A capacity crowd fi lled the historic Cramton Auditorium on the campus of Howard University. Photos: Mikal Veale

WASHINGTON (FinalCall.com) – The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan issued a challenge and delivered guidance to the next generation of Black leaders on the campus of Howard University here April 2.

The campus hosted a four-day conference bringing together leaders from several historically Black colleges and universities to discuss the direction of student activism in preparation to solve problems plaguing the Black community.

Minister Farrakhan’s message to the students was titled “Channeling Our Intelligence and Creative Energy to Save Ourselves.”

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“As an elder–if you will–I could not help but feel great joy over what I heard from these young giants of ours,” said Minister Farrakhan after taking the stage to a rousing standing ovation at a packed Cramton Auditorium. “This probably is one of the sweetest moments that I have had in a long, long time,” he added.

The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan

“As I look at the condition of our people–not so much the learned class that have fit in, not so much the brilliant millionaires and billionaires that seem to have made it, but when I look at the condition of the masses of our people, I wonder what will I leave when God calls me in, and what can I do in the remaining time that I have to prepare these young giants for what you are going to face,” said Min. Farrakhan. “The future of our people is in your hands, but what kind of future will we have if you don’t know the present and understand what is happening in the world around you? What kind of future can you build if you don’t know the past for the present is built upon the past and the future is built upon the present, so if you don’t know the time and the dictates of the time, then your college years will only be a social experience and not a meaningful experience that will benefit your children and your children’s children.”

The Minister said he would speak from his heart, mind and spirit directly to the hearts, minds and spirits of those present, in words that would unite the human family based on what God desires for His people, however, he would not compromise nor apologize for telling the truth.

“You will be able to go out from this place and tell the world that condemns me what your experience has been with Louis Farrakhan,” said Min. Farrakhan. “I am your brother and your spiritual father and I love you and because I love you, I will give my life for you and I am doing that every day that I live but I want you to hear what I’ve got to say unfiltered through the wicked corporate controlled, Jewish controlled Zionist controlled media of the United States of America.”

With its long legacy of Black student activism, many prominent Blacks began their activist careers here and its campus organizations have spawned leaders in politics, economics and education. Minister Farrakhan told the students that Howard University was the first Black college to have Malcolm X speak on campus at the insistence of a young student leader named Stokely Carmichael, later known as Kwame Ture.

Instead of begging and pleading to be a part of a dying world, you should be a part of creation of a new independent reality in a world that will last forever, the Minister told the students. He called on the young leaders to reject training to get a good education to get a good job and make good money in order to gain material wealth.

Black prophetic destiny

“Who are you? What is your destiny and what should you be studying to fulfill your destiny?” Minister Farrakhan asked the students.

Turning to scripture, Minister Farrakhan cited the Book of Genesis, Chapter 15 verses 13-15 when God said that Abraham’s seed would be a stranger in a land that is not theirs and they shall serve others and they shall afflict them for 400 years. Then, after that time, God would come and judge the nation that Abraham’s seed served and God’s chosen people “shall come out with great substance and go to their fathers in peace.”

This portion of scripture does not refer to the Jewish people, although many mistakenly believe that it does. Only Black people have been afflicted and served others in America–a strange land–for over 400 years. Instead of feeling lowly, Black people should feel proud and embrace their prophetic destiny.

“You are a direct descendant of God himself and the original people of the Earth,” Min. Farrakhan told the students. “That’s why you should hold your head up, throw your shoulders back and walk heavy on the Earth!”

Speaking to Whites, he said, it is insulting to tell Blacks to go back to Africa, if they do not like the way things are in America.

“We know where you came from, we gave you a place! You didn’t have one before we gave you one, in fact you didn’t have life before we gave you life,” said Min. Farrakhan. “Don’t tell us where we need to go! The Bible says ‘the Earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof’ and whether you want to accept it or not, we are the lords that 196,940,000 square miles of Earth belong to and God intends to take the kingdom from whom He pleases and give it to whom He pleases.”

Black people are the people prophesied to receive God’s promise, he said again going into the scriptures, Deuteronomy 18:18, when God talks to Moses. The scripture says God is going to raise up a prophet like unto Moses and put divine words in the mouth of that prophet and command that divine servant to speak.

“You can’t have a man like Moses unless you have a people like the children of Israel, and you can’t have a people like the children of Israel unless you have somebody like a Pharaoh that would put oppression on the people for a period of four-hundred years or more,” Min. Farrakhan said.

Obama and integration

If a leader is teaching integration and Americanization, or trying to make America seem like a paradise because of the presence of Black mayors, governors and even a Black president in office–who was selected before he was elected–that leader is not leading you towards liberation and freedom following the example of Moses or Jesus, the Minister said.

“All of this is made to sell you away from your destiny,” said the Minister. “Now, I’m proud of Brother Barack. I love my brother, but he chose the wrong time in history to be Pharaoh,” he said.

Additionally, Mr. Obama had the misfortune of following, George W. Bush, a man considered by many to have been the worst president ever. The Minister said it is hypocritical that the American people are blaming Mr. Obama for the debt and the nation’s woes, while letting Mr. Bush off the hook.

“I’m not against Barack Obama, but I know the time and I know the wicked forces that are now disappointed in him. The forces that surround him are not friends,” said Min. Farrakhan.

Minister Farrakhan said using the political and financial systems, “the world is being deceived by an arch deceiver” and both the Democrats and Republicans in the Zionist-controlled U.S. Congress are complicit.

“Have you noticed that the Republicans and Democrats can’t agree on anything, except when it comes to Israel?” Min. Farrakhan asked. “Is that a strange picture that you can’t agree on the welfare of the American people but you can agree on the best interests of the people of Israel?”

At the close of his message, Minister Farrakhan gave copies of The Secret Relationship Between Black and Jews Volumes One and Two as well as a copy of the message he had just delivered on DVD free to all the conference participants.

“Howard University students, you are the natural leaders of all Black colleges and Universities, take your role! Take your position!” Minister Farrakhan said.

The students respond

“It was powerful. It was a beautiful situation because we had so many people together with so many different traditions, all together with a common purpose. It was beautiful for me as a Christian,” said Melech Thomas, of Christian Brothers United. In honor of Min. Farrakhan’s appearance on the campus, many members of his organization wore bow ties.

Dana Hall, a 22-year-old political science major and president of Ubiquity Inc., one of the event co-sponsors, said Min. Farrakhan’s words were “amazing.”

“It was the first time I had ever seen Farrakhan live and it definitely touched my spirit, it awakened my soul and I’m glad that my brothers and sisters at Howard University were able to share this experience with me,” Ms. Hall said.

Ameer Hasaan Wilson, a 22-year-old business marketing major from Bowie State University, told The Final Call he is working on bringing Minister Farrakhan to his campus.

“He is someone I grew up admiring and listening to as a child and just to have a chance to bring him to a university where he can inspire an historically Black college and the masses as well as the outside community would be a once in a lifetime opportunity,” said Mr. Wilson, who is originally from Oakland.

Ryan K. Burke, the 2-year-president of the Student Government Association of Alabama’s Tuskegee University and a biology major, said all week during the HBCU Leadership Summit many students were greatly anticipating Min. Farrakhan’s message.

“You see him on television and things of that nature, but actually being here and listening to his message is empowering,” Mr. Burke told The Final Call.

Kedarious Colbert, a 21-year-old double major in public affairs and psychology, led a delegation of 19 students to the conference as the president of the Student Government Association Texas Southern University in Houston. “It is an honor to be here with this distinguished gentleman (Min. Farrakhan) and to hear him,” he said.

Jalil Muhammad, coordinator, Howard University Nation of Islam Student Association

“We have convened nearly 80 student leaders from around the country to lay the base for a worldwide movement,” said Jalil Muhammad, coordinator for the Nation of Islam Student Association at Howard and the primary organizer of Min. Farrakhan’s appearance. “The world is in a state of disorder, the world is in a state of chaos, the world is in a state of havoc, who is going to bring order, who is going to peace, who is going to bring freedom, justice and equality? If not you, the students of Howard University, then who?” asked Mr. Muhammad.

Jeff Johnson told The Final Call what he saw April 2 on Howard University’s campus took him back to 1994 when he was the Black Student Union president at the University of Toledo and brought Min. Farrakhan to speak to the campus community.

“It was a different time, a different place and a different country then but I don’t think the Minister’s words are any less relevant or any less honest. And I think that in 2011 there is more of a need for the Minister’s energy because there are so few people that are willing to go against the grain to challenge people to think and see things differently than what the mainstream media or others are attempting to put out there,” said Mr. Johnson. “If nothing else, for them to be able to hear a voice that will challenge them to think critically about what is happening in our world and in our country–that is what a university is supposed to be about.”