Twenty years ago a rally was held on the National Mall in Washington D.C. that was hailed as a watershed moment. It was a day of atonement and reconciliation; a call for self-reflection by black men who would then stand up and take responsibility for themselves, their children and their communities. One organizer, Dr. Conrad Worrill, said “the Million Man March was one of the most historic organizing and mobilizing events in the history of Black people in the United States.” Among the speakers was none other than racist hate-monger Louis Farrakhan, head of the Nation of Islam.

The 1995 rally came on the heels of the crack cocaine epidemic that led to unprecedented rates of crime and violence, gang involvement and the incarceration of black men. The black mayors of major cities issued pleas to the federal government to help with money for additional law enforcement resources, including federal prosecution. This was to become the next generation of the 1960s civil rights movement.