Million Woman March Converges on Philadelphia

By David Morgan, Reuters, October 25, 1997 11:36 p.m. Eastern

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of black women thronged Philadelphia Saturday for the Million Woman March, a mass rally aimed at building political, economic and social unity within black communities.

In the largest gathering of black women in U.S. history, crowds of mothers, aunts, sisters, nieces and daughters stood shoulder-to-shoulder in an autumn drizzle to sing the Black National Anthem, pray and listen to an all-day program of inspirational speeches.

As a sea of marchers filled a mile-long boulevard stretching from the huge Greek-style Philadelphia Art Museum to City Hall, the turnout appeared to surpass that of the Million Man March in Washington two years ago.

Unofficial police estimates put the crowd's size as high as 1.5 million, while organizers said 2 million women attended. In 1995, between 400,000 and 800,000 black men gathered in Washington for the Million Man March.

Speakers included Winnie Mandela, the former wife of South African President Nelson Mandela, and Rep. Maxine Waters, a California Democrat.

"After today, we will never be the same," said Waters, who railed against racism in the U.S. criminal justice system and aired long-standing allegations that the Central Intelligence Agency introduced crack cocaine to the inner city to fund the Nicaraguan Contras.

"America, be placed on notice. We know who we are. We understand our collective power. Following today, we will act on that power," she told her cheering listeners.

Mandela, wearing eyeglasses and an African headwrap, praised American black women for overcoming racial oppression and striving to attain self-empowerment.

"If the first woman was strong enough to turn the world upside down, all alone, together women ought to be able to turn it up rightside up again," Mandela said. "Of course we can, of course we will, and of course we are going to."

Modeled on the Million Man March, the women's rally was meant to show unity in the face of inner-city problems ranging from inadequate health care and poor education to teen pregnancy, high unemployment and crime.

Under a banner theme of repentance, resurrection and restoration, organizers called on women to pursue mentoring programs for adolescent girls, establish independent black schools and help black female prisoners make the transition to mainstream life.

"This is a very, very positive march," said Marcia Harris, a 35-year-old financial planner from New Haven, Conn. "It shows the media that we can come together without the violence that people in the media have been talking about."

The chief organizers, two ordinary women from Philadelphia, said it was important for black women of different backgrounds to come together in a mood of solidarity.

"Black women have been the epitome of strength in this country," said Phile Chionesu, who founded the Million Woman March last year with help from her friend, Asia Coney, a local housing activist.

"We want to prepare our women, no matter what their status in life, to look at how we can begin to invest as black women and how we can begin to vote in blocs as black women."

While the Million Man March relied on the organizing prowess of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan and the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Chionesu and Coney largely bypassed the circuits of black influence in America, including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Instead, the women relied on the organizing skills of local community leaders like themselves.

"We (black women) have a history of doing the impossible," Coney said.

The march began under leaden skies at about 7 a.m. EDT with a prayer vigil at the Penn's Landing waterfront. Marchers then trekked for miles to the Liberty Bell and the main venue on Benjamin Franklin Parkway, a wide boulevard lined with trees, flags and fountains.

"I feel connected. I feel like I'm meeting with family, and I'm excited about meeting with my sisters," said Charlene Ryan, a 66-year-old great-grandmother from the Negro Women's Community League of Wilkes-Barre, Pa.