On October 16, 1995, the Million Man March was held in Washington, DC. I wasn’t there. However, like so many African American men who couldn’t attend the march, I stayed glued to the TV all day long and watched every segment of the march unfold in real time.
The Million Man March was organized by Minister Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam. I am not a member of the Nation of Islam nor a follower of Mister Farrakhan.
What then inspired me to write a stage play about the Million March? you may ask.
Well, the answer to that question is not what, but rather, who — the who being, Brother Tyrone Bynum. At the time of the Million Man march, Tyrone and I had been working together on The Other Side, a local African American community newspaper he had founded and begun publishing earlier in the year. Tyrone is now a lawyer living in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
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Playwright Buddy HannahNot only had we established a working relationship but also a man-to-man, brother-to-brother relationship. In other words, we had become close friends — despite our age difference, and sometimes, differences in our social and political views. And although I was unable to attend the march, Tyrone did attend.
After he came back from the march he began to tell me about his experience and how it felt to be there in person. I heard the excitement in his voice and saw it still on his face. The idea of writing a play about the Million Man March may have briefly entered my mind. But I still wasn’t inspired.
It was not until Tyrone suggested to me — or should I say urged
me to write a stage play about the march — that I began to feel more inspired to try and write what would eventually become "Two In A Million: Journey of a Lifetime."
Sometimes inspiration comes from an experience you may have personally had, but it can also come from someone who had an experience you wish you may have had.
My inspiration was growing. I could feel it.
I may not have been fully inspired yet, but I was fascinated by the fact I was talking with someone who had been there in person. I began to spend many long hours talking with Tyrone as he described the sights and sounds of the march and how it felt to be a part of such a history-making and meaningful event as it related to African American men.
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He couldn’t stop talking about how it felt to see all these African American men coming together from all over the country. How it felt being in the presence of close to one million African American men from every corner of the country and seeing the love and respect they were showing each other. He couldn't stop talking about it and I couldn’t stop listening to him talk.
You see, the Million Man March was not just about bringing African-American men together to protest. The march was about instilling a sense of personal responsibility for improving their lives and their communities. The march was about bringing about a spiritual renewal in African American men. It was about promoting African American unity and family values. The march was about bringing about a sense of respect and Brotherhood among African American men.
After spending so much time talking with Tyrone and reading about the march, I had my inspiration.
While most of my inspiration for writing "Two In In A Million: Journey of a Lifetime"
came from Brother Tyrone Bynum, the rest came from my feelings, thoughts, and experiences as an African American man living in these United States of America.
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Rev. Dr. Christopher Moore, Sr. will be performing alongside Buddy Hannah in "Two in a Million: Journey of a Lifetime."I wish I could say that after all of this, I sat down at my computer and wrote the play in one day, but that was not the case, The Million Man March was held in 1995. I didn’t complete the original version of the play until 1996.
Because of at least 10 years of age difference between myself and Tyrone, I thought it would be a good idea to have just two main characters in the play, a younger man and an older man. Two men from different parts of the country — one from the South and one from the North. Both have different views of older and younger African American men and how they see their communities, their issues, problems, and themselves.
Bring both of these African American men together at the Million March and show how the march changed their lives and their thinking as it did for so many African American men throughout the country.
Performance
Buddy Hannah's two-person play, "Two in a Million: Journey of a Lifetime," which stars Hannah himself and Rev. Dr. Christopher Moore, Sr., will be performed on Saturday, Oct. 21, at Mt. Zion Baptist Church, 120 Roberson St., Kalamazoo. The performance is open to the public and admission is free. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.
Buddy Hannah is a playwright, director, and actor based in Kalamazoo. He is the former longtime radio host of "Talk it Up Live," which aired on 95.5 FM The Touch. Buddy is also the recipient of numerous awards, including the Irving S. Gilmore Community Medal of Arts Awards, the Tony Griffin Golden Word Award, and the NAACP Humanitarian Award.