Answers To Questions On Million Man March

WASHINGTON - Here are answers to some questions about tomorrow's

Million Man March.

Q: Where did the idea for the march come from?

A: Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan said the idea to have a million black men gather on the Mall in Washington came to him in a "vision." He says he was called on to highlight the deteriorating conditions of violence and destruction in the black community.

Q: Why are some people concerned about Farrakhan's participation?

A: Farrakhan, who became leader of the Nation of Islam in 1976, is widely known for his negative, racist and sexist comments about whites, Jews and women. He has preached black nationalism, or separatism from whites.

He has focused particularly virulent comments toward the Jewish community, causing a deep rift in relations between blacks and Jews. Some people are concerned that Farrakhan might use the march as a platform for continued harangues against Jews and whites.

Q: It's being called a "holy day of atonement." Why?

A: Farrakhan has said that black men need to atone, or make amends for, their absence in families, communities and the spiritual realm. He said that the terrible conditions flourishing in too many black communities evolved because black men abandoned their wives, children and neighborhoods. The march will be a chance for black men to pray and atone to God and family.

Q: Can the Mall area really hold a million people?

A: The largest demonstration held on the Mall, a 1969 Vietnam War protest, drew an estimated 600,000 people, according to the U.S. Park Service, which says the Mall will hold just about 1 million.

Q: How many men will come?

A: Nobody knows for sure. March organizers say a million are committed. City officials say they are planning for 500,000.

Q: Will women be allowed to attend?

A: Farrakhan originally asked that women stay away. He said the day was for men to gather by themselves and reflect on their issues. He requested that women stay at home with children and avoid shopping. Last week, he reversed his position and said that women would not be unwelcome. But Farrakhan stressed that women shouldn't come looking for a love connection; men have serious work to do that day.

Q: Will it really be a march?

A: Rev. Benjamin Chavis, a march coordinator and the ousted head of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, has recently started referring to the event as a First Amendment "demonstration." He said it is not so much a march as a rally or gathering.

Participants won't be marching. Rather, they'll gather on the 23-block area encompassing the Mall, facing away from the Lincoln and Washington monuments and toward the Capitol. A 90-foot stage will be set up at the base of its west steps.

Q: What is Farrakhan's Nation of Islam, and why is it so controversial?

A: The organization has its roots in an American religious movement called the American Muslim Mission. Although the name "Black Muslims" is often used for members of the movement, the members themselves reject this name.

It was founded in Detroit in the early 1930s by W.D. Fard, a fabric salesman. Fard's followers believe he came to America from Mecca, the holy city of the Islamic religion. They believed that Fard came to redeem blacks from what he called the "white devils" who were enslaving them.

Fard disappeared in 1934, and Elijah Muhammad, an auto worker, became leader of the movement.

Muhammad favored separation of the races, setting his movement apart from many traditional Islamic Muslim groups.

In the early 1960s, Malcolm X, a Black Muslim leader, attracted many people to the movement during his speeches and writings. He left the movement in 1964 and converted to traditional Islam, before being assassinated in 1965.

In 1976, a number of members led by Farrakhan split from the main movement, adopting the Nation of Islam name and the original separatist principles of Elijah Muhammad.

Elijah Muhammad preached self-sufficiency and abstinence from alcohol and drugs. Under his leadership, the Nation of Islam earned a reputation among black Americans for rehabilitating addicts and criminals, including convict Malcolm Little, who was recruited while in prison and became Malcolm X.