Group mobilizing for capital march
Asbury planning meeting draws 75
Published in the Asbury Park Press 07/22/05
BY NANCY SHIELDS
COASTAL MONMOUTH BUREAU ASBURY PARK — The first Million Man March called for by Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan in October 1995 was a watershed moment, many participants have said, resulting in gains in voter registration, adoption of black children, a new spirit of unity and a drop in crime.
But 10 years later, conditions have worsened for many blacks, particularly the large numbers of those imprisoned, getting substandard educations or lacking health care, Lawrence Hamm, the chairman of the state committee for the new Millions More Movement, said at an organizing meeting for a new march.
"The fact of the matter is we're going backward, not forward," said Hamm, who also chairs the Newark-based People's Organization for Progress. "We tried everything else. We need unity. It doesn't mean conformity. We have to focus on what we have in common."
This summer, local organizing committees throughout the state and country are preparing for the upcoming Millions More Movement Oct. 15 in Washington, a commemoration of the first Million Man March.
On Tuesday night, about 75 people including many of the local chairmen from New Jersey's towns and cities met at Mount Pisgah Baptist Temple on Springwood Avenue as part of a continuing effort to hold meetings around the state as leaders get the word out about the march.
The first march saw black men embrace atonement, reconciliation and responsibility. It was followed by the Million Woman, Youth and Family marches, as well as other spin-offs.
Some of the goals of the Millions More Movement, once again initiated by Farrakhan, include an end to police brutality, substandard education and efforts to destroy black organizations; and reparations for people from slavery; and health care, Hamm said.
The new march will be a three-day weekend event. Oct. 14 is to be a day of taking off from work and school in preparation. On Oct. 15, buses, cars and trains will go to Washington (in the case of New Jersey participants), and on Oct. 16, people are asked to attend their house of worship or engage in meditation and prayer.
"This is not an event — it is part of a movement we're building," Hamm said at the Asbury Park meeting where local organizers from Monmouth County and all over the state gave their reports.
Minister John Muhammad, chairman of the Jersey Shore Local Organizing Committee based in Asbury Park, reported his group's progress in reaching out to participants.
On Wednesday, Muhammad said: "We're hitting the streets and talking to our young people. There's a whole new generation that must be introduced to the struggle of our people. Ten years ago, a gentleman who today is 23 was 13. He knows nothing."
Muhammad said the upcoming march is "for everyone — men, women, black, yellow, red and white."
The Asbury Park group hopes to make the bus trip free for children 16 and younger and $40 for adults, Muhammad said.
The Million Man March movement has helped unify black Muslims, black Christian church leaders and the NAACP. Locally, the Rev. Milton Holmes, pastor emeritus of the Allen Chapel AME Church in Asbury Park, worked with Muhammad to organize the local response to the first march a decade ago, and the two are working together on the upcoming march.
"We do need some positive changes in this country, particularly with this system that causes us to have such a high percentage of a prison population that is slowly destroying our family structure, and is really a slow road to the genocide of African-American people," Holmes said Wednesday. "It is almost what occurred with Native Americans.
Bill Dangler, chapter president of the Greater Long Branch National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and a Central Jersey NAACP regional coordinator, reported at the meeting that 15 branches have voted unanimously to support the Millions More Movement.
For more information about the upcoming march, call (732) 774-9115 or (732) 693-6065.
Asbury planning meeting draws 75
Published in the Asbury Park Press 07/22/05
BY NANCY SHIELDS
COASTAL MONMOUTH BUREAU ASBURY PARK — The first Million Man March called for by Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan in October 1995 was a watershed moment, many participants have said, resulting in gains in voter registration, adoption of black children, a new spirit of unity and a drop in crime.
But 10 years later, conditions have worsened for many blacks, particularly the large numbers of those imprisoned, getting substandard educations or lacking health care, Lawrence Hamm, the chairman of the state committee for the new Millions More Movement, said at an organizing meeting for a new march.
"The fact of the matter is we're going backward, not forward," said Hamm, who also chairs the Newark-based People's Organization for Progress. "We tried everything else. We need unity. It doesn't mean conformity. We have to focus on what we have in common."
This summer, local organizing committees throughout the state and country are preparing for the upcoming Millions More Movement Oct. 15 in Washington, a commemoration of the first Million Man March.
On Tuesday night, about 75 people including many of the local chairmen from New Jersey's towns and cities met at Mount Pisgah Baptist Temple on Springwood Avenue as part of a continuing effort to hold meetings around the state as leaders get the word out about the march.
The first march saw black men embrace atonement, reconciliation and responsibility. It was followed by the Million Woman, Youth and Family marches, as well as other spin-offs.
Some of the goals of the Millions More Movement, once again initiated by Farrakhan, include an end to police brutality, substandard education and efforts to destroy black organizations; and reparations for people from slavery; and health care, Hamm said.
The new march will be a three-day weekend event. Oct. 14 is to be a day of taking off from work and school in preparation. On Oct. 15, buses, cars and trains will go to Washington (in the case of New Jersey participants), and on Oct. 16, people are asked to attend their house of worship or engage in meditation and prayer.
"This is not an event — it is part of a movement we're building," Hamm said at the Asbury Park meeting where local organizers from Monmouth County and all over the state gave their reports.
Minister John Muhammad, chairman of the Jersey Shore Local Organizing Committee based in Asbury Park, reported his group's progress in reaching out to participants.
On Wednesday, Muhammad said: "We're hitting the streets and talking to our young people. There's a whole new generation that must be introduced to the struggle of our people. Ten years ago, a gentleman who today is 23 was 13. He knows nothing."
Muhammad said the upcoming march is "for everyone — men, women, black, yellow, red and white."
The Asbury Park group hopes to make the bus trip free for children 16 and younger and $40 for adults, Muhammad said.
The Million Man March movement has helped unify black Muslims, black Christian church leaders and the NAACP. Locally, the Rev. Milton Holmes, pastor emeritus of the Allen Chapel AME Church in Asbury Park, worked with Muhammad to organize the local response to the first march a decade ago, and the two are working together on the upcoming march.
"We do need some positive changes in this country, particularly with this system that causes us to have such a high percentage of a prison population that is slowly destroying our family structure, and is really a slow road to the genocide of African-American people," Holmes said Wednesday. "It is almost what occurred with Native Americans.
Bill Dangler, chapter president of the Greater Long Branch National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and a Central Jersey NAACP regional coordinator, reported at the meeting that 15 branches have voted unanimously to support the Millions More Movement.
For more information about the upcoming march, call (732) 774-9115 or (732) 693-6065.