The Task Ahead
Fall/Winter 1997
The Million Woman March
October 25, 1997
(Note: This issue of our quarterly journal, The African American News
World, is dedicated in the spirit of the Million Woman March to our beautiful
sisters)
As a fifty-year-old Black man,
who had the blessed fortune of being birthed by the greatest creation of God’s
work, the Black woman; I would like to extend on behalf of myself and the
Universal African American People’s Organization, a sincere thank you and
congratulations to the organizers and supporters of this historic event, The
Million Woman March.
Being nurtured with the love of
a mother, grandmother, aunts, biological sisters, sisters of the struggle,
daughters and wife; I can truly say that with this march of women, like that of
the men march in 1995, God’s hand can be seen in the manifestation of a new day
for us as a people.
Why do I say this? It is ironic, that the October 25th
date of the Million Woman March is exactly nine days past the date of the
October 16 historic gathering of Black men.
Thus, in the birth cycle of human beings, it takes nine months from the
time of fertilization of a female, that her embryo grows within the womb and
comes forth as a new creation. In
relationship to this key number nine, it is not ironic that there are nine
planets revolving around the sun.
Hence, it is our belief that through the Million Woman March, God is
calling into a new day, a new era, a new people, a new nation and a new world
order. When the Black man stood before
Almighty God and pledged his seed for a new responsibility in spiritual,
family, economic, political and social development; the Black woman became
impregnated and thus on October 25th (again nine days after the 16th)
her pregnancy will bear the fruit of a new birth, the new beginning of us as a
people.
It is also not ironic that the
Million Man march was held in Washington D.C., the capital and epitome of white
world power and domination over the people of color on this planet. Accordingly, Black men vowed to change that
reality and thus it is not ironic, that the Million Woman March is being held
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
It was in this so-called city of
brotherly love, that wealthy white landowning men gathered in 1776, and drafted
the Declaration of Independence document and a few years later reconvened in
the same city to develop the foundation of this present day government through
another document known as the United States Constitution in 1787. While they sought freedom for themselves
from England, under their rulership our race suffered and endured the horrors
of imprisonment, murder, rape and chattel slavery. And it was the Black woman who has been abused and misused by not
only white men and women, but many times by Black men.
Thus, it is only fitting that in
Philadelphia, a million Black women will proclaim our Declaration of
Independence and work to actualize Dr. King’s powerful vision that our people
will be “Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty, we’re free at
last.” This massive movement of Black
people is all more powerful and overdue because as the great civil rights
activist Fannie Lou Hamer used to say, “our people are sick and tired of being
sick and tired.”
It is not ironic that often
after many rain storms of nature, that God sends the rainbow. Thus after the many storms and tribulations
of our people being burdened with rampant unemployment and underemployment,
poor education, poor healthcare, homelessness, harassment, brutalization and
murder by white police officers, drug infestation and abuse, AIDS, and
wholesale imprisonment of our people; that God is sending a rainbow of
beautiful Black women through this historic gathering as a sign that he has not
left us, but all we have to do is return unto Him.
Finally, being ever so proud of
our women, I would like to issue a simple challenge as was done to the
brothers; if we are to be true to our God and ourselves, we must abide by one
of the most profound phrases from the Holy Bible, “Faith without work is dead.”
My sisters, you/we must seriously organize if we are to have true liberation. Therefore, every Black woman who attends the Million Woman March must/should join an organization, who’s objective is to uplift and free our people from the clutches of this evil system. As the Honorable Marcus Garvey would say, “Up You Mighty Race,” but we can only become mighty through serious organization. The Universal African American Peoples Organization says through its motto, “One God-One Goal-One Destiny” that membership of over 144,000 can play a major societal role in bringing about a new day. Therefore, we look forward to any sisters who are willing to help in this endeavor by joining our organization. We must always adhere to the magnificent words of Kwame Toure and that is to organize, organize, and organize.