October 16th. Today is the anniversary of Washington DCs Million Man March headed by Minister Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam. Remembering. Oct 1995. I was living in London, writing for a newspaper called The Weekly Journal and a radio journalist for the BBC. I was running a business with a writer colleague, Diane Regisford. My first major love had been a member of the Nation of Islam. The break up was because the brother was a member of the Nation of Islam. Minister Farrakhan was banned in London. Press about him and the NoI was misleading, inaccurate, and rooted in Islamaphobia and the positing of black male bodies as violent. As black Brit journos hearing stories from the US, we thought it was important to report what was happening there. There was concern about impact on careers due to the perception of the NoI in London. I remember asking as many brother journos as I knew about whether they would go & report. They said no. We didnt want something so historically important to be reduced to what was then a white male journalistic perspective. I decided I would go & report on my own dime. It was my first trip to Washington DC. I reached out and let the NoI in DC know I was coming. I supported the march, Im a Diaspra village chick who has been raised understanding there are important rites of passage for women and for men - and that patriarchy has too often interrupted a ritual that does serve a purpose. But also leadership in whatever gender it appears should be acknowledged and celebrated. I was also raised in the West, learning a history of movements where mens magic has often been realized due to women organizers, effort, energy, leadership, brilliance - and whose names we never learned. I was given good access behind the scenes of the March. Based on my work and time and interviews, I wrote a piece called The Unseen Power, about the women organizers who clearly were the organizing engine across every part of the March and who went unacknowledged across so much of the media, and whose roles had been diminished or ignored by elements of the NoI. A pivotal, powerful journey. Today is Day 16 #31forMARISSA. Would a million men stand up & engage in the pursuit of the freedom of this black woman MARISSA ALEXANDER? Lets start with 31.
Posted on: Wed, 16 Oct 2013 16:13:53 +0000
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