” took place in Washington, D.C. Hundreds of thousands strong, the march included groups from across the political spectrum, from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to the National of Islam (NOI), and its purpose was to “convey to the world a vastly different picture of the Black male”.

The rally’s events were broken down into several sessions on specific topics, including “Sankofa: Lessons from the Past Linkages to the Future” and “Atonement and Reconciliation”. Many prominent civil rights activists spoke at the event, including Betty Shabazz (widow of Malcolm X), Dr. Cornel West, Rosa Parks, Maya Angelou, Rev. Benjamin Chavis, Jr., and Minister Louis Farrakhan.

Two years after the march, the Million Woman March was held in response to fears that the Million Man March had focused on black men to the exclusion of black women. Farrakhan held the 20th Anniversary of the “Million Man March: Justice or Else” on October 10th, 2015, in Washington, D.C.

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• Date: 1995-10-16
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.blackpast.org.
• Tags: #Civil Rights.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org