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But rest assured, Farrakhan scrupulously avoided taking the cheap-shot route in his Million Man March speeches, whether at other Jews or the gay and lesbian communities. Instead he gave rambling two-hour sermons that he delivered in the way Trump enjoys: off-the-cuff adlibs that occasionally return to a central theme.

Not that it matters. The crowds at both men's events are excited to be there. Their presence is in itself a statement that they want to send the world about their frustration with the status quo.

In politics, after all, this is the year of the populist. Insurgent, outside-the-mainstream presidential candidates in both parties are experiencing surprising success in polls. Voters are tired of Washington's "business as usual," however they define that business to be.

As the nation's first nonwhite president nears the end of his term, African-Americans are expressing their frustration over the limits of his power, even as his conservative opposition claims that he has had too much power.

Small wonder then that thousands of black folks returned to the mall, perhaps to find new answers or merely to get their spiritual batteries charged.

The recent rally essentially was a big nostalgic celebration of the first. It's oddly ominous theme "Justice -- or Else," echoed the frustrations of the Black Lives Matter movement, but left open the question, "Or else what?"

Farrakhan's spokespersons suggested maybe a national black boycott of the Christmas holiday season. Good luck with that, folks.

Left unanswered is the larger question raised by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. 50 years ago amid the hard-won victories of the civil rights revolution: "Where do we go from here?"

He answered himself, saying we should continue to fight poverty, inequality and injustice with a "divine dissatisfaction." We've got lots of dissatisfaction now. The divine part may take a little longer.

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(E-mail Clarence Page at cpage@tribune.com.)

(c) 2015 CLARENCE PAGE DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.