Even though the days prior to Saturday were rather wet and rainy, the day of the March brought sun and temperatures in the low 80s. The weather was beautiful.

The location of the March in the Mall was bordered by 3rd Street, Madison Drive, 4th Street and Jefferson Drive near the U.S. Capitol Building. The March/Rally, scheduled to start at 11 am, started at noon.

It appeared to me that individuals, couples and families came to the March/Rally on their own without being connected to some larger group. Even though I did not do a head count, my estimate of how many attended is somewhere around 500. This includes people who casually came out of curiosity, listened for a while and then left. There was a core or nucleus of approximately 300 people who did stay from noon until 3:30 pm when the program was finished.

Steve and Ruth White, representing "A Place for Us," opened up the ceremonies as the first speakers. Steve said a prayer and each took a turn to address issues related to self-identity and identity of mixed-race children. Portions of my speech are reprinted below. Ramona Douglass from A.M.E.A. spoke of the efforts being made to pressure Congress to have a way for mixed-race persons to be identified on the Census 2000 forms. A multiracial country western singer/artist, Kathy Bee, sang several songs to entertain the crowd. Charles Byrd, Interracial Voice editor and publisher, closed the rally with emphasis that mixed race persons will no longer be invisible people in America.

Several themes were reflected in this rally. One important statement was that children of interracial marriages who are fighting for their legacy, recognition and identity are the next wave of the Civil Rights Movement.

Our Chicago BFN organization was represented by Bridget Bielinski and her daughter, Rachel, Irene Carr, Michelle Hughes and me. There were others from the Chicago area who were not from BFN.

The speakers came from California, Illinois, New York, North Carolina, Massachusetts and Washington, DC -- a cross section geographically. Parents, professors, students, organizations presidents and professional speakers addressed the crowd. Producers of Melange, a movie about the mixed race experience, came to promote the film they are making in California. I met persons from Colorado, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Rhode Island, New York, California, Baltimore, DC, Chicago, Kentucky, Florida, Massachusetts and North Carolina. The British Broadcasting Company (BBC) was there and the reporter interviewed Irene Carr, Charles Byrd, myself and others. A reporter from the Boston Globe was there as was a reporter from Houston Texas. CNN interviewed and taped the event. Other publications had reporters present, but I did not meet all of them or remember everyone I saw or met.

Approximately 100 people attended the reception at the Best Western after the March. The Interracial Family Circle from Washington, DC sponsored the reception. At least 50 people signed up as donors for the bone marrow testing which was done at the Best Western as a service for multiracial persons who need bone marrow transplants. Project RACE sponsored this donor drive. In the evening, at least 40 persons attended dinner at the B. Smith's Restaurant at Union Station to continue socializing and networking.

The rally was a success for the very reason so many organizations from across the country came together and shared ideas and concerns about the issue of race identity. In reality, many of us do not feel race should be on the census at all. But our present reality dictates that we must take this race issue one step at a time. Douglas J. Besharov and Timothy S. Sullivan had an article in the Sunday, July 21, 1996 Washington Post labeling us the "Interracial Generation." They point to increases in interracial marriages and children from these marriages and they focus mostly on black and white relationships. What about all the other combinations? In truth, the trend is even greater than they report because of the groups left out -- Asians, Hispanics, Native Americans, etc.

This rally did not seem to receive widespread support from churches and religious organizations. There were no large groups of people attending this March or rally who came in on chartered buses. The media across the nation did not seem to want to promote and/or bring a focus to this event.

On Sunday, after the March, I purchased the Washington Post, the Washington Times and read the Chicago Sun-Times when I got home. I did not find a sentence or paragraph on this event in these papers. In short, there was very little to no coverage of the Solidarity March. The local ABC affiliate had a brief report of the March on the 6 pm news which they repeated at 11 pm.

The Solidarity March/Rally for multiracial people was peaceful, informative, educational, positive and promoted awareness and understanding. Maybe that is why the news media paid us little attention or perhaps the news media feel that we are invisible, unimportant, not worthy of being recognized.

Our organizations, in my opinion, are mostly social support systems and are not political activist in nature or design. One person I met was starting a group, which did not yet even have a name, to talk about the identity issues . If we want to become politically active, this will require a major shift in what we are currently all about. This direction will require more energy, time, resources, commitment and cooperation.

Did I agree with every speaker and what he/she said? Did everyone listening to my speech agree with every point I made? If cooperation is based upon agreement and solidarity is based on us all liking each other, where will this movement or cause be heading? Many differences exist within the multiracial population groups, reflecting as a start the widespread range of issues, concerns, problems and questions generated by us coming together. It is time for us to start meaningful communication with respect to our differences and our different agendas and ideas.

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