The Media Coverage on the Millions More Movement

Carlee Gordon

TELC 202.101: The Media Culture

Professor Jennifer J. Longmire

The Media Coverage on the Millions More Movement

The millions more movement was expected to have an agenda that will transform a movement and impact change in the Black community over the coming years is what organizers of the Millions More Movement on the 10th Anniversary of the Million Man March. I did not attend but tried to find time to watch it on television. Through my search I realized only a selected few were actually presenting large segments of the march. As critical as the event was because of the suffering of the many poor black people in New Orleans the Millions More Movement was not promoted to the full extent. Many of my friends didn't even know it was going on. A pamphlet I had actually got from your class was the only notice had before the actual day of the Millions More Movement.

The few channels that actually showed large portions of the Millions More Movement, described it as a sort of "rally" instead of an historical event as planned by the organizers of the Millions More Movement. The issues that were campaigned during Millions More Movement were unity among African-Americans and other people of color; spiritual and ethical grounding; family strengthening; education; economic development; housing; political power; reparations; criminal justice; health care and healthy living; artistic and cultural development; anti-war and peace in Black neighborhoods. These message alone were hardly exposed on television news cast, instead it seemed as though there was just a lot of African Americans Gathered to complain very contrary to, "We're not talking about something that we can get from the government. We're talking about what we have to do in our own communities." stated by Minister Farrakhan.

There was also the message that came across from Minister Farrakhan through the media that with out the disaster of New Orleans there would be a reason for the Movement. "Pain gave birth to this topic. Pain is giving birth to the Millions

More Movement," said Min. Farrakhan. "The collective pain of Black

people has brought us to this point in our history. He proceeded, "There is an 'unwritten law that Black people must never organize', But pain," he continued, "has brought us to

this moment, when Christian and Muslim and Hebrew, and Nationalist, and Pan-Africanist, and those who fight for reparations-which should be all of us-those who know the law, and those who don't," can unite and work together for the common good of all our people. The negative subscript