(FinalCall.com) – From the pews of Salem United Methodist Church to auditoriums, mosques and meeting rooms in Newark, Richmond, Chicago, Los Angeles and cities in between, audiences intently listened Oct. 16 to the Holy Day of Atonement message by the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan.
“With the threat of war looming over this nation and the nation of Iraq and really bringing the world into it, leadership has not shown in certain segments they have grown spiritually, mentally, intellectually,” said Min. Kevin Muhammad, of Muhammad Mosque No. 7 in Harlem. “The masses yearn to be free and have been listening to their brother and friend, Minister Farrakhan, and studying him. Tonight’s message, as he said to me privately and I said publicly, he wanted us to think.”
There has been an effort to drive a wedge between Black Christians and Black Muslims to break the unity built and expressed at the Million Man March in 1995, said Min. Kevin. The challenge is to not let the Crusades be fought again, he said.
For Lutfa Taib, a 27-year-old man from Kenya, the words of Min. Farrakhan were “amazing.” He listened to the Minister from a seat inside Salem United and had read about and seen the Muslim Minister on television.
“People said he only talks against Whites and Jews. But he wasn’t talking about that. He was fighting for justice,” Mr. Taib said. “He was talking more about Islam and why the Americans want to fight with Muslims. My stereotypes (of the Minister) have been erased.”
“I have never heard Minister Farrakhan speak before so it was very enlightening for me to witness his speech. We do need to unite in order to get where we need to go because without unity we have nothing,” said Ayodele James, 25, a telephone operator, who was also in New York.
“I do believe that there is an attempt to separate Muslims and Christians. Not just Muslims and Christians. Their goal is to divide and conquer (everyone),” he said. Mr. James also confessed that he wrongly assumed the Minister would discuss race in a negative way.
“He opened up my eyes. My opinion has changed about him and about the Nation of Islam. Had I not seen for myself what he was saying, I still would have had the stereotype that he was only about separating the races,” Mr. James admitted.
Leroy Butler, host of The Communicator radio show on WHCR-FM in New York, noted that the Minister exposed the influence Zionist forces have within the government and on foreign policy. “The people in government know that but they’re afraid to speak on it. When I say the people in government–the senators, the Congress people–they are afraid to speak on it because groups such as the ADL (Anti-Defamation League) are poised to squash anything that would reveal their hand in the decision-making of the American government,” he said.
“It’s better called the Zionist lobby because they use the religion of Judaism to shield their political motives so the Zionist influence, which is a political force, is the one that keeps tabs on people, dossiers on people, through the ADL which interlocks with intelligence agencies here in America and also the Mossad,” he said.
He also believes the impact of the Million Man March continues to be felt and points to increased voting in national and congressional races as one point of evidence.
James Rester read about issues related to the war and felt the Minister’s speech was right on target. It was thought provoking and rational, Mr. Rester said.
“There appears to be more support from the hip hop community now so this is a new interesting dynamic. Seven years ago I was not at the march because I got caught up into the hoopla of the message versus the messenger. I regret that but I am glad that I am here today,” he said.
In Washington, D.C., the Holy Day observance was held at the Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ where 900 people packed the church and listened to the message.
“I was nervous about what he had to say. I knew things were bad but I didn’t realize just how bad they were until he told us,” commented Alisa Cannon, a woman in her 30s who drove from Virginia to hear the speech.
“I’m trying to prepare myself for the worst. War is the worst and I don’t want to see that happen. I plan to take his message of no war to others so we can prevent this from happening. I’m going to work toward the unity he was talking about also.”
The Minister’s comments “captured the essence of morality” in opposing this war and in opposing the evil that President Bush has planned, added Earl Simmons, an official with Blacks in Government (BIG).
“Our morals have gone out of the window. We need to hear this kind of message because we’re not getting it anywhere else. We must come together to oppose this war. We can change this, as the Minister has said. Our unity is the answer to what is going on,” he commented.
Rev. Al Sampson, a disciple of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, and longtime supporter of Min. Farrakhan, watched carefully from Mosque Maryam in Chicago as the Minister spoke. The time requires prayer and action, he said, following the satellite broadcast at the headquarters mosque, which was full to capacity.
“His analysis was right on the money,” said Mahmud Ahmad, who had a front-row seat at the mosque for the event. “The U.S. administration cannot advance its policies abroad without influencing what people think and feel right here at home and without oppressing opinions of dissension and those opinions that challenge what the administration wants to advance abroad.”
More than 1,500 people filled Mosque No. 27 in Los Angeles, with the standing room only crowd spilling outside and into the mosque lobby. Those unable enter the mosque sanctuary watched via large screen television sets up to accommodate the crush of people.
“We have suffered so much for so long that we need to be able to come up as people and say we want to be free by any means necessary. The Homeland Security is not really what they make it out to be. They’re out here trying to attack the youth, the young organization that’s going on now,” said Crystal Dukes, of the Black Riders Liberation Movement in Los Angeles.
“Anything that the Minister says that we need more of, I would say yes without any trepidation, because he’s a very wise and learned man. He’s a very concerned man, not only about Islam, but he’s concerned about the entire Black community. So he comes along once in a lifetime,” said Dr. Anyim Palmer, founder the Marcus Garvey School.
Min. Farrakhan is like a voice crying in the wilderness and the modern Caesar will try to attack him, said Min. Tony Muhammad, western regional minister for the Nation of Islam. “We are now witnessing the end of this system, the end of a government and its wicked rule,” he said.
The Minister wants to awaken us to what is really going on, the need to see past the deception and stress unity and the aims of the Million Man March, commented Nation of Islam General Counsel Abdul Arif Muhammad, who was at Salem church in Harlem for the message.
“We will be able to get through the terrible times that are predicted to occur, if we will unify,” he said.
–Reported by Saeed Shabazz, Corey Muhammad and Jerry Muhammad in New York, Nisa Islam Muhammad in Washington, D.C., Charlene Muhammad and Phillip Muhammad in Los Angeles and Vanessa Muhammad in Chicago.
