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A Million Men March Again
Other | Thursday 22nd October 2015 | Cais
Just one week ago, black people in the United States celebrated the 20th anniversary of one of the biggest, loudest and proudest civil rights events in history, The Million Man March.
Although the official number is still controversial, size estimates indicate that on that October day in 1995 between 670,000 to 1.1 million people, called on by Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, showed up at the National Mall in Washington DC to have their voices heard. They looked to address negative stereotypes surrounding black men in particular and to protest the dismissal of black social and economic issues during the 1994 congressional election.
On 15th October 2015 a crowd of people led by the Black Lives Matter movement took to the Mall once more to address much of the same. Having rebranded the march as Justice or Else, protest themes included massive poverty, unemployment and the number of unarmed black men being gunned down by police.
While black leaders such as Farrakhan are known for their impressive ability mobilize large amounts of people to protest in the US, why aren’t we seeing much of the same here in the UK? Some say that even 28 years after the first black MP was elected to parliament, there still exists a lack of strong leaders in the black community.
While 67 percent of black people who voted in the last election voted Labour, it’s expected that up to 20 percent of eligible black voters didn’t bother to turn up at all. This is because many simply felt that voting is a waste of time. There are black MP’s, there are black celebrities but where are the black leaders, rousing young people to come out and protest not only in the streets but also on election day.
Many feel that no matter who they vote for, there will always be a private school educated white guy at the top calling the shots, the least of which having anything to do with educating black people and providing opportunities to get out of poverty.
So maybe its time for London to have it’s own Million Man March and then again in Manchester, in Leeds, in Liverpool, in Birmingham... Better yet, a Million Person March that highlights the needs of every man and woman in minority communities across the UK.
