FEW NON-BLACKS ATTENDED “MILLIONS MORE MOVEMENT”
by Kristina A. Maury

Chicago Defender, IL
Oct 17 2005

Despite Minister Louis Farrakhan’s goal of reaching out and uniting
with Latinos, Asians and Native Americans, only a few non-Black faces
dotted the crowd at the Millions More Movement. Yet, those few who
attended did so because they felt Farrakhan’s call for unity was
necessary in order to overcome hardships and make America a stronger
nation.

Not only was this event more diverse than the Million Man March,
including gay rights activists, a large number of non-Muslims,
women and children, but this year’s event definitely had more of
an international flair. This was evident in many aspects of the
movement. Performer Wyclef Jean rapped two verses in French and
Spanish; American Indian leader Russell Means delivered a speech; and
Ricardo Alarcon, the speaker of the Cuban National Assembly, addressed
the crowd in a video message. Not to mention that, the official
Millions More Movement website is available in Spanish as well.

In his long-awaited speech, Farrakhan said, “The time has never been
more right for a strategic relationship between the Black, brown,
Native American and poor.”

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Farrakhan also spoke of uniting with other ethnic groups and expressed
his belief that there is power in numbers.

“Think about 40 million Black people united; 45 million Latinos
united; 4 or 5 million Native Americans united; think about poor folk
united. Think about the impact that we will have,” he said.

The poor, disadvantaged and oppressed were one in the same at the
event on Saturday.

Jose Gonzalez, 27, and his brother Steve Gonzalez, 25, traveled from
New Jersey to attend the Millions More Movement. The Gonzalez brothers,
who are Puerto Rican, attended for numerous reasons.

Despite how the U.S government and leaders may appear to non-Americans,
Jose expressed his belief that “the poor people of the world are
going to see we are united.” In his opinion, the Black and Latino
community are one.

His brother, Steve, added, “This is no longer a Black and white thing,
but a class thing.”

Kevin Shaknazarian, 25, from Los Angeles, is an Armenian originally
from the Soviet Union. Shaknazarian said that it was important for
people to come out, regardless of their circumstance.

“You don’t get a real sense of this unless you are here,” he said.

Shaknazarian said that being Armenian, he can relate with the struggles
of life as well. In his opinion, the event was universal.

He stressed that humans are not too different from one another.

“Of the billions of people on earth, 94 percent of us want the same
thing: Peace, prosperity and a home of their own,” he said.

Raphael Perrino, 20, and his father also attended the event. The
Perrinos are Italians from Virginia. Raphael is a member of the
Neo-Underground Railroad Conductors, a group that stresses the
importance of unity.

“I believe fervently that Martin Luther King’s movement was essential
but I also believe the Black power movement that occurred afterwards
was essential,” he said.

Raphael stated that he thinks that King’s movement was more of a
damage control as opposed to Farrakhan’s movement, which he believes
is disaster relief.

“To have disaster relief you have to have justice, you have to have
unity, you have to have power and that’s what I believe Farrakhan is
about and that’s why I am here today,” he said.

Although the vast majority of individuals in the crowd were Black,
the attendants who were of other ethnicities were just as enthusiastic
and passionate as the majority.

“I am here watching the work of Jesus,” said Jose Gonzalez. “This is
an amazing event you’re witnessing. It’s really a cry out for peace.”

Kristina A. Maury is a student at Howard University who covered the
Millions More Movement for the Chicago Defender.