Those who were at the "Million Man March" in 1995, some reluctantly, some accidentally, recall it as a high point in their lives. On the fifth anniversary of that march, a more broadly based Million Family March will try to recapture some of that spirit. PNS commentator Max Millard is a freelance journalist and former staff writer for the Sun Reporter, San Francisco's oldest black weekly.

Just five years ago, the nation's capital awoke to a day unlike any in its history.

All through the night, black men had arrived on the mall with backpacks and flashlights. Some slept, others gathered in small groups to talk or listen to music.

At 5 a.m. the Million Man March officially got under way with prayer, drumming, speeches and music.

As the day progressed, black men poured into the city by the hundreds of thousands. This was more a rally and prayer meeting than a march, with 80 speakers addressing the crowd building up to the keynote speech by Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam, which lasted more than two hours. Farrakhan and the Rev. Benjamin Chavis, Jr., former executive director of the NAACP, organized the event.

"I had deep reservations about the march," recalls Todd Burroughs, 32, a journalist. "I did not want to give any sort of legitimacy to the Nation of Islam and Louis Farrakhan....I really was not for the march and planned not to go.

"But what happened, quite frankly, was the O.J. Simpson trial verdict. The white media's reaction said to me that no matter what position you're in, if you do something that people in power disagree with, then you're still a nigger.

"So I realized it was important to show black solidarity in the face of white solidarity. And all of a sudden the Million Man March became a great idea.

"To me, the Million Man March was the response to the white media riot. I'm glad I went. It was a day that all of us will always remember."

Burroughs continues, "I was moved by all of it. I really believed we were truly a spiritual people because I saw us together....It was really, really beautiful.

"I understood that Minister Farrakhan saw this as a spiritual event. Many people wanted a political address, but he said over and over, 'This is not a political gathering.'"

The National Park Service gave an official crowd estimate of 400,000. The photos they used were then examined for some days by a 10-person team of experts at Boston University's Center for Remote Sensing, which estimated the crowd at some 873,000 plus or minus 20 percent.

After a lengthy meeting with Center director Farouk El-Baz, the Park Service acknowledged its counting techniques were unreliable, and publicly rejected the 400,000 figure -- though it still appears in most mainstream press accounts of the march.

The Park Service no longer publishes estimates of numbers at demonstrations -- the 1996 appropriations bill forbids this -- and now uses counts only internally for planning purposes.

In 1997, David Barna, public affairs chief for the Park Service, said the turnout was remarkable not only for its size but for its civility. "It was a tremendous success, and that never got out in the press," he said.

"There was no drinking, no broken bottles, and none of the arrests that have come with other demonstrations in the past. As far as we're concerned it was probably the most successful march or gathering ever held in the Mall."

As the fifth anniversary approaches, there are questions about the lasting significance of the march.

About 150,000 people filled out voter registration cards at the March alone. Organizers claimed a million new black voters registered altogether. There have been reports of an increase in the number of black children adopted by black families.

For Burroughs, the first lesson of the march was "that it showed that our responses to things are based on our spirit, not on some analysis of political and social conditions."

The second lesson, he continued, was "if we all decided we were going to do the right thing, we would do the right thing. There's negative peer pressure, and there could be positive peer pressure."

For Henry Muhammad of Oakland, California, the March was "the most memorable day in my life. It is impossible to describe the feeling that prevailed on the Mall that day but let me say that it was thick.

"Never had I seen grown men who wept openly and without shame, for these were tears of joy. Never had I seen the degree of love and respect for your fellow man as I witnessed on the Mall that day....It was like a sweet medicine to help heal the open wounds of our traumatic history in America.

Muhammad says he was personally inspired to start his own firm -- which may now be the largest black-owned Internet service provider nationwide.

But the greatest legacy of the Million Man March may be the many movements it sparked. Burroughs mentions the "Promise Keepers' rally in October 1997 as "the exact ideology of Farrakhan but dressed up in white Christianity and points to the many churches that appointed 'men ministries.'" There was a Million Woman March in 1997, a Million Youth March in 1998 and a Million Mom March this year.

This October 16, the Mall will be the site of the Million Family March which is to include all races. The Nation of Islam has taken pains to state it is not the only organizer.