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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LindyBill who wrote (142855)	10/16/2005 3:20:01 AM
From: KLP	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793958

JJ Again....He doesn't give up..Jesse Jackson Urges People to Direct Their Katrina Frustrations Into Activism ap.tbo.com By Erin Texeira The Associated Press Published: Oct 15, 2005 WASHINGTON (AP) - Americans frustrated by the slow response to victims of Hurricane Katrina should channel their energy to changing their communities, Jesse Jackson told thousands gathered for the 10th anniversary of the Million Man March. "We need millions more to act and react to what we saw in the gulf," the civil rights leader said. "Images were burned into our consciousness." In 1995, the march called on black men to take responsibility for improving their families and communities. Women, whites and other minorities had not been invited back then, but all were welcome to the Millions More Movement, which intends to build on those principles and push people to build a movement for change locally and nationally. Dozens of speakers - academics, activists and media pundits - took the microphone at the National Mall for a few minutes each. A speaker from a black gay group, added to the roster at the last minute, also spoke. Organizers did not speculate on the size of the crowd, and police would not offer an estimate. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority said subway ridership by noon was 152,000. On the day of the march 10 years ago, ridership reached just over 804,000. Participants said they were inspired by the gathering. Rapper Ryk-A-Shay, 24, joined relatives from North Carolina for the drive to Washington. "Any time we as a people can come together it's a beautiful thing," she said. Danny Bakewell, publisher of the Los Angeles Sentinel, a black newspaper, said the gathering was "a glaring symbol of the possibilities that are in front of black people. This is not the end, it's a beginning." Bakewell added: "Of course we think today about Katrina. If New Orleans doesn't do right by black people there, we must paralyze that city. We have to do honor to people who built that city." Some speakers paid tribute to victims of the hurricanes in prayers and pledges of support, and many participants said the storm helped inspire them to come. Katrina "brought the issues to the surface to some who were asleep," said Jason 2X, a Nation of Islam member who attended the march with several family members from Chicago. The Rev. Al Sharpton, a former presidential candidate, criticized President Bush for the war in Iraq and the response to the devastation of Katrina. "Broken levees are weapons of mass destruction," Sharpton said. Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, who organized the march, has repeatedly speculated that a bomb may have destroyed the protective levees, helping to flood some black neighborhoods in New Orleans following Katrina. When asked Thursday on the C-SPAN program "Washington Today" about studies showing the levees failed because of poor construction and design, Farrakhan said, "What this shows is neglect on the part of the federal government because those levees were weak." Jackson, the president of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, told the crowd Saturday that "a barge in the canal hit the levee and the waters came rushing in," but he did not elaborate on whether he believed this may have been deliberate. Despite anti-gay statements by Farrakhan and other march organizers, Cleo Manago of Black Men's Exchange, which calls itself a group for black men of "diverse sexual/intimate expression," briefly addressed the crowd. Benjamin Chavis, a march organizer, said gay participants attended and "are welcome here today." After the gathering, some experts will be invited to craft public policy guidelines and collaborate on a book tentatively titled "The Black Agenda," which will serve as a "roadmap for black Americans to address the problems in their communities," said Linda Boyd, a march spokeswoman. --- Associated Press Writer Rebecca Carroll contributed to this report. --- On the Net: Millions More Movement: www.millionsmoremovement.com AP-ES-10-15-05 1431EDT