ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, January 30, 1996 TAG: 9601300071
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: NORFOLK
SOURCE: Associated Press
Black Americans need to work together to convert the spirit of the Million Man March into political and economic power, the march's national director said Monday.
``The black community can achieve greatness if it can achieve unity,'' Benjamin Chavis, former executive director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said in a speech at Norfolk State University.
Chavis, who helped Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan put together the Million Man March on Washington on Oct. 16, gave the Black History Month kickoff address to 2,500 students and faculty at the historically black school.
He said the GOP's Contract with America ``has been a contract on black Americans'' that is moving the country backward in race relations.
``We cannot afford to be inactive,'' Chavis said, calling for the registering of 8 million new black voters this year. ``We cannot afford to be spectators to our own oppression.''
Chavis, asked by reporters about his relationship with the controversial Farrakhan, said religious differences shouldn't divide blacks:
``The black community wants to see more unity among our leaders. ... There is so much work to be done. We've got enough for everybody to shoulder.''
In the 31/2 months since the march, Chavis said, crime has dropped in minority communities, adoptions of black children have risen, and people who used to confront each other have begun embracing and learning to cooperate.
Chavis said blacks need to refocus spending to support new and existing minority-owned businesses. Black consumer spending already amounts to $450 billion a year in the United States, he said.
``We tend to underestimate the potential economic power we already have in our hands,'' he said. ``Our problem is we're not pooling our resources. We're not focusing our spending so that we get a return on what we spend.''
Chavis said another march - this time, a million families - is planned for this fall on the anniversary of last year's march, but it probably will be spread out over several locations.
LENGTH: Short : 48 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Chavisby CNB