THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, October 14, 1996 TAG: 9610140035
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DENISE WATSON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 185 lines
Benjamin Alexander Jr. began ``An Open Letter to My Two Sons on the Eve of the Million Man March'' a year ago.
The letter began:
``Dear Jordan and Julian:
``Tomorrow, you will walk with me on the Federal Mall as we join many thousands of black men from different lives who will be brought together by common concerns. . . .
``Later in your lives, I hope this day will be remembered as a day when black men in America took an important step towards changing their relationships with themselves, their families and their nation.''
During the year, the letter has expanded and evolved as he has shared the 11 pages at workshops and seminars he's given across the country as senior partner in a management consulting firm. Time has added more pages and more meaning.
``I'm more convinced now that the march was very powerful for many people,'' said Alexander of Gloucester. ``I've just run into so many black men who have experienced a much more positive way of dealing with some of the things they avoided dealing with before.''
The march is heavy on the minds of Alexander and many African Americans as Oct. 16, the first anniversary, nears.
National organizers of the Million Man March have designated Wednesday as the ``World's Day of Atonement,'' a worldwide call for an end to injustice, exploitation and violence. Organizers, Nation of Islam's Louis Farrakhan and the Rev. Benjamin Chavis, will bring in guest speakers for a commemorative assembly at the United Nations building in New York.
It won't be a repeat of last year's rally, one of the largest in history, where hundreds of thousands met in Washington, D.C., and pledged to better their communities, their lives and their families.
Some kept the promise. Some did not.
Many have questioned the resonance of the march in a year that has been considered a tough one for blacks. The march's glow didn't prevent the dismantling of some affirmative action policies at some colleges or stop welfare reform agendas that many believe will cripple poor blacks.
Some are looking back on the year with disappointment.
``If someone says that things are still happening after the march, somebody's lying,'' said Mary Welch, co-owner of Norfolk's Self-Improvement Educational Center, which helped organize local groups for last year's march.
``I haven't seen one thing . . . maybe my expectations were much higher. They were so excited about it when they got back.
``Maybe something is going on. I just don't see it.''
But others look back with pride.
Chavis has said there has been positive action - increased voter registration, more African Americans adopting black children, more cooperation between Christians and Muslims.
Locally, people say there has been a change.
``I still see it every day,'' said Dawn Bailey of Portsmouth, a Norfolk State University senior. ``I see it in my church, in terms of the older members taking the younger people and imparting that knowledge. . . .
``I think a lot of people expected monumental stuff overnight, but if you look at our history none of those monumental changes were overnight.''
Several local people say the spirit of the march is alive:
Unda'ground Preservation Society
Days before the Million Man March, Seko Varner of Norfolk sent out fliers to create an electronic database of community groups and businesses that aid or serve the black community. People interested in hiring a black carpenter or finding a black counselor could call and get the information, Varner hoped.
Varner, then a counselor at Cradock Middle School in Portsmouth, also began a student cleanup crew that met after school to spruce up the Truxtun area of Portsmouth.
But Varner didn't get the response he had hoped for the database and eventually folded his venture into another business that was doing the same thing.
The cleanup crew was a success for the duration; it lasted until school recessed in the summer. Varner is now at Hunt Mapp Middle School and has no plans to continue with the crew.
He is concentrating on a growing call-in radio show on WHOV-88.1 FM, which he started after the march. On Friday nights, from 10 to midnight, callers phone into Varner's Unda'ground Preservation Society talk show. They discuss topics like the relationships between black men and women, and ``brothers vs. the police - how some communities have pushed away law enforcement when they need it most.''
The show is an outlet - and inlet - for people who wouldn't get an open mike anywhere else. The spirit is that of the march, Varner said.
``It introduces people to new topics,'' Varner said. ``Every Friday night they're going to listen to positive topics. I'm always challenging them to look at a way that will better develop the community.''
The NSU pre-law club
Fourteen NSU students met shortly before Oct. 16, 1995, and started a club that would elevate them as students and future leaders, and serve the community as well.
The Thurgood Marshall Pre-Law Club formed. It began with 14 members; a month later it had 30; nearly a year later, 127.
The club requires all members to perform at least one hour of community service each week, and many members are mentors in the Big Brothers-Big Sisters program, taking younger students on outings and helping them with homework.
Club members help themselves with in-club mentoring, pairing seniors with freshman students and juniors with sophomores.
``The older students can help the younger ones form good study habits,'' said Bailey, who is the club's president.
``We help them handle social issues, helping them find that happy medium between social and school life.''
With the assistance of NSU's School of Social Sciences, the club has formed partnerships with black student law groups at Georgetown, Duke and the University of Virginia law schools and has organized free trips to those schools to get a feel for law-school life and tips on how to get there.
Recently, the club sent out 75 letters to area lawyers, senators and business leaders asking those professionals to be mentors to club members.
``We want to develop a three-layered system,'' Bailey said. ``We're mentoring through the Big Brothers-Big Sisters program, and we want someone to mentor to us, to give us academic advice, help us with what we need to know.''
Bailey will graduate this year but said she's certain the club will grow stronger.
``People constantly refer to the long-term vision of the march,'' Bailey said, ``that we become more solidified in helping one another reach our goal.'' An open letter to my two sons
Alexander will pass along the letter to his two sons, now age 7 and 4, when they're old enough to read.
The letter has generated enough interest among those who've heard it at seminars or asked to read it that Alexander wants to publish it and donate the proceeds to nonprofit groups such as the 100 Black Men of America organization.
But the letter is primarily for Jordan and Julian.
They've read about their paternal grandfather, a Navy chief petty officer, who ``crafted a persona of a man with no feelings,'' to deal with racism. They'll learn about their maternal grandparents, Sidney and Beatrice Boose, who left their lives as cotton pickers to become college professors in the '50s and '60s.
They'll learn about how the shared struggle of their ancestors and millions of others brought hundreds of thousands to Washington, D.C., last year.
Initially, Alexander wasn't going to the march because of Farrakhan, who has been criticized as being racist and anti-Jewish. But days before the march, Alexander writes in his letter, he changed his mind:
``Getting right down to it, I felt a need to bond with my brothers around the energy that was bringing us together. The goals of the march and the views of its sponsor were, at this point, meaningless.
``I realize that at various times in my life I have had to tolerate the presence of white racists as a reality of American life. Why should I shun an event because of the racial views of a black man?''
He hopes the letter will be a historical legacy to his sons and ``lead to an understanding of the African-American experience which has, thus far, eluded most of America.''
Alexander said that those trying to put a measure on the march's success are also misunderstanding the march's significance.
``The father who is now spending more time at home, the guy who now says he won't disrespect women with pejoratives,'' Alexander said.
``There's no way that can come back a year later as something you can put a figure on.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
MARTIN SMITH-RODDEN
The Virginian-Pilot
NSU PRE-LAW CLUB
On Oct. 16, 1995, 14 NSU students started the Thurgood Marshall
Pre-Law Club. Shown above are the founding officers and members:
from left, J.E. Porter, Mike Covington, Jay Locker, J. Haywood, Dawn
Bailey, T. Fisher, Yolanda Burton and Dante Burt.
OPEN LETTER TO HIS SONS:
Benjamin Alexander Jr. started writing ``An Open Letter to My Sons
on the Eve of the Million Man March'' a year ago. Since then, the
letter has grown to 11 pages, which he shares with others at
workshops and seminars. He's convinced the march was powerful and
the effects of it are still strong.
UNDA'GROUND PRESERVATION SOCIETY: Seko Varner, a middle school
counselor in Portsmouth, started a call-in radio show after the
march on WHOV-88.1 FM. Friday nights from 10 to midnight, callers
phone in to the Unda'ground Preservation Society talk show and
discuss issues important to the black community.
EVENTS
The Hampton Roads Division of the Million Man March and the
Hampton Roads Local Organizing Committee are sponsoring an
anniversary rally at Virginia Zoo, 3500 Granby St., from noon until
5 p.m. Wednesday. There will be guest speakers and activities
including African drumming, dancing and gospel singing.
For more information, call 490-8172.
Wednesday, WHOV-88.1 FM will air a special edition of the
Unda'ground Preservation Society Talk Show in honor of the
anniversary, from 10 p.m. to midnight.
KEYWORDS: MILLION MAN MARCH ANNIVERSARY by CNB