by Nisa Islam Muhammad

WASHINGTON (FinalCall.com)�With the Million Family March just days away, plans for march-related activities, an endorsement from religious leaders, support from the hip hop community, more help from Black congressmen and the final preparations were underway.

The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) furthered its commitment to the march by offering the help and assistance of personal press secretaries. Min. Benjamin Muhammad, national director of the march, met with them Oct. 2 to give an update on activities and discuss coordinated efforts.

Rep. Earl Hilliard, (D-Ala.) chairs the CBC Task Force on the MFM, which is working to assist in coordinating the march, organizing the members scheduled to speak and lending expertise with planning, logistics and technical needs.

"I am so very thankful to be here," said Min. Benjamin. "The MFM will be the largest gathering in American history and we welcome your help and assistance."

The CBC staffers were anxious to hear the program that as Min. Benjamin explained, "will capture the world�s attention."

Each CBC member has been asked to select a family from their district to be recognized at the MFM Celebration of Family Gala on Oct. 14. These families will be highlighted Oct. 16, throughout the day of the march, on 14 large jumbotron screens along the Mall.

"Min. Farrakhan wants to recognize a significant family from each CBC district. We want to uplift and promote positive families," said Min. Benjamin.

Larry Dillard of Rep. Bobby Scott�s (D-Va.) office took the group on a stroll down memory lane. He reminded those at the meeting that in 1995 the entire CBC did not support the Million Man March.

"In 1995, there was a crew of us who kept calling each other back and forth saying we have to help them. But some of us got calls from members saying they didn�t want to participate," said Mr. Dillard.

That has changed five years later. The CBC has given full-fledged support and the press secretaries were eager to disseminate the information back home.

"We don�t really understand the power of this event. People saw the power of the Million Man March when 1.7 million new Black male voters participated in the next election. This event is going to be even greater," said Mr. Dillard.

One-hundred and forty religious leaders from around the country enthusiastically endorsed the Million Family March during a Sept. 29 Prayer Breakfast and press conference.

The Baptist ministers, Catholic bishops, Evangelicals, Lutherans, Imams and Buddhists, males and females, all pledged to encourage their members to attend the gathering, declaring they stand with Min. Farrakhan, the march convener, in his call for family unity.

"It is my honor to stand with millions who will represent billions as we stand to fight for families," said the Rev. Walter Fauntroy, a former U.S. congressman and pastor of New Bethel Baptist Church. Rev. Fauntroy, a close associate of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., also heads the National Black Leadership Forum.

"I am pleased to say with some authority that Martin Luther King Jr., dreamed of the day when we as religious leaders would stand together, now is the time for a Million Family March," he said.

Chicago-based Rev. Thomas Jackson, superintendent of the 10 million member Church of God in Christ told the media, "If it were up to me I would get them (church members) all here and I will do my part. It is important for us to support this Million Family March because God brought us a long way."

Noting the breadth of Min. Farrakhan�s message and its implications for all peoples, the Rev. Dr. William Bennett, former director of Religious Affairs for the District of Columbia, said, "I can only celebrate the work God is doing in (Min. Farrakhan)."

"We should celebrate and embrace his historic call for unity," added Dr. Milton Reid, founder of the Martin Luther King Family Life Institute. "I haven�t seen an opportunity like this since the days of Malcolm X and Dr. King."

The religious leaders were gathered for a meeting of the American Clergy Leadership Conference, an inter-racial group with a membership of more than 4,000 religious leaders. It�s motto: "Rebuilding the Family, Restoring the Community, Renewing America," the breakfast and press conference were made an official part of their meeting to show unity with Min. Farrakhan.

"The call has come for all of us," said Imam Yusef Saleem, representing Imam W.D. Mohammed of the Muslim American Society. "It is important that we come together, one Creator, one creation, one family."

"Why do we call the faith community to support the Million Family March?" asked Dr. Chang Shik Yang, continental director of the Family Federation for World Peace. "Because our families are the lifeblood of our nation. The mightiest empires in history rose and fell not by the might of their armies, or the authority of their governments, but by the strength of their family life, and the moral character that arises from strong families."

"God put a vision and a mission in the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan with the Million Man March," said Min. Benjamin. "God is calling us again with the Million Family March and the first bus has just arrived," he said, referring to the busload of religious leaders that pulled up to Washington�s Judiciary Square where the press conference was held.

Calling the youth "a sleeping giant" and promising to mobilize "the hip-hop vote" as a decisive factor in the November elections were record executive Russell Simmons and community activist Rev. Al Sharpton. At a Sept. 26 news conference in New York, Mr. Simmons and Rev. Sharpton explained their efforts to guide the entertainment industry in massive voter registration initiatives, candidate/issue education and turn-out-to-vote campaigns in every congressional district in the United States.

Rev. Sharpton, director of the Harlem-based National Action Network said the voter registration drive would be unparalleled in American political history.

"Our politics are about poor and disenfranchised people," explained Mr. Simmons, chief executive director of Rush Communications. His hope is that millions will be inspired to go the polls Nov. 7.

"We are working toward a better world," he said. On Sept. 18, Mr. Simmons and 360HipHop.com announced on a massive entertainment industry effort to mobilize entertainers and executives around the Million Family March "National Agenda," public policy recommendations to improve the quality of life for people of all races.

The press was reminded by Mr. Simmons that the inspiration for this effort was Min. Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam, and the family march.

"We share Min. Farrakhan�s vision that the call for this gathering is a call from God," Mr. Simmons said. This is a "Human Family March," rising above color, he added.

"Political candidates should take what we think seriously," commented Abdul Haqq Islam, founder of University Music. He exhorted the press to understand that the hip-hop family had become, what he termed a "monolithic bloc" of Blacks, Browns and Asians. "We think the same. We dress the same, listen to the same music and we talk the same," he said.

"In the 20th century we saw the dismantling of the Black family and the human family. The hip-hop generation suffered from missing fathers and mothers to crack. This is why we are coming together to endorse the Million Family March," the music exec added.

"We are encouraged by the response of the entertainment industry," noted Mr. Simmons, "but we are not encouraged by the media response. If this was something negative coming from the hip-hop generation, it would be widely reported," he observed. Mr. Simmons, an icon on the hip-hop scene, was referring to the lack of media coverage of entertainers who had signed on to the march.

"This is something good, surely what we do good is as newsworthy as the negative things," he said.