Black Women’s Activism in Philadelphia and the Road to the 1997 Million Woman March

Overview

The Million Woman March, held on October 25, 1997, on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia, was a landmark event that drew an estimated 500,000 to over 2 million Black women to the city. While the march itself was a powerful demonstration of unity and self-determination, its roots run deep into Philadelphia’s long tradition of Black women’s activism. From the antebellum era through the civil rights and Black Power movements, Black women in Philadelphia built institutions, led protests, and nurtured a political consciousness that made the city a natural epicenter for a national gathering. This article examines the historical continuum of Black women’s organizing in Philadelphia before 1997, highlighting the individuals, organizations, and struggles that shaped the ethos of the Million Woman March.

Historical Background

Philadelphia’s Black women have a history of activism stretching back to the late 18th century. Free Black women in the city founded mutual aid societies such as the Female Benevolent Society of St. Thomas (1793) and the Daughters of Africa (1821), which provided burial insurance, education, and support for widows and orphans. These early organizations were not merely charitable; they were political acts of community survival in a society that denied Black people basic rights. By the 1830s, Black women were active in the abolitionist movement, with Philadelphians like Sarah Mapps Douglass and Harriet Forten Purvis helping to found the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society, an interracial organization that was nonetheless dominated by Black women’s leadership.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the women’s club movement flourished. The National Association of Colored Women (NACW) had strong Philadelphia chapters that addressed lynching, education, and suffrage. Black women in Philadelphia were also central to the city’s vibrant Black church culture, which served as a training ground for public speaking, fundraising, and community organizing. Figures like Dr. Anna Julia Cooper and Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, though not Philadelphians by birth, spent significant time in the city and influenced local activists. By the 1930s and 1940s, Black women in Philadelphia were deeply involved in labor organizing, particularly in domestic work and the garment industry, and in campaigns against police brutality and housing discrimination.

Why It Was Organized

The Million Woman March was conceived as a response to the persistent marginalization of Black women within both the mainstream feminist movement and the Black liberation struggle. Organizers Phile Chionesu and Asia Coney, two Philadelphia grassroots activists, envisioned a mass gathering that would center Black women’s voices, address their specific concerns, and foster healing and unity. The march was not sponsored by any major national organization; it was a deliberately independent, community-based effort. The organizers sought to highlight issues such as economic self-sufficiency, education, health disparities, the criminal justice system’s impact on Black families, and the need for Black women to reclaim their neighborhoods from drugs and violence. The march was also a spiritual call, emphasizing atonement, reconciliation, and collective responsibility.

How Organizing Began

Phile Chionesu, a community organizer and small business owner, and Asia Coney, a housing activist, began planning the march in early 1997 with no major institutional backing. They convened meetings in living rooms, churches, and community centers across Philadelphia, relying on word-of-mouth, flyers, and local Black radio stations to spread the call. The organizing model was intentionally decentralized, with women forming local committees in cities across the United States. This grassroots approach echoed the self-help traditions of earlier Black women’s clubs and the welfare rights movement. The organizers deliberately avoided seeking endorsement from established civil rights organizations, a decision that later sparked controversy but also underscored the march’s commitment to ordinary Black women’s leadership.

What Happened During the Event

On the morning of October 25, 1997, women began gathering at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. The program included speeches, musical performances, and moments of collective prayer and silence. Speakers addressed a wide range of topics: economic empowerment, health (particularly HIV/AIDS and breast cancer), education, political representation, and the need to combat negative media stereotypes of Black women. Notable speakers included Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, former wife of Nelson Mandela; Congresswoman Maxine Waters; Sister Souljah; and Jada Pinkett Smith. The event was peaceful and orderly, with a strong emphasis on sisterhood and self-reliance. Many attendees described it as a transformative, spiritual experience. Despite cold, rainy weather, the crowd remained for hours, participating in chants, singing, and a mass pledge to improve their communities.

Key People

Platform and Issues

The march’s platform was articulated through a series of demands and calls to action, rather than a single manifesto. Key issues included:

• Economic Empowerment: Support for Black women-owned businesses, job training, and financial literacy.
• Health and Wellness: Addressing HIV/AIDS, breast cancer, mental health, and substance abuse in Black communities.
• Education: Improving public schools, promoting Afrocentric curricula, and increasing access to higher education.
• Criminal Justice Reform: Ending mass incarceration, police brutality, and the disproportionate sentencing of Black women and youth.
• Political Representation: Encouraging Black women to run for office and vote in their own interests.
• Family and Community Restoration: Strengthening Black families, supporting single mothers, and fostering intergenerational dialogue.
• Media Justice: Challenging negative portrayals of Black women in film, television, and music.

Attendance Estimates

Attendance figures for the Million Woman March remain a subject of debate. Organizers claimed over 2 million participants, while the Philadelphia Police Department and the National Park Service initially offered much lower estimates. The discrepancy stems from differing methodologies and the political nature of crowd counting. The following table summarizes the range of estimates:

Most scholarly sources accept a figure between 500,000 and 750,000, making it one of the largest gatherings of Black women in U.S. history.

Contemporary Media Coverage

Mainstream media coverage of the march was mixed. Many outlets focused on the crowd size controversy and the lack of prominent civil rights leaders, often framing the event as disorganized or marginal. The Philadelphia Inquirer provided extensive local coverage, while national outlets like The New York Times and The Washington Post ran stories that highlighted the march’s grassroots nature but also questioned its political coherence. Black media, including Essence magazine and syndicated radio shows like the Tom Joyner Morning Show, offered more sympathetic and celebratory coverage, emphasizing the march’s spiritual and cultural significance. The media’s treatment of the march reflected broader tensions around who gets to define legitimate Black leadership and what constitutes a successful political mobilization.

Controversies / Disputed Claims

Several controversies surrounded the march. The most persistent was the attendance dispute, with organizers accusing the police and Park Service of deliberately underestimating the crowd to diminish the event’s significance. There was also criticism from some established Black women’s organizations, such as the National Council of Negro Women, whose president Dr. Dorothy I. Height expressed concern about the lack of a clear policy agenda and the exclusion of traditional civil rights groups. Some participants and observers questioned the financial transparency of the organizing committee, as funds were raised through merchandise sales and donations. Additionally, the decision to invite Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, a controversial figure due to her alleged involvement in human rights abuses in South Africa, drew sharp criticism. These disputes highlight the challenges of grassroots, decentralized organizing and the contested nature of representation within Black politics.

Historical Impact

The Million Woman March had a profound impact on Black women’s activism in the United States. It demonstrated the power of grassroots organizing outside traditional civil rights structures and inspired a wave of similar marches, including the Million Youth March (1998) and the Million Mom March (2000). The march also catalyzed local organizing efforts, with many attendees returning home to start community projects, mentoring programs, and health initiatives. In Philadelphia, the march reinforced the city’s reputation as a hub of Black political activism and contributed to a renewed focus on Black women’s leadership in local politics. The event also sparked scholarly interest in Black women’s mass mobilizations and the role of spirituality in social movements.

Legacy

The legacy of the Million Woman March is multifaceted. It is remembered as a powerful assertion of Black women’s agency and a corrective to the male-dominated narrative of the Million Man March. The march’s emphasis on healing, self-care, and community economics prefigured later movements like Black Lives Matter and the #MeToo movement, which also center the experiences of Black women. In Philadelphia, the march is commemorated through annual events and has become a touchstone for local activists. However, the march’s legacy is also marked by the unresolved tensions around leadership, funding, and institutionalization that continue to shape Black women’s organizing today.

What Historians Say

Historians of Black women’s activism have situated the Million Woman March within a longer tradition of Black women’s public protest and institution-building. Scholars such as Deborah Gray White and Farah Jasmine Griffin have argued that the march represented a modern iteration of the club women’s movement and the welfare rights struggles of the 1960s. Others, like Kimberly Springer, have analyzed the march as a manifestation of Black feminist praxis, even though the organizers did not explicitly use the term “feminist.” Historians also note the march’s significance in challenging the “politics of respectability” that often constrained earlier Black women’s activism, as the event welcomed women from all walks of life, including those formerly incarcerated and those in the sex trade. The march is increasingly studied as a key moment in the development of contemporary Black women’s political consciousness.

Revision History

• October 2023: Article created with initial research and primary source review.
• January 2024: Added attendance estimates table and expanded media coverage section.
• April 2024: Incorporated oral history excerpts from Philadelphia-based participants.
• July 2024: Revised “Controversies” section to include financial transparency concerns and updated scholarly citations.