MILLION YOUTH MARCH
Harlem rally defies racist mayor
By Larry
Holmes
New York
By mid-afternoon here Sept. 4, some 2,000 people filled the
block between 118th and 119th Streets on Malcolm X Blvd. to
support the Million Youth March. The crowd, which was
overwhelmingly African Americans of all ages, also included
some Latinos and a smaller number of white supporters.
Veteran Black Nationalist organizations and activists and
representatives of progressive organizations from around the
city were among those attending.
Speakers at the rally included many young people and the
principle speaker Khalil Muhammad, who put forth a seven-point
program. This included an end to police brutality; establishing
people's militias to defend the community against the police;
community control of schools, businesses and other
institutions; payment of reparations for the enslavement and
oppression of Black people; and self-determination.
Last year, the first Million Youth March became a hot
political event for the African American community, for the
youth, and for progressives and radicals around the country.
What made it so was the prospect of a confrontation between a
significant Black-Power- and youth-oriented demonstration and
New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's attempts to virtually crush
the action.
Giuliani tried to suppress last year's march with police
power. He declared virtual martial law in Central Harlem.
He suspended subway service. He brought in a force of
several thousand riot police, with sharpshooters on the
rooftops and helicopters buzzing the demonstration. Cops forced
participants into a series of barricaded cells.
Finally, at 4:01 p.m. last year, a minute after the rally
permit expired, police attacked the demonstration, beating up
organizers and participants without provocation.
This year the organizers of the Million Youth March II
wanted to rally as many as possible to their Black Power
program. Still, many attended the march to show solidarity with
the organizers against the capitalist political establishment's
efforts to vilify and isolate the event--particularly its
principle organizer, Khalil Abdul Muhammad--and essentially
frighten people from coming.
As one participant told this writer: "I'm not here because I
necessarily agree with everything Khalil Muhammad says. I'm
here because when Giuliani and all the politicians say `Don't
go,' that's when I come."
Workers World Party participated with a banner calling for
freedom for African American political prisoner Mumia
Abu-Jamal. The banner was popular with participants and drew
friendly comments from speakers at the march, who also
supported Abu-Jamal's struggle for freedom from Pennsylvania's
death row.
Media campaign vilified march
For weeks before the rally, the big capitalist media in New
York campaigned against the Million Youth March. They
violence-baited it, ran features that impugned Khalil Muhammad.
They showed excerpts from last year's march that focused on the
police attack to try to frighten people away.
In addition, Black elected officials in Harlem took a more
hostile approach to the march. Last year they feared the march
had broad support in the Black community, and were either
silent about the march or half-heartedly supported it.
This year every one of them sided with Giuliani's attacks.
They even joined his campaign and publicly criticized the
march. Some held news conference urging people not to attend.
They branded march organizers "outsiders" and called the event
a "hate march." They even drew an equal sign between Khalil
Muhammad and the racist Giuliani administration.
At the center of opposition to the march once again was the
mayor, along with Police Commissioner Howard Safir. For several
months Giuliani had taken a stance denying a permit to the
organizers to hold the event. This stance was so brazenly
illegal that several judges felt pressure to uphold the
organizers' constitutional right to have a permit.
Although the turnout was smaller than last year's, many of
those attending felt that it was a success given the lengths to
which the media, the mayor and the politicians went to
ostracize the march and stop it from taking place.
This article is copyright under a Creative Commons License.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
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