The Story Behind the Most Epic Million Man March Photo You’ve Never Seen

So Fresh Prince, Puff Daddy, and BBD walk onto the National Mall…

L-R: Alfonso Ribeiro, Ricky Bell, Jeff Dyson, Sean “Puffy” Combs, Will Smith, Mike Bivins, Jamie Foster Brown, Ronnie DeVoe, “Jazzy” Jeff Townes

Update 6/7/22: Level has a new home. You can read this article and other new articles by visiting LEVELMAN.com.

There was never a clear consensus on how many men arrived in Washington, D.C. on the morning of October 16, 1995. Was it a million? Twenty-five years later, it doesn’t matter. What history has preserved about the Million Man March is the sheer force of the event — its energy and mission. Black men from all over the country were called to action by a religious leader most didn’t follow. It was bigger than numbers and ideology.

When Nation of Islam firebrand Louis Farrakhan put out the call for Black men to atone and heal their communities, he was such a divisive figure that simply appearing on The Arsenio Hall Show helped bring the highly-rated series to an abrupt end. (Whether the show’s demise was officially tied to Farrakhan’s appearance is unclear. There were definitely other issues. But it didn’t help.)

Looking back, Farrakhan’s charge shouldn’t have worked. Big and Pac were at their height; there was little reason to think the promise of speakers like MC Hammer, Rosa Parks, and Jesse Jackson would compel Black men to show up…