Farrakhan presents vision for Black survival, beginning with land and economic program
CHICAGO (FinalCall.com) – When the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan addressed a crowd Oct. 16 at Mosque Maryam, the international headquarters of the Nation of Islam, the mosque was packed with listeners, while others listened in via internet webcast.
In a passionate follow-up to a major message the week before in Philadelphia, the Minister again warned Black America was in a struggle for her very survival and offered a stirring call for separation inside America.
Create clean, economically viable progressive Black-controlled and Black-owned communities, starting with the purchase of land, he said.
“If you don’t see that we are at war, then you must be raised in consciousness so that you can participate in the war, because the war is for our survival as a people, we have to survive, and if we are ignorant at a time like this, then our ignorance will be the means of our destruction,” said Min. Farrakhan.
“We are at war against forces within ourselves and forces outside of ourselves that keep us relegated to the condition of poverty and want.”
Blacks need to be acquainted with the greatness of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, the patriarch of the Nation of Islam, and his wise guidance, the Minister said.
The reason Black people are suffering today in so many ways is because Mr. Muhammad’s guidance has been rejected and instead of taking control of their collective destiny, Blacks have chosen to act like “little beggars,” he said.
The Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad said Black people must become producers, not just consumers and employees, Min. Farrakhan reminded the audience. However, he continued, without land there is no production because land ownership allows you to extract raw materials to produce what you need. After producing goods for use, the surplus can be sold to others and open up channels for trade and commerce with other nations, he said.
“If we are not the owners of land–and lots of it–then we will not be able to produce the things that we consume. So we will always be at the mercy of others who produce and therefore, we will be the consumer people rather than a productive people and that is how people earn respect–by being productive,” declared Min. Farrakhan.
As he spoke on the 16th anniversary of the Million Man March, Min. Farrakhan also reminded those present that six-years-ago at an anniversary gathering, he announced the formation of “Nine Ministries” designed to cover the full range of Black needs, including a Ministry of Trade and Commerce.
“Here you have people all over the earth that would do business with us if we had a product that we could offer them,” he said.
If potential trading partners do not have money, Black America could barter goods and services to produce jobs, he said.
If jobs are needed by White people, they will give jobs to their own people first, Min. Farrakhan pointed out. Overall unemployment officially stood at 9.1 in September and was 16 percent for Blacks, not counting those who have given up looking for work, according to U.S. Labor Dept. statistics.
Perhaps some jobs will trickle down to Black people, however, with right guidance and will power, Blacks could create their own jobs and earn the respect of other nations, Min. Farrakhan said.
“But we are going to have to get up from where we are and go to work in order to survive and in order for us to prepare a future for our children,” the Minister stressed. “The energy of marching must be turned now into another type of energy.”
At the very time Minister Farrakhan was speaking at Mosque Maryam, a dedication ceremony for the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial was taking place in Washington, D.C. For some, the $120 million statue is a sign of racial progress, for others, the monument is a reminder of the lack of progress since Dr. King was killed by an assassin’s bullet over 43 years ago.
If Dr. King was still alive, he would not be happy with a Black president who is unable to speak for the poor, said Min. Farrakhan. Dr. King would not be pleased with U.S. wars against several nations and billions being spent on warmongering with America’s infrastructure crumbling, he added.
“Part of the dream we can say is fulfilled. We have a Black president, a Black attorney general, a Black ambassador to the United Nations, but what about the masses of the people? They are getting further and further behind. Dr. King would not be happy with that.”
‘Observe the operations of the White man’
The Minister pointed out that the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad told the Black nation to: “Observe the operations of the White man. He is successful. He makes no excuses for his failures. He works hard in a collective manner. You do the same.”
“Observe the operations of the White man, he is successful … at least he was,” said Min. Farrakhan. “He’s not as successful today as he used to be but that does not mean that we should not observe him and see how he went wrong, because if God is going to give us the opportunity to replace him, because he has ruined his right to the stewardship of land, resources and people … . He has abused the land, the air, the water and the people on the earth so God is going to take it from him and give it to whom he pleases, and whether you want to believe it or not, he intends to give it to you and then see how you act,” he added.
If Blacks are given authority over the members of the human family, after being ruled unjustly for centuries by the “wicked husbandmen” of the earth, would there be vengeance and bitterness, or freedom, justice and equality for all? the Minister asked.
“If God reverses this, and makes you the head, as you have been the tail, will you treat others as they have treated you and me? Or will you thank God for trying us with power and proving to God that our hearts are purified, and we are worthy to rule?”
He pointed out that on the back page of the Muhammad Speaks, the Nation of Islam newspaper in the 1960s and 1970s, under “What The Muslims Want,” the first item is: “We want freedom. We want a full and complete freedom. Number 2.,: We want justice. Equal justice under the law. We want justice applied equally to all, regardless of creed or class or color.”
Those same words are printed on the back page of The Final Call, he added.
A Muslim wants for others what he wants for himself, and what is going on now is purification of the mind and heart in preparation for service, said Min. Farrakhan.
“The bible says the sun shines on the just as well as the unjust. God doesn’t ask you what your religion is and hold back from you sunshine. God doesn’t ask you what your nationality is, or your color and hold back from you a cloud that will give you rain to germinate the seeds in the earth. God is not like that! So if God puts us in power and authority, how will we be?”
False integration versus true separation
Black people are the only group in America trying to force themselves on others, said Min. Farrakhan.
Other ethnicities such as the Chinese, the Irish, the Greeks, the Italians, the Koreans and the Jewish people all have enclaves where they live together and provide goods and services to one another and outsiders, said the Minister.
All of these groups initially faced persecution when they arrived in America, but they built up strength and carved out their own communities and are respected, he said. You don’t see them picketing and complaining about receiving justice, the Minister added.
“What have they found in America that we have never found?” Min. Farrakhan asked. “They’re happy living among themselves in America. They’re integrated though separated.
“They’ve earned respect because they’ve done something for themselves,” he added. “They’re not begging anybody else, they have their representatives in government looking out for them! What about you?”
After facing rejection, these immigrants unified and made progress in a collective manner, he said.
Through self-determination they built up economic and political strength and pursued their self-interest and progress, he said.
But Black people are segregated, not separated, Min. Farrakhan explained.
“You’re here and you are segregated not separated. There’s a difference between segregation and separation. Separation is voluntarily done on the basis of two equals,” said Min. Farrakhan.
The Nation of Islam grew from a seed Nation of Islam founder Master Fard Muhammad planted in the mind of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad in Detroit.
“All he (Master Fard Muhammad) needed was a fertile egg that would accept the wisdom that he brought and grow into a new life and attach itself! Attach itself to what?” Min. Farrakhan asked.
The Nation of Islam has continued growing, pulling America to make it stronger, however, it was not yet ready to separate because it was not yet fully developed, said the Minister.
But similar to a baby that starts kicking because there is no more room in the womb, and turns head first to exit the womb, it is time for the Black nation to come to birth, he said.
“Your feet can’t lead you out,” said Min. Farrakhan.
“You’ve got leaders that are feet and you are still where you are because you have not recognized your head. But when the head is ready and turns down into the right position then the head forges the way to freedom for the body,” said the Minister to thunderous applause.
Business is warfare
Many of the companies formerly owned by Blacks are now controlled by others, in many cases Jews. Blacks who once owned companies, and in many cases were its founders, are now simply stockholders, Min. Farrakhan said.
“Somebody gave us an offer that we couldn’t refuse because you think that business is something nice to do–business is warfare because somebody is vying for that dollar that you are vying for. If they can outsmart you, if they can trick you, if they can give you an offer that you can’t refuse then they’ll take your company from you because you don’t have soldiers!
“We’ve got soldiers! And if you don’t have any soldiers, you will never be successful in business!”
The Minister said it is important to study the most successful of White people–the Jewish people. Using diagrams found in the book “The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews” Volume Two, he showed the Jewish banking infrastructure throughout the South and Jewish cotton plantation owners who amassed incredible amounts of wealth using the free labor of Black men, women and children.
“Wherever we were, Jews were,” said the Minister.
Black people have shown their capability to succeed. Sixteen million acres of land were owned by Blacks at the turn of the century. Sixty Black towns were set up in America after slavery, he said.
Black people had 600 state legislators, 18 congressmen and two senators in just the first decade following slavery, Min. Farrakhan said.
Blacks had all of the skills and were the carpenters, electricians, artisans and engineers, he said.
One such prosperous economic community was “Black Wall Street,” or the Greenwood community in Tulsa, Okla. Whites were so afraid of the potential rise of Black people, a false rape charge was levied and Whites attacked and killed Blacks. During the destruction of Black Wall St., a bomb was dropped by Whites from a plane for the first time in America in June of 1921. The area was cordoned off to ensure Blacks would not be able to escape.
The Whites were so afraid of the potential rise of Black people that systems were setup to ensure that former slaves remained subjugated. The Ku Klux Klan mobilized, Reconstruction began, and with the political Compromise of 1877 Blacks were pushed back onto the plantation, the Minister said.
Black codes and Jim Crow laws were enacted to prevent Black people from owning land, and gaining a foothold in business. Blacks are in a subservient position because they were systematically shut out, not because they are inferior, he said.
People of God’s promise
Black people are the people of God’s promise, and God promised them land, said Min. Farrakhan. The American government owns nearly 700 million acres of land and leases it for agriculture, and this is a part of the plan for separation and independence.
Interestingly, everywhere White people went, they displaced the original inhabitants then set up a military fort and in the history of America, the Louisiana Purchase was very significant. A huge swath of land was purchased for merely $15 million.
In studying the operations of those who have experienced tremendous success, Minister Farrakhan discussed the Jewish peddler model. Starting in the 1840s, Ashkenazi Jews went from town to town in rural America with 100-pound backpacks filled with goods that could be sold to generate revenue. Dollars from these endeavors were pooled and Jews went from peddlers and street vendors to storeowners.
Jewish merchants dominated the main thoroughfares in Montgomery, Ala., and many other towns and cities throughout the South.
The Lehman brothers, Jewish immigrants, opened a cotton brokerage store in Montgomery directly opposite the town’s main slave-trading auction block.
Mayer Lehman later was appointed by the governor to be in charge of all the cotton in the state and by extension, all Black slaves on vast cotton plantations. Years later, Lehman Brothers became a financial behemoth on Wall Street.
“Why are we studying you?” Min. Farrakhan asked. “Because it’s our time now, to take over the world and build a better one, a new nation ordered by God!”
“The time is up for us to be ignorant and divided and the time is in for us to pool our resources,” the Minister said.
Min. Farrakhan shared how young people can be turned away from lives as criminals with right guidance and opportunity to create and build something for themselves. Today’s drug dealer can be tomorrow’s entrepreneur, selling valuable products to his own people, the Minister added.
But the Economic Program of the Hon. Elijah Muhammad starts with land and land is available in Texas for purchase, he said.
He also expressed interest in farmland in Michigan, urging the members of the Nation of Islam and others to get behind land purchases as first steps toward progress and ultimately freedom.
