Faces of Liberation (#MillionManMarch Gallery)

Earlier this month October 10,2015, history was made in Washington, DC. Justice or Else Million Man March was set to have it’s 20th Anniversary and I am proud to say I was a participant with fellow Bloggers Shaè McCoy of Uncommonrealist and Cortez Page of Alumni Marketing Group.

This event was set to monumentally make a difference in the way mainstream America perceived the Black American Male. It was a huge call of action to recent current events happening nationally regarding allegations and prosecutions in relations to police brutality and racial profiling. The Million Man March mission was as similar to its first annual with its attempts to purify the black man’s image. Twenty years later and things are showing little to no change.

The morning of the march, I arrived on the capital grounds, where the honorary Minister Louis Farrakhan was expected to give his address, at exactly 8:00 am. Minister Farrakhan wasn’t scheduled to speak until 1:00 pm. So I had lots of time to kill. What better to do than to take pictures of what was happening around me, right?

Did you or any of your friends attend the Million Man March? Share some of your photos in the comments below.

Want to watch the Million Man March Recap by the Mindy Jo News Show? Watch it here on Doc’s Castle Media.

What You Missed at the 20th Anniversary of the Million Man March… (Four Main Points Minister Farrakhan Shouted at Us)

As you all should know through following my social media, I attended the 20th Anniversary of the Million Man March on an organized bus trip orchestrated by myself along with fellow bloggers Shae McCoy of Uncommonrealist and Cortez Page of Alumni Marketing Group to see the honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan at his special meeting for all people.

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Minister Louis Farrakhan stepped up as leader of his people to share wisdom at Justice or Else March, Saturday, October 10, 2015. He spoke knowledge that any race of people could take with them to become a better being for changing the world around them.

By calling a meeting for all oppressed people, Native, Latin, and Black alike; he showed the world through stern intervention that he is a man who loves his people. He did this through speaking basic philosophy any human being should have the capacity to understand, and he did it with a mission to instill change within a society that shows limited signs of breakthrough due to ill-mannered government policies and social injustices.

Farrakhan, by being emotionally attached to this cause for so long, also made contradictions while giving his speech. I choose not to focus on delivering what’s deemed unimportant. Instead, I’ll focus on the four main points discussed by Minister Louis Farrakhan that remained with me, which I see to be worth passing to my readers, beginning with why he  called this meeting following 20 years.

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Minister Louis Farrakhan on the big screen. Photo taken by Doc’s Castle Media

This is a movement. We have no time for vanity.

Minister Farrakhan came with a mission to let his people know that what he’s doing is not to be taken in vain. His life work is for the future of everyone’s lives, for the descendants of everyone’s children and grandchildren, that they may have a better outcome than what his ancestors had, he had, and what’s currently facing many Black people today. Like an angry grandpa frustrated with his grand-kids, he demanded the attention of the crowd to open their eyes, minds and hearts to what’s happening in America. He told us change is a requirement and not preference.

With plenty of conviction behind his words, Minister Farrakhan shared a passion that many who attended the march felt. Black people are trying to be heard from a government unwilling to lend a listening ear. He urged that Justice or Else not be just a day that Blacks, Natives, and Latinos meet in unity. He emphasized it being a call for all oppressed people to come together in continuation in working on unification to fully gain equality.

The only way we can gain justice is through unity from everyone who has ever been deprived from justice.

Minister Farrakhan sent an invite to every nation of people to be apart of the march for Justice or Else. Speakers from different cultures, religions, sexual orientations, and gender came together to unite even in our many differences because we all had a common dislike for mistreatment.

Everyone wants to be treated fairly and we want it now!

In the fight to gain common ground from those who are privileged, Minister Farrakhan stated we must come together by first seeking to find that love within ourselves. By loving first our body as the temple then showing love for those who are around us, no matter what color of the skin, we show a force that cannot be reckoned with; a stronger power than of one entity that holds the human race back as a whole. We will gain equality for blacks by taking a stand, but we also create opportunities for the Native Americans and Latino Americans who are still fighting those same social injustices.

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Black Empowerment Photo taken by Doc’s Castle Media

We live not for ourselves but for the generations that come after us.

Minister Farrakhan stressed as a people we have to stop thinking of what we can only do for ourselves. We live in a generation that thrives off doing anything for personal gain whether it be reaching success in a positive manner, or slashing each other’s throat to get to the top. It hasn’t gotten the human race far through thinking this way because there are so many people still left to be treated unjustly.

Farrakhan reminded us that to show love for your fellow brother and sister, we must become selfless. We have to sacrifice those selfish thoughts to gain for ourselves and work on gaining for our children because that is who we work for. They are the one’s who are left to these unjust institutions once we are gone.

By referencing the accomplishments of great leaders like John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., he explained why this life we live is only temporary. “From dusk we came, back to dusk we shall go.” (Something like that.) He asked what is the purpose of living a cut throat “I’ll-steal-and-kill-to-reach-success” kind of lifestyle if everyone’s end in life is the same? It only makes life more difficult. Why not think of making an easier life for generations to come?

Today’s Youth is crying out for a worthy leader.

Farrakhan stressed that leadership is what’s needed to create progress. He also spoke on how very few of genuine leaders our country has by insinuating that we have more leaders today who chase money and fame rather than a good principle for life.

All corruption is an enemy of the progress of man!- Minister Louis Farrakhan

In a system that is built on corruption, such as greed, fame, and betrayal, man cannot move forward. Everywhere we go, we see corruption with the lack of discipline to lend a helping hand towards another person so they may reach new heights of success. Instead we have people who are in charge that want to tear down another man. A great leader helps another up. They lead by example to be a better person.

Minister Farrakhan reminded us that we haven’t had an influential leader since Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Both of these great leaders taught the basics of being a humanitarian. There’s a need for someone who’s able to lead and teach what we no longer learn from important public figures. There is no one dedicated solely to the liberation of an oppressed people. No one to promote a better living. Instead, there’s more negativity being broadcast to a large mass of people.

Farrakhan told everyone the essentials of demanding justice; the essentials of being a great leader. He did so to reach a generation of people he states as whom he works for, the youth. To be a great leader demanding justice, a person should seek integrity and selflessness. They should sacrifice for a principle bigger than their own lives because the majority is greater than one. When we find that leader who chooses the majority before themselves, we know the person is working in love and not war.

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6 AM upon boarding the bus to Justice or Else

Attending the Million Man March was as familiar to me as attending the protests earlier this year for Freddie Gray in Baltimore following the riots exasperated through police brutality. That feeling of unity that is so scarce in a time of selfishness gave me life! I felt amazingly proud of the skin I was born in. I was proud of the people around me coming in unity against social injustices that minorities have fought against for years. I understood what needed to shared with people who didn’t find an importance in coming out for Justice or Else. I gained a better understanding of what Justice or Else stood for, which that “or else” stands for you and the interpretation you gain from Minister Farrakhan 3 hour speech.

All in all, I understood the change in a people, as a whole, that we must overcome in order to have a better future. It’s starts with ourselves channeling our inner leader, being that example that’ll spark a revolution to change. So I see and, so I shall do.

What do you think about things that Minister Louis Farrakhan had to say at the 20th Anniversary of the Million Man March? Leave your comments below.