Thousands observe 28th anniversary of the Million Man March
CHICAGO—The Sept. 17, 1985, vision-like experience of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan exposed the U.S. Government’s diabolical plan to launch a “war on two fronts,” Student Minister Ishmael Muhammad declared during his October 15 keynote address at Mosque Maryam to observe the 28th anniversary of the historic Million Man March.
One war targets a group of Islamic nations in the East; the other war targets Black people and the Nation of Islam in the West, he said. But the divinely inspired Million Man March, held Oct. 16, 1995, interrupted their planned assault by presenting a different image of the Black man in America when nearly two million Black men gathered peacefully on the National Mall.
“America is suffering from the evil she has sown in the earth; and because she hasn’t listened to a faithful man among them, a servant messenger from God, Elijah Muhammad and Louis Farrakhan, her country is falling apart,” he said. “Calamities are increasing. She’s divided against herself. Why, America? Because you never atoned for your evil crime against Black people in America.”
Instead of atoning, however, the U.S. Government has accelerated into “hyper speed” her plan by developing biochemical weapons and weaponizing street and synthetic drugs and other pharmaceuticals, he pointed out during his message titled, “Atonement and The Great War.”
›From Willie Lynch to biochemical warfare
Every president since Ronald Reagan has waged this war and schemes like the War on Drugs and various crime bills have ensnared the Black and poor into the prison industrial complex, Min. Ishmael warned.
Black youth were victimized by the Iran-Contra Affair where the U.S. Government sold arms to Iran and funneled the cash to the Contras in Nicaragua, who then smuggled drugs into Black communities to be consumed as crack cocaine.
Black youth were also the target of mandatory minimum sentencing laws that began under the Reagan administration and the diabolical 1994 Crime Bill, also known as the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, devised by then-Senator Joe Biden and signed into law by President Bill Clinton, Min. Ishmael noted.
Min. Ishmael said “the 1994 Crime Bill included a provision known as the ‘Three-Strikes’ rule. This provision mandated life sentences without parole for individuals convicted of a serious violent felony if they had previously been convicted of two or more serious violent felonies or drug offenses. It contributed to the mass incarceration in the United States and disproportionately impacted minority communities.”
From 1970 to 2014, the Black prison population skyrocketed from 200,000 prisoners to 2.3 million, he said, according to statistics from TheSentencingProject.org and NAACP.org respectively.
As prisons were filling, Black leaders were being assassinated in Africa and America, Min. Ishmael added, citing Patrice Lumumba in the Congo and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Sam Cook and Black Panther leader Fred Hampton in the U.S.
It’s all an extension of the techniques of Willie Lynch, who in an 1812 letter to slave masters demonstrated how to control the slave for hundreds of years by creating envy among them and highlighting differences; to the thinking of Virginia legislator Henry Berry in 1832, who spoke of extinguishing “every avenue by which light may enter” the slaves’ minds, Min. Ishmael explained.
“In the last 40 years, they have developed new and more sophisticated methods to control the slave, our minds and our behavior through biochemical weapons,” he said, adding that suicides and depression are on the rise in the Black community.
“The enemy has weaponized the foods we eat, the water we drink. He’s weaponized the vaccines, the culture, the music, television, social media. It’s a culture of death, degenerate behavior, and the degradation of the female,” he said.
Meanwhile, street organizations (gangs) that started with noble causes were being redirected by the enemy and conscious rap was redirected to become gangster rap, he said.
“Black power was growing, but it drew the attention of the enemy. The enemy uses education and religion to control the minds of the masses. Elijah Muhammad was changing our way of thinking. Elijah Muhammad is the axis in which we turn away from the enemy,” he said.
More than a vision
Min. Ishmael described Minister Farrakhan’s 1985 “more-than-a-vision-like” experience where the Minister was taken up on an Unidentified Flying Object (UFO), or what the U.S. Government now calls and admits the existence of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena and most recently Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP).
During the experience, Min. Farrakhan heard the voice of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, who instructed him to hold a press conference and inform the world that then-President Ronald Reagan had met with his Joint Chiefs of Staff to plan a war. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad then instructed the Minister to tell them specifically: “You got it from me, Elijah Muhammad, on The Wheel.”
The Honorable Elijah Muhammad did not reveal who the war was against, but the Minister came to realize that the war was against Libya, and his 1986 effort to visit Libya and give the warning saved the life of Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, who vacated his home before it was bombed.
In 1987, two prominent publications revealed exactly what the Honorable Elijah Muhammad said—that in early September 1985, President Reagan met with his Joint Chiefs of Staff to plan a war. During a 1990 interview with two Washington newspapers, Min. Farrakhan told the editors, “You may think Elijah Muhammad is dead. If Elijah Muhammad is dead, how can a dead man speak in the present tense?” Min. Ishmael relayed, noting that Elijah Muhammad specifically referenced President Reagan.
The U.S. had denied for decades the existence of the wheels (UFOs), before recently releasing above top-secret documents about their existence. But Elijah Muhammad is the only man who has been teaching about these wheels – referred to by Ezekiel and John the Revelator in the Bible—since the 1930s, Min. Ishmael said. In October 1989, when Min. Farrakhan held his press conference to reveal what he was given by the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, the wheels were reported and shown on the news appearing above Washington, D.C., Min. Ishmael said.
Thanking Min. Farrakhan for the honor to deliver the keynote address, the Student Minister said, “the miracle of the Million Man March” happened despite the opposition.
Veteran pastors and civil rights leaders told Minister Farrakhan not to hold it on a Monday, hold it on the weekend instead, Min. Ishmael recalled.
“But God said ‘no, present your bodies as a reasonable sacrifice.’ Never before has this been done in the annals of history. Jesus said, with man, this is impossible. But with God, all things are possible,” he said.
Holy Day established
The Million Man March established the Holy Day of Atonement to be observed annually. The day of fasting and prayer incorporates following the eight steps of atonement: point out the wrong, acknowledge the wrong, confess the wrong, repentance, atonement, forgiveness, reconciliation, perfect union with Allah (God) and one another.
“Atonement suggests the people are under the burden of sin. As a result of rebellion to God, the people are sick,” Min. Ishmael said. “Atonement is introduced to bridge the gap of man to God.”
Min. Ishmael described the 1931 meeting of Master Fard Muhammad (Allah in Person) and the Honorable Elijah Muhammad as “the greatest love story ever told.” He fulfilled the scripture that He would come to seek and find that which was lost, Min. Ishmael said, referring to Genesis 15:13, where God said He would come Himself and judge the nation that held the Black man and woman in captivity for 400 years.
“But the scripture says God has two witnesses … standing beside the Lord before the whole earth. Two lampposts. Two witnesses of His presence. Two men were raised from us. Elijah Muhammad, Louis Farrakhan. These are the two witnesses of the living God. The presence of God. The reality of God represented in Mahdi and Messiah, Elijah Muhammad, Louis Farrakhan,” he said.
The special day was opened by Student Minister Daniel Muhammad, who noted that the event was being viewed in mosques and study groups across the country as well as via livestream in thousands of homes around the world.
Sister Nyah Muhammad, a student in the ministry class, described the Million Man March as “a sight to behold” after 400 years of slavery that severely damaged the Black family structure. The March was supported by women who participated in the planning, promotion and speaking at the March, as well as raising funds.
Student Minister Arthur Muhammad of Mosque No. 7 in New York told the audience: “We owe (Min. Farrakhan) a great debt of gratitude for his service to our people. He has the heart of Elijah; he’s turning the hearts together. Let us embrace the eight steps of atonement.”
Student Minister Jeffrey Muhammad introduced Min. Ishmael as a committed servant and soldier in whom Min. Farrakhan has great trust and confidence who has served as an assistant for 32 years. To view this message in its entirety, visit media.noi.org.
—Rashida R. Muhammad contributed to this report.
