From humble beginnings in the basement of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan’s south Chicago home, The Final Call newspaper has emerged as America’s most widely circulated Black-owned-and-operated newspaper that also enjoys a healthy international distribution.
Founded and personally financed by Minister Farrakhan in 1979, the paper was launched on the faith and power of the message of his teacher, the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad.
The entire first edition of the paper, except for the Honorable Elijah Muhammad’s editorial and presentation of “The Muslim Program,” was written by Minister Farrakhan. Members of his family, particularly his daughter Donna, and others, including Chuck Green and Melala Archibald, designed the layout, did the typesetting, copy editing, and assisted in the research.
The emergence of The Final Call just two years into Minister Farrakhan’s rebuilding effort of the Nation of Islam sent a message to the community and the world about his serious dedication to seeing the message of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad rebirthed. The paper, dedicated to the resurrection of the Black man and woman of America and the world, emerged with its first headline, “The Ultimate Challenge: The Survival of the Black Nation.”
“In 1972, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad spoke with Minister Louis Farrakhan and said, ‘Brother, I don’t like to talk about this because it gives me great pain, but the Nation is going to take a dive for the second time,’ ” The Final Call stated in an editorial. “When the Messenger saw the pain in Minister Farrakhan’s face, he comforted him by saying, ‘But don’t worry, brother. It will be rebuilt, and it will never fall again.’”
It was from time to time that he kept saying to Minister Farrakhan, ‘Go exactly as you see me go and do exactly as you see me do. Now, Brother, you can preach this word as strongly as you see me preach it. But, you must go according to the way I go … meaning that you must practice righteousness or they (the enemy) will piece you in two.’
“In rebuilding the Nation of Islam, it is incumbent upon us to retrace the Honorable Elijah Muhammad’s steps,” the paper noted. “The first newspaper that the Messenger produced was in 1934 after His Teacher Master Fard Muhammad had left Him with the Mission. The name of that paper was “The Final Call To Islam.”
“One day, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad said to the Minister, ‘Brother, if there were any sign or symbol that I would choose to represent my work it would be the trumpet … for the trumpet is the sign of the resurrection of the dead,’” The Final Call continued. “So, as He began, we begin! ‘THE FINAL CALL’ is a monthly message published by people dedicated to the resurrection of the Black man and woman of America and the world. …”
With the publication of the fourth edition, the paper, edited by Godfrey X Patterson, a graduate student of theology at Howard University, began to include writers other than members of the Nation of Islam, among them being Haki Madhubuti, the distinguished writer and educator, and Lu Palmer, the legendary Black journalist.
Black women, a central component of Minister Farrakhan’s rebuilding effort, were represented by Roberta Muhammad’s contribution, “The Resurrection.”
By 1981, a special Saviour’s Day edition was published carrying the headline, “The Rebirth of a Nation,” and subtitled, “A Saviour is Born for the Black Man and Woman of America.” This historic paper featured Minister Farrakhan’s edited remarks from the Nation of Islam’s first Saviour’s Day address of the so-called “Second Resurrection.” As Volume 2 emerged, the editorial mantle of leadership passed from Minister Godfrey X Patterson to Brother Askia Muhammad, who was the Honorable Elijah Muhammad’s first Muslim editor of the legendary Muhammad Speaks newspaper.
By 1982, The Final Call emerged from its basement office in the home of Minister Farrakhan to its new home on West 79th Street in Chicago. Christened “The Final Call Administration Building,” Minister Farrakhan opened headquarters on Sept. 12, 1982.
The Abdul Wali Muhammad Years
Islam, in the early 1980s, began to spread like “wildfire.” Numerous laborers of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad began to join on to Minister Farrakhan’s rebuilding effort. One of the major ministers of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad was John Shabazz, later named Minister Abdul Allah Muhammad (May Allah Be Pleased), returned to the Nation of Islam in Atlanta and quickly rose in the ranks to become southern regional representative and later by 1983, he assumed the reigns of Editor-in-Chief of The Final Call.
Given Minister Abdul Allah’s formal education in journalism from the historic Howard University, he brought a new level of professionalism to The Final Call and kept the publication steady for several years under his leadership. Assisting Minister Abdul Allah was Min. Abdul Wali Muhammad (1954-1991 May Allah Be Pleased), who had just arrived at the Nation of Islam’s Chicago headquarters in 1982.
Minister Abdul Wali Muhammad assumed the post of Editor-in-Chief in 1984 and introduced a higher level of technology to The Final Call, particularly utilizing personal computers to automate every department, and utilizing state-of-the-art equipment in the production department. Because Minister Farrakhan’s media outreach extended chiefly through the newspaper, Brother Wali made The Final Call the tie that bound Black America together.
Indeed, circulation greatly increased during his years at the helm. The Final Call’s coverage of Minister Farrakhan—who was then amajor media topic and would become even more so—wascrucial in bringing clarity and truth to the distortions in themainstream media about his message for years to come.
The year 1991 ended with the passing of Editor-in-Chief Minister Abdul Wali Muhammad, at the age of 37 on Dec. 26,1991. “The Nation mourns the passing of one of its brightest stars, Minister Abdul Wali Muhammad,” Minister Farrakhan said. “His brilliant mind reflected in his speech and in his pen will be greatly missed among us.
I personally have lost a brother, a companion, a friend and a son in the most difficult of all endeavors, the transformation of the lives of our people here and throughout the world. I thank Allah (God) for the privilege and honor of having known him. His memory shall be with me to my dying day and his work shall endure in the history of the Nation of Islam.”
Indeed, The Final Call’s Abdul Wali Muhammad years were extraordinary to say the least. The Nation of Islam’s rapid rebuilding and popularity was authoritatively captured in the pages of The Final Call.
Rise, You Mighty Nation, Rise!
Under the guidance of Minister Farrakhan, Brother Wali’s assistant, Brother James G. Muhammad, would carry the journalistic torch of The Final Call to new heights as he assumed the post of Editor-in-Chief in January 1992. Keeping in tune with Brother Wali’s desire to stay on the cutting edge of technology, Brother James and his staff expanded the use of computer-based technology, which was able to produce every facet of the paper in-house, except the actual printing of the paper, which will be a reality in the near future.
The Final Call Online Edition was initially started as a simple promotional tool developed by Nation of Islam college students for the historic Million Man March in 1995. Receiving millions of visits since its inception, it has grown into the online companion to The Final Call Newspaper.
Following in that great tradition of the Nation of Islam’s publications, The Final Call Online Edition aims to serve as an essential source of information for those who thirst for uncompromised reporting in today’s arena of corporate-driven media.
On April 16, 1996, The Final Call announced, the newspaper began its weekly publication schedule. “Following the legacy of the Muhammad Speaks newspaper, published by the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, we plan to maintain and, in fact, increase our standard of excellence in bringing information to the Black community,” the paper noted.
Today, the weekly Final Call Newspaper serves a readership of diverse economic and educational backgrounds, including circulation in North America, Europe, Africa and the Caribbean. Dora Muhammad assumed the editorial helm after James G. Muhammad. She was the first female to hold the editorial reins of The Final Call.
Nation of Islam General Counsel Abdul Arif Muhammad served as The Final Call’s Editor-in-Chief between the years 2007 through 2009 and in April 2009, Brother Naba’a Muhammad (formerly known as Richard Muhammad) became the Editor-in-Chief. Under his leadership, The Final Call began publishing a UK/International edition and in January 2014, The Final Call launched its digital edition.
Now subscribers can read each week’s edition of The Final Call anytime, anywhere on their computer, tablet, or smartphone. The Final Call Digital Edition is the same complete edition as the print version with additional interactive features!
The Final Call uses state-of-the-art production technology and its content offers readers in-depth original reporting and news analysis. No other newspaper in the country tackles the most controversial issues as aggressively as The Final Call.
