He is a man. Not a myth, not a menace. A man.

His name is Brother Larry Hoover. And for over five decades, he has lived in a caged America— unseen, unheard, and too often, unloved. But he is still a man. A husband. A father. A grandfather. A human soul. And he has suffered.

Brother Larry is approaching 75 years old, an elder now. His beard is graying. His body has weathered the storms of age, isolation, and injustice. But his mind is sharp, and his spirit remains strong. Despite being buried in solitary confinement for over 30 years, he is not broken. He has grown. He has repented. He has evolved.

We often say redemption is possible. But when a Black man seeks it—especially a man with a past—this society tries to deny it. The same America that profits from our pain resists the very idea that we can change. But Brother Larry did change. He changed decades ago. And the record shows it.

Yet through it all, Brother Larry was kept in a dungeon. Through it all, his family suffered.

His wife, his children, his grandchildren and extended family—all have endured the pain of separation, the dehumanization of watching a loved one locked away with no end in sight. No holiday dinners. No family celebrations. No embrace outside of razor wire and concrete.

But still, he remained committed to peace. To growth. To community. To faith.

And yet, Brother Larry remains behind bars.

The federal government has done its part—commuting his sentence. But the state of Illinois has not. The same state that talks about equity and inclusion can open the door to mercy. Governor JB Pritzker with the support of Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton, a Black woman, has the power to act.

They have the power to end this prolonged punishment. They have the power to free him through commuting his state sentence of a couple hundred years in prison or granting a pardon.

This is not about politics. This is about principle. About humanity. About justice.

Brother Larry has served time. He has served 52 years. He has paid a price no man should have to pay—not just for his own actions, but for the projections and fears of a nation that refuses to forgive Black men who try to heal.

Brother Larry is not a perfect man. But he is a man. He is a man who has sought to rebuild what was broken, to uplift what was torn down, to mentor those who were lost. He has done what we ask of the incarcerated—to reform, to reflect, to restore.

Not just because the law says so. Not just because the sentence has outlived the crime. But because he is human. Because his family needs him. Because he has already been redeemed.

And because he is still a man.

Naba’a Muhammad, editor-in-chief of The Final Call newspaper. Find him on Facebook. Follow @RMfinalcall on X and Instagram.

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A recent investigation by ProPublica and the Invisible Institute exposed the ugly underbelly of this situation—Alexus, harassed during her training, did what so many are taught to do: speak up, file a report, seek justice.

What did she get in return? Not support. Not protection. She was fired.

This wasn’t some misunderstanding, this wasn’t a gray area, and it certainly wasn’t justice. This was a message—a message to every Black woman: you are not safe.

It is emblematic of the systemic sickness that infects police departments across this country—particularly in cities like Chicago, which has paid over $800 million for police misconduct settlements and attorneys’ fees since the dawn of the millennium.

That’s almost $1 billion with no return on investment.

Money flows freely when it comes to covering up crimes committed by police, yet those same city leaders cry poverty when it’s time to fund schools, pay teachers, or support the elderly or the unhoused. Meanwhile, serial abusers in the ranks of law enforcement remain shielded, promoted—even honored.

Cariol Horne is a former Buffalo, N.Y., police officer and a living example of what a righteous law enforcer looks like. In 2006, she physically intervened to stop a fellow officer—a White cop—from choking a handcuffed Black man. The White cop punched her in the face and she said she suffered a rotator cuff injury while restrained by other officers.

For her heroism? She was fired. Ostracized. Punished.

In 2008, she faced 13 departmental disciplinary charges, and after a public hearing, 11 were sustained. She was dismissed in May 2008. She lost her career and her pension, which was later restored. The Fruit of Islam (F.O.I., the men of the Nation of Islam) in Buffalo stood with her and escorted her to a police station when she was ordered to come back to work prior to her dismissal.

The officer Cariol stopped later served jail time for civil rights violations, yet he successfully blocked her back pay from the city due to a defamation suit—a suit Cariol says she lost by default after being misinformed about her court date.

In 2022, during a catastrophic snowstorm, Cariol remained active in her community, helping coordinate emergency aid when official services were unavailable. Through Facebook groups and local coordination, Black folk worked together to rescue those stranded.

It led to a confrontation with Black officers who had two Black women handcuffed and sitting in deep snow during the legendary Christmas blizzard. People died in that blizzard, she said.

Cariol said she calmly asked the Black cop about getting the women off the ground. He exploded, demanded that she leave, threatened to throw her in the snow if she didn’t, and arrest her. He made good on his promise, slamming her in the snow, in another classic Buffalo PD episode, she said.

Later, prosecutors painted me as someone looking for attention, not justice, she continued. The jury didn’t find me guilty of harassment or disorderly conduct—just obstruction, Cariol noted. My attorney rightly argued that without evidence of force or threat, obstruction doesn’t hold. But justice in cases like mine often don’t hang on facts, she observed.

As Cariol pointed out in an interview, the “Blue Wall of Silence” isn’t about Black versus White. It’s about protecting the system—a system that rewards complicity and punishes accountability, no matter your skin color. Even the Black officers’ association in Buffalo turned against her when she pointed out the wrongs of Black officers …,” Cariol said.

But her spirit could not be broken. Cariol always fought back, and following public outcry after the 2020 murder of George Floyd, her persistence birthed Cariol’s Law in Buffalo—a legal requirement that police officers intervene when witnessing abuse by fellow officers.

Yet here we are in 2025, and even with laws like hers on the books, they are not enforced. Meanwhile, officers continue to maim and kill Black men, women, and children—most often without consequence. In fact, some are being rewarded for taking lives, even when procedures are ignored and protocol is tossed aside.

This is not about reform. This is about a system that cannot be reformed.

If the police academy—a supposed place of discipline, training, and a sacred oath to serve—is allowed to cover up abuse and destroy a Black woman for simply seeking justice, what hope is there for the Black woman walking down the street? For the sister driving home from work? For the mother dropping her child off at school?

If we are serious about Black lives, we must be extremely serious about the lives of Black women. If we will not come together to preserve, protect and defend our women, as the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad taught our people, what type of men are we?

If we continue to depend on systems built to control and destroy us for our survival, what kind of people are we?

Naba’a Muhammad, editor-in-chief of The Final Call newspaper, can be reached via www.finalcall.com and straightwords4@gmail.com. Find him on Facebook. Follow @RMfinalcall on X and Instagram.

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We should thank Mr. Trump for his action, whatever his motivation, as he did something that neither Democratic presidents Joe Biden nor Barack Obama did. We can be grateful for what the decision means to Brother Larry, his family, and all those who have worked for decades for his release.

If the governor of Illinois, Democrat JB Pritzker, acts in similar ways, we can see a Black man released from prison who can help us deal with the problem of violence and criminality among us, and help to redirect youth.

“Larry Hoover is not in prison because he was such a bad man; he’s in prison because he was so good (at organizing) young Black people—and in that, they were afraid of him. So he is in prison, and they don’t want to let him out; but soon they’ll have to let him out.

He deserves to be out here with us helping to clean up our communities, and as the Honorable Elijah Muhammad said, ‘Make where we live a safe, clean, successful community.’

That’s within our power to do,” said the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, speaking September 14, 2015, in Charleston, S.C. His message was webcast to street organizations who gathered together in Charleston, Columbia and Greenville, S.C.

“What is a ‘political prisoner?’ According to the American Heritage Dictionary, a ‘political prisoner’ is ‘a person who has been imprisoned for holding or advocating dissenting political views,’” the Minister stated during “The Time and What Must Be Done,” in Part 24 of his 58-week lecture series. He spoke June 22, 2013.

He designated Larry Hoover as a political prisoner. “After he changed that name to mean Growth and Development, he then started pushing members of the Gangster Disciples into school to get a high school education, and go on to do constructive things.

“He was more dangerous doing that than selling drugs—so you arrested him while he was in prison, and gave him six life terms! Six! You never intend for my brother to get out of prison!

“You did the same to Chief Malik Ka’bah, a.k.a. ‘Jeff Fort’ of the Blackstone Rangers (‘Black P. Stone Nation.’) They’re all in the same prison in Florence, Colorado, maximum security; in prison 23 hours a day, with only 1 hour out. But you have not been able to break them;

Jamil Al-Amin is there because he fights for the Liberation of Black people, and he fights for Islam! Soon, you will be released; otherwise, you would make God and His prophets ‘liars.’ The ‘captives’ that are bound will eventually be set free,” said Minister Farrakhan.

The Perlmutter Center for Legal Justice at Cardozo Law announced on May 29 that Brother Larry had been granted clemency after serving over 52 years in prison.

“Hoover, now 74 years old, was convicted of drug offenses that resulted in multiple life sentences in Federal Prison. He has spent the last thirty years at the ADX Detention Facility in Florence, Colorado, known as the harshest ‘supermax’ federal prison in the country. He has been in solitary confinement for more than two decades.

“Mr. Hoover worked tirelessly to transform his life. Despite the lack of programming available to inmates at ADX Florence, a supermax prison, he overcame his disability and taught himself how to read, obtained his GED, and enrolled in numerous courses including science, history, and health. Mr. Hoover has matured intellectually and socially and has developed a passion for empowering at-risk youth.

“Mr. Hoover’s mission in life is to teach at-risk youth the dangers of gangs and street life. He has long ago denounced gangs and his prior affiliation in gang activity. He will be a huge asset to his community moving forward.”

“Nearly 30 years ago, Larry Hoover received several life sentences on drug offenses. His original punishment became vastly disproportionate to that of his co-defendants, two of whom had their life sentences reduced to just 25 years,” added Joshua Dubin, executive director of the Perlmutter Center for Legal Justice. “Mr. Hoover’s clemency is overdue, and, despite his life sentence, he never lost hope.”

Our sister, Alice Marie Johnson was released from prison after President Trump commuted her sentence on June 6, 2018, and on August 8, 2020, he granted her a full pardon. She was sentenced to 25 years in prison for a non-violent drug offense.

Ms. Johnson is now Mr. Trump’s pardon czar, looking at the cases of those locked down in federal prisons.

What was her role in Brother Larry’s commutation and is there someone better to look at presidential pardons and commutations? The president has thrown out the old system where the Justice Department controlled such recommendations. That’s a good thing.

Studies have shown racial disparity in presidential pardons, and commutations with Whites much more likely to receive these forms of clemency compared to non-Whites and especially Black people.

According to a ProPublica-Washington Post story published in 2011, “Blacks had the poorest chance of receiving the president’s ultimate act of mercy.”

They reported in 2011 that President Obama, at the time, had pardoned 22 people, two of them non-White, and continued relying on the Justice Department pardon office.

“From 2001 to 2008, (President George W. Bush) issued decisions in 1,918 pardon cases sent to him by the Justice Department, most involving nonviolent drug or financial crimes. He pardoned 189 people—all but 13 of whom were White. Seven pardons went to blacks, four to Hispanics, one to an Asian and one to a Native American,” they noted.

“A Black, first-time drug offender—a Vietnam veteran who got probation in South Carolina for possessing 1.1 grams of crack—was turned down. A White, fourth-time drug offender who did prison time for selling 1,050 grams of methamphetamine was pardoned,” the investigation discovered.

ProPublica and the Post reported that all of the drug offenders forgiven during the Bush administration at the pardon attorney’s recommendation—34 of them—were White.

“When the effects of those factors and others were controlled using statistical methods, however, race emerged as one of the strongest predictors of a pardon,” the report noted. “None of the 62 African Americans in the random sample received a pardon,” the ProPublica-Post reporting continued.

It’s time to free Larry Hoover.

—Naba’a Muhammad,

editor-in-chief, The Final Call

The post The Case of Larry Hoover appeared first on Final Call News.

With his final words, he called for his late mother.

The stark cruelty, arrogance and barbarity of taking someone’s life in broad daylight in front of witnesses sparked protests across the globe and thousands took to U.S. streets condemning what their eyes had seen.

Promises of police reform, greater resources for Black people and pledges from politicians, White corporations and institutions flooded in. Diversity, equity and inclusion were the watchwords of the day. For a while, money flowed in, too.

Those things and those attitudes are gone. President Donald Trump is preaching a gospel of White grievance and vengeance for White suffering, smashing any thought, any approach, any hope that racial diversity or racial identity might even be mentioned, unless it is White identity.

“Five years later of George Floyd being lynched in the streets of Minneapolis, and six years later of Elijah McClain being lynched in the city of Aurora, I think one of the resounding questions that I tend to ask myself in this season is where did all the good allies go?”

asked MiDian Shofner, a Denver-based activist. “We have watched individuals that wanted to stand in solidarity, all of a sudden proved to us that that was a trend. It was not a transformation.”

As we remember George Floyd, Elijah McClain, and countless others, we must confront the reality that true integration has never been achieved, she argued. And she added: performative allyship must end and reparations must be viewed as a long-term solution, not a temporary fix.

The trials of officers involved in cases of police brutality are stacked against Black victims and convictions are rare. The case of Derek Chauvin, who was found guilty of George Floyd’s murder, is an exception.

The intersection of 38th Street and Chicago Avenue in South Minneapolis, where George’s life was taken, remains a gathering place to honor and remember him.

Darnella Frazier, a courageous high school student, recorded the harrowing video of George’s murder. Her footage played a crucial role in the Chauvin trial and exposed a tragedy that ignited international protests. Her bravery was rewarded with an honorary Pulitzer Prize. She still struggles with what she saw, as does her young cousin, who was with her.

In the aftermath of George’s killing, four Minneapolis police officers were convicted on state and federal charges. Chauvin received a state sentence of 22.5 years and a concurrent federal sentence of 21 years.

The other officers involved, Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng, and Tou Thao, were also convicted and received varying sentences for their roles in the incident.

Lane was found guilty of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter and federal civil rights violations. He was sentenced to three years in state prison and 2.5 years in federal prison.

Kueng and Thao were sentenced in federal court for violating George’s civil rights. Kueng received a three-year sentence, while Thao was sentenced to 3.5 years. Their convictions reflect their failure to intervene during the incident.

MiDian reminds us that the struggle continues. She cites the 2025 death of Jalin Seabron, a 23-year-old Black man killed by a White deputy in Douglas County, Colorado. Jalin was legally carrying a firearm, holding it at his side, protecting his pregnant girlfriend after an altercation broke out in an arcade bar.

He was shot nine times, several in his back, within seconds of the deputy’s arrival, without any order to drop the weapon, she continued. His death, much like Floyd’s, is a stark reminder of the fragility of Black life in this country.

“We never saw integration. We only saw desegregation, which again was a White man’s answer to a problem,” said MiDian. “So right in our face, they were telling us that you will never see integration. They didn’t even want to call it that.

They just went with desegregation. And so, the unintended consequences there were we thought that we were headed in a direction of progress, only for our Black doctors, our Black teachers, our Black lawyers, our Black judges to be stripped of their position and replaced with White people.

And then the Black community is now coming to be under their authority. But we might be in a space where segregation truly means separation. And that might equate to safety.”

The activist, wife and mother said “segregation,” once considered a relic of the past, may be the solution if Whites will not yield power. Blacks have capital, innovation, educational and high-lev

el business experiences, and business licenses now in their possession, she notes.

The call for “segregation,” once seen as a step backward, may now be the key to our safety and prosperity, she said. It is time for us to embrace our power, support one another, and build a future where we can thrive independently, she argued.

This country, which has thrived on the contributions of Black individuals, lacks culture, happiness, and joy without us, MiDian continued. “It is time for us to take care of ourselves, flaws and all, and hold the tension within our own community.”

Many are questioning what’s next. The efforts of activists like Tamika Mallory, who tirelessly fought for justice in Louisville following the senseless 2020 police killing of Breonna Taylor, have highlighted the need for a new approach. Despite dedication, the response of city officials was dismissive and hostile, leaving many disillusioned and searching for alternatives.

The Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad’s teachings on separation resonate deeply in this context: it is the best and only solution for Black people. Separation, unlike integration, involves two equals deciding to end their relationship.

It is a conscious choice to break free from a system that has never integrated us. Chicago remains one of the most racially divided cities in America, with residential patterns that favor White communities and maintain their resources.

The racial division ties into schools, where property taxes fund better education for White children, helping to perpetuate a cycle of racial inequality. The major civil rights legislation of 1965 and the subsequent affirmative action policies were mild remedies that failed to solve the race problem.

The fight for integration has shown us that living with Caucasian people does not work. The hope for change, once symbolized by marches and protests, is fading as the reality of pernicious racism becomes undeniable.

The Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad called for a separate state or territory where the descendants of those who suffered from American slavery could build their own reality with support for 20 to 25 years until we were able to go for self fully.

As we reflect on our history and the ongoing struggle for a full and complete freedom, it is clear that the path forward lies in taking control of our destiny.

Naba’a Muhammad, editor-in-chief of The Final Call newspaper, can be reached via www.finalcall.com and straightwords4@gmail.com. Find him on Facebook. Follow @RMfinalcall on X and Instagram.

The post The murder of George Floyd and the search for solutions appeared first on Final Call News.

They reflect intrinsic values and inherent gifts within us, regardless of wealth, celebrity, or influence. They share knowledge to help us discover our true selves and power.

The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan and Nation of Islam First Lady Mother Khadijah Farrakhan, who were honored May 11 at The Salaam Restaurant in Chicago, are two such persons.

It was Minister Farrakhan’s 92nd birth anniversary and Mother’s Day.

When you look at the honors accorded to this man whose success is due to Almighty God, Allah, you see his most incredible helper has been his wife, Mother Khadijah.

They were honored by people across the globe on social media or different public “shout outs,” some over radio stations. They were honored by family, Believers, religious leaders, political leaders, some famous friends and old, longtime friends.

Our people wished them well and wished Minister Farrakhan many more years of life to enjoy and to help guide us.

It is fitting for a man who worked for over 70 years to uplift us to be accorded such respect and appreciation. It shows something is changing in the hearts and minds of our people. Throughout our history, the enemy has been successful in turning our people against the very leaders who were most dedicated to our success and our survival.

Only later did we learn that the Honorable Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Noble Drew Ali, Paul Robeson, the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, leaders of the Black Panther Party, and other nationalist groups labeled enemies by the state were suffering and dying for us.

They were mislabeled as violent, extremists, and radicals to scare us away from light carried to dispel darkness imposed by our slavemasters and their children.

Today, however, more and more of the masses of our people are rejecting the views, influence and analysis of so-called leaders who are enemy-approved.

Despite all of the foes, Jewish groups, plots, condemnations, repudiations, lies, misinterpretations, and media whiteouts, a solid number of our people stand with Farrakhan.

They are unmoved by the open enemy’s attempts to publicly ban him and privately and publicly crucify those who would even take a picture with him, let alone support him to help our degraded people rise.

During his 1984 presidential campaign, Reverend Jesse Jackson used unwise language in what he thought was an off-the-record media conversation. His words about “Hymietown,” a reference to Jewish power in New York, allowed Jews to attack him.

They sought to ruin the civil rights leader because he wanted a balanced U.S. policy in the Middle East. Death threats against Rev. Jackson increased. Minister Farrakhan defended his brother and called for dialogue.

“I say to you as intelligent people, sit down and talk with Rev. Jackson. Sit down, Jewish leaders, and talk with us. We are ready to talk with you. Sit down and talk like intelligent people who have a future at stake.

But if you harm this brother, I warn you in the name of Allah, this will be the last one you harm,” Minister Farrakhan said at a February 25, 1984, rally on behalf of Rev. Jackson.

“We are not making any idle threats, we have no weapons, we [don’t] carry so much as a pen knife. But I do tell the world that Almighty God Allah is backing us up in what we say and what we do, and we warn you in His name leave this servant of Almighty God alone. Leave him alone. If you want to defeat him, defeat him at the polls. We can stand to lose an election, but we cannot stand to lose our brother … .”

Nathan Perlmutter of the ADL and Nat Hentoff of the New York-based Village Voice declared him the “New Black Hitler.”

Perhaps we don’t fully understand how insulting, degrading, and dangerous that label is. Here is a good man, a divine man, a compassionate man, who has never harmed anyone, called by the name of one of the worst of the White man’s wicked murderers. Black America should have risen up outraged by such scornful abuse.

Despite their best efforts, these enemies have not been able to stop Minister Farrakhan.

Minister Farrakhan has gone everywhere to share the light of the Teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. He rebuilt the destroyed Nation of Islam, starting in 1977. He established institutions like The National Center which houses Mosque Maryam, the flagship mosque for the Nation of Islam in Chicago.

He established an incredible, cutting-edge audio-video ministry that allows his words to be distributed to anyone who wishes to hear or learn the truth.

He established over 100 mosques and study groups in the U.S. and abroad. He has sought to end strife between our people in the entertainment industry, in our communities and on the world stage.

He has spoken beautifully about the wonders and the gifts of the Black woman, in fact, all women, and why women must never be oppressed. Like his spiritual father, the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad.

He taught us the proper value of the Black woman and how she must be respected and protected in this decadent, dangerous wilderness of North America as we live among these uncivilized demons.

He has advocated for a true and proper education, steeped in a deep knowledge and love of self. He reestablished Muhammad University of Islam around the country and associated schools sprang up. Independent schools have arisen to raise our children so that they will never be the slaves and tools of our enemy.

Minister Farrakhan has inspired entrepreneurs inside and outside of the Nation of Islam. He spoke out for reparations when anyone who advocated such was called a madman or living in a fantasy. Minister Farrakhan also called for and convened the historic Million Man March on October 16, 1995 and nearly two million men showed up.

Our people are falling more and more in love with the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad as they learn the truth about him. That is only possible because the Minister put his teacher in proper perspective and in his proper divine place.

Like his teacher, Minister Farrakhan has been a divine warner to the nations of the earth, its leaders and our people declaring that the prophesied Day of Judgment is here. He has sought and still seeks to save lives by delivering Allah, God’s word. What is more worthy of honor, respect and appreciation?

The post An Honorable Man and Divine Servant appeared first on Final Call News.

That’s important. But any discussion about reparations must include Blacks in America and the Diaspora as major players, given our history and suffering.

What did slavery do to the Motherland? “Africa was under siege,” said Hilary Brown, who represented the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). “Her political, economic and social systems thrown into chaotic instability as Europe plundered the continent for her most valuable asset, her people,” she added.

The Black holocaust ripped millions from the Motherland during the transatlantic slave trade and dropped them into hell in the Western hemisphere.

Meanwhile, the massive displacement and destruction of African society allowed Europeans to colonize the continent, wax rich off of her people and resources—and maintain a vicious exploitation and neo-colonialism that persists today.

“Western extortion of Africa continues, as do wars within the continent, often fought with guns supplied by westerners wanting the cheapest access to vital raw materials,” wrote Marika Sherwood for revealinghistories.org.uk.

While leaders in the Sahel region are fighting to push European powers, corporations and the U.S. out, none of these blood suckers will go quietly. When they are quiet, they plot subversive activity and the deaths of the leaders of this movement.

In early April, three U.S. citizens were sent back to America after death sentences for attempting to overthrow the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2024 were commuted.

It appears they will face prosecution in the U.S. The release came as the DRC and the Trump administration are negotiating what has been called a multi-billion-dollar deal to exploit rare minerals in the country. The two countries are also reportedly working on a security deal as well.

So much for self-determination and self-development in 2025.

The Congo is ranked as the world’s richest country in resources, which are estimated at $24 trillion, Fox News noted. But Congo has yet to control and exploit those resources for her own development.

Much of the UN discussion centered on “greater collaboration between governments, civil society and regional organizations to create a system that would compensate Africa and the African diaspora for the enduring legacies of colonialism, enslavement, apartheid and genocide between the 16th and 19th centuries,” UN News reported.

The theme for a joint 2025 effort between CARICOM and the African Union is “Justice for Africans and the People of African Descent through reparations.”

Ms. Brown argued, a “clear, diplomatic and advocacy strategy to advance the agenda through joint action in the United Nations, the Commonwealth, and other intergovernmental bodies” is needed.

She stressed the need “to negotiate with all the entities that benefited from African enslavement:  the governments, the universities, the church, the private sector.”

Nkechi Taifa, longtime reparations activist and director of the U.S.-based Reparation Education Project, stressed it was “not governments but the unstoppable fire of the people that ignited the global movement for reparations.”

She added that UN forums “must and can continue to be a space where civil society and government meet as equals helping to shape, not shadow, global reparations agendas.”

Slavery and the transatlantic slave trade are crimes against humanity, according to the United Nations, which has called for reparations to undue its harm and fight ongoing racism.

What did the transatlantic slave trade do to Blacks torn from the continent?

“The abduction, abuse, and enslavement of Africans by Europeans for nearly five centuries dramatically altered the global landscape and created a legacy of suffering and bigotry that can still be seen today,”

The Equal Justice Institute pointed out. “The Transatlantic Slave Trade represents one of the most violent, traumatizing, and horrific eras in world history,” it added.

“According to the late, great scholar W.E.B. DuBois, a conservative estimate of Black lives lost in the Middle Passage was from 50 million to 100 million Black lives,” the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan said as he laid out the case for reparations in a legendary message delivered in Atlanta in 1990.

“Well, if 100 million of us lost our lives in the Middle Passage, add it up. What is one Black life worth? Three hundred years working from ‘can’t see morning to can’t see night’ for no pay. Three hundred years working millions of slaves for nothing. Add it up! Add it up! Add it up!” he declared.

“The killing of our fathers and mothers after mating them like animals, then taking the children and naming us after the slave master, stripping us of our language, our God, our religion, our minds. Add it up! Add it up.”

He pointed out how Blacks had fought in all of America’s wars and had not received freedom, justice nor equality.

“You brought us into religion, not to make us closer to Jesus, but to turn us inside out in Jesus’ name. You know Jesus was no White man. Look at him. The Bible says he had hair like lamb’s wool, and feet like brass burnt in an oven. But you make us White-minded and destroyed our love for ourselves. Add it up!” he continued.

“We developed leaders to help us. Marcus Garvey came and talked to us, but here in Georgia you trumped up charges against him and you brought him into court and you lied on him and you sent him to prison unjustly.

Then you deported him and broke his movement. Only later did we learn that Garvey was a good man, he had a good movement, he had a good program, but you destroyed it all. Add it up. Add it up. Add it up.

“In the 1960s, when Black folk began to move, we had CORE, SNCC, the NAACP, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the Black Panthers, the Nation of Islam.

All of these brothers and sisters were fighting for the liberation of Black people, but there in Washington, D.C., the government of America started plotting against our leaders, and we lost Whitney Young off the coast of Africa under suspicious circumstances.

We lost Medgar Evers. They broke up CORE. They broke up SNCC. They broke up the organization called Us (under Ron Karenga). They jailed the leaders of the Republic of New Africa. They murdered Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. They weakened the NAACP and the Urban League.

“Everything that fought for justice for us, they tore it up and tore it down. I say, add it up. America owes the Black man. Add it up.

“What is the life of Martin Luther King worth? What is the life of Malcolm X worth? What is the life of our leaders worth? What is the life of Louis Farrakhan worth? You want me dead, but I say you don’t want that. You don’t really want that. If you know what I know, you don’t want that. No, you don’t want that.

“The way God looks at this thing, the present generation of Whites, they didn’t do this to us. The present generation of Whites are innocent of what their grandfathers did, but they are in a privileged position because of what their fathers did; and we’re in a hell of a condition because of what their fathers did,” Minister Farrakhan continued.

“So, if you, the present generation of Whites, want to escape what is justly due, then they’ve got to do the right thing. They’ve got to do justice by the Black man,” he said.

“Now what does justice look like? If you add it up … if you add it up White folks, you are going to have to give us the whole country. Add it up, White man. The whole thing belongs to the oppressed, if you add it up.

We’re not asking for the whole thing, but we do deserve the whole thing. Just give us some of it and let us go to build a nation for ourselves,” Minister Farrakhan continued.

 “When I ask for reparations, I’m asking you to save your life. But if you don’t want to save your life, then leave it to God. He’ll settle it.”

Naba’a Muhammad is editor-in-chief of The Final Call newspaper. He can be reached via www.finalcall.com and straightwords4@gmail.com. Find him on Facebook. Follow @RMfinalcall on X and Instagram.

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Attiyya Maryam, after a stellar high school performance alongside undergraduate and medical school at two respected East Coast universities, is headed to a major Southern hospital.

She wants to become an obstetrician and gynecologist—and is looking to save the lives of Black women so they don’t die in childbirth. As The Final Call reported recently, “Black women already have a higher maternal mortality rate than women of other races.

They die from pregnancy-related complications almost five times more than Asian women, three times more than White women and about four times more than Hispanic women of any race.”

“I came in thinking I wanted to be a doctor, but I didn’t really have any passion behind it at that point,” Sister Attiyya explained in a separate interview. “I used my four years in college to really discover what the field would mean for me.

And so was really towards the end of my undergraduate career where I said, ‘okay, I really want to be a doctor because I know this is what I’m destined to do.’ This is God’s plan for my life.”

The 2025 Main Residency Match was the largest ever in the program’s 73-year history, with 43,237 total positions offered—up 4.2 percent over 2024, noted the American Medical Association.

There were 1,734 more certified positions offered this year compared with last year, 231 more certified programs and 877 more positions in primary care. The total number of applicants were up too: 52,498 applicants registered for the match, 2,085 more than last year—a 4.1 percent increase, the association reported.

But all the news for Black medical students is not good news. Dr. David Skorton, president and CEO of the Association of American Medical Colleges, wrote earlier this year about how enrollment of Black medical students has fallen.

“The percentage of Black first-year medical students fell 11.6 percent in the 2024-25 school year. The AAMC notes it’s the third consecutive year that there’s been a drop in Black matriculants, but the one-year decline is still significant,” he wrote.

He and others blame a Supreme Court decision that said race could not be considered in admissions.

Studies suggest that Black patients experience better health outcomes, including increased life expectancy and reduced mortality rates, when they have access to Black doctors. This is likely due to factors like increased trust, improved communication, and more culturally competent care, say experts.

A higher level of trust and communication can lead to increased adherence to treatment plans, and a greater willingness to engage in preventative care. Black doctors may also have a deeper understanding of the cultural and social factors that can impact the health of Black patients, allowing them to provide more tailored and effective care.

Black physicians are more likely to practice in underserved communities, which can improve access to healthcare for Black patients. Studies have shown that a greater representation of Black doctors in a community is associated with reduced health disparities between Black and White individuals. Research also indicates that life expectancy is longer among Black individuals in areas with higher ratios of Black primary care physicians.

Despite the high court ruling and other opposition, it’s up to us to encourage and support our children as we encourage them to pursue medicine, engineering and the hard sciences. That means we have to sacrifice time, money, energy, cooperate and make high academic achievement a highly valued virtue among us.

It’s not unusual to encounter Nigerian American, Palestinian American, Arab American, and Indian American physicians in disproportionate numbers when we seek medical care. These cultures push for children to become physicians and have role models and resources in their communities.

As the Nation of Islam moves closer to 100 years of existence in the West, a respect for and aspiring to the hard sciences—as the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad instructed us—is pervasive. That focus is being baked into our culture and many of our children are pursuing medical training and medical careers.

We celebrate them and uplift them as others praise great athletes. We see them as our stars and critical components in the salvation of our suffering community.

A major factor in Attiyya’s decision to become a doctor was “learning really about the depth of the maternal mortality crisis in our country and how it affects Black women. And I thought that there are ways that I could make an impact.”

“One of those was becoming a physician and also getting my master’s in public health as well to really be able to understand how we can prevent this disparity from continuing to grow in today’s day and age,” she said.

“The master’s in public health, in particular, really equips you,” she continued. “Becoming a doctor is a whole separate thing, but you still need knowledge of what’s going on in the community, understanding the numbers and the people that it’s impacting,” she explained.

While medical school and education can be expensive with an expected financial windfall in the end, it’s obvious money doesn’t motivate Attiyyah.

She wants to work in community care or other spaces that allow her to impact her community, Black people.

“I’m so grateful to Allah for this blessing and the fact that it happened during Ramadan. But I’m so proud of Atiyyah,” said Shahid M. Allah of his daughter. He is a longtime member of the Nation of Islam, lecturer and author. Match Day occurred on March 21.

“Born on October 7, 1998, on the Honorable Elijah Muhammad’s birthday, she was always focused, always pleasant, always strong of mind and soft-spoken and kind,” he said.

“All I could do was thank Allah for the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad and the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan for training us up. I thank (Allah) over and over again for the ability to be able to produce life and bring life on the planet.”

Attiyya has some wisdom to share with those who may want to become doctors or enter healthcare.

“Black people, we don’t always come from the strongest high schools and things like that,” Attiyya observed. “So going into college, if you know that you want to pursue a difficult field like computer science, becoming an attorney, becoming a physician, nursing, very difficult fields, you need to invest in that early.

“I would say rely heavily on tutors or mentors in your community that may have already done it that can equip you with the knowledge. So, for example, I didn’t know many medical students before I went to medical school, but I relied heavily on my pre-health office and they gave me the guidance so I didn’t have to do it all by myself.

“They told me when I needed things that I needed to change to make me a great candidate for medical school. For example, they told me I needed to take a year off after I graduated college just to gain more clinical experience and things like that. And they said they felt that would make me a competitive applicant.

“They were absolutely right because I got accepted to eight medical schools, which is a lot of medical schools to get accepted to,” she said.

“So be willing to take criticism, rely heavily on your mentors, invest in what you want to pursue early on, and go full force after it,” Attiyya advised. “Don’t be lazy in what you want to pursue. You have to really put your all into it, if you want to get good outcomes.”

—Naba’a Muhammad, editor-in-chief, The Final Call

The post Celebrating our children and the art of healing, a perfect match! appeared first on Final Call News.

Some felt she was mocking the BBL (Brazilian Butt Lift) craze, the entertainment industry, and widespread encouragement of body-altering procedures.

There were references to Sara Saartjie Baartman (1789-1815), “one of the first black women known to be subjugated to human sexual trafficking. She was derisively named the ‘Hottentot Venus’ by Europeans as her body would be publicly examined and exposed inhumanly throughout her young life.

Moreover, her experience reinforced the already existing and extremely negative sexual fascination with African women’s bodies by the people of Europe,” wrote  Mikelle Howard for BlackPast.org.

At age 16, the South African girl was sold into slavery by the Dutch. She was brought to “England and Ireland where she would work as a domestic servant (since, technically, slavery had been abolished in Great Britain at that time).

Additionally, she would be exhibited for entertainment purposes. … However, the contract was false on all details, and her enslavement continued for the remainder of her life,” observed Howard.

Later she was taken to France and sold to an exhibitor who showcased animals and put her on public display in and around Paris. “He also allowed her to be sexually abused by patrons willing to pay for her defilement. …

Sara Saartjie Baartman died in Paris on December 29, 1815, at the age of 26 for unknown reasons. Even after her death, many of her body parts would go on display at the Musée de l’Homme (Museum of Man).

In Paris to support racist theories about people of African ancestry. Some of the body parts remained on display until 1974,” Howard wrote.

The over-sexualization of Black women and girls has always been a problem. Even the voluptuousness of Black women has been used to misportray them as immoral, licentious animals. Such lies justified controlling, abusing and exploiting Black women during and after slavery.

An obsession with the body of the Black woman continues in entertainment, is prevalent on social media and aims to keep her in a degraded position. It ignores her gifts, skills and talents. It reduces her to body parts.

While surgical enhancement may be prevalent today, we should not forget the recent past. Black women died and suffered during illegal silicone injection parties.

In 2017, FDA warned serious injuries and disfigurement could  “result from using injectable silicone or products being falsely marketed as FDA-approved dermal fillers for the purpose of enhancing the size of their buttocks, breasts and other body parts.”

What drives Black females to feel a need for increased physical adornments?

Melissa, an educator and mother, sees several things at work: Females trying to make themselves more attractive to men. False but influential depictions of women on social media, reality TV and the music industry.

A lack of understanding of self and history and a constant battle to affirm the beauty and value of Black women and girls in a world dominated by White beauty standards.

“Young girls especially are suffering with that. Young girls want a BBL because the ones with that seem to be getting the most attention. Even though when they’re getting these looks, it looks unnatural. So I think it has a lot to do with self-esteem and realizing that you are enough.”

Her father built her self-image by telling Melissa she was beautiful, buying her flowers and adoring her.

She did the same with her daughter. But as the mother of a college student, Melissa keeps building up her daughter amid an onslaught of pressure and oftentimes negativity.

“When we erase history, we don’t have any context about what has happened to our people and what has been done to our people,” said Melissa, during an interview. “Let’s talk the transatlantic slave trade.

You had no autonomy over your body. So when we don’t know that, then we have no agency. When we are viewing stuff, we are viewing something through a skewed lens. It’s not reality,” she argued. “You have to continuously try to uplift young women.”

A hallmark of the Teachings of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam is the respect, protection and elevation of the Black woman. That includes rejecting the enemy’s ongoing attempts to debase and destroy her.

“What they want to make of you, a woman that was created in the image of God, is to make you in such a way that you will come down—way down; and bring your man down with you. And they also want you to teach your children in a way that they, too, will be down.

They want you to look at yourself in your nakedness, and enjoy seeing yourself in a degraded state,” said the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, speaking at Mosque Maryam in September 2011. His message was entitled, “The Divine Nature & Value of Women.”

“Consider what I have stated about our beautiful sisters Rihanna, Beyoncé or Nicki Minaj: When you think that your bosom and your backside is your ‘stock and trade’ that makes you ‘valuable,’ then when you will strip down and show ‘miss booty.’

In 2008 when President Obama was elected, there was a Black woman in the papers who talked about the First Lady of the nation, Michelle Obama that, ‘She’s got back.’

“What in the world are we thinking about that we measure the value of a woman by the shape of her backside? Is this who you are? Is this what you want to be? Or do you want something better than what the White man has made of you?”

And while attention has been paid to what Erykah wore, here’s what she said March 29 in Dallas. “Sisters, how y’all feel? This night is for us.

It’s a night to celebrate the womb of the world, the womb of life, the womb-iverse of all things. The smartest creature on planet Earth. The wisest, the most invincible, sexiest, purest, finest. The woman,” she said.

Mothers, she continued, “thank you so much for giving us so much inspiration and examples of what it means to be resilient, what it means to take charge, what it means to be courageous, what it means to be authentically ourselves. And that’s all we gonna be.”

Amen.

Naba’a Muhammad, editor-in-chief of The Final Call newspaper, can be reached via www.finalcall.com and straightwords4@gmail.com. Find him on Facebook. Follow @RMfinalcall on X and Instagram.

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Consider a “pilot program” underway in Chicago that allows police officers in Englewood, a majority Black neighborhood, to arrest and charge people with felony gun possession crimes without the oversight of prosecutors.

Newly elected Cook County Prosecutor Eileen O’Neil Burke introduced the dangerous approach in a neighborhood that has suffered from police abuses and had Black lives destroyed as a result.

She also introduced a program that demands trusting a police department where planting guns, evidence and forcing false confessions remain major problems and concerns.

Chicago has a well-documented history of police torture and a police department already under a feckless federal consent decree that is supposed to ensure reforms. It hasn’t.

In Chicago, a “study of federal settlements from 2000-2023 shows the city paid out nearly $538 million in settlements and jury awards for wrongful convictions and nearly $138 million more for private outside legal fees,” ABC News 7 reported last year.

The nefarious new program was implemented in Englewood’s 7th Police District in January with no opportunity for public review. But residents and aldermen came out April 5 for a meeting with the district police commander and representatives of Ms. Burke’s office.

“There was no consultation between us, not from the state’s attorney’s office or from the 7th District commander whom we have a generally good relationship with and open communication,” said Dion McGill.

A member of the Chicago Police District Council in Illinois, representing District 7. He took office in May 2023. His current term ends in May 2027.

He is one of three elected councilors chosen as part of an attempt to bring accountability, work with police and get Englewood’s sentiment and feedback on programs and initiatives.

“Englewood has historically been one of the most overpoliced, over-surveilled, under-resourced communities in our city,” said Mr. McGill, in an exclusive interview the day after the community meeting.

“Englewood has consistently been a place where programs are tested and programs are piloted,” he said. “Another alderman actually made a point that the focus of this is guns. And she said, ‘Well, our gun crimes are down.

They’ve been down, and actually our gun crimes are actually lower than some of the other districts. So why didn’t you go there and pilot this program?’ ”

Instead of prosecutors reviewing body cam footage, police reports and approving charges, cops control the entire process with a police lieutenant deciding if charges are valid.

According to media reports, the program is expanding into the 5th Police District, whose residents are a little over 90 percent Black.

“The Cook County Public Defender’s Office opposes the expansion of this initiative. Strategies that focus solely on end users of firearms do little to address the supply or demand of firearms and often carry unintended and harmful consequences,” the office warned.  

“Public safety must be pursued through strategies rooted in fairness, accountability, and due process—not through shortcuts that compromise the integrity of our legal system and increase the likelihood of harm to those we serve.” 

Bolts, a non-profit that initially broke the story, noted, “Felony review is a first line of defense against unconstitutional stops and searches, flimsy evidence, and other deficiencies that could cause a case to be later thrown out.

After police make a felony arrest, they notify the Cook County prosecutor’s felony review division, where an on-call prosecutor examines each case to determine whether the charges are appropriate and whether they have sufficient evidence.

They might review body camera footage or police reports, interview the arresting officers, or even act like another detective on the case, helping police collect evidence and interrogate suspects.”

The state’s attorney’s office has said the change will put officers back on the street more quickly, instead of waiting for approval of charges from prosecutors. This logic, with a billion dollar police department and one of the major prosecutorial operations in the country, goes nowhere and cannot be trusted.

In addition, how can such power be vested in police in a city with a “reputation as the False Confession Capital of the country?” This is how Alexa Van Brunt, of the MacArthur Justice Center, described the Windy City.

If the program isn’t bad enough, Englewood may be the worst choice for a wrong approach.

In 2017, the “Englewood Four,” who were threatened and coerced into giving false confessions in a rape and murder, reached a $31 million settlement paid for by taxpayers. It is one of the largest settlements in Chicago’s history.

The four Englewood residents were wrongly convicted as teenagers. They served between 12 years and 17 years in prison.

Last year, a separate $50 million settlement was reached with four other Black males wrongly convicted as teenagers.

An attorney in that case said, “three of the officers involved in this case—James Cassidy, Kenneth Boudreau, and Frank Valadez—framed four other teenagers (the ‘Englewood Four’), including my client Terrill Swift, just nine months before the teens in this case were arrested. Yet these officers have never been held to account for stealing so many young lives.”

Even with the oversight of prosecutors, we have suffered massive injustice at the hands of police and prosecutors. In the Englewood Four case, a former prosecutor who broke with the office opened the door for their exoneration.

A Black woman, Kim Foxx, walked away from the county prosecutor’s office after being hounded by the mainstream media, the police union and others after being elected to introduce reforms. She may not have been perfect, but she tried to bring some balance to a grossly biased and imbalanced system. She’s gone now.

As Mr. McGill noted, Ms. O’Neil Burke ran on being tough on crime. “But if tough on crime means decimating communities, I’m not with it,” he said. “I think our carceral system is one of the worst messes known to humankind, and I think it needs to be reformed top to bottom.

So, if we can find ways to keep people out of it, reform, rehabilitate, and restore, and get them into the community to be productive citizens, I’m going to be in favor of that 100 percent.”

“We need third-party review of everything because of that lack of trust. Do I trust you, the state’s attorney? Do I trust the officers who’ve been known to do some nefarious things? Do I trust the judges who’ve been known in the past in Illinois to do some nefarious things?” he asked.

As a beginning, Mr. McGill wants a pause placed on the program in Englewood and a lot more discussion.

We cannot afford to be ignorant, apathetic or oblivious to what is happening around us. Our very survival is at stake, and we must take responsibility for ourselves.

That means organizing, working and actively protecting our communities, our children and our interests. We cannot depend on others for what we can and must do for ourselves.

—Naba’a Muhammad, editor, The Final Call

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Israel broke the Gaza ceasefire, which was a cruel farce, and restarted its operations to destroy the Palestinian people in the enclave on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has moved with murderous impunity under the protection of President Donald Trump, who is unapologetic in backing Israel.

Per usual, after Netanyahu-directed slaughter, talk of “negotiations” with the accused war criminal has surfaced

“Since Israel resumed its scorched earth bombing of Gaza on March 18, which has killed more than 890 Palestinians, including more than 300 children, the U.S. and Israel have justified the horrors by blaming Hamas, saying the group’s negotiators had rejected a U.S.-drafted offer to extend the ceasefire,” reported Jeremy Scahill of  Drop Site News, a journalist whose independent news outlet has a presence on the Substack platform.

“While this narrative dominated much of the Western news coverage surrounding the end of Phase One of the ceasefire deal on March 1, the reality is that this was a deliberate propaganda tactic pulled from Israel’s well-worn playbook of the past 17 months.

“From the start of the ‘ceasefire’ that went into effect on January 19, Israel repeatedly violated the terms by continuing to target Palestinians in Gaza, killing more than 130 during Phase One of the deal and preventing the delivery of the agreed-upon number of tents, mobile homes, fuel, and construction equipment.

Government officials in Gaza repeatedly accused Israel of allowing fewer aid trucks to enter the Strip than the agreed 600 per day. Israel also violated its commitment to begin the complete withdrawal of its forces from the Philadelphi corridor near the Egyptian border after the last exchange of captives on the 42nd day.”

According to Axios, “The U.S. gave Hamas a new proposal through Qatari mediators in an effort to release American hostage Edan Alexander and break the stalemate in the Gaza ceasefire negotiations, one U.S. official and one Israeli official said.”

“ ‘Qatari mediators told Hamas that accepting the U.S. offer would likely lead to Trump pressuring Israel to resume full talks. A senior Hamas official, however, told Drop Site that the U.S. offer was not new.’

‘This was a proposal one month ago,’ the official said, adding that Hamas publicly announced its willingness to release Alexander as a gesture of goodwill and linking it to the continuation of negotiations. ‘Israel then broke the [ceasefire] agreement,’ he added,” according to Drop Site News.

Given the suffering of Palestinians, it is not hard to understand why Hamas might consider forging an agreement with people who never keep their agreements. Hamas will never, however, achieve peace and security with people who promise only to deceive.

“But who will pay for the killing of Palestinians, men and women, and children?  Who will pay for the destruction of the Palestinian life and culture, and civilization?”

Asked the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan in his Saviours’ Day 2024 address in Detroit, “What Does Allah, The Great Mahdi and The Great Messiah Have To Say About The War In The Middle East?”

“Who will pay for that! They don’t think they are going to pay!  And Netanyahu now thinks, like Pharaoh, he is God—and he talks to America like he is God.”

“God wanted me to say today what is said in the scriptures about Nebuchadnezzar.After I saw the war council, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad showed me, just the next night, in bold letters: ‘NEBUCHADNEZZAR.’

When I started reading about Nebuchadnezzar, he was a man who was so wicked, that God took out of him the heart of a human being and gave him the heart of a beast. 

“Who could do to another human being what is being done to our Palestinian family, and let it happen and not think of a humanitarian crisis? The crisis is not just what is happening to the Palestinians.”

In his message, Minister Farrakhan said, “Do you know that our Palestinian family, they don’t have strong friendship in the Muslim world.  Why is that?  Are we Muslims?  Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, said, ‘You are not a Muslim if you don’t want for your brother what you want for yourself.’

Now, I know that the Muslim world feels the pain of the Palestinians, but they are afraid—afraid to stand.  And from the rostrum, I am asking the Muslim world to stop fearing the consequence of standing.”

This is the Day of Judgment and the Master of the Day of Judgment is on hand. The evil-doers cannot and will not escape His hand. They will meet the destruction they have so richly earned. 

As for the rest of us, as nations, and individuals we should fly to Allah (God), get on His side and stay there. The Holy Qur’an tells us those we deem powerful cannot call back a fly who steals a morsel of food from their plate. Weak are the invoker and weak are the invoked, it says.

These are the Days of Allah (God) and He will not be mocked.

—Naba’a Muhammad, editor,

The Final Call 

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