The Million Woman March was a

grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or continent movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from volunteers at the local level to imp ...

protest march A political demonstration is an action by a mass group or collection of groups of people in favor of a political or other cause or people partaking in a protest against a cause of concern; it often consists of walking in a mass march formati ...

for

Black women Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

in America that took place on October 25, 1997 in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. The event was organized by local store owner Phile Chionesu and public housing activist Asia Coney, who worked independently of national organizations and spread awareness largely through the internet, flyers, local women's organizations, and word-of-mouth. The event drew between 500,000 and over two million people to

Benjamin Franklin Parkway Benjamin Franklin Parkway, commonly abbreviated to Ben Franklin Parkway and colloquially called the Parkway, is a boulevard that runs through the cultural heart of Philadelphia, the nation's sixth-largest city as of 2020. The parkway is named ...

, and is considered one of the largest demonstrations in American history. The organizers' 12-point platform included demands for an end to homelessness; support for currently and formerly-incarcerated Black women; improvements to education, health care, poverty, and services fighting addiction; an independent investigation into

allegations of CIA drug trafficking The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has been accused of involvement in the illegal drug trade. Several works on the subject have received significant attention, including those written by historian Alfred W. McCoy, professor and diplomat P ...

; and the release of political prisoners such as

Mumia Abu-Jamal Mumia Abu-Jamal (born Wesley Cook; April 24, 1954) is an American political activist and journalist who was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in 1982 for the 1981 murder of Philadelphia Police Department, Philadelphia police officer C ...

Overview

The march was founded and formulated by Phile Chionesu, a

activist, human rights advocate, black nationalist/freedom fighter, and owner of an African crafts shop. She was not associated with any national black organizations. After several months of underground organizing, Chionesu asked Asia Coney to join her as national co-chair. Sister Souljah 1997

The march started from the Liberty Bell and ended at the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum, with scheduled hours of prayer, speeches, and music. Speakers at the event included

Winnie Madikizela-Mandela Winnie Nomzamo Madikizela-Mandela (born Nomzamo Winifred Zanyiwe Madikizela; 26 September 1936 – 2 April 2018), also known as Winnie Mandela, was a South African politician and anti-apartheid activist, second wife of Nelson Mandela. During ...

, the ex-wife of

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...

; Congresswoman

Maxine Waters Maxine Moore Waters (née Carr; born August 15, 1938) is an American politician serving as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for since 1991. The district, numbered as the California's 29th congressional district, ...

; Sista Souljah;

Jada Pinkett Smith Jada Koren Pinkett Smith (née Pinkett; born September 18, 1971) is an American actress, businesswoman, and talk show host. She is co-host of the Facebook Watch talk show ''Red Table Talk'', for which she has won a Daytime Emmy Awards, Daytim ...

; Attallah and Ilyasah Shabazz, the daughters of

Malcolm X Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an African American revolutionary, Islam in the United States, Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figur ...

; and Dr.

Dorothy Height Dorothy Irene Height (March 24, 1912 – April 20, 2010) was an African-American civil rights and women's rights activist. She focused on the issues of African-American women, including unemployment, illiteracy, and voter awareness. Height is cr ...

. A message was read from

Assata Shakur Assata Olugbala Shakur (born JoAnne Deborah Byron; July 16, 1947), also known as Joanne Chesimard, is an American political activist who was a member of the Black Liberation Army (BLA). In 1977, she was convicted in the murder of state troope ...

from her exile home of Cuba. The march has been considered a social phenomenon due to its organizers' grassroots organizing and lack of support from national organizations. They shared information via media coordinators such as BWN NJ Delegate Stacey Chambers,

Alpha Kappa Alpha Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. () is an List of African American fraternities, historically African-American Fraternities and sororities, sorority. The sorority was founded in 1908 at Howard University in Washington, D.C.. Alpha Kappa Alpha ...

, and by word of mouth, flyers, Black-run media, the Internet, and a network of women's organizations.

Attendance

Police estimates ranged from 300,000 to 1 million, whereas organizers estimated an attendance of 1.5 to over 2 million. A study provided by the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

that made use of aerial footage, photos, and other research data and information obtained from news and other sources, indicates that the gathering drew at least 500,000 people. The attendees came despite cold temperatures and light rain, with signs throughout the march reading, "I am one in a million" and "Black Women: No more AIDS, abuse, addiction".

Mission

The broader mission of the Million Woman March was for the

self-determination Self-determination refers to a people's right to form its own political entity, and internal self-determination is the right to representative government with full suffrage. Self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international la ...

of African American women through economic and political solidarity, with Chionesu saying, "We want to prepare our women, no matter what their status in life, to look at how we can begin to invest as black women and how we can begin to vote in blocs as black women." Many noted that while the Million Man March framed progress as requiring responsibility and "atonement", the Million Woman March organizers spoke more often of the need to change larger systems, such as the school, health care, education, and prison systems, as well as government entities such as the CIA. An investigation into the CIA's alleged involvement with drug trafficking, specifically of crack cocaine, was a focal point for speaker

and also the first of the organizers' twelve platform issues. The protest also emphasized issues of

environmental racism Environmental racism, ecological racism, or ecological apartheid is a form of racism leading to negative environmental outcomes such as landfills, Incineration, incinerators, and hazardous waste disposal disproportionately impacting Community ...

, a focus of Madikizela-Mandela's speech. The march was also intended to draw attention to statistics demonstrating the marginalization of African American women, including that 94 out of 1,000 African American teenage girls are victims of violent crime and African American women are eighteen times more probably to get AIDS than white women; in 1996, African American women earned $30 less than African American men per week, and $40 less than white women. The Million Woman March has continued its mission under the direction of the founder and national offices, going on to organize over 50 conferences, over 100 forums, 12 years of online radio broadcasts, and many social justice protests for women and African-American women.

References

External links

*{{official website, http://millionwomanmarch20.com/ 1997 in Pennsylvania 20th-century African-American women Post–civil rights era in African-American history Protest marches in the United States October 1997 in the United States Women's marches in the United States 1997 in women's history African-American history of Pennsylvania History of women in Pennsylvania

Overview

Attendance

Mission

See also

References

External links