Not Another March

I was driving and spotted a tattered sign for the upcoming Millions More Movement March scheduled for October 15, 2005. Once again, Min. Farakhan has issued the call for millions of black people to march on Washington.

Why?

Ten years ago, I was among the haters of the original march. I was offended that women had been asked not to attend. I thought it was irresponsible to encourage black men to skip work for a day just to hear a bunch of speeches. I felt it was a lame attempt by the many of the usual suspects of so-called black leadership to find relevance. I thought it was all a big sham.

And so I find myself feeling many of the same sentiments. This march is another wasted gesture, a false "movement" to mobilize black people to do something, yet no one is quite sure what that something is.

This time, the organizers are calling on black families, which means that this time around they want to include black women. Gee, thanks. But this summer when one of the organizers made openly hostile remarks about black lesbians and their attempts to ruin the black family, I guess that means that only certain black women are welcome to participate. So they've exchanged one form of gender discrimination for another.

At least this time the march will take place on a Saturday so no one has to miss a day of work or school to hear words of wisdom from the line-up of usual suspects: Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rev. Al Sharpton, Rev. Willie Wilson, Min. Louis Farrakhan, and now the new school hip-hop "leaders" Russell Simmons, and Kanye West. Of course, there is not a single woman in the bunch of leaders, so if anything this march is reminiscent of the original March on Washington (63) in that women are at least invited to show up, but are expected to remain silent...

I won't even deal with the Reverends because what more needs to be said about their "moral" leadership? Not that any of them should be perfect, but maybe they should have a shred of credibility. Among them, only Rev. Al has redeemed himself somewhat, but he still needs to do more than just talk. And lately, rappers have proven that their best forms of advocacy are self-promotion and misogyny.

Finally, I believe the whole thing is a sham. While the stated goals of the organizers are laudable as enumerated in the "Issues Statement," the real impetus behind this march is not social justice but economics. There are corporate sponsors. There are plans for vendors. There is a registration fee. Since it has been called by a bunch of preachers, there will probably be a collection plate. At the end of this, the volunteers will go home mobilized to do whatever it is that they already do, and the organizers will walk away with cash. At the last Million Man March, I saw men drop tons of cash into the hats that were passed around but I never heard whether any of that money went to any causes.

So if I am too cynical, then shoot me. I have been on the front lines of the social justice battle ever since the last march ten years ago, and I don't see very many changes. They say that black people registered to vote en masse, but where were they November 2004 when I was an Election Protection volunteer? The turn-out at my North Philly precinct was pathetic. They claimed that men returned to their families with a renewed sense of commitment, but ask my brothers about the parents who never show up to their children's schools. Or just ask me or any legal aid attorney to tell you stories of the absent fathers who refuse to pay child support. Or just watch Maury Povitch any day of the week to see the paternity shows.

Ask about the uneven statistics regarding black men in college. We get mad when we learn that more of them are in jail than in college, but have we ever wondered why? I drive through the city sometimes and see more men hanging out on the corner than going to work or school. I see brothers polishing rims and drinking all day, and then I am supposed to believe that the system is stacked against them? What about those black women I see on the Metro, what about the odds they face?

If you want to change things, then go into your community and do it. Don't bring all these people into my city to scream and shout about the ills of our community and then ship them back home to the suburbs where their biggest beef is the price of gas or how poorly they were treated at the Lexus dealership. Don't come here to complain about poor educational opportunities, but then go home to plug in your play station instead of a computer. Buy your kids books instead of sneakers, DVDs, and MP3 players.

You don't need to march around Washington to bring about change. You simply change.