Iowa State students in support of the Million Man March will be able to watch live coverage of the event and participate in discussion at the Black Cultural Center all day today.

“I think it is important for students to come to this to show their support for the march,” said Kyle Pierce, president of ISU’s Black Students Association. “A lot of people will be there with the same attitude.”

The Million Man March will take place today in Washington. Organizers said they hope the rally will bring together about one million black men with the goal of inspiring all black men to take responsibility for their lives and families.

Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, the event’s organizer, has said he also hopes the march will empower black men to fight drugs, violence and unemployment.

Derrick Rollins, chairman of the African American Studies Program at ISU, said the Million Man March is needed to focus attention on the problems unique to black males.

Those problems, he said, include a high rate of unemployment, a high death rate, a high imprisonment rate and the disproportionate number of blacks living below the poverty level.

“Go to any inner city and spend an hour walking the streets, and you will become very aware that there is a crisis,” said Rollins, a native of Kansas City, Mo.

“I know many people I graduated with or grew up with that have been shot, are in prison, or are begging for money on the streets,” he said.

Rollins said ISU students should be concerned about the problems of African-American men “because if we continue on this path, it’s going to be very destructive for all Americans.”

“People at ISU are going to have to go out into this world and deal with these issues head on,” Rollins said. “When these issues reach a critical stage, they will test all of us. All of us are going to have to find solutions.”

Rollins said he hopes legislators and all Americans will take note of the march.

“This is not just a march to make a statement. It will try to give solutions to problems. It will show what we can do as lawmakers and educators,” he said.

Objections have been raised to Farrakhan’s leadership but, Rollins said, Farrakhan’s involvement is not a good reason for black men to avoid the march.

Tiffany Smith, a junior in political science, who is black, said the march is about black men coming together, no matter how it was organized.

“It’s building on unity,” she said. “It’s not sexist. Black males are under siege and these are things they need to address and we need to support.”

Larry McGoogin, also a black ISU student, agreed.

“It’s a time to bring black men together and show that black men can come together being peaceful and nonviolent,” said McGoogin, a Richardson Court Association resident assistant.