Sept. 5th Million Youth March

By Louis Project, 1 September 1998

This week’s NY Magazine, best known for its recommendations on where to get the best chocolates, pasta, or body massage, has a fascinating article on Khallil Muhammed, the organizer of the Million Youth March scheduled for Sept. 5th in Harlem. The march was originally blocked by Mayor Guliani who labeled Muhammed as a racial demagogue. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. The NY Civil Liberties Union successfully won the right to march and it will go ahead.

Muhammed was expelled from the Nation of Islam a couple of years ago because he was not happy with their accomodationist posture. He was recruited into the Nation out of the Black Panther Party in the 1970s and has always retained some of their militancy. He was also devoted to Malcolm X’s political philosophy and only joined the Nation after prolonged battles with them over their role in Malcolm’s assassination.

Muhammed had a falling out with Louis Farrakhan because of his refusal to soften his black militancy. Farrakhan wrote him a letter stating that God would deal with the black man’s tormentor, and that talk about revolution was not befitting a Nation of Islam leader. After Muhammed left the NOI, he was attacked by a gunman and spent 3 months in the hospital.

He went on to found the New Black Panther Party which showed up in the small town in Texas where a black man was chained to a pickup truck and dragged until his head and one arm were ripped from his body. Muhammed and his comrades, over 30 in number, showed up with shotguns and frightened the Klan out of town, according to Peter Noel, the article’s author.

The theme of the march is not about black people looking for forgiveness, as was the case in the Million Man March. This is are some of the demands:

The release of all Political prisoners.
Full and complete reparations for the descendants of slaves.
Black Power, Black Nationalism and Pan Africanism
Jobs for Black Youth (organizing skills, technology transfers).
Adequate resources for the programs that can improve the condition of Black Youth.
Financial aid to Black Students.
Black studies and African centered learning.
Environmental Justice
Repatriation and Dual citizenship.
Unity between Black, Hispanic-Latino, Arab, Native American, and Asian youth.
Establish Black Brain Banks and Think Tanks worldwide.
The establishment of Black power conscience cadres and study groups to meet the needs of our people nationally and internationally.
The establishment of Black Liberation/ Self-defense and security units to patrol and control Black communities.
The Holding of a Plebiscite

In the 1960s these sorts of demands came under the general rubric of Black Nationalism. No wonder Guliani did not want the march to take place. The groundswell of support for the march has been too large to ignore. Congressman Charles Rangel has endorsed it, but says that he is opposed to the leadership.

Meanwhile, the Nation of Islam has felt the need to come up with a counter-demonstration since it fears that Muhammed might build a movement that will outflank them to the left. They have called for a 5 million youth march in Atlanta which is amazingly endorsed by the AFL-CIO and the NAACP.

One of the things to keep an eye on as the worldwide social and economic crisis deepens is a rebirth of black militancy in the United States, which has always been the Achilles Heel of the capitalist system. In the wake of the successful Black Radical Congress, one must assume that black militancy is indeed on the rise.