Major Harlem Antiwar march makes history Event largely ignored by media

Now that the dust has settled on the antiwar protests across the country marking the 2nd anniversary of the war against Iraq, the more enduring story of that day is that of all the protests, the march from Harlem to New York’s Central Park was the most significant, and the most ignored by major national media.

It was, in the estimate of the various coalitions in the antiwar movement, the biggest protest in the country. There were large marches in California, Chicago, and an especially significant march near Fort Bragg NC. But the More than ten thousand people who marched down Harlem’s famous 125th St. and up Malcolm X Blvd easily trumped the numbers at the other large protests.

However the size of the Harlem march was only part of its significance. Peace activists across the NY region debated the wisdom of starting a major antiwar march in Harlem. Some wondered if the Harlem community would join the march in large numbers. Others worried that white protesters would shun coming “uptown”, and wait until the Harlem march arrived at its’ Central park destination. The rare picture in Harlem of a march with so many black, brown and white faces was proof enough that the “community” was there. The constant stream of young people with antiwar signs emerging from subway stations from Lexington Ave. and 125th St. on the east side, and the two west side stations, one at Malcolm X, and the other Amsterdam Ave. demonstrated to the doubters that the “movement” had come to Harlem too.

Congressman Charles Rangel came to the march, largely because it started in Harlem. Famed actress Ruby Dee, the wife of the late actor and activist Ossie Davis, couldn’t come to the protest because she is making a movie out of town. However, she felt so strongly about the event that she sent her grandson to represent her, in part because she grew up in Harlem.

Many of the national news outlets, TV stations and wire services wrote a few lines about much smaller protests in other parts of the city. The New York Times Carried a picture of the Harlem march in its Sunday addition.