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The Million Man March was a gathering in Washington, D.C. on and around the National Mall. This march was organized and led by Minister Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the Nation of Islam (NOI). The intention was to gather black men to address family values and unity and to gather at least one million black men. The organizers felt that the number of people in attendance exceeded their goal. However, the National Park Service estimated only 400,000 in attendance, with later independent estimates placing crowd attendance between 800,000 to over one million.

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"We did it for Harold, we can do it for Carol" was the slogan used during Carol Moseley-Braun's 1998 reelection campaign for the United States Senate. The slogan called back to Harold Washington, the first African-American Mayor of Chicago, since Moseley-Braun was the first African-American woman voted into the United States Senate in 1992. Although Moseley-Braun had strong support from Chicago and from former First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, she was not reelected to the Senate in 1998. 

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Harold Washington was the first black mayor of Chicago, serving from 1983 until his death in 1987. From his first mayoral campaign until the end of his life, Washington had the full support of Eugene Sawyer, who was then alderman of Chicago's sixth ward. Sawyer's support carried considerable clout as his ward had a predominantly black constituency and held the largest democratic majority vote in the city. Washington died suddenly just a few months into his second term, after which Sawyer served as acting mayor. In this way, Sawyer became the second black mayor of Chicago.

"Nobody but Harold" was a common refrain during Washington's 1987 campaign for re-election. The phrase appeared on pinback buttons and was heard at campaign rallies throughout Chicago.

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The Harold Washington Party was founded in Chicago, Illinois in the late 1980s to represent the interests of the African-American population in the city. Although the party was named for the city's first African-American mayor, Harold Washington, it was created after his death in 1987. It backed and nominated candidates for local office, but courts did not allow their nominees to be listed on ballots. H.W.P has been inactive since 1996, but their website states they are planning to once again mobilize with a platform that encourages the people of Illinois to take control of a failing government. 

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Punch 9 was a re-election campaign in support of Mayor Harold Washington and referred to the 9th position on the ballot to cast a vote for him. In 1983 he made history and became the first African-American mayor of Chicago.

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Prior to the 1995 mayoral election in Chicago, a group of Africans Americans led by Lu Palmer sought to find an African American candidate they felt could beat the incumbent, Richard Daley. The first rally, called a “Dump Daley” rally, was held in April of 1993 at a South Side church and garnered the support of a number of African American elected officials. Each attendee was asked to submit the name of an African American they felt would have a good chance of ousting, or ‘dumping’ Daley.

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Gloria Chevere was a Chicago lawyer who ran unsuccessfully for city clerk in the 1987 primary election. She was endorsed for city clerk by Mayor Harold Washington, who was the first African American to be elected as the mayor of Chicago and was running for re-election that same year. Washington won re-election for mayor and then passed away in the fall of 1987. Chevere later secured an executive position with the Chicago Transit Authority after her loss in the election. 

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The overdose death of Len Bias, a star college basketball player, in 1986 received national media coverage and drew attention to the growing crack pandemic in cities like Chicago. Harold Washington, the first African-American elected as mayor of Chicago, saw this as an opportunity to fight the growing drug abuse in his city. As a result of the increasing drug and gang related crimes in the United States, President Reagan declared a War on Drugs in the 1980s and Mayor Washington vocally supported the 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act.

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Push Excel is a non-profit organization that supports the advancement of African American education by means of scholarships, campus tours, workshops and community partnerships. Founded in 1975 by Jesse Jackson, Push Excel is an offshoot of Jackson’s original program PUSH (People United to Serve Humanity). Born out of the civil rights movement, PUSH continues the efforts of social, economic, and political development of African Americans. In 1996, PUSH merged with another one of Jackson’s programs called National Rainbow Coalition and is today known as Rainbow/Push.

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Saint Sabina is a Thessalonian church in Chicago, Illinois. In 2003, their pastor Reverend Michael L. Pfleger was the Keynote Speaker at The Martin Luther King, Jr. Annual Commemorative Service in Atlanta, Georgia. During his speech, Reverend Pfleger proclaimed that racism was still America's greatest addiction and that all citizens must work together to honor Martin Luther King Jr. by fighting double standards and stereotypes.