Thirty years ago, hundreds of thousands of Black men attended the Million Man March in D.C. This weekend, celebrations marking the anniversary of the demonstration are being held around the region.
Ahead of the celebrations set for Saturday, the Rev. Willie Wilson of the Union Temple Church in Southeast D.C. reflected on the work done at his church to make the event happen, and the celebrations they’ve been holding throughout the week in the lead-up to the weekend event.
“We didn’t have social media in 1995, so we met in Chicago, and we had all of these religious organizations on board,” Wilson said.
But before everyone got the go ahead to say they were on board, someone spilled the beans, triggering denials from several churches about their intentions.
“This almost destroyed our effort before it got off the ground. Nonetheless, we were able to regroup, overcome that, and the rest is history. We know how many people turned out. We know what a great response there was,” he added.
While various estimates put attendance in the hundreds of thousands, Wilson said nearly 2 million people showed up in D.C. on Oct. 16, 1995. But, it wasn’t until a few days before the march that he started gaining any confidence about how significant the event would be.
“We had no way of knowing. But when we started getting reports about the many organizations on board officially, and about the number of buses and cars … the government then was able to assess that it was going to be a big, big, big crowd,” Wilson said.
On Saturday, Union Temple is holding an anniversary celebration with events starting as early as 7 a.m. and running until 4 p.m. It’ll have both gospel music and go-go music, and representation from numerous community groups.
“We know that if we can come together in unity, there’s a lot that we can do in our communities, in our neighborhoods and in the nation,” he said.
Another big event is being held in Prince George’s County at Fairmont Heights High School from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m.
County Council member Calvin Hawkins and Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission Chair Darryl Barnes will be leading the event, which will include conversations about the successes and setbacks since the 1995 march.
Attendees confirmed for that event include Sen. Angela Alsobrooks and Rep. Glenn Ivey, among other various political and business leaders. Numerous nonprofits and government agencies will also be represented and offering programs and services to the public.
Wilson admits there has been some setbacks along the way. He specifically cited the crack cocaine epidemic and mass incarceration of Black men.
“I have been asked on many occasions whether we need another Million Man March, and my answer is no,” Wilson said. “What we do need, however, is the spirit of the Million Man March, where there was such unity and comradery with all those men coming together.”
“We want to recover that spirit and have it manifest in our neighborhoods, in our communities and among our people, so that we can do many more positive things for the uplift of everyone,” he added.
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