By Mwandikaji K. Mwanafunzi

The Million Man March of 1995 was of God, and we can no more repeat it at will, than could the ancient nation of Israel repeat the parting of the Red Sea. We can, however, commemorate what God did, as when ancient Israel erected a monument near the Jordan River to remind their progeny how God had facilitated their passing.

So the Millions More Movement event on Saturday, October 15, 2005, was a commemoration, not another Million Man March. It was a rededication—a re-consecration for some—to the goals and values to which we, the African American nation, committed during the Million Man March.

Black Christians and Black nationalists whom I have interviewed who attended the 1995 Million Man March have opposite views of its results. The Christians see significant longterm impact, while the nationalists saw a great day out of which little or nothing permanent or concrete resulted. Concrete results did occur, however, including a decrease in crime and the creation of new Black institutions, including secular ones such as Our Time Press in Brooklyn, New York.

Moreover, after the Million Man March a surge of Black men came to Christ and/or the church. One reason this is important is that the Black church has played such a central role in Black history. Paul Cuffe, Denmark Vesey, Nat Turner, Edward Wilmot Blyden, Sojourner Truth, Bishop Henry McNeal Turner, Marcus Garvey, Martin Luther King Jr., Jesse Jackson, Kwame Nkrumah, Herbert Daughtry, Charles Baron, Al Sharpton, and Johnny Ray Youngblood, to name a few, were or are affiliated directly or indirectly with the church. The Black church was the center of the civil rights movement.

The Black church impacts beyond its building walls and parishioners, deep into the secular Black community. Many substance abusers have been rescued through the Black church.

Many independent Black schools and Black-owned businesses, and much owneroccupied housing for the masses, have been created directly or indirectly through the Black church. Churches provide liberated meeting space for Black organizations.

Since many Black nationalists purposely avoid Christian churches unless they are meeting places—seeing Black Christians as a colony brainwashed by whites—they miss the Black church’s nationbuilding impact. So they missed the concrete results of the Million Man March, even though they were safer going to their own meetings after the MMM, because more would-be muggers were in church.

A REDEDICATION—A RE-CONSECRATION FOR SOME—TO THE
GOALS AND VALUES TO WHICH WE, THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN
NATION, COMMITTED DURING THE MILLION MAN MARCH.