Atonement, Reconciliation & Responsibility The ongoing legacy of the Million Man March
By Charlene Muhammad, National Correspondent
- October 10, 2023
Tune in on Sunday, October 15 at 2:00 p.m. CDT at noi.org for a special message titled ‘Atonement and the Great War’ delivered by Student Minister Ishmael Muhammad, National Assistant to the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan to commemorate the 28th Anniversary of the Million Man March / Holy Day of Atonement
This year marks the 28th anniversary of the historic Million Man March, which drew nearly two million Black men to the Nation’s Capital of Washington, D.C., for a day, devoted to Atonement, Reconciliation and Responsibility. This day unlike any other in the history of this country, still resonates as a gathering that will go down in history.
Convened by the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, the unprecedented, divine March brought together Black men from all over the country from various religions, political ideologies and socio-economic backgrounds.
“Now, more than ever, we need to delve deeply into the process of atonement offered to us from the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan,” stated Student Minister Abdul Haleem Muhammad, Nation of Islam Southwest Region Representative of Minister Farrakhan.
Student Minister Abdul Haleem Muhammad was among the Black men, the husbands and fathers who stood on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, and demonstrated their willingness to reconcile differences at home, school, church, organizations and in society.
In answering the Minister’s call to present themselves before God and atone to themselves, their families and communities, these men became part of what many referred to that day as “a glimpse of heaven.”
“As America and the world she has ruled since World War II unravels, it is imperative that we close the gap and tighten up our house so we in the mosque and the Black community don’t unravel and devolve into anarchy also,” added Student Minister Abdul Haleem Muhammad.
In observance of the Commemoration of the Million Man March / Holy Day of Atonement which is Monday, October 16, there is no work, no school and no play that day. It is a day of Reflection, Reconciliation and Prayer.
This year, Student Minister Ishmael Muhammad, National Assistant to Minister Farrakhan, will deliver a special keynote message from Mosque Maryam in Chicago, on behalf of the Minister for the 28th Anniversary of the Million Man March on Sunday, October 15. The message may be viewed live-streamed at www.noi.org at 2:00 p.m. CDT. The title of his message is, “Atonement and the Great War.”
“As a student of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, I marveled at what God gave me to give to the nearly two million Black men present on the National Mall and to the world watching via television,” stated Minister Farrakhan, during reflections on the Million Man March, on the occasion of its 25th anniversary in October 2020.
At that time, he stated, he re-read the words that Allah (God) gave to him on October 16, 1995. “This was unlike any event ever before in the United States of America or in the nations of the earth, especially those countries that have been under the victimization of the Satanic mind that rules this present world,” stated Minister Farrakhan.
“No nation has assembled this number of men to make Atonement to God, to others we may have offended, to reconcile differences in our families, differences in our communities and to accept responsibility for our actions that have sown division, hurt and pain among us,” he stated.
The Minister continued that October 16 was the beginning of a process of healing. The day represented a high point in individual development achieved through the guidance of God and the fellowship of men and women, brothers and sisters from many different walks of life. “We came with different ideologies, religious beliefs, and political aspirations,” he stated.
Part of the continued legacy of the Million Man March, as noted by Minister Farrakhan, was that never before had an event taken place that honored women as women were honored on that day. Those on the rostrum and who spoke included the woman who was the mother of that March, Dr. Dorothy Height, a legendary leader in the civil rights struggle, said the Minister.
“Mrs. Rosa Parks, Dr. Betty Shabazz and daughter Ilyasah Shabazz, humanist and poet Maya Angelou, Cora Masters Barry, Atty. E. Faye Williams, Mother Khadijah Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam, Mother Tynnetta Muhammad, wife of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad;
Mrs. Jacqueline Jackson, Rev. Barbara Skinner, C. Delores Tucker, Black nationalist matriarch Queen Mother Moore and Dr. Delois Blakeley and then 10-year-old Tiffany Mayo participated or spoke at the Million Man March. Sen. Carol Moseley Braun, Rep. Cardiss Collins, and Rep. Barbara Rose Collins were among political leaders at the March,” the Minister said.
