The following minutes were taken from notes of a meeting held by the Orangeburg Chapter of the Million Man March on the date, at the place and convened at the time stated above. Present were:

Mr. Carl Carpenter, Carolyn O. Stroman Evangelist Dorothy P. Snider Stanley McCray, Dr. Jesse Kinard, Corry Stevenson, Jimmy Foster, Otis Harrison, Bernard Harrison, Edward C. Graham, Curtis Carter, Hilton Scipio, William H. Wilson, George M. Sistrunk, Rasheed Ali, Rev. Dr. Clarence W. Joyner, Jr., David Bookard, Anthony X. Phelps, Don Powell, Jr., Carl X. Wright, Dorothy A. Harley, James Bowman,

The meeting was called to order at 7:10 p.m., by the Rev. Dr., Clarence W. Joyner, Jr., chairman. After a short prayer, Dr. Joyner began the meeting by thanking everyone for supporting the Proclamation Mass Choir at their performance on January 1, 1996, and he thanked John Bookard for sponsoring the "Afternoon of Brotherhood" that was given at the V.F.W. on January 6, 1996 and everyone that supported the program. Finally he thanked everyone for being at the meeting.

Dr. Joyner continued by telling the group that all us must work together if we were going to improve our communities spiritually, morally, mentally, socially and economically, and effect meaningful political change. He also stated that what the group was trying to accomplish should have been the work of the NAACP. He spoke briefly on the importance of being able to change our ways of thinking in order to cope more effectively with modern reality and the importance of Jesus Christ in our lives. He told the group that the Orangeburg Chapter of the March would have to adopt a more formal organizational structure in order to achieve its objectives. Dr. Joyner then told the group that the men and women seated at the table in front of the room were going to be asked to take a leadership role in ushering in a new era for Black people in Orangeburg. He then asked each person seated at the table to stand, give his or name, and tell the group his or her occupation and where they were from.

The following people stood and told the group something about themselves:

Dr. Carpenter was the first to speak. He thanked the group for considering him, but he wasn't sure he could participate actively in the new corporation because he was running for the presidency of South Carolina State University and he wanted to avoid a conflict of interest. After the last person spoke, Dr. Joyner continued by saying the people that had spoken were going to become the Board of Directors of a new corporation that was going to be called the Million Man March Association. He then centered his talk on George Sistrunk. He related to the group how George came to him three (3) years ago and handed him an economic program called Integrated Economics.

George told him how the program could produce millions in revenue for the Black community if implemented. He also told us that George had told him then, that he was going to be the next national leader. Dr. Joyner admitted, he thought the guy was crazy. Now here they were together in the same room discussing that very program. Dr. Joyner told us when George first came to him, he wasn't ready to listen. His mindset prevented him from opening his mind to other possibilities. He recounted how the Million Man March had affected him personally and how what once seemed unreality had suddenly transformed itself into a possible reality. He asked all of us to keep an open mind and not limit our thinking.

He reminded the group that all things were possible through Jesus Christ. After his talk, Dr. Joyner asked George to come forward and speak to the group. George Sistrunk came before us and told us if we formed a for profit association, rather than a non-profit organization, we could produce more income for redistribution throughout our communities. He drew charts and diagrams and showed us how the Integrated Economic system could acquire franchises, build businesses and generate revenue for community programs.

George told us half the generated wealth would go to pay commissions to marketing associates and the other half would go to the association. He told us forming an association would bypass more laws than a standard corporation and cost less money and time to implement. He also showed us how an association would fund all the committees of the Orangeburg Chapter, as well as other Chapters around the country,if implemented on a national scale. After his talk, he opened the meeting up to questions.

Corry Stevenson was the first to speak. His concern was that grass root people were not on the board. George assured him, that even though grass root people were not on the board, the association, when formed, would not forget them. Bernard Harrison was next. His concern was that the Orangeburg Chapter was moving away from helping the community. George told him that if the community supported the association they would receive more benefits than if they received handouts from local organizations.

Curtis Carter wanted to know who would make the decisions concerning allocation of monies. George told him the Board of Directors would make all the policy decisions for the corporation, once it was formed. Otis Harrison wanted know how were associates going to be paid. George told him that the association's commission structure would not only pay $20.00 per enrolled member, but a renewal commission program was built in to ensure long term pay outs for a few years of actual work.

Stanley McCray wanted know how the association would determine which organization to recycle money into. George told him those decisions would be made by the Board of Directors. He assured him a workable system would be developed within a few years of actual operation. After the last question, George told the group that it would be necessary to suspend meetings for several months until the complete program was ready. Curtis Carter wanted to know what was his definition of several months, because that could be years from now. George told him the maximum amount of time it would take from inception to implementation would be ninety (90) days or less.

He told us the biggest problems the new corporation would have would not be with program development. He told us the biggest problems will be getting the board to work together as a unit, committing themselves to achieving the goals and growing into their new roles and responsibilities. He told us if the board could overcome those problems, the rest would be easy. George thanked the group for allowing him to present a portion of the Integrated Economic program and motioned Dr. Joyner to return to the speaker's stand.

After Dr. Joyner returned to the stand, he reiterated the importance of keeping an opened mind and asked the assembly to stand for the benediction. Before the Benediction was given, he asked the persons that would be on the board of the new corporation to meet in his office before leaving. He then asked Evangelist Snider to give the benediction. After the benediction was given, the next meeting date was set for January 23, 1996 in his office. The only people that were to attend would be the persons that would sit on the board of the new corporation. The meeting was adjourned.

Notation for the record: The above minutes were taken from the meeting notes of Corry Stevenson from South Carolina United Action, located at 198 Russell Street, Orangeburg, SC 29115. Our thanks to Corry.

The following minutes were taken from the notes of a meeting held by the Orangeburg Chapter of the Million Man March on the date, at the place, and at the time stated above. Present were: {Click here for Robert's Rules Of Order} {Click here to review the importance of minutes}