From Philly and the Pa. suburbs to South Jersey and Delaware, what would you like WHYY News to cover? Let us know!

Hundreds of Philadelphians of all ages marched to LOVE Park on Sunday to mark the 30th anniversary of the Million Man March.

In 1995, the march led by the Nation of Islam’s controversial leader, Minister Louis Farrakhan, served as a “holy day of atonement and reconciliation” for African American men. On that day, Farrakhan urged them to “build your own communities, avoid drugs and violence, register to vote, build Black political power and invest in Black businesses.”

Local activist Kenneth Salaam was the first guest to take the stage this Sunday. He greeted the crowd by saying, “Alhamdulillahi rabbil alamin,” which translates to “Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Universe.”

“When you say ‘Assalamu alaikum,’ you’re not just saying peace be unto you; we’re saying peace be unto you and everyone you are connected with,” Salaam said. “I was in Washington 30 years ago, and what we did, we proved to the world that the African American men can come together peacefully, without violence, without hatred, and stay focused on one dream, one aim.”

Despite controversy, Million Man March teaches powerful lessons 3 decades later

When the Million Man March took place 30 years ago, controversy erupted over Farrakhan’s request for “Black women to stay home and let the men handle their own affairs.” In addition, the Nation of Islam’s leader made several antisemitic statements in the years before and after the event.

However, his speech that day centered on themes of self-help and self-respect — urging those in attendance to “improve their lives and the lives of their wives and children,” according to PBS.

Rodney Muhammad, former president of the Philadelphia NAACP who was removed from the post in 2020 after sharing an antisemitic meme, thanked Farrakhan on Sunday for calling Black men to that mission, and said it was time to recommit to that cause.

“No other nations or people will ever respect us until we’re wise enough to respect ourselves,” Muhammad said. “And no man can respect himself in a vacuum. He must possess the knowledge of himself in order to respect himself, and out of self-respect comes self-love and out of self-love comes self-determination.”

Similar themes impacting Black communities continue today

Temple University professor and author Molefi Asante attended both the Million Man March and the 1963 March on Washington, where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech.

He said that when roughly 250,000 people attended that rally, the nation was experiencing political and social divides similar to today. Asante also called out President Donald Trump’s executive order designating “antifa” as a “domestic terrorist organization” following the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

“Mussolini was a fascist, Franco was a fascist, Hitler was a fascist. What do fascists do? Fascists want to prevent freedom of speech,” Asante said. “They want to militarize their cities. They want to shut out everybody else, and their voice is the only voice.”

He said Black people are the “custodians of freedom” and encouraged the crowd to call out injustice.

“We must push back against injustice against Palestinians. We must push back for injustice against immigrants. We must push back against all injustice because, after all, as African people, we know these experiences,” Asante said. “And because we know them, we as brothers and sisters must always push back.”

Sunday’s gathering was the culmination of nearly a week of events organized by Philly Truce, a local nonprofit focusing on developing familial and community leadership within the city’s Black population.