Hundreds of thousands of black men gathered in Washington, D.C., last weekend to mark the 10th anniversary of 1995's Million Man March, said Johnathon Briggs in the Chicago Tribune. Though attendance at the rally, dubbed the Millions More Movement, fell short of the 500,000 to 800,000 who came a decade ago, organizer Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam, told the crowd that the event's success should be measured not by crowd numbers but by 'œthe societal changes it spurs.' There were plenty of speeches, 'œbut the speechifying wasn't the point,' said Eugene Robinson in The Washington Post, 'œnot in 1995 and not yesterday.' The point, again, was for black men to come together in a 'œspirit of perfect fellowship' and forge a common dream. 'œYesterday, on the Mall, you could once again behold that better world that we all saw 10 years ago.'
So why hasn't it come to pass? asked James Ragland in The Dallas Morning News. The original Million Man March 'œcreated a huge buzz, planting seeds of hope and brotherhood from Dallas to Detroit.' But 10 years later, black men continue to struggle 'œwith the same intractable problems: high rates of poverty, unemployment, and imprisonment.' In our heart of hearts, said Leonard Pitts Jr. in The Miami Herald, we all know why. Too many of us came home from the original march talking about a better world, but we didn't create it. Too many of us still have jobs, but not careers; children, but not families; apartments, but not homes; excuses, but not success. 'œTen years later, the future is here and it is hard to glimpse even the bare outlines of change.'
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