At Final Call press time, the election for the office was in the midst of intense litigation at the federal appellate level, as the case is poised to set a historic legal precedent regarding voting rights in the United States.

Having defeated the incumbent, Darren Lombard, by 68.2% to 31.8% during a November runoff  election, critics maintain that efforts by Louisiana’s Republican lawmakers to eliminate the office of Clerk of Criminal Courts District by changing the law after Mr. Duncan’s landslide win were motivated by politics and a blatant dismissal of the voters’ will.

The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals blocked Mr. Duncan from taking office on May 4 as it reviews the case, which has yet to be decided.

Until the appellate court delivers its formal opinion, Mr. Duncan’s case remains in flux, with the next step being an appeal to the Louisiana Supreme Court should their decision fail to uphold the local electorate’s choice. In the interim, the office remains consolidated under the parish Civil Clerk’s office.

“My reaction for this morning was that I was going to finally be able to live out the dream … that’s been in the making over 40 years,” Mr. Duncan said during a May 4 press conference broadcast by WDSU News 6 in New Orleans.

“I got a chance to be a clerk for like three hours, and that’s what I concentrate on.  It’s been an ongoing legal saga,” he said of the state’s last-minute passage of a law to eliminate the office he won with over two-thirds of the vote.

Mr. Duncan spent 28 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. While incarcerated, he began studying law.  According to reporting by NPR, “Duncan dreamed of changing the system by becoming clerk of court to help people get their records.

Duncan was finally released in 2011, with the help of the Innocence Project New Orleans.  He was later exonerated.  In 2023, he earned a law degree.  He finally felt qualified to run for his dream job, clerk of criminal court, who is also in charge of elections.”

However, after his victory, political roadblocks were erected.

Former New Orleans City Council President Oliver M. Thomas Jr., who held office between 2002 and 2007, told The Final Call that the machinations against Black people in the state capital are nothing new in Louisiana and that the unspoken rules of racial hierarchy and class have stratified his city’s majority Black population between the interests of its masses and the interests of the wealthy, regardless of race and party affiliation.

“The conservatives and many people who are anti-democracy feel that the national tide has turned in their favor in many cases, and that below the Mason-Dixon line there’s an environment of complacency amongst Black voters and people who’ve been disenfranchised,”

Mr. Thomas said. He drew a parallel between voter apathy within inner cities and among the poor to an abused person who won’t leave their abuser, while the people who are most organized and focused take controlling roles in local politics.

“They’ve been beaten down, they don’t put up a fight, even under extreme conditions, so in many cases, we act the same way,” Mr. Thomas said of his analogy. He explained that he sees little change coming until conditions become so unbearable that a generation will rise and won’t take it anymore.

Community activist, Byron S. Cole of Fathers Advocacy, a mentorship program championing education and juvenile justice issues for at-risk youth in New Orleans.

Told The Final Call that the Criminal Courts District office oversees more than judicial administration and records management. He said the office also provides election oversight throughout Orleans Parish. It is a position and office of critical importance.

“They (those in power) don’t want to have the discussion that they’ve been trying to control the courts because the clerk of courts controls the elections,” Mr. Cole said.

He stated that only months after Calvin Duncan’s victory, both the state senate and the state house passed legislation to merge the Clerk of Criminal Courts District with the office of the Civil District Court Clerk, and explained that the timing of the legislative actions through SB (Senate bill) 256 disrespects the will of the people who voted. 

Baton Rouge-based civil rights activist Gary Chambers delivered an impassioned message to the Louisiana State House of Representatives on April 28 after the bill, introduced February 26, passed the Louisiana Senate on April 8 and the House on April 23.

“I know how the political process works, so I know that most of what we say at this microphone doesn’t mean much to you at all as representatives,” Mr. Chambers said to the State Representatives present at the hearing.

“But your state ranks 50 in the nation because you continue to do these things. We rank 50 in the economy, number 50 in crime, number 46 in education, number 44 in healthcare, number 49 in natural environment, but you got time to take away clerks of court seats,” Mr. Chambers said.

“You’re proud Republicans, proud conservatives, you’re reconstructionist, and it’s racist and every one of your votes reflect your moral character and the lack thereof,” he said plainly.

“If you believe in local representation, like I know most of you truly do, you wouldn’t be meddling in this local community, and you don’t do this anywhere else in the state, which shows it’s racist,” Mr. Chambers stated.

Designed to go into effect May 3, one day before Calvin Duncan was to start his four-year term, Republican Governor Jeff Landry officially signed the bill into state law  as Act 15 on May 1. 

The Orleans Parish Clerk of Criminal Court, having been legally abolished, has been officially consolidated into the Civil Clerk’s office, although the case is on an expedited schedule before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to determine its constitutionality. 

According to a May 11 article by Veritenews.org, the New Orleans City Council voted 5-2 to appoint an interim court clerk, retired Judge Calvin Johnson, and called for a special election on November 3, but it’s not clear if  the election will be allowed to proceed.

‘“The council’s votes came in spite of a warning from Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, who, in a letter, said the clerk’s position has already been filled.

According to Murrill, under the newly passed law—which abolished the position Duncan was elected to last year and consolidated the city’s two court clerk offices into one—the incumbent Clerk of Civil District Court Chelsey Richard Napoleon is now the Orleans Parish clerk of court and will remain so for a full four-year term,’” the Verite News article stated.  

Veritenews.org further reported that in a May 8 letter, Murrill said the council’s actions would be “not only legally misguided but also irresponsible,” and warned that she would take legal action to prevent Johnson from taking office and the special election from being held.

Political scientist and host of Inside the Issues on Sirius XM satellite radio channel 126, Wilmer J. Leon III, Ph.D., told The Final Call that Mr. Duncan’s being blocked from assuming office reflects the idea that elected officials select their voters rather than voters selecting their elected officials.

“Now they want to do away with the position that he ran and was duly elected for,” Dr. Leon said. “What we’re seeing play out with Calvin Duncan is just another unfortunate example of electoral politics in this country moving backward in terms of ‘Make America Great Again,’

Instead of moving forward. Donald Trump is not the causation; Donald Trump is the culmination, he is the symptom, not the cause,” Dr. Leon said of America’s current state of affairs.

The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, National Representative of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, the Eternal Leader of the Nation of Islam, has constantly and consistently warned about the volatility of America’s political system and of the manipulation and machinations of those in power, which come at the expense of American citizens. Minister Farrakhan forewarned of the dismantling of the Voting Rights Act.

“We are not going to let voting rights die; but, I want you to be prepared for something: Every time we received an ‘amendment,’ it had to be followed by a ‘civil rights action’ (because they passed an amendment, but their brethren didn’t like it),”

Minister Farrakhan said in a June 14, 2013, message as part of the “Never Forget, Never Again Pilgrimage,” to commemorate the 1965 demonstration for civil rights known as “Bloody Sunday” in Selma, Alabama. The title of the message is, “Soldiers in the Movement of Christ.”

“So someone doesn’t like the fact that there is “Section V” of The Voting Rights Bill that gives state and local government enforcement powers, and so there are those who want to deprive you of that right by gerrymandering, by redistricting, by doing all the little tricks that the wicked one does to deprive us of a right that is, really, ours,” Minister Farrakhan said.

Student Minister Willie Muhammad of Mosque No. 46, under the leadership of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, told The Final Call that the Teachings of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad reflects how the life of a man like Calvin Duncan,

Who was wrongfully convicted, sentenced to life and spent decades behind bars for a crime he did not commit, gives warning to the nature of a system that is unraveling before the eyes of the entire world.

 “Think about all the good a man like Calvin Duncan could do as Clerk of Courts when there are countless Black men and women sitting in jail because of delays, lost paperwork, lack of resources or failures within the system,”

Student Minister Willie Muhammad said. “A man who lived through injustices may be more committed than anyone to making sure others are not forgotten by the same system that once failed them,” he said. 

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With the frequency of such disasters continuing to increase across the United States, people and communities are now working to better prepare for the safety and survival of individuals and families by preparing their homes and communities.

Taking the initiative through self-reliance in disaster and emergency preparedness is the best way to reduce hardship when it arises.

The Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, the Eternal Leader of the Nation of Islam, warned that Allah (God) would punish America with the forces of nature, including rain, hail, snow, and earthquakes.

His National Representative, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, has constantly taught Black people on the importance of preparing for when these disasters strike.

With an expected El Niño event affecting the West Coast in the coming months, meteorologists are forecasting up to 11-16 named tropical storms during the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season, potentially three to five hurricanes impacting the United States directly, and drought conditions developing across the Southwest.

According to NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), an El Niño is a climate pattern in the Pacific Ocean that affects global weather conditions when warm water is pushed eastward along the western coasts of the Americas, altering the behavior of the jet stream and influencing wetness or dryness over land.

According to a March 25 article on AccuWeather.com, although this year’s hurricane season may not be as active as last year, it remains vital to be prepared for the likelihood of regional disasters.

“A developing El Niño will be one of the biggest forces shaping the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season and is one reason the number of storms could be near to below historical averages,” the article stated.

“Still, hurricane preparedness is critical as multiple storms could make landfall in the United States this season. The 2026 Atlantic hurricane season will be shaped by a shifting climate pattern in the Pacific Ocean,” the article continued.

The Seventh Regional headquarters of the Nation of Islam, under the leadership of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, includes Florida, the Caribbean, Central and South America.

Seventh Regional Student Minister Patrick Muhammad of Mosque No. 29, based in Miami, told The Final Call that the region is no stranger to weather-related disasters and that mitigating their impact requires an all-hands-on-deck approach regardless of creed, class, or color.

“Minister Farrakhan has been teaching us to ‘watch the weather,’ and we have reminded many of the believers and we have worked with several organizations, who are not registered members of the Nation of Islam, but people in our community, the Black community, the Latin community,”

He said of the mosque’s outreach and ongoing efforts to help make their community into a decent and safe place to live, as taught by the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan.

“We have held sessions and seminars at the mosque on disaster preparedness, and we have collaborated with people to have more community members come join with us and learn what we have to say from the guidance of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, emanating from the Teachings of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad.”

Noting that Miami-Dade and Broward Counties have been spared over the last few years, Student Minister Patrick said most hurricanes have affected the northern parts of Florida, such as Tampa and St. Petersburg.

“I was able to travel there for a while and saw the extensive damages that the hurricanes made in those areas,” he said of Hurricanes Helene and Milton in 2024 and others such as the Category 5 Hurricane, Melissa, that struck the islands of Jamaica, Cuba, the Bahamas, Haiti and the Dominican Republic in October 2025 (see Final Call Vol. 45 No. 5).

Weather scientists also believe that strong El Niño conditions originating in the Pacific Ocean will continue to increase through the end of the year, causing flash floods in coastal and mountainous areas, leading to mudslides and a more intense wildfire season in California and the Pacific Northwest.

Nation of Islam Western Region Student Minister Abdul Malik Sayyid Muhammad is based at Mosque No. 27 in Los Angeles. He told The Final Call that the mosque has been working to train people in CPR and to become certified as responders in declared disaster areas.

“We have been taught well on how to do the best we can to prepare ourselves for these major disasters,” Student Min. Malik Sayyid explained. The Western Region, which includes the West Coast, Arizona, and Colorado, is prone to earthquakes, wildfires, mudslides, drought, and in Washington State, volcanic eruptions.

“One of the things we try to emphasize in the Western Region, number one, is for every believer to have enough food and water in their homes to last six months to a year,” Student Minister Malik Sayyid said.

As taught by the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad and the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan. Student Min. Abdul Malik Sayyid said that the COVID lockdowns served as a serious test of their readiness.

He said that through the mosque’s Ministry of Health, an effort continues to make sure believers are storing water and survival kits in their homes, and that community gatherings are being held with first responders and city officials.

Within the ranks of the Nation of Islam, there are first responders, disaster preparedness professionals and others who are proficient in emergency response.

Nation of Islam Southwest Regional Student Minister Dr. Abdul Haleem Muhammad, of Mosque No. 45 in Houston, said that how a community prepares determines how people survive. Student Min. Haleem has a Ph.D. in urban planning and environmental policy. The Southwest Region includes Texas, New Mexico, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Arkansas.

“There are four phases of emergency management: mitigation, preparation, response and recovery,” Student Minister Haleem explained. “Whether it be … flooding, tornadoes, snow, drought, wildfires.

Or various other kinds of natural or manmade disasters, it includes the community accessing whatever information and resources that your local emergency management or homeland security office makes available to the public. Here, it’s called the Office of Emergency Management and has authority in terms of disaster preparedness,” he explained.

He also stressed listening to and enacting the Teachings of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad as taught by the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan in terms of food and water storage. He also stressed the importance of having alternative methods of energy and communication.

“What do you need to shelter in place if the cell towers get knocked out, do you have a ham radio, walkie-talkies, or a weather radio? Do you have alternative transportation like a bicycle if you are unable to get gas?

Do you have alternative means of cooking? Have you been trained in CPR or have you been trained in medical emergency methods?” he asked. These realities have already affected his city in the recent past.

“These things are important; do you have a garden?” Student Min. Haleem asked. “Are you growing any food for yourself that can sustain you and even beyond when your food supplies run out?

Regardless of where you live, even in an apartment, you can grow something in a pot, but if you’ve got a backyard, you need to plant a garden for food and learn how to can,” he said of activities important to household preparation.

“Depending on the hazard, your response is either going to be one of two things: you’re either going to shelter in place, or you’re going to evacuate,” Student Min. Haleem continued. “You have to be aware of your surroundings and the hazards around you.

Weather phenomenon takes place every season, but it’s happening in more frequency and intensity now,” he said. “Get all the insurances, insurance for your property and for your life, including renter’s insurance, and mutually support one another, the impact won’t be as bad when we’re all working together.”

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They argue that this latest case is contributing to an already tense atmosphere of animosity between law enforcement and the Black community in the city. Dá Quain Johnson, 32, is the most recent fatality after a police encounter.

Angelica Johnson, a lifelong resident of Grand Rapids and the mother of Dá Quain Johnson, told The Final Call that her son was engaged to be married and that his February 18 killing has forever altered the trajectory of several lives, including those of his friends, family and children, including his 13-year-old daughter who reportedly witnessed the mauling of her father by a police dog before he was shot.

Mr. Johnson was a father of three, in addition to having two stepdaughters and an unborn baby due in August. 

“He was riding a bicycle, and he was actually in a good mood, but he (told) me that the police had been following him,” Ms. Johnson said of a cellphone conversation she had with her son prior to his killing, which took place in front of his home. She said he told her about an hour before the incident that the police had been following him.

Ms. Johnson said she was then on the telephone with her son’s fiancée, who reportedly witnessed the incident outside the window. “As I’m on the phone with his fiancé, my granddaughter beeps in and she merges the call and all we hear is, ‘The dog’s got him! The dog’s got him!’ And in the next breath, she was like, ‘They shot him!’” she recounted.

“She watched the entire thing, details that they’re not releasing to the press,” Ms. Johnson said, noting that her granddaughter was hysterical and remains traumatized.

She added that the entire incident started from a 911 call alleging her son had a gun, and that police said he pointed it toward an officer. A police officer shot Dá Quain, who was pronounced dead the next day at a local hospital.

Ms. Johnson also said earlier that day that Dá Quain had just visited his parole agent (officer) and that he had been recently released from jail. She explained that after all her son had been through, his focus was to be with his family and his children and insisted that she didn’t believe the police narrative that he had a gun.

Ms. Johnson noted Dá Quain was not authorized to possess a firearm and, given his meeting earlier that day with his parole officer and his excitement over the pending birth of his baby, she argues that the facts do not add up. “I don’t even think he would have chanced that,” Ms. Johnson stated flatly.

There was reportedly some witness videos live-streamed on social media, and other videos that were not made public but were shared with attorneys. 

According to a February 19 press conference, outgoing GRPD police chief Eric Winstrom announced that police bodycam and dashcam footage disputed witness accounts of the incident and that various cell phone videos recorded by neighborhood witnesses were adding to the confusion surrounding Dá Quain Johnson’s death.

An updated GRPD media release stated, “Officers rendered aid at the scene, and the suspect was taken to the hospital. The Michigan State Police (MSP) responded to investigate the officer-involved shooting, as per procedure. The officer is on administrative leave, also per procedure,” the statement read. 

“We’ve heard a lot of calls from the community, there’s a lot of inconsistencies or outright falsehoods being spread on social media, and tragically this young man last night involved in the shooting last night died,” Chief Winstrom said during his press conference.

“Two officers that tried to stop this individual on a bike, he was suspected of having a handgun and first you’re going to see an in-car camera video, then you’re going to see a body-worn camera video of the same officer and then a brief body-worn camera video of the second officer,” he said of the edited versions released during the news conference.

According to WZZM-13, a local ABC affiliate, when Mr. Johnson “got off his bicycle in the apartment complex parking lot on Eastern Avenue SE, he appeared to fall before police sent a K9 after him.

The dog appears to jump on and bite Johnson.” Police fired multiple shots, and the cause of his death was from a gunshot to the back, according to the death certificate, reported WZZM13.com.  

The officers’ names have not been released as of Final Call press time. The Johnson family, community residents and the Grand Rapids chapter of the NAACP have demanded a full and transparent investigation and accountability.

The fatal shooting of Dá Quain Johnson has the community on edge, as it is not the only police involved killing of a Black man in Grand Rapids. In an unusual turn of events, according to a February 27 article on officer.com.

Chief Winstrom announced he was stepping down on March 1 because of “anti-police sentiment” and “ongoing criticism” in part due to the 2022 shooting death of Congolese refugee Patrick Lyoya (see Final Call Vol. 41 No. 30), ongoing protests and local resistance to department initiatives. The article also said he was chosen February 3 to become the next police chief in Pensacola, Florida.

The interim police chief is Joe Trigg. The Michigan State Police completed its investigation, and on March 3, the Johnson investigation was turned over to the Kent County Prosecutor’s Office, where prosecutor Chris Becker is reviewing the materials and has requested additional information before deciding on charges regarding the use of force.

“Yesterday afternoon Michigan State Police turned over what they had at this time regarding the investigation into the GRPD officer involved shooting. After discussing the case with them, I have already requested a follow-up on certain items, so the investigation is not complete.

I am in the process of reviewing all of the materials they presented as well, since I just received the materials yesterday,” Atty. Becker said in a statement,” the outlet reported.

“I am committed to conducting a comprehensive review of this incident, as I have in all such cases in the past, and will announce my decision when I have all of the information. I do not have a timeline for when that will be,” he continued.

Attorneys and witnesses continue to dispute that Dá Quain Johnson pointed a gun at officers after fleeing on his bicycle and argue that the shooting was unnecessary.

Third Ward resident and community organizer, known in the Southeast neighborhoods as “Juju,” told The Final Call she was first alerted to the killing of Dá Quain Johnson after a live social media video went viral.

She requested that her first and last names be withheld because of her outspokenness about police brutality in the city. Juju said that the community’s outrage is real.

“I was born and raised in Grand Rapids my entire life and as I grew up watching my classmates who were Black and Brown men either being taken away and being served excessive prison sentences, they were brutalized by police,” Juju explained. 

“So, as we grew older, we were coming into positions where we can speak up and stand and say something about it and it’s my opinion because the police haven’t faced any sort of accountability. Not just prosecution, but even in admitting that things could have gone differently at the very least or in any situation,” she said.

Pastor Darryl Gaddy of Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church in Grand Rapids, of which Dá Quain’s mother is a member, told The Final Call he had reservations over the truthfulness of the police narrative and how events led to the young, Black man’s death.

Pastor Gaddy also said he supports a closed-door meeting within the city’s Black community, developing a consensus around an action plan and that it is vitally necessary to educate young people not only of their rights, but also of how to properly interact with law enforcement officers.

“We did see on the video that he was facedown, therefore I would say he was incapable of brandishing a weapon directly at police officers based on what we all saw on that video, that he was chest down toward the ground with the dog on his back and two officers on his back,” Pastor Gaddy said.

“So, it goes to show the narrative of policing, how they will paint a picture to justify what we believe in the community to be excessive force—up to and including the point of (killing) a young man,” he continued.

“We have to do a better job of policing ourselves so that first of all, we don’t have to call 911 and we don’t have to have these reports made on us because we are doing the accountable and responsible thing,” Pastor Gaddy explained.

“The second aspect of that is I believe we have to hold our law enforcement community accountable when there is not a necessity of excessive force and that they could do a better job of policing, of de-escalation.”

Attorney Ben Crump, Attorney Ven Johnson, and the family of Dá Quain Johnson held a virtual news conference on March 20 to announce legal representation and demand justice. Atty. Johnson revealed that Mr. Johnson had been shot three times in the back.

The attorneys announced the filing of FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) request with the Michigan State Police for its records and video footage related to the case. “We are here with Angelica Johnson to let her know that her son’s life mattered,” said Atty. Crump.

We’re here to raise the justice baton for Dá Quain,” he added. “We must always remember the humanity in all people.” Atty. Crump argued that the best angle of what happened was from a bystander video, not the edited video the police have released.

“It is so unjustified,” Atty. Crump said, referring to the shooting. He called it “an assassination,” saying, “because that’s what it looks like when you watch it.”

The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, National Representative of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, Eternal Leader of the Nation of Islam, has taught on the critical need for Black people to work to make their neighborhoods safe and decent places to live, thereby lessening the need for outside law enforcement. He has also warned that some police function as “modern-day lynch mobs.”

“I want Black youth to hear this message, because police authorities are the same today as they were during slavery. In fact, this is how policing began. Police were formed to catch runaway slaves, bring them back to their masters and make examples of them to throw fear into other slaves.

It’s the same today. Police authorities are trained to kill, as well as to protect. But where Black people are concerned, police legitimize their mob attacks under the name of ‘back up.’ Police back up is often no different than the lynch mobs 100 years ago.

The killing of our people, shooting them with many bullets when one would have done the job. And then, that deliberative body, which is to discuss the brutal murder of our people by looking into the facts, comes away calling it justifiable homicide,” Minister Farrakhan said in an October 28, 2007, message titled, “Justifiable Homicide: Black Youth in Peril.”

Nation of Islam Student Minister Sultan Z. Muhammad of Mosque No. 61 in Grand Rapids told The Final Call that for decades, Minister Farrakhan has warned the Black community that police would frame the killing of Black youth as “justifiable homicide” as a means to legally deploy lethal force either before or after a deadly encounter.

“Here in Grand Rapids, from our mosque, we are striving to do what the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan instructed us to do, specifically from our Saviours’ Day 2026 convention, which is to strive to make our community a decent and safe place to live,”

Student Min. Sultan Muhammad said, referring to the Saviours’ Day 2026 keynote message, “We Must Make Our Community a Decent and Safe Place to Live.

Final Call staff contributed to this report.

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During the closing plenary session, “What is the Duty of a Civilized Person & What is the Meaning of Civilization?” held February 21, presenters explained to the audience that the fallen nature of mankind has poisoned the entirety of humanity.

And that a community’s success or failure rests upon whether or not its people desire the righteousness of a new world prophesied to come in as the old world of the wicked is removed, according to scripture.

“(From) today’s plenary, we’re dealing with two questions,” said Student Minister Jeffrey Muhammad of Chicago’s Mosque Maryam. “What is the meaning of civilization and what is the duty of a civilized person? As we go through this august body, it’s not just the question, but who is asking the question,”

He said, referring a question that Allah (God) in the Person of Master Fard Muhammad, The Great Mahdi asked of His Student, the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, the Eternal Leader of the Nation of Islam.

“When we look at the word civilization, when we look at civilized human beings, one of the answers is: ‘One having knowledge, wisdom and understanding, culture, refinement and is not savage,’” Student Min. Jeffrey said of the Supreme Wisdom Lessons given by Master Fard Muhammad to the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad.

According to the Supreme Wisdom Lessons a savage is defined as “… a person that has lost the knowledge of himself and who is living a beast life” and that it is the duty of those striving to become civilized is to share knowledge, wisdom and understanding for the betterment of society.

“We have a message. We have a teaching that had been given to us by the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad and it’s being taught to us by the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan that will allow us to drop a seed;

It will allow us to put an idea in the minds of the Lost-Found brother and sister,” said panelist and presenter Sister Marcia Muhammad a registered nurse and a member of the ministry class at Mosque Maryam.

“That message, that seed, that idea will awaken them. We have a divine duty to go out and teach those who are in that state (of savagery), civil behavior, civilization,” Sis. Marcia said. “We that have been awakened, let us know that we’re not fully civilized yet. We’re in the process of being civilized under the Teachings of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad.”

Sis. Marcia said the process of perfection first requires introspection and an honest critique of self.

“We have more refinement that needs to be done,” she explained. “Refinement meaning cultivated, polite, which is good manners, good morals. We are in that process of removing the vulgarity, of removing the coarse behavior, removing the savagery because we are in the process of resurrection,” she added.

Student Minister Ilia Rashad Muhammad of Memphis, told the audience that Allah’s (God’s) Coming in the Person of Master Fard Muhammad is not only a demonstration of His profound love for the rejected and despised.

But through His Teachings, are also a roadmap to making the last the first, the tail the head and to raise the bottom rail to the top of civilization. Student Min. Ilia is a member of the Nation of Islam Research Group, an author, educator and documentarian.

“It’s about The God who came not just to take us from a savage condition and make us civilized, but we’re dealing with The God that loved us so much that He wanted to take us from that position of ignominy to a civilized state and ultimately, according to the lessons, He wants to put us on top of civilization,” Student Min. Ilia Rashad said. “So, the question is asked, ‘What is the duty of a civilized person?’”

Sister Aminah Bayyinah Muhammad is the Administrative Assistant to the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan and a member of the Nation of Islam Shura Executive Council. Sharing words from Minister Farrakhan.

She said to the audience that the Lessons given by Master Fard Muhammad are not to be taken lightly, and that within them are formulas for not only problem-solving, the proper way of handling people and a mathematical understanding of theology, but also for introspection regarding self-examination, self-analysis and self-correction as qualifiers for leadership during the change of worlds.

“In the Supreme Wisdom Lessons by Master Fard Muhammad, there are 13 Original Rules of Instruction given to the Laborers by our Saviour,” Sis. Aminah said, stating in part that the 13th rule equates the process of resurrection and being awakened to opportunities provided to a farmer working in an open field.

“Lost-Found Lesson number two, the first-term examination assignment of Mr. Elijah Muhammad, contains 40 questions answered by the Honorable Elijah Muhammad on February 20, 1934,” Sis. Aminah continued.

“Questions 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20 address the meaning of civilization, the duty of a civilized person, and the consequences for a civilized person not performing their duty,” she added, as outlined in Ezekiel 3:18 and St. Luke 12:47 in the Bible.

Noting how negative consequences can befall both the righteous and the unrighteous, Sis. Aminah implored those listening to take heed of the knowledge imparted by the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, as taught by the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, and to understand the nature of the law of cause and effect, as well as other formulas for success.

“If you have knowledge, you use it with wisdom to show people the error of their thinking or the correct way that they should think,” Sis. Aminah said, again quoting Minister Farrakhan.

“If you tell me I am the chosen of God, I ask you, chosen for what? What purpose did He choose you for? He didn’t choose you just because you’re Jewish or Muslim or Christian,” she insisted. “He chose you because He wanted you to show forth His Beneficence, His Mercy to others.”

Pointing out the heavy responsibility that falls upon those claiming to represent Allah (God), Sis. Aminah added that the failure to correct oneself before correcting others often yields negative results, and when a person or a people are chosen by God, He puts upon them a duty first to self, which makes falsehood, arrogance, jealousy and envy, dangerous exercises of self-righteousness.

“If you take the knowledge and do not carry out the responsibility of that knowledge, then that knowledge is a curse,” Sis. Aminah said, again quoting Minister Farrakhan.

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The panelists, introduced by Southwest Regional Student Minister Dr. Abdul Haleem Muhammad of Houston’s Mosque No. 45, called on those in attendance to remember the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan’s decades-long warning “watch the weather.”

“What we’re trying to do is not tell you that we know everything, but to just stimulate your mind and your thoughts because the person sitting next to you or behind you may know just as much as we know up here,” said Student Min. Haleem Muhammad, a Ph.D, in urban planning and environmental policy.

He also explained first-hand accounts of how multiple weather-related disasters, including hurricanes, floods, unusual deep-freezes and prolonged power outages affected his city and the states in his region and how the mosque played a role in both mitigation and recovery efforts.

“I can paint you a big frightening picture that can sound like theory and talk, but remember like Minister Farrakhan says, ‘It’s practice that refines theory,’” Student Min. Haleem Muhammad said.

Panelists included Sister A’ishah Muhammad, Student National Auditing Supervisor and member of the N.O.I. Shura Executive Council, Sister Vivian Muhammad, Sister Alva Muhammad and Brother Rudolph Muhammad.

Sister Vivian Muhammad of Indianapolis is a farmer and an urban gardening activist. Her company purchased a lot in 2013 to grow herbs, vegetables and honey. “I want to talk about how to prepare ourselves and our communities for famine because it’s coming,” Sis. Vivian said.

She explained that a community producing its own food helps to reduce the negative impact of not only food shortages, but also scarcity from food deserts, the effect of increasing prices and how a mindset of do-for-self can reduce confusion or panic during a state of emergency.

“There is an increased frequency of natural disasters, and they are more damaging than they ever have been,” she said during her presentation. “The types of disasters are all what we expect if you have read ‘The Fall of America,’ by the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, or if you have listened to the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan,” she said.

Sis. Alva Muhammad is a Chicago-based certified disaster preparedness instructor and told the audience to understand that in a time of national crisis, no one is coming to save us and that we must acquire the knowledge and skillsets to save ourselves.

“The goal of this presentation is to build a solid foundation of preparedness for yourself and your family,” Sis. Alva said while encouraging participants to visit various informational websites to learn how and why households need to prepare for disasters whether natural or man-made.

The post Disaster preparedness: Advance warning serves as mercy from Allah (God) appeared first on Final Call News.

Are now contradicted by new evidence submitted by the Johnson family in two motions filed in federal court on January 17. The new evidence disputes official reports from law enforcement investigators and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) Medical Examiner.  

According to Kendrick’s parents, Kenneth and Jackie Johnson, new evidence from a 2013 Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office Narrative Report may change the case from an accidental death to a homicide.

The additional evidence consists of multiple photographs and a school resource officer’s report that appears to contradict the official investigation and forensic reports.

“Official reports by Officer Gerardo Morales, GBI Medical Examiner Dr. Maryanne Kraft, and investigators Stryde Jones, Jack Winningham, and James Thornton all allege there were no significant injuries, no signs of blunt force trauma.

No signs of foul play, and that Kendrick’s death was just some ‘scientifically impossible’ freak accident that was not supported by the evidence they collected and pictures of the crime scene that were taken,” Kenneth Johnson said in a press release e-mailed to The Final Call.

“How can two officers, responding to the same incident at the same time, file exact opposite reports concerning the appearance and condition of my son’s body?” Kenneth Johnson asked about his son’s unusual and tragic death.

The press statement said further that, “The Johnsons have two civil lawsuits filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, both have been stalled from moving forward in accordance with constitutional mandates of due process and the federal rules of civil procedure for unprecedented times, far outside the boundaries of judicial discretion.

“On January 17, 2026, the Johnsons submitted a motion in court to lift the stay of discovery, citing Officer Adams’ incident report and other evidences,” the Johnson’s statement read.

“The Georgia Bureau of Investigation and other defendants would be required to officially answer the lawsuit charges and causes of action against them when the stay of discovery is lifted.

“We know how Kendrick got in that mat and it wasn’t because he accidentally fell in it reaching for a shoe,” his mother, Jackie Johnson, insisted in the family’s January 21 press statement.

Investigators said in their official report that Kendrick fell into a vertically standing rolled-up gym mat while trying to retrieve one of his shoes. (See The Final Call Vol. 43 No.2).

In their new court filing, the Johnsons provided forensic-based diagrams illustrating Kendrick being shoved into a mat by multiple individuals, where his torso becomes stuck at the mat opening, with his body being pushed inside.

It further revealed postmortem injuries to his torso and right shoulder areas. The updated diagrams counter the one provided in Sheriff Paulk’s 2022 Kendrick Johnson Death Investigation Synopsis.

Mr. Jonathan Burrs is the civil rights advocate and spokesperson for the Johnsons regarding their ongoing cases with the court system and its dealing with their son’s death. Mr. Burrs said that the family’s 13-year fight for justice has been long, taxing and that Mr. and Mrs. Johnson’s tenacity is a testimony to their strength.

“The general case is that the Johnson’s son, Kendrick was found deceased inside a gymnasium at his school, rolled up in some mats in a corner,” Mr. Burrs said of the incident during a telephone interview with The Final Call.

“There’s evidence that surveillance cameras are missing and that’s confirmed by a consultant that CNN had hired from Quantico and the surveillance tapes that were sent to them. (The consultant) pointed out that there were one to two hours of footage that was just gone. So, we know that there’s been tampering with this incident,” Mr. Burrs said.

“The state has maintained that this was just some scientifically impossible freak accident that Kendrick fell inside this 14-inch gym mat opening and had no significant injuries, no signs of blunt force trauma, and that there were no signs of foul play. That’s the official claim of the state,” Mr. Burrs explained.

“Well, the new developments include injuries, postmortem injuries we found on his body after going through some 600-plus photographs that we got from the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office from a Georgia Open Records Act request. (The Johnsons) have been trying to get these photos for the past several years, and we did finally get them,” he said.

Describing how the tearing of Kendrick’s skin and bruising on his shoulder were consistent with being pushed in feet first as opposed to falling in headfirst. Mr. Burrs alleged that newly revealed forensic evidence is consistent with at least three people pushing Kendrick into the rolled-up gym mat.

“The bombshell new evidence is this Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office (school resource) officer incident report or narrative report describes what he saw as a first responder,” Mr. Burrs said. ‘

“He said in his report that Kendrick was severely disfigured and swollen and that the only identifying features that he observed were his long dreadlocks. Discovery has been held up over 800 days now,” he said, drawing into question the credibility of the medical examiner, the GBI and other local investigators.

Mr. Johnson told The Final Call that he believes his son was murdered and that a cover-up exists from the school district up to local and state investigators and that both he and his wife will not disrespect their son’s memory by giving up their fight for justice.

Nation of Islam Student Minister Darryl Muhammad of Mosque No. 93 in Macon, Georgia, told The Final Call that the truth hidden by the unjust eventually comes to light and that justice does not sleep forever, as taught by the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, National Representative of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad.

“What we’re dealing with is something that has been a plague in Southern culture ever since the Black man has been in the South,” Student Minister Darryl Muhammad said.

“You have these cases where Black men and Black women in particular have gotten murdered (and) the good old boy system in the South protected those who worked in the sheriff’s office, those who worked in the attorney’s offices, and this system still exists in 2026,” he said.

“You got to understand who you’re fighting against,” Mr. Johnson said of their 13-year struggle for the truth to come out. “You’re fighting against a crooked system, the only thing we as the Johnsons want to do is push out the truth.

This is evidence from their crime scene; this is not something that the Johnsons made up,” he said. “They tried to bury a lot of it, then they gave us evidence of their crime scene,” he said.

Mr. Johnson said for truth and justice to prevail in the United States, people, regardless of their race, creed or color, must overcome fear and never give up.

“Stand up for something,” Mr. Johnson insisted. “No matter how bad you think this might be, don’t let no one tell you your eyes do not see what you see and never be afraid of any man.

Walk with your head up high, with your chest stuck out and do the right thing and stop being afraid,” he insisted. “I want to say specifically to Black men, stand up and be a man for once in your life and stop being afraid,” Johnson continued. “Stop killing your brothers and being afraid of others.”

The post Official reports regarding Kendrick Johnson’s 2013 death questioned by new evidence appeared first on Final Call News.

Student F.O.I. Captain David Muhammad said the purpose of Student Minister Nuri’s visit was to promote self-improvement. “The intention behind Brother Nuri’s visit was to begin the new year off with a sober-minded focus.

With the focus of inspiring and strengthening those members of the community, particularly the men, to organize, to make our community safe and decent, (and) to stop the killing among our youth,” Student Capt. David said.

Local leaders and a cross-section of Black men of various ages attended the meeting to reaffirm a commitment to sacrificing for the greater good and to share a message of hope, the knowledge of self, and the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad’s teaching of do-for-self work as demonstrated by the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan.

Citing the attendance of community notables such as Rev. Walter Lanier, Brother Shawn Muhammad (a.k.a. Gat Turner), among others, Student Capt. David said the event was an important men’s meeting to promote unity and working together.

“Violence prevention activists and other leaders from grassroots organizations to elected officials to others, are addressing many of the ills in the city, particularly challenges with education, declining infrastructure, environmental racism and gun violence in our community,”

Student Captain David Muhammad explained. “But all of it stems from the lack of the knowledge of self and a lack of love for self. Brother Nuri gave what he called a ‘locker room talk.’”

Under the theme, “A New Man: A New Beginning,” Student Minister Nuri Muhammad, of Mosque No. 74 in Indianapolis, shared that change must start with men in order to bring stability to a community long deprived of strong male role models.

“We will never get the ’hood right until we get the home right, and we will never get the home right until we get the head of the home right,” Student Minister Nuri Muhammad said.

“I am submitting to us, brothers, that the first phase of all nation building, the first phase in making our neighborhoods a safe and decent place to live is that we have to become safe and decent thinking men.

“If we don’t get man right, woman will never be right, and if we don’t get her right, since she is the first teacher, the first nurse … then we will never have a nice community, a nice neighborhood, or a nice nation as a people,” Student Min. Nuri Muhammad said.

“We have to develop a certain amount of spiritual maturity as a people, where we stop needing permission from the White man to celebrate those we love or do the things we need to do. We have got to be about the business of working out our own salvation.”

Drawing from the lessons of the Bible, the Holy Qur’an and from nature, Student Min. Nuri Muhammad said there is a difference between those who hope for miracles to solve problems and those who work out formulas to solve them.

“If we stand back up in our community, we can bring the whole ecosystem of the Black community back into divine order when we become the men that God wants us to be,” he said.

Rev. Walter J. Lanier is the pastor of Milwaukee’s Progressive Baptist Church and has dedicated much of his time to serving Black youth. He said in recent years, a study by the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee (UWM), showed Black people ranked low on an index of well-being when compared to other U.S. cities.

“Both in 2020 and 2024, Milwaukee (was) at the very bottom of that list, number 50 out of 50 for African American well-being,” Rev. Lanier said. “But it’s got a long history of segregation, enforced segregation, rigidity, and failing to develop and cultivate spaces that are healthy for us. What we do at our church, we are fairly active in a wide range of issues,” he said.

“Our church is a place where people regularly convene to educate, and to equip and to mobilize,” Rev. Lanier said. “I was appreciative, deeply appreciative of the invite extended by Student Minister William Muhammad to come and share about Black men organizing, which is aligned with what the Nation (of Islam) is doing in terms of centering the work in the uplift of Black men in our community.”

Others in attendance agreed with the importance and timeliness of the Jan. 3 message as well.

Amir Grooms, an outreach lead with 414Life, brought a group of young men to hear Student Min. Nuri Muhammad speak. Mr. Grooms said his role within his organization is to help mediate conflict, to interrupt gun violence and to assist those who have been affected by it in the city of Milwaukee.

“I work with a lot of the young people that they deem at risk to be affected by gun violence or to commit gun violence,” Mr. Grooms said. “I’ve lived the experience, so I’ve been where they’ve been and even worse.”

“They really enjoyed it because even after we heard the message, we kind of debriefed,” Mr. Grooms said of how Bro. Nuri Muhammad’s message was received by the youth who came with him. “They were following up and touching on some key points. They were very, very impacted by it.”

Student Minister William Muhammad said he was happy to have Student Minister Nuri Muhammad visit.

“In our work here in Milwaukee, we are really striving to galvanize our community, in particular the Black men in the community, organize them, encourage our brothers to organize ourselves so that we can follow the Minister’s instructions to make our community a decent and safe place to live,” he said.

The post A timely message shared with the Black men of Milwaukee appeared first on Final Call News.

Mr. Medley, who rented a space in a Milwaukee rooming house at the time of his disappearance, was friendly, had a young spirit and had no children of his own, according to his oldest sister, Shena Medley, who told The Final Call she has been speaking on behalf of her family since her brother’s death.

She said neighbors saw him as kind and having a good heart, while he suffered from mental challenges related to schizophrenia. Mr. Medley did not own a car.

“He was living in a rooming house down on 30th and St. Paul, and he went missing the night of Tuesday the 11th and the last phone call was at 7:39 p.m.,” Ms. Medley said of the last time he was known to be in Milwaukee.

“They had him on video leaving his unit. He left his home, walked up to the bus stop. After that, police didn’t know where he went until they said they think he went downtown.

“At 7:39, he tried to call my brother, so it’s really weird how that happened,” Ms. Medley said, adding that he did not leave a message. “There’s no text messages or phone calls, nothing after that 7:39 call. His phone is missing, his wallet is missing, his backpack was missing.

It’s very odd,” she said, noting that the Brookfield police initially labeled her brother’s death a suicide after finding his body hanging from a ratchet strap on a tree near the Brookfield Hills Golf Course on November 13. Brookfield is a city approximately 13 miles from Milwaukee and is considered part of the metro Milwaukee area. 

Ms. Medley added that her brother’s red backpack was found in a security office at the Brookfield Square Mall, after a passerby reported to authorities that they discovered his body at the golf course about a mile away.

She also noted that video footage of her brother, both with and without his backpack in and around Brookfield Square Mall, was the last time he was seen on video.

She said the footage showed him speaking with a White couple in a parking lot and showed him walking near a group of hotels not far from the golf course. That was on November 12, she said.

According to an official statement posted to the Brookfield Police Department’s social media page November 23, Chief of Police Christopher D. Garcia revised initial statements that said Mr. Medley’s death was from suicide and that an investigation was ongoing.

“The City of Brookfield Police Department is aware of several speculative and inaccurate statements circulating publicly regarding the ongoing investigation into the death of Torrance Medley on November 13, 2025,” Chief Garcia’s press statement said.

“In the interest of transparency, and to ensure the community has accurate information, we are providing this update. We have also met with Mr. Medley’s family, provided them with an update on the status of the investigation, our findings thus far, and obtained additional specific facts from them, which investigators will follow up on,” the statement continued.

The Brookfield Police Department also said it urges patience for the sake of the investigators and the Medley family, noting that the spread of inaccurate information is not helpful as the search for more information continues.

“We will continue to follow the facts wherever they lead, and we will share additional verified information when available,” Chief Garcia’s written statement said in part.

More questions than answers

Montré J. Moore of the Waukesha County Branch of the NAACP,whose area of responsibility includes the City of Brookfield, told The Final Call that the suburb contrasts with the city of Milwaukee not only along the lines of race, ethnicity and size, but also through stratified populations isolated by wealth, class and politics.

“I’m a Black man and I know how other Black men think,” Mr. Moore said. “So, we find there’s a whole lot of questions with this situation and the fact that the police appear to be slow rolling with sharing information, and just not being as forthcoming as the family needs them to be, just heightens the situation that much more,” he said.

Stating that Brookfield is one of the oldest and wealthiest communities in the state, Mr. Moore said it is unusual to see tragedy of this nature within its space, particularly on or near a golf course frequented by its local residents. He also said competing narratives surrounding Mr. Medley’s death only compound people’s frustrations.

“If you’re not from Brookfield, it’s not a place you’re going to feel comfortable at. I’ll make that plain, especially as a Black man,” Mr. Moore insisted. He alleges that even White people perceived as poor or lower class are not welcomed there as well.

“I know and understand this community very well. The average Black guy wouldn’t just walk through and say, ‘I feel comfortable here.’ You would stick out like a sore thumb first and foremost,” he said.

As of Final Call press time, the Brookfield Police Department and the Waukesha County Medical Examiner have yet to complete their forensic investigations regarding the condition of Mr. Medley’s body and release the official cause of his death.

Attorney William Sulton, of the Milwaukee-based Sulton Law Firm, retained by the Medley family in the wake of Mr. Medley’s death, told The Final Call that confusion, concern and anxiety in Milwaukee’s Black community stems primarily from police officials and others labeling Mr. Medley’s death a suicide before concluding a thorough and proper investigation.

“The police department is not the medical examiner’s office, and so they can’t declare anything to be a homicide, a suicide, an accident or natural,” Atty. Sulton explained.

“That’s something for the medical examiner’s office to do, and they have not done so. It was completely and utterly inappropriate for the police chief to come out and say that it was a suicide based on his opinion,” Atty. Sulton said.

“It’s a tragedy, no matter whether it’s a homicide or other cause of death,” Atty. Sulton continued.

In addition to retaining legal counsel, Shena Medley said she hired an independent forensic pathologist and the services of a consultant to ensure the veracity of any evidence found regarding her brother’s death, any chain-of-custody concerns regarding evidence and to seek out and question others familiar with the Brookfield community and other possible witnesses willing to step forward.

Reuben Anderson is the investigative consultant retained by Ms. Medley.

“She shared with me her frustrations with the Brookfield Police Department and the handling of the case,” Mr. Anderson said of the police chief visiting family members to convince them the death was from suicide.

He told The Final Call that other issues, such as the GPS coordinates of patrol officers when Mr. Medley was last seen walking through Brookfield, could put other concerns to rest. “I found it kind of weird considering Brookfield, Wisconsin, is always heavily patrolled from the highway to Moreland Avenue,” Mr. Anderson said.

All the family and community want is transparency and a proper and thorough investigation. Ms. Medley and Atty. Sulton were shown video footage of Mr. Medley. There is additional video footage under review, but not all of it has been made available to the family due to the ongoing investigation.

“They (the family and the public) deserve to know what happened and how it happened and it’s suspicious. I think that the City of Brookfield Police Department has simply decided for whatever wrong reason to be less than forthcoming with his family as they would in other circumstances,” he said.

“I think that they’re afraid that this was a racially motivated homicide and they don’t want to deal with it is what I think, and I’ve told many people that if this turns out to be a homicide, then you have to investigate it like a homicide,” Atty. Sulton insisted.

“To just come out the gate without even having a final opinion from the medical examiner’s office that this is not a homicide, (that) this is not racially motivated, you know, to attack members of the public saying they are spreading misinformation, which is not true, is bizarre and wrong,” Atty. Sulton said.

As to the possibility of undue political pressure undermining the legitimacy of their investigation, Atty. Sulton said he wasn’t clear as to whether local politics is playing a role.

“I don’t know if it’s political reasons, but yes, I think the chief of police for Brookfield is absolutely lobbying the medical examiner’s office to declare this a suicide,” he said.

“I think that’s absolutely why he came out on TV, why he has attacked members of the public for raising the specter of this being a homicide,” Atty. Sulton said of the Brookfield police chief.

“It is very sad to learn that a Black family from Waukesha is being treated like second-class citizens when all they want to know is how their loved one perished.”

The Final Call will continue to follow and report on this story as it develops.

The post More questions than answers remain in Wisconsin hanging death appeared first on Final Call News.

The contamination originated from state decision-makers switching the city’s water supply from Detroit to the highly toxic Flint River, initially as a cost-cutting measure, but more than a decade later and after millions of dollars spent to correct it, residents remain dissatisfied as the likelihood of other long-term health effects remain uncertain and details surrounding the settlement remain unclear (see The Final Call Vol. 42, No. 3).

With at least 30 settlement categories divided between minors and adults, and for damages to residential and business properties from the time of the switchover, residents, activists and attorneys said challenges remain. Challenges include informing the public about who may or may not be eligible to receive a check, the amount of money they will receive, how paperwork issues hinder residents, and whether additional remedies related to the contaminated water will be available should other maladies arise in the future.

“When the settlement was made several years ago, we kept getting delayed, pushed off, delayed, pushed off for whatever reason,” said Audrey Muhammad, a member of the Nation of Islam, a Flint resident and community activist. “There was an appeal, there were different things. They kept trying to decide how we were going to get the money distributed to us,” she told The Final Call. She was referring to the bureaucratic red tape slowing access to the funds and questions about which settlement category a claimant would fall under regarding compensation.

She spoke of the frustration of trying to stay up to date on the information being released, being required to register and file paperwork more than once, and spending thousands of dollars of her own money to install and maintain a home water filtration system.

She argues that payment amounts still do not compensate fully for the fallout from the water crisis and for residents who suffered and continue to suffer.

“It’s a slap in the face and many residents here are very upset about it and let them know this is a direct slap in our face because this nowhere covers it.”

The contamination is bigger than just lead

Community activist, organizer and Flint resident Arthur Woodson told The Final Call that it was during the campaign of President Joe Biden when then-Senator Kamala Harris first came to Flint as his running-mate that support was given for a cancer cluster study.

“We had a sit-down and she promised me that once they were in office, she would come back to Flint and help get this cancer cluster study started,” Mr. Woodson said. “That’s when things got to rolling and they introduced me to an organization by the name of the National Minority Equality Forum. I had already put together a team of researchers, professors, scientists, and epidemiologists from U of M, Michigan State, and Wayne State. So, after that, I put out a bid to do the cancer cluster study,” he said. “I did three briefings at the White House about the cancer study and right now it’s ongoing.”

Noting that the study is projected to be completed by October 2026, Mr. Woodson said it is not part of the lead contamination settlement and is separate from it. Mr. Woodson alleges there are cases of brain, stomach and throat cancers and that two cancer incident reports found that cancer in the city was up 500% after the water crisis.

According to a June 8 article on flintbeat.com, “Some Flint residents have expressed concerns about possible links between these elevated cancer rates and environmental exposures, including lead, PFAS and trihalomethanes, particularly in the years following the Flint Water Crisis. There is also concern over limited access to reliable, high-quality cancer data specific to the city.”

The article continues, “Recent data from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services indicates Flint experiences higher-than-expected rates of several cancers compared to Genesee County and the state overall. These include lung and bronchus cancer, larynx cancer, stomach cancer and prostate cancer.”

While the results of the study will take some time, other challenges remain.

Reggie Davidson, of Legal Research One, is a paralegal contracted to manage the Flint office of the law firm Napoli Shkolnik PLLC, from May 2018 until March 2025. He told The Final Call that there has been a problem with getting people to sign up for the settlement because of mistrust or misunderstandings about the rollout of the registration process and confusion after the plaintiffs and more than 104 law firms settled with the State of Michigan, the City of Flint, McLaren Hospital, and one of the engineering firms for $626 million.

“So, in 2020, when the lawsuit was settled, barely 25,000 people had signed up out of a potential pool of 90,000 to 100,000 people and one of the fallacies and tragedies of this lawsuit was at the time of settlement, there was not even a third of the potentially qualified people signed up,” Mr. Davidson said.

“The process of gathering information for the people in support of the claim, people just were not willing to do things like give their social security numbers. They weren’t willing to give birth certificates for their children, or they didn’t have the money to obtain birth certificates of their children if they were misplaced or lost, or things like that,” he said.

Noting that 68% of the city’s residents live in poverty and that it is difficult to inform people of their rights or to educate those most affected on how to receive their payouts, Mr. Davidson said it is necessary for people to check their eligibility. “They need to, at this point, contact their law firm or the Special Court Master,” he said.

“At this stage of the game, the Special Court Master and the claims administrators have the paperwork,” Mr. Davidson said. “In the end game, we’re trying to direct people directly to those two sources because it will be those two sources that will subsequently be able to say, yes, you’re in a category to get some money, or no, you’re not.”

For more information, contact the Flint Water Claims Administrator at 888-893-7470 or online at: officialflintwaterpayments.com.

The post Settlement reached in Flint water crisis, but will payouts solve lingering concerns? appeared first on Final Call News.

In a press statement e-mailed to The Final Call by Black Power Media (BPM), Mr. Fort suffered a fall around October 19, causing him to strike his head on the concrete floor of his cell after experiencing a blackout, of which he has documented histories dating back to 2006 – 2007. He was reportedly rushed by ambulance and later underwent extensive surgery, raising grave concerns over his deteriorating health within the USP Florence ADMAX facility, a prison within the prison complex, the press release said.

Mr. Fort, also known as Abdul Malik Ka’bah and Chief Malik, was convicted of several federal charges, including alleged conspiracy and weapons charges in 1987, an alleged murder in 1981, and a conviction for alleged drug trafficking in 1983. While incarcerated, his health has drastically declined.

“Mr. Fort experiences ongoing difficulty breathing during the day and shortness of breath at night,” BPM said in their written statement. “He also struggles with CPAP therapy and has experienced significant weight loss, dropping to approximately 180 -185 pounds, which is likely linked to dental issues and delays in receiving dentures that make eating difficult. Mr. Fort has been incarcerated for nearly 40 years and has spent the last 19 years in near-total isolation,” the statement continued, noting that confining the elderly to such environments is inhumane and presents severe risks to both mental and physical health.

“The goal is to absolutely, at some point, get him some type of medical clemency, but for now the plan is to attempt to have him transferred to a medical facility,” said Kalonji Changa, chief coordinator of movement affairs and public relations of the law firm For The People, LLC.

“He’s in Colorado ADX, which is a supermax prison, but it’s also what they call the Guantanamo of the Rocky Mountains,” Mr. Changa said to The Final Call in a telephone interview.

“He’s been locked up close to 40 years at this time and it’s a very harsh detention facility. He’s elderly, so the lack of proper medical treatment is always a problem. The conditions have had a devastating toll on his physical and mental health,” he said of the underground prison. He said the facility’s remote location and its elevation of 5,322 feet above sea level contributed to Mr. Fort’s deteriorating health, including the lack of sunlight, human communication, and human contact.

“I would say that if Mr. Fort had the rights that the American government would give to dogs, it would be better than the conditions he has right now,” Mr. Changa insisted. “You can’t imagine a dog locked in a cage that amount of time and lacking any type of physical interaction. In fact, if you kept your dog caged for that amount of time and in solitary confinement for close to 20 years, I’m sure you would be arrested,” he said.

A 2020 paper published through the Northwestern University Law Review titled “The Science of Solitary: Expanding the Harmfulness Narrative,” by Dr. Craig Haney Ph.D., J.D., Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, explored the harmful impact of solitary confinement on inmates.

“Knowledge about the psychological and physical harms inflicted by solitary confinement has evolved considerably over the last several decades. Ironically, growing awareness of its serious adverse effects coincided with the increasingly widespread use of the practice during the era of mass incarceration that began in the 1970s. This recent several-decade period of prison growth also represents the ‘modern era’ of solitary confinement in corrections, in contrast to its widespread—and, for a time, nearly universal—use in the nineteenth century.

“Over a century ago, the terrible effects that solitary confinement had on prisoners led to condemnation of the practice and a long period of relative disuse. Thus, even by the mid-nineteenth century, many state prison systems had concluded that the once widely used harsh form of complete isolation was ‘impracticable, inhuman, and intolerably expensive,”’ Prof. Haney explained in part.

“The basic harmfulness of solitary confinement is now a largely settled scientific fact. A number of articles published in recent years have comprehensively catalogued a wide range of studies demonstrating the adverse psychological effects and other consequences that befall persons who are subjected to this cruel form of imprisonment,” Prof. Haney wrote of its long-term consequences.

For The People lawyer, and lead attorney representing Mr. Fort, Jenipher Jones, told The Final Call that the facility in which he has been sentenced to spend the rest of his life raises troubling questions under a government where the U.S. Constitution is purportedly “the supreme law of the land.”

“He is here in Colorado at the ADMAX facility, which a lot of people misdescribe as a supermax,” Atty. Jones said. She said it is the most secure correctional prison in the United States. “The supermax is next door on the complex, but this is a special facility that the BOP (Bureau of Prisons) reserves for prisoners who are in need of administrative segregation, a unique form of incarceration which is basically a form of solitary confinement. It is way up in the mountains, and he, along with other prisoners, is housed deep down below, underground,” she explained.

“He’s in a singular cell in which everything is totally automated where he would never really have to leave the cell except for outside time or medical or things like that,” Atty. Jones said. “His communications are severely restricted and in terms of letter writing, talking to family members, making outside calls, things like that, everything he does, with the exception of his communications with our legal team, is highly monitored. It’s a form of isolation and surveillance to be better able to keep track of and control prisoners who may be of a particular status,” she said.

“That ADX is notorious, and it’s shocking and would probably be shocking to the average person,” Atty. Jones said.“It’s the most restrictive prison in the United States and it’s one of the most restrictive and isolated prisons in the world. I could go on about the kind of environment that it is and how inappropriate it is for someone his age,” she added.

The BPM press statement said that “Mr. Fort has maintained a near spotless disciplinary record, completed over 100 educational courses, and has been housed in the facility’s ‘honor unit’ for well-behaved inmates.” His daughter LaTonya Fort, who, according to the press statement, faithfully nurses and tends to her father, stated, “My father gave us all the greatest gift anyone could give: He believed in us. Please believe in him and help us work towards his freedom.”

According to the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, it states: “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” In the case of Mr. Fort, what he is enduring could be seen as “cruel and unusual punishment.”

“Because of the high level of isolation that is there for Mr. Fort, things like the altitude and his aging body, it has had an effect on him and his health (and) we believe he does need geriatric care like most elderly people do,” Atty. Jones stated plainly.

“This form of punishment is inappropriate. He poses no threat to the public at all, so we are hoping in terms of legal remedies that he will be transferred to a medical facility,” she said.

The press release asks supporters to visit www.freefort.org for more information on how to support efforts to transfer Mr. Fort to an appropriate medical facility and advocate for his clemency based on his age and ailing condition.

The post Advocates for incarcerated former street organizer Jeff Fort fight for medical transfer appeared first on Final Call News.