 {| style="float:right;" |- | right|thumb|300px|the million man march, washington, d.c., october 1995 |- |  |} the million man march was a gathering en masse of african-americans in washington, d.c. on october 16, 1995. called by louis farrakhan, it was held on and around the national mall in the city. the national african american leadership summit, a leading group of civil rights activists and the nation of islam working in conjunction with scores of civil rights organizations including many local chapters of the national association for the advancement of colored people (but not the national naacp) formed the million man march organizing committee. the founder of the national african american leadership summit, dr. benjamin chavis, jr. served as national director of the million man march. the committee invited many prominent speakers to address the audience, and african american men from across the united states converged on washington in an effort to âconvey to the world a vastly different picture of the black maleâ and to unite in self-help and self-defense against economic and social ills plaguing the african american community. the march took place within the context of a larger grassroots movement that set out to win politiciansâ attention for urban and minority issues through widespread voter registration campaigns. a parallel event called the day of absence, organized by female leaders in conjunction with the march leadership, occurred on the same date, and was intended to engage the large population of black americans who would not be able to attend the demonstration in washington. on this date, all blacks were encouraged to stay home from their usual school, work, and social engagements, in favor of attending teach-ins, and worship services, focusing on the struggle for a healthy and self-sufficient black community. further, organizers of the day of absence hoped to use the occasion to make great headway on their voter registration drive.{{cite book |last= karenga | firs
1995_in_American_politics 1995_in_Washington,_D.C. Nation_of_Islam PostaCivil_Rights_Era_African-American_history Protest_marches_in_Washington,_D.C.