Buses roll into Washington as Million Family March begins

Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan will lead a Million Family March on Monday

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Following the call of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, thousands were converging on the capital Monday for the first Million Family March on the National Mall.

The march comes on the fifth anniversary of the Million Man March, which was also spearheaded by Farrakhan, who has been accused of anti-white and anti-Semitic sentiments.

But unlike the 1995 event, which was aimed at black men, people of all faiths and races were invited to participate in the march by Farrakhan, who has been trying to make his image more mainstream of late.

"For those who think that Farrakhan is too black in his preaching to ever embrace humanity, no," he said.

Organizers won't say how many they expect

Organizers declined to say how many people they expect, but they told city officials to prepare for more than 1 million. Federal officials said about 400,000 showed up for the Million Man March, while march organizers estimated that about 2 million people were on the Mall, which stretches from the U.S. Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial.

March supporters said they hoped to mobilize backing for a get-out-the-vote campaign, as well as for what organizers described as a family-oriented public policy agenda.

A 156-page "National Agenda" addresses a raft of issues including welfare and Social Security reform, substance abuse prevention, education and overhaul of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

The gatherings at the Capitol, the Washington Monument, the Ellipse and the Lincoln Memorial was featuring speakers including the Rev. Al Sharpton, Martin Luther King III and Farrakhan, whose afternoon address was to close the event.

Farrakhan had hinted that he would endorse a presidential nominee at the march, but he said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press" that none of the candidates responded to his request to review the march's agenda. "So it would be difficult for us to endorse a candidate that won't even speak to the agenda that we've put before them," he said.

Farrakhan to bless marriages

Singers Stevie Wonder, Macy Gray and Regina Bell were lined up to perform for the crowd, and Farrakhan was to deliver a "sacred wedding blessing" to 10,000 couples.

Farrakhan said he knew people would question his alliance with the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, whose Unification Church is a major sponsor of the march, along with some other religious groups.

But "we need today divine composers," Farrakhan, a musician, said Saturday. "We need today someone who can write the score to unite the human family so we can be beautiful as the music that we hear instead of like the ugliness in the world."

"If music can make us one, why should the word of God make us many?"

The Million Family March comes a day after a women's rights march here by the National Organization for Women. Several thousand chanting demonstrators marched past the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund buildings in a protest against world poverty and the mistreatment of women.

Copyright 2000 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Street buzz not strong but Million Family March supporters confident
October 13, 2000

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