As an answer to decades of public and private policy agendas that have long undermined the collective political and economic development of Black people, the recent Nubian Leadership Circle (NLC) Summit VI, convened by Sadiki Kambon, brought together a coalition of individuals and groups working their programs under the theme of self-determination.
Self-help, as the means to success and survival, has long been a much repeated strategy to attain true liberation and freedom throughout Black America. The sixth summit of the Nubian Leadership Circle, which takes tried and tested “do-for-self” models of advancement, from individual programs and efforts to a long-term exercise of nation-building, is the beginning of what its convener called a “multi-generational endeavor.”
Mr. Kambon told The Final Call that NLC summits, now held quarterly, are an application of “unity without unifrmity” seeking a collective outcome for Black people while respecting individual and organizational differences. “Our theme for the summit was, “Building a Black nation through self-determination,” and that’s our intent,” he said. “What we’re looking at is bringing together our brilliant Black minds and resources and to independently come up with the economic solution for our communities.”
The most recent virtual summit was held on September 24.
›During his introductory remarks, Mr. Kambon explained that the NLC summits are designed to build coalitions that call upon Black groups and leadership to address and solve common problems. He said that moving forward requires respect for the sovereignty of individuals and organizations and he stressed that setting aside personal ambitions is key to operational unity.
“Our primary objective is to have Nubian Leadership Circle satellite summits all across the country that would be interconnected under the umbrella of the Nubian Leadership Circle and have regional conferences, (and) national conferences just to share ideas and resources,” Mr. Kambon added.
Featuring supporters such as Dr. Cornel West and a statement by the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney delivered the keynote address demonstrating at the sixth summit, how NLC’s efforts fit into current international realities and how Black Americans are players on the global stage whether they realize it or not.
Minister Farrakhan, the National Representative of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, thanked Mr. Kambon, and those working with him, for reviving the former National African American Leadership Summit (NAALS) in the form of what is now NLC. The Minister said the anxiety and grief overspreading America and the world today requires not only a respect for sound doctrine, but also a firm spiritual grounding that recognizes the divine hand of God in current events.
“Over the last 10 days to two weeks, we witnessed the pomp and circumstance of the death and burial and funeral of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth of Great Brittan,” Minister Farrakhan said to summit participants in a prerecorded message. “As I watched this, from the wider view of the Best Knower, I knew that I was witnessing the fall, the breakup, of the old world of White supremacy, and a few days later, here we are at the UN,” the Minister said of President Joe Biden’s September 21 speech at the United Nations General Assembly, rebuking the warmongering of Russian President Vladimir Putin for his war in Ukraine.
The UN has become impotent to stop the outbreak of a world war, that is now budding and building in Ukraine and war with Russia will eventually include the nations of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), and billions of U.S. tax dollars are contributing to the current state of combustible affairs, Min. Farrakhan pointed out.
“So, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad said that this is a fire fed with fuel and the fire is the war and the winds of war are blowing, and the war will spread throughout Europe and engage the world and the United Nations cannot stop it,” Minister Farrakhan warned. He suggested that summit participants would benefit from parsing the Islamic prayer of refuge found on page 152 of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad’s landmark book, “Message to the Blackman in America.”
“An old world is going down and going out and God is bringing a new world in and in the midst of all of that, here we are rising, and the Nubian nation membership is holding a summit on the basis of building a united Black nation on the basis of self-determination,” Minister Farrakhan said.
The time is ripe for us to reclaim our own
As much a movement to address the multiplicity of problems currently facing Black America, as they are necessary components for the basic survival of an entire people, the NLC summit promoted several “workshops” or “cadres” to address not only quality of life concerns, but also to continue working on the building blocks of a civilization in an hour of intensifying darkness. These cadres included:
Economic Development
Land and Food
Spiritual Renewal
Communications and Technology
Family Essence
Health and Education
Arts and Culture
International Advocacy
Dr. Cynthia McKinney, Ph.D., a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia, said in her keynote presentation that she supports the Nubian Leadership Circle summits and that participating in its cause is something with which she agrees. “The bottom line is that I’m excited about what I have seen so far, believe me, this is wonderful, and it was a wonderful call that I was not expecting,” she said of the invitation to speak at the summit’s webinar. “You can count me as all-in.”
Stating that she’s been writing books since leaving public service, Dr. McKinney added that U.S. policies effecting the world are something to examine in more depth. She added that Black people, who traditionally garnered international sympathy for ill treatment from anti-Black racism at home, are now increasingly being seen as both willing and unwitting participants in America’s oppressive policies toward much of the developing world, particularly in Africa, on issues ranging from sovereignty and mineral extraction to warfare and bioethics.
“I wrote a paper called ‘The Purple Revolution, U.S. Hybrid Warfare, Chickens Coming Home to Roost,’ (and) I wrote that paper because it was clear to me that the tactics and strategies that have been honed by the United States and the collective West against freedom and independence and liberation in other parts of the world had now surely come home and U.S. hybrid warfare tactics were being used against the people of the United States,” Dr. McKinney insisted.
“We cannot avoid international politics and international events because they will, as we see with the discourse now from Putin, very well can come home to the shores of the United States in a way that has not happened before,” she added.
Agreeing to return to the next NLC quarterly summit, Dr. McKinney and others in attendance said the information shared was both helpful and of vital necessity for the time in which Black people are now living. For more information, call The Nubian Leadership Circle at 202-922-6527 or visit nubianleadershipcircle.org.
