Union Temple Baptist Church Spurs Million Man March Anniversary, Unifest Events

While people around the country navigate a government shutdown and nationwide division, hundreds highlighted the power of collective action, unifying in celebration of two marquee events in D.C. history: the 30th anniversary of the Million Man March and the renewal of the Ward 8-based community festival Unifest, sponsored by Union Temple Baptist Church.

“Both events stressed the importance of community, unity, faith and responsibility,” said the Rev. Willie Willson, Union Temple’s pastor emeritus, who facilitated the two main gatherings as well as adjunct activities. “They have the same purpose and this is important given what we are going through this country presently.”

The Million Man March anniversary took place on Oct. 16 in Southeast’s Anacostia neighborhood, 30 years after the initial event drew an estimated 1.5 million African American men from around the world to the National Mall. 

Two days later, the revival of Unifest was held on the grounds of Union Temple after a roughly 18-year hiatus due to an accident in 2007, which led to the church tabling the event.

As the District and the nation deal with the consequences of a federal government shutdown affecting many people’s employment and livelihood, and the Trump administration’s efforts to roll back gains in civil, human and voting rights, Wilson said the two events could not have come at a better time.

“It is time for our people to come together,” he told The Informer. “We have to look inside ourselves as a people, the government is not going to save us. We are dealing with the breakdown of the Black family and still wrestling with the negative effects of the crack cocaine epidemic of the 1980s coupled with the mass incarceration of Black men.”

The Million Man March, Anacostia-Style

At the behest of Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan and with the support from then-D.C. Mayor Marion Barry, the 1995 Million Man March took place on the iconic National Mall, with nationally renowned leaders like Rosa Parks, Maya Angelou, Martin Luther King III and the Rev. Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, the event’s national director, offering calls to action.

In honor of the massive gathering three decades ago, Wilson hoped to spur people to take action right in Anacostia on Oct. 16 and beyond.

The proceedings started west of the Anacostia River at M Street SE at dusk, where a large group of marchers went to the 11^th Street Bridge. Crossing the bridge with small lanterns in hand, the marchers arrived at the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE and Marion Barry Avenue SE.

Wilson described the significance and symbolism of marchers using lanterns to cross the bridge.

“Black people who lived in the Northwest part of the city during the 1860s would cross over the bridge during night to build Barry Farm,” he said. “They did this with money from the Freedmen’s Bureau. The surplus money from the building of Barry Farm went to the creation of Howard University.”

The marchers proceeded south on Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue to Union Temple, their final destination for their rendition of the historical journey.

While they marched, they chanted slogans such as “No Justice, No Peace” and “The People United, Will Never be Defeated.”

Among the many marchers were members of the Washington Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi’s Kappa League, a group of school-aged children, affiliated with the chapter. Jelani Bostic, a member of Kappa League who attends Ivymount School in Rockville, Maryland, marched along with his friends and a relative.

“It is an honor to participate in the march,” Jelani told The Informer. “My father and grandfather participated in the Million Man March in 1995. I believe it was important for me to do this because Black people must maintain their culture.”

The marchers entered the sanctuary of Union Temple for the main program, where the focus was leaning on faith as a source of fortitude for the fight ahead.

Quoting Psalms 1:33, the Rev. Anika Wilson-Brown, the church’s pastor and Wilson’s daughter, encouraged the 200 people in attendance to “keep the faith,” and four members of Union Temple’s Praise Group led the gathering in the gospel song “How Great is Our God.” 

Then Wilson delivered remarks, saying that the Million Man March “was the greatest coming together of (of African Americans) in the history of our sojourn.”

He stressed the theme of the 1995 march, which was atonement, emphasizing it is just as relevant presently as it was back then and issued a call for African Americans to unite.

“We need to come together in unity,” Wilson declared.

In addition, youth actors from the KIPP charter school portrayed key historical figures in local and American history, as a part of an educational program from the Southeast Tennis and Learning Center located in Ward 8. 

One actor, Chyanne Burrows, played a Native American woman from the Piscataway Tribe, who lived in the Anacostia area centuries ago. Her colleague, Chloe Joei, portrayed Harriet Tubman and the late Anacostia resident Frederick Douglass was played by Airro Crawford, a schoolmate.

Further, Dr. Shavon Arline-Bradley, the president and CEO of the National Council of Negro Women, spoke about the role Dr. Dorothy Height, the late longtime president and board chair of the organization, played in the formulation and support of the Million Man March.

“Dr. Height put her heart and soul into the march,” Bradley said. “She encouraged women to support the march and persuaded those who did not at first.”

Kymone Freeman, a community activist, co-founder of We Act Radio and candidate for the D.C . Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives position, remembered how the Million Man March changed his life.

“My friends and I came to the march and we did our usual thing with drugs and stuff, but a member of the Nation of Islam came up to us and said ‘we are not going to be nigg–s today’,” Freeman said. “By the time we left, we had changed.”

Three decades later, Wilson said he was asked whether there was a need for another Million Man March and offered the crowd his response.

“We don’t need another Million Man March,” he said. “We need the spirit of the Million Man March.” 

Unifest Reunites, Highlights ‘Black D.C.’ 

During the storytelling segment of the Million Man March celebration at Union Temple on Oct. 16, Brittany Crawford, a Ward 8 resident, talked about the impact that Unifest had on her life.

“My family would schedule our reunions at Anacostia Park during the time of Unifest,” she said. “I remember seeing people from as far away as Iowa and California traveling to Unifest.”

This year’s Unifest took place on a Saturday, amid a sea of activity in the District, with the “No Kings” rally in downtown and the Anacostia BID Crabfeast and Festival a few blocks north of Union Temple on Marion Barry Avenue SE.

Nevertheless, an impressive array of speakers came to encourage the packed crowd, united in hopes for progress and positive change for the District and nation.

Streets surrounding the church were blocked off by the police. The stage, donated by the District Department of Parks and Recreation, was on church property in the back facing Pleasant Street SE.

Vendors such as DC Health Link and Healthy DC Plan were posted at the front while five people worked on the church’s community garden in the house next door as the program proceeded.

A noted speaker was the Rev. Tony Lee, pastor of Community of Hope AME Church in Hillcrest Heights, Maryland. 

Though a Prince Georgian, Lee said “I learned how to walk on Martin Luther King Avenue and to celebrate his brilliance.”

The pastor emphasized celebrations such as Unifest are important to the life of a community.

“Festivals help bring us together no matter what season we are in,” he said, “They help us understand the season and bring us remembrance. Unifest, grow us a new generation, because we are all we got.”

Prince George’s County Council member Calvin Hawkins (D-At Large) appeared on stage with Lee, and when asked by The Informer whether he would deliver remarks, the politician pointed to Lee and said, “he said it all.” 

Reflecting on years past, D.C. Council member Janeese Lewis George (D-Ward 4), a member of Union Temple, said she always looked forward to the annual Unifest celebration.

“Unifest is about bringing our people together,” Lewis George, who is mulling a run for mayor in 2026, said. “There was Unifest before there was the H Street Festival and Georgia Avenue Day. Beyoncé got her start as an entertainer at Unifest.”

Like the council member, Wilson has talked about how the barrier-breaking Grammy-winning singer— long before her recent two-day performance in Landover, Maryland as part of her celebrated 2025 Cowboy Carter Tour— performed in D.C. as part of Unifest in the 1990s.

“We had vendors from all over the country, New York, Philadelphia, that came to Unifest because of its popularity,” Wilson said. “Beyoncé came to us as a part of the group Destiny’s Child and performed well and went over well.”

The Ward 4 council member emphasized the cultural importance of the Unifest celebration.

“We showed people what Black D.C. looked like,” Lewis George said.

Festival Honors Million Man March, Offers a Call to Action

While the Saturday celebration brought back a beloved event, it was also another way to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Million Man March and encourage people toward promoting more progress and justice for all.

Looking around at the Unifest crowd, Glenn Ruffin, the Most Worship Grandmaster of the District of Columbia Lodge of the Prince Hall Masons, declared “what a wonderful day it is to be Black in America.”

“People from around the world tuned in expecting to see the worst of us but they saw the best of us,” Ruffin said in reference to the Million Man March. “Prince Hall Masonry is built on the same foundation as the Million Man March and the same type of visionary leadership…. All the faith leaders must come together and commit fully to those values.”

In addition, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) and D.C. Council member Robert White (D-At Large), a candidate for D.C. Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives, stopped by to deliver remarks to the crowd.

While he achieved his goals of celebrating the Million Man March and bringing back Unifest, Wilson said the work does not stop there.

“We have to teach our own history,” he said. “They are trying to erase it. We are going to develop a curriculum that can be shared in churches and organizations. This is going to take a collective effort.”

Despite his continued activism, Wilson is also hoping to pass the torch to the next generation of freedom fighters to keep the memories of the Million Man March and Unifest alive.

“I think we should have a national Black holiday commemorating the Million Man March. It won’t get past Congress, [but] we as Blacks should celebrate internally,” he told The Informer. “Whether Unifest continues, I will leave that up to the pastor of Union Temple to make that decision.”

Wilson complimented the conduct of both events, saying they symbolized Black people coming together.

“The Million Man March and Unifest were examples of Black people in a spirit of unity and community during these times,” he said.