by Darrell L. Williams, Ph.D.
Reel Urban News
E Pluribus Unum: Out of Many … One!
On February 21, 2026, I was honored to be invited, along with approximately 50 other Omega Men, for an in-person meeting with the Honorable Brother Minister Louis Farrakhan. It was truly one of the highlights of my life.
For many years, I have seen and heard him speak. With each message, I left wishing I could someday meet him up close and personal. To be honest, I thought that day would never come.
Then recently, upon hearing of the loss of Brother Reverend Jesse Jackson Sr., I, again, thought about reaching out to request a meeting with Minister Farrakhan, but again, I thought it would never happen.
However, as God would ordain, within one week of having this thought, I received a call on Friday, February 20, 2026, and was invited to a historic meeting, with 50 or so Omega Men, the following day with the Honorable Brother Minister Louis Farrakhan in Detroit, Michigan.
Therefore, very excited, I went home to get a few hours of sleep. I then got up at 2 a.m. and drove from Milwaukee to Detroit for the meeting. Yes, it is fair to say that I was not going to miss this meeting.
And yes, I was very excited to meet the man who I have heard and admired for many, many years. Most importantly and most meaningful to me, I wanted to tell Minister Farrakhan how his words inspired and empowered me to make it through two combat tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
A story from the combat zone
While I had never personally met Minister Farrakhan, I had heard of him. When I moved to Milwaukee in 1993, Brother Roosevelt X told me about Saviours’ Day, so I started to attend every year that I could.
Minister Farrakhan’s presence and words were empowering and uplifting, and it resonated with my spirit. His messages often spoke to the mental shackles on the minds of our people and how we can change our situation if we lived a righteous life and learned to do for ourselves.
While I knew Minister Farrakhan was a person who is known all over the world, I did not know that he was such a genuinely respected international and global leader whose influence and spirit is in the hearts and minds of many people all over the world.
I realized this fact in the combat zone as a soldier deployed to Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom III in 2004-2005. During one of our many missions, (this was during the Ramadan season,) I, along with other soldiers, were training and supporting Iraqi soldiers to one day support themselves upon our redeployment.
As you can imagine, some days things went well and some days things were very stressful as tensions were very high. And yes, there were days when things got very combative and dangerous. And, yes again, we all had real weapons.
We used to always say, “Stay Alert, Stay Alive!” However, during one of those 130-degree very hot and high-tension days, one of the Iraqi soldiers approached me in an angry and uncomfortable way. Adding to the tension, he was speaking their language, and I could not understand what he was saying.
Then another Iraqi soldier came to try and assist with communication. I still did not understand, so I stayed on high alert. Then a third Iraqi soldier approached with a translator.
The translator, who spoke English, communicated to me that the soldier came as a representative on behalf of other Iraqi soldiers upset because they had not received their food and payment. I then communicated to them that was not my area, but I would communicate it to the people who could address this issue immediately.
While that initial response eased tension a little, I could tell that was not the end of it. However, the translator communicated to Iraqi soldiers that was all that could be done at that particular moment.
Then, the angry soldier reached into his pocket. Initially, I thought it was a gun, but his gun was over his shoulder. However, he pulled out a picture and asked the translator to ask me if I knew him. To my disbelief, but also to my pleasure, it was a picture of Minister Farrakhan.
I smiled and laughed with pride when I saw the picture and they smiled and laughed when they saw me. I confirmed that while I had never met Minister Farrakhan in person, I did indeed know of him and that it was one of my greatest wishes to one day meet him in person. It was at that moment the uncomfortable tensions ceased, and a sense of peace was restored.
I said to myself, “Minister Farrakhan is saving lives in this war zone and doesn’t even know it!” Moreso, I thought, “Where in the hell did he get that picture of Minister Farrakhan?”
Also, I thought, as I sat there in a combat zone, about how much respect these Iraqi soldiers had for Minister Farrakhan that they would bestow that grace upon me just because I knew of him. And yes, as you can see, I lived to die another day! And yes, I thanked God and said “Allahu Akbar” (God is the Greatest)!
During the Iraq war (OIF III), I asked Brother Roosevelt X to send me a few videos of the Minister and he did. I would listen to his speeches in my spare time! There were many things that he said that resonated with me.
However, one quote in particular stuck with me and I have never forgotten it. In one of his messages, the Minister was talking about working and doing for yourself. In his message, he said, “Big fields await the wide awake man to go work out in!”
It inspired me and reaffirmed that I and we have all the tools and access to the resources we need to uplift ourselves mentally, physically, and economically … if we discipline ourselves.
In essence, if we work just as hard on developing ourselves as we do on a job working for others, then we too can experience the American Dream for ourselves and future generations of our families and our people—as we too are America.
For more than 65 years, Minister Farrakhan has been a bridge builder who dedicated his life to rebuilding and uplifting our people here and all over the world. It is inspiring to think that so many years ago, with courage and conviction.
A man who is a world-class musician put his instrument aside and picked up the torch to light the path and show our people the way to enlightenment so that we would not be blind, deaf and dumb to the knowledge of ourselves!
Minister Farrakhan is without question one of the most influential and respected leaders in the world! Through decades of a mixture of high praise, ridicule and constant threats, Minister Farrakhan has stood tall, never bowed or bent his back and has never wavered as he fought.
Advocated and challenged the powers that be and America to live up to the promise that has been denied to the majority of Black and other poor people around the world!
The Final Call will publish the conclusion of this article in an upcoming edition.
Darrell L. Williams, Ph.D., is a distinguished educator, civic leader and retired 29-year combat veteran (Awarded Purple Heart and Bronze Star Medal), Rust College Graduate C/O 1993. Dr. Williams is an Editor at Large for ReelUrbanNews.com and a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.