Photo: Ellison McKnight
On October 16, 1995 there I stood on the great lawn in Washington DC, one in a Million. The other day, I did it again.
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10-10-15 had final arrived. The day that would bring together millions of people of color: African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans. The 20th anniversary of the Million Man March that took place in 1995 was finally upon us. Millions traveled from across the four corners of America to Washington DC in spirit of unity, solidarity and to demand justice.
I had been here before 20 years prior a troubled teenager trying to find my way much like the youth of today. 20 years prior I stood there in the middle of the lawn by the Capitol and heard
Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan and many other great leaders call for 2 million Blackman in attendance to unite atone and return home to be a positive force. This time would be different
Though I was returning a man, college educated and a father.
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What also would be different this time around would be many of the original speakers have either passed on or were not involved in the anniversary. Before I made my journey downtown to Capitol Hill I bumped into an old acquaintance. He asked why go attend another Million March? And what would be so different about this gathering? I paused for a minute and replied “what will be different is that we will have African Americans standing side by side Latinos who will standing along side Native Americans. When was last time you saw those three groups united in one location addressing common issues?”
The purpose of first Million March was black man coming together and atoning. The personal impact of the first March worked as many black return home and become better fathers, sons, brothers. I’m living proof of that. The brother stood silent and I wished him a good day.
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I arrived at 20th anniversary Gathering at 6 am. There were many people who waiting in line to get past security points and screenings. If I had to guess probably around 600 to 700 people waited patiently to enter area. I was greeted a warm welcome by a African American family who had traveled from Houston to the event.
After making my way thru security met up with a Native American sister a friend of mine from California. We both walked over to the tipis the location designated as meet up spot for Native Americans. Two days prior I had met many of Native brothers who had traveled as far California, Oklahoma and Seattle to represent their respective tribes.They had arrived early and blessed ground and setup Tipis. There was morning prayer to kick of the gathering. Many of the native peoples made their way to area for grand entry. There were people representing many tribes; Lakotas, Seminoles, Wampanoags, Shinnecocks, Blackfeet, Muskogees, etc. Their complexion and looks varied from dark to light. It didn’t matter, we were all one.
I felt a sense of great pride seeing my Native brothers and sisters from North America, South America and Caribbean in grand entry. Dressed in full regalia they stepped with grace to the beat of the drums. You could feel strong energy in the air it was a spiritual moment for sure.
By now the crowd had grown to a couple thousands of people and looking down from the Capitol you could see more people fill the lawn in distance.
The Native Americans & Indigenous People of America have a large representation here at the #JusticeOrElse rally pic.twitter.com/e5cNELOkCE
— NV – No I Dont DJ (@NVme68) October 10, 2015
Native American speakers took stage to list their demands and to promote to unity. Activist and organizer Yonasda Lonewolf of Oglala Lakota Nation kicked off the Native speakers segment. She called for African Americans and Native Americans to come together and unite saying issues and struggles are the same. She was followed by elders Chief Ernie Longwalker and Warrior Women who talked about historical ties that African Americans and Native Americans share. Gyasi Ross, a young Blackfeet, spoke on rescinding the Papal Bull and Doctrine of discovery. Many in the crowd who’d probably never seen a Native American up close stood silent listening to each speaker.
The Native speakers were followed by Latino speakers. Abel Muhammed spoke on need of the gathering to reintroduce ourselves to each other to gather for justice. Emmia Lazano spoke on the need of mass deportation of Latino people and release of political prisoner Oscar Lopez. Many of the Latino speakers all shared same view that they are Indigenous peoples as well.
Many speakers followed and breaks in between showed images of crowd on huge screens.
Minister Louis Farrakhan was last speaker of the afternoon and he did not disappoint.
First subject minister Farrakhan tackled was the lack of respect for Indigenous peoples. The minister said these people are not the “redskins”, they are not mascots for a football team but Indigenous people of the land. He told black people in attendance that they could learn a lot from Native Americans such as family life and respect for women.
Photo by Ellison McKnight
He said that Native Americans could learn business from African Americans. He talked about this generation stepping up and becoming leaders of the community. He spoke on the need to stand to put an end to police brutality and murder of people of color. The minister went on speaking on various issues as the crowd clapped, cheered and shook their heads in agreement. He closed out his speech challenging everyone in attendance to go home and do the work in our communities.
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One the things that I enjoyed about the gathering was seeing whole families together. 20 years ago it was just black men and young men that stood on the lawn, but this event whole families stood together. I spoke with men who also attended first March who were young and single at the time now they were husbands and fathers. Families sat side by side talking, sharing food, and listening to speeches.
Justice or Else had women who played a heavy role in Organizing and promoting the event. In 1995 there were powerful women like Maya Angelo, Rosa Parks, Betty Shabazz who spoke to over 2 million black men. Many of those great women have passed and this gathering the women involved did not disappoint. Women like Carmen Perez, Tamika Mallory, Yonasda Lonewolf, Warrior Women and Linda Sarsour captivated the crowd with speeches. These women represent the next generation of great women leaders in black and brown community.
Justice or Else not only addressed demands of people of color but built solidarity. A historic gathering of black and brown people in same space with not one incident. I saw African Americans and Latinos embrace, I saw both Latinos and Blacks approach tipis asking Native Americans questions and inquiring about their their culture and history. This gathering was not just a historical event but the beginning of unity, beginning of solidarity and beginning of our fight together for justice.
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Follow @sietewilliams on Twitter.
Photos by Ellison McKnight
Tweet photo used with permission by @NVMe68
Promo photo: AP/Evan Vucci
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