Several workshop classes were conducted. We could not thank Pastor Donald Sellers of South Park Church enough for his overwhelming support. Follow-up sessions are scheduled for areas such as conflict mediation and community accountability events.

Student Minister James Muhammad also attended a Sunday service at South Park Church and was given the opportunity to speak to the entire congregation and shared words of appreciation and unity.
—Submitted by Student Protocol Director Walter Umrani Muhammad

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“She was like, ‘Mom, I haven’t spoken to Derek,’ and I’m like, ‘What do you mean?’” his mother, Nishae Samuel, said to 11Alive, Atlanta’s NBC affiliate.  She said her son had gone to the store with friends but stayed behind after the group separated, 11Alive reported.

Derek Samuel disappeared after leaving a Target store in East Point, Georgia, on April 29.  His family filed a missing person’s report on April 30.  Human remains later found in a wooded area behind an apartment complex were believed by police and family members to be Derek Samuel’s.

Despite being missing for an entire month, Mr. Samuel’s story did not reach national media outlets. 

Research shows that when a young White woman or girl goes missing, she receives massive news coverage and broad public attention. But when the skin color and/or gender change, a different picture is painted.

More than 560,000 people were reported missing in 2023, according to the Black and Missing Foundation, Inc.  Black people make up 13% of the U.S. population but account for nearly 40% of all missing persons.

“Thousands of people are reported missing every year in the U.S.  And while not every case will get widespread media attention, the coverage of White” and non-White victims “is far from proportionate,” the foundation says on a webpage displaying the numbers.

In recent years, more attention has been on missing and murdered Black women and girls, highlighting racial disparities between media coverage and law enforcement search efforts for White women versus Black women. But Black men are often another forgotten population.

“Not only are missing Blacks and missing men less likely at the outset to garner media coverage than other types of missing persons, but they also receive a lower intensity of coverage when their stories are, in fact, picked up by news outlets,” Zach Sommers.

A law professor at Chicago-Kent College of Law, wrote in an article analyzing race and gender disparities in online news coverage of missing persons, published in the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology in spring 2016.

His research focused on race, perceptions and media coverage of crime. “Women and girls are more readily accepted as victims that need saving, and White women and girls in particular are more easily seen as ‘universal’ victims with whom all viewers and readers can identify,” he wrote.

He noted that discussions about “Missing White Woman Syndrome”—the term describing the disproportionate media attention missing White women receive—often overlook men and boys, and his findings indicated that missing men, especially Black men, receive substantially less attention than White women and girls.

In Georgia alone, several Black men have gone missing from January 2025 to May 2026 with relatively little sustained media coverage.

Christopher McKoy, 34, was last seen in the Norcross, Georgia, area of metro Atlanta on January 7, 2025.  He had been driving for a rideshare service and had crashed his car on the day he disappeared, 11Alive reported. Police only found his car.

A review of online news coverage found only a handful of stories from Atlanta-area outlets, including Fox 5 Atlanta, 11Alive and WSB-TV, Atlanta’s ABC affiliate, published between Jan. 14 and Jan. 29, 2025.

Mr. McKoy’s parents, Bernard and Jackie McKoy, have posted on Facebook several times since their son’s disappearance, reminding the public that the family is still searching. His mother’s last post, dated January 16 of this year, simply said, “Still missing!”

In another case, Timothy McSears, 65, was last seen at his home in LaFayette, Georgia, in Walker County, on March 6, 2025.  A review of online news coverage found a few stories from local outlets in 2025 and a few more in March 2026, marking one year since his disappearance. The Walker County Sheriff’s Office has classified the case as a large-scale and ongoing investigation, according to Fox 5 Atlanta.

Gregory McNeal, 56, has been missing since September 16, 2025. He was staying at a hotel in Richmond Hill, Georgia, near Savannah, for work. Footage from a Ring doorbell camera showed him running through a backyard with apparent injuries to his face. A review of online news coverage found six news stories from local outlets published in September, October and November. 

His family is still searching for him, with a recent social media post by a family member dated March 16.

A fourth and more recent case involves 25-year-old Malik Polk out of Coweta County, Georgia, in metro Atlanta. He was last heard from on May 17, and his family filed a missing persons report on May 19.  Authorities found his vehicle abandoned.

Damon K. Jones, a 33-year law enforcement veteran, community advocate and publisher of Black Westchester Magazine, cited the first 48 hours as a critical window in missing persons cases.

“That’s a proven investigative timeframe with any crime. My wife is a detective … and she deals with a lot of the youth, missing youth in Mount Vernon, New York.  So, you have that time that you want to get them as fast as possible,” he said to The Final Call.

“A mother knows when her child is not doing what they’re supposed to do, and a mother knows if the actions of a child, if a child is not home at a certain time, something’s wrong. What does the law tell them? They got to wait 24 hours,” he added. “So, now, when you’ve got the 48-hour window of investigation, you’re already behind 24 hours.”

Dr. Michelle Jeanis, criminology professor at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, and Dr. Bryanna Fox, former FBI agent and criminology professor at the University of South Florida, collaborated on a project to determine how social media, traditional media and law enforcement’s techniques help bring missing people home safely and sooner.

They studied how many media reports were written about each person listed in the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System database, how many words were written about each person and how long it took to find the person, alive or dead, or if they were found at all.

They found that women received nearly 12 times more media coverage, on average, than male victims, and White victims received nearly three times as much total media attention than non-White victims, as well as higher word counts within articles, ABC News reported.

In Malik Polk’s case, the Coweta County Sheriff’s Office posted about his missing status on social media on May 22, three days after the missing person’s report was filed. A review of online news coverage found five stories about Mr. Polk’s disappearance, though four were not published until May 27 or later, roughly one week after he was reported missing.

What happened to Derek Samuel?

Questions surrounding media attention and law enforcement response also persist in cases where missing Black men are later found dead.

Two missing Black men were found dead and received limited follow-up media coverage—Tremaine Moore, 41, whose body was found in the Savannah River on Nov. 20, 2025, one week after he was last seen;

And Kenny Darnell Jackson, 21, from Acworth, Georgia, who was last seen on Nov. 19, reported missing on Nov. 21 and whose remains were found in a wooded nature area and later identified in December.

Then, there’s the case of Derek Samuel.

The Target he was seen leaving is in Camp Creek Marketplace, off Commerce Drive in East Point, in metro Atlanta. According to his mother, surveillance video showed him walking out of Target and heading down the sidewalk toward Commerce Drive, 11Alive reported. Going north, Commerce Drive quickly turns into Redwine Road, where his phone had last pinged.

“He walked through, came out of Target, walked down the sidewalk and down towards Commerce Road and that was it,” his mother, Nishae Samuel, said to 11Alive.

Human remains were found on May 31 behind the Reserve at Redwine apartment complex on Redwine Road, after a month of searching for Mr. Samuel. The apartment complex is about half a mile away from Target.

East Point Police Chief Shawn Buchanan said during a June 3 news conference that Mr. Samuel walked into the gated apartment complex behind a vehicle. “The cellphone records showed triangulation in the woods behind the apartment complex,” the police chief said. 

Police searched the woods on May 16 but did not find anything. They returned to the woods on May 31 and found human remains after three hours of searching. They found additional human remains on June 1, along with Mr. Samuel’s cellphone, a handgun and a shell casing. Police strongly believed the remains were Mr. Samuel’s, but had not yet identified the young man.

“Based on facts of the case, at this point, we do not suspect any foul play,” Police Chief Buchanan said.

There were several delays in the search for Mr. Samuel, as reporters noted at the news conference. The family filed the missing person’s report on April 30, but police did not issue an alert about Mr. Samuel until May 11. The first search in the wooded area where the cellphone pinged was conducted on May 16, more than two weeks after Mr. Samuel’s disappearance. 

The reporters questioned: Why did it take nearly two weeks to issue a public alert, and why was the area where his phone last pinged not searched immediately? Reporters also brought up the family’s disbelief that Mr. Samuel would have harmed himself.

East Point Detective Lieutenant Rick Michaud and the police chief responded that police had to wait until the weather was conducive to do the search, that it was very difficult to locate Mr. Samuel due to the area being heavily dense with vegetation, that there was a delay after issuing a search warrant for the cellphone and that police received a lot of erroneous tips and information.

Police Chief Buchanan said they could not release any further information and did not disclose whether Mr. Samuel was shot. He said police had not ruled out suicide. 

While Mr. Samuel’s case has received far more news coverage than the other Black men mentioned, aside from widespread social media coverage, his story has mostly circulated among local news outlets based in Atlanta. Advocacy groups like the Black and Missing Foundation argue that delays in media coverage can limit public awareness and slow search efforts. 

Black people make up about one-third of metro Atlanta. Atlanta and many of the surrounding cities and counties are run by Black mayors and Black city councils. When it comes to the issue of missing Black people, Mr. Jones believes Black elected officials could and must also do more.

“The justice system still does not see value in Black life. We have yet to force it, even in communities that are run by Black faces,” he said in part. 

More than a month after Derek Samuel disappeared, his family was still searching for answers. The families of Christopher McKoy and Timothy McSears have been searching for more than a year. When someone’s son, brother or father disappears with little attention from law enforcement, what can be done?

Mr. Jones urged Black families with missing loved ones to organize and speak out under a collective voice. “Families need to be voices.  In the Atlanta area, they need to come together as a voice and as a voting bloc,” he said.  Politicians understand votes, he argued. 

“They don’t understand pain. They don’t understand when a family is grieving. They don’t understand that. They only understand it when it affects their vote, and we have to start having that conversation, because too many families are hurting out here.”

The post A forgotten population Missing Black men receive limited media coverage and law enforcement response appeared first on Final Call News.

According to a news release, civil rights and personal injury attorney Ben Crump and Attorney Van Turner of Turner Feild, PLLC have been retained by the child’s family.

“A one-year-old child is dead because police officers in Mississippi opened fire on a car in a crowded Walmart parking lot. Kohen Wiley was a baby. His mother, who has not been charged with any crime, says she was trying to communicate to officers that there was a baby in the car.

They fired anyway, leading to the death of an innocent one-year-old. We intend to seek justice for baby Kohen and the life that was stolen from him,” said Atty. Crump in a press statement.

According to WAPT News, the Senatobia Police Department officer, whose name has not yet been released, has been placed on administrative leave. The Senatobia Board of Aldermen made the announcement during a meeting on June 16 as demonstrators marched through downtown Senatobia to the parking lot where the shooting occurred.

Senatobia is in northwestern Mississippi, about 35 miles south of Memphis, Tennessee. Senatobia is the county seat of Tate County, with a population of about 8,500.  According to 2020 Census statistics, Senatobia’s population is 53.7% White and 40.3% Black.

“I’m just at a loss for words, to be honest. Somebody needs to be held accountable for it,” said Carlos Haynes, Kohen’s grandfather, according to WREG TV.  He described his grandson as a happy baby and said he was looking forward to watching him grow. “Someone ended it all before it could even start,” said Mr. Haynes.

Demonstrators gathered outside the store after a rally at Senatobia City Hall on June 16.

WAPT reported that law enforcement deployed tear gas to disperse protesters.

“Transparency is not optional when a child has lost his life. Every day that passes without the release of this footage deepens public distrust and prolongs the pain of a family searching for truth,” posted Indivisible Memphis online. 

The grassroots coalition called on people to email or call Senatobia elected officials and demand full transparency throughout the investigation, accountability for everyone involved, and justice for Kohen and his family.

According to law enforcement claims, officers responded to a shoplifting call at Walmart on U.S. 51, at around 2:00 p.m. in the afternoon, and “encountered two subjects and a juvenile child fleeing from the store into a vehicle. Officers attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver drove in the direction of the officers, almost striking one. 

An officer then discharged their weapon and the vehicle fled the scene.  The subjects arrived at a local hospital where one juvenile child in the vehicle was pronounced deceased, and another subject had critical injuries.  No law enforcement officers received any serious physical injury.”

The shooting reportedly involved officers with the Senatobia Police Department and deputies with the Tate County Sheriff’s Office, noted ABC-24, a local Memphis affiliate. According to reports by the Mississippi Free Press, members of Kohen Wiley’s family have denied that any shoplifting took place.

In a video posted June 17 by ABC-24, Vellesiya Wiley, Kohen’s mother, said she, her son, and a friend were leaving the store.  “As we was leaving out the Walmart, they tried to stop her (the friend), but I kept walking because it had nothing to do with me. By the time me and my baby got in the car she came.”  

She added, “I raised my baby up because they were drawing their guns. She has no tint (on the windows). I raised my baby up trying to show them that he was in the car and she was backing up and she hit a car as I was opening the door.

So, the door flew back. By the time I set my baby down there was like three to four shots. One of the shots hit him in his ribcage and the other shots hit her in her arm and her thigh. And we left and went to Senatobia Hospital, where he was pronounced dead,” she said of her son.   

Patrick “Lumumba” Alexander of the Black Liberation Movement argued that Senatobia Police Department officers didn’t just see a woman and child—they saw a Black woman and Black child, which in his opinion, is why they fired multiple times on the vehicle.

Photos circulating across various news outlets and social media show a bullet hole on the passenger side of the windshield of the grey sedan, and the front passenger window is shattered. There were also some photos that appeared to show multiple bullet holes.

The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation said it is gathering evidence and will share findings with the Attorney General’s Office once the investigation is complete. According to the Department of Public Safety, officers witnessed the baby’s presence before the individuals entered the vehicle and before the officer fired into the sedan. 

One witness told WREG TV’s, “Then I hear gunshots and I’m like, ‘I know they’re not shooting at a car that’s leaving—this is Walmart.’” A separate witness said he heard two gunshots and that law enforcement was already waiting in the parking lot as two women exited with one box of diapers, one holding baby Kohen.

“Senatobia Police Department get away with too much stuff,” said Carolyn Stokes, Kohen’s great-grandmother, according to WREG TV. “It’s just too much.”

ABC 24 reported that Mississippi Department of Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell said an independent investigation would be ongoing and that police footage would be made available once it was completed. He called on the public to maintain patience, acknowledging, “I know this is a very frustrating time.”

Brother Abdul Shahid Muhammad, Student Coordinator for the Nation of Islam’s Study Group in Holly Springs, Mississippi, questioned how a shoplifting call escalates to deadly force. He is also a 32-year law enforcement veteran. Shoplifting is a simple misdemeanor, he explained. So, something very serious would have to occur to justify deadly force, he pointed out.

“You know a child is in the car. You saw that. And, you mean to tell me that they fired at the car anyway?! It’s very tragic, but unfortunately, it’s quite commonplace, particularly down in the Delta,” he said, referring to some southern states. There has always been in Mississippi an indifference where the lives of Black people are concerned, Student Coordinator Shahid Muhammad noted.

Longtime Mississippi community organizer Marquell Bridges described swift, disciplined action following the shooting. “We shut down Walmart for the day, which shows real Black power by the community coming together and saying you won’t just go on as business as usual as you kill a one-year-old Black baby, Kohen Kartier Wiley,” he told The Final Call.

He demanded that the officer be “fired, charged, arrested, indicted, and convicted,” and called for the police chief to resign.

Attorney Turner said the family has many questions. “We want to see the body cam footage from the officers,” Atty, Turner said, reported ABC-24. “We also want to see the footage from Walmart, and the family is just wondering why the officer dispatched his service gun, knowing that there was a child in the car.”

—Charlene Muhammad, National Correspondent

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The MoU was signed by President Donald J. Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian at the Palace of Versailles in France at a dinner hosted by President Emmanuel Macron at the end of the highly anticipated G7 meeting of powerful nations.

By most accounts, Iran gets the better of the deal—if it holds—as the Muslim nation gets outcomes similar to or slightly better than those of a previous agreement signed by former President Barack Obama in 2015, which Mr. Trump tore up during his first term as president.

For example, the MoU does not stipulate inspections of Iran’s nuclear activities. There are, however, many “red lines” for both sides in the MoU and anger from both sides of Congress is palpable.

Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, a Trump supporter, said the president “got very poor advice when it comes to this deal.” Senator Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who lost his recent re-election bid to a Trump-backed challenger, in a post on X said the deal is “the worst foreign policy blunder in decades.”

“This is not the art of the deal, this is the art of surrender,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said in an interview on MS Now. The senator was taking a jab at Mr. Trump’s co-written 1987 book “Trump: The Art of the Deal.” He went on to describe the MoU as “one of the worst foreign policy disasters” in U.S. history.

At various moments during the G7 gathering, President Trump showed the stress of the pressure on him because of what Iran wins.

President Trump commented that it is acceptable for Iran to maintain a ballistic missile arsenal, stating it is “fair” in relative proportion to other nations. “I’m saying that if other countries have them, it’s a little bit unfair for them not to have some,” the president told reporters on June 18.

While at the G7, he also explained the decision to unfreeze some of Iran’s assets. “The unfreezing … we have taken a lot of their money. And we have their money. We have taken their money, its not our money, it’s their money and we froze it.

At a certain point in time, I guess we’re going to have to give it back. You know, if we didn’t give it back, nobody would ever invest in the dollar again,” he said, reported several media outlets.

Among other things, the 14-point MoU stipulates:

• An immediate and permanent end of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon
• Removal of the U.S. naval blockade on Iran
• Termination of U.S. sanctions against Iran in an agreed upon schedule
• U.S. will make available for use the frozen or restricted funds and assets of Iran.

For its part, Iran will reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the vital waterway for oil, fertilizer and other materials and reaffirm its commitment not to develop or obtain nuclear weapons, something it had affirmed in the previous 2015 agreement. (See full MoU on page 23.)

At Final Call press time, the planned June 19 public signing ceremony with U.S. Vice President JD Vance was canceled due to Israel’s continued attacks in Lebanon. Such attacks cross Iran’s red line established in the MoU. The document had been signed on June 17 by presidents Trump and Pezeshkian.

It had been argued that warring parties were playing a waiting game: Trump betting that Iran’s economy would collapse and create internal rebellion; Iran betting that the decline of the world economy would pressure the U.S. to back off so ships can flow through the Strait.

“Iran is moving from survival to ambition … using the MoU to gain power,” University of Chicago professor Robert Pape surmised on the Danny Haipong YouTube channel, pointing out that any oil that moves through the Strait now would not make it to market before the end of the year. By that time, oil reserves of most nations will be near empty.

If the U.S. or Israel violates the agreement, Iran shuts down the Strait again. “This is the escalation trap,” said Professor Pape, author of “The Escalation Trap” Substack site.

Charles Barron, an activist and former New York assemblyman and council member, said the MoU was President Trump’s way of “trying to find a graceful way out, and there was none.”

Mr. Barron, a radio host and host of the Speaking Truth to Power podcast, explained that many Republicans were against starting a war with Iran, especially as a midterm election approaches. He said the expertise of Iran’s negotiators now makes Iran a stronger regional power and an emerging world power.

The president was emboldened by his taking of Venezuela and arresting President Nicolás Maduro and his wife. “But Iran is no Venezuela or Cuba,” Mr. Barron explained. “This is further evidence of the declining American empire and we’re witnessing the birth pains of a new world order.”

Observers suggest that any final agreement will not differ significantly from Mr. Obama’s 2015 plan, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). A major contention by opponents of the MoU is a $300 billion reconstruction plan—demanded by Iran prior to the agreement—and who will pay for it?

Under the MoU, $300 billion is separate from the U.S. commitment to issue waivers for Iranian oil exports and allowing access to frozen funds immediately after the agreement is signed. In contrast, the JCPOA provided for a more gradual lifting of sanctions, with many non-nuclear sanctions remaining in place.

Observers also quickly point out that Mr. Trump’s claim that Mr. Obama gave a planeload of cash to Iran is misleading. It was Iran’s money.

A Yahoo.com “fact check” article points out the money “represented a settlement of a decades-old legal dispute over $400 million Iran had paid the U.S., before the 1979 Iranian Revolution, for military equipment it never received, plus about $1.3 billion in interest.”

Israel: America’s friend or foe?

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been vocal about his MoU opposition and his commitment to attack Lebanon, which has caused death and destruction with its actions being compared to the regime’s genocide in Gaza. Public disputes between Mr. Trump and Mr. Netanyahu have grabbed headlines in recent weeks. Whether Israel will relinquish before the MoU totally collapses is the question.

According to reporting by NBCnews.com, on June 16 at the G7, President Trump said, “Without me, there would be no Israel,” and reportedly also called Prime Minister Netanyahu “crazy” and used an expletive to describe his poor judgment. He also criticized Israel’s continued bombing of Lebanon.

“There are many within the Israeli cabinet that would want to continue bombing Lebanon and thwart this eventual peace deal,” said Terek Khalil, attorney, activist and Education Chair with the American Muslims for Palestine (AMP). This vision of creating a greater Israel needs Lebanese territory, not to mention Syrian territory, Jordanian territory and the rest of historic Palestine.

“On that basis, there will be a lot of political motivation to continue their expansionist campaign in Lebanon,” he said.

Mr. Khalil and others point out that the Strait of Hormuz was open prior to the unprovoked U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran, and the Muslim nation never threatened to impose a tariff on ships for passage, as they now are suggesting they might do. Nor were U.S. military bases in neighboring Gulf nations being attacked. Now they are.

“The Strait will be open for 60 days, but after 60 days it’ll be subject to a decision between Iran and Oman,” Mr. Khalil noted. “They will ultimately decide what the future holds for the Strait of Hormuz. That could have an economic impact on the United States. So, the situation post Memorandum of Understanding could be worse for the United States than pre-war.”

Mr. Khalil noted that the war has taken focus off the genocide occurring in Gaza. With the assault on Iran, America is complicit in the “crime of crimes”—genocide with Israel in Gaza and the unprovoked military attack and blockade of another nation.

“This is a shameful stain on the United States of America and we’re doing it at the behest of a foreign entity, a foreign government, Israel. That is something that Americans should abhor. We must end this so-called special relationship because it is a damaging one for U.S. interests.”

Reuters reports 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in Gaza since an October 2025 ceasefire agreement, with many injured victims dying due to the closing of crossings manned by Israeli soldiers and the inability to be extracted to a medical facility.

All of Gaza is occupied, Mr. Khalil explained, but the physical presence of the Israeli army has a stronghold over 70% of the Gaza Strip.

“It looks like the vision is to occupy, physically, 70% of the 365 square kilometer territory known as the Gaza Strip and further consolidate their gains and suffocate the Palestinian people. That’s something that you will not see in mainstream news anymore.”

The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, National Representative of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, has consistently warned the American Government that Israel will drag it into a war that will end its power. He has also warned Islamic nations against being divided by the enemy that threatens them all.

“America: Even though you plan well, there is another Planner over and above your plans—that is The Best of Planners. And your plans, under His Plan, is causing you to fulfill the scripture that says ‘you will lay a trap and get caught in it, and you will dig a ditch for others.

But you will fall in it yourself,’” the Minister warned the American Government in Part 34 of his 2013 yearlong series “The Time and What Must Be done” titled “America’s Errant Foreign Policy.”

In that same message, Minister Farrakhan said to the Islamic nations: “My dear brothers and sisters, leaders of the Islamic world: What you are doing under the guidance of America and Europe will cause the whole Middle East to be destroyed, and possibly lead to the bombing of our Holy City of Mecca.

Whether you know it or not, the rightful place for The Righteous will be bathed in blood as a ‘purifying agent’ for The Mahdi and The Messiah to bring The Real People of God back to their proper and rightful place in Mecca, in Medina, and the whole Muslim world!”

The post Iran finds road map to rising power Stumbling blocks and Israel trip up Trump’s peace efforts appeared first on Final Call News.

The F.O.I. share the Teachings via The Final Call newspaper, which is available door-to-door and via print and digital subscriptions. The brothers also strive to make their communities decent and safe places to live as taught by the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, National Representative of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad.

We thank the F.O.I for their dedicated service and for working cheerfully and with a positive spirit when engaging with our people.

The post Dedicated community servants and soldiers appeared first on Final Call News.

The group was on the ground in Cuba as part of an Emergency Mutual Solidarity and Engagement Fact-Finding Delegation.

Organized by the Institute of the Black World 21st Century (IBW) and convened by Dr. Ron Daniels, the broad-based delegation, including journalists, business leaders, and activists, traveled to the island to bear witness to what Cuban officials call “intolerable acts” perpetuated by six decades of U.S. policy.

“The masses of Cuban people have suffered far too long from 67 years of selective, punitive blockades and sanctions imposed by the government of the United States,” Dr. Daniels told The Final Call.

“To add insult to injury, the current administration in Washington is inflicting collective punishment on the Cuban people by imposing a blockade on fuel urgently needed to provide electricity for the nation and sanctions on any nation seeking to assist Cuba to meet its essential needs. Collective punishment of a people is a violation of international law.”

The human cost of the blockade is not abstract. It is measured in closed schools, in dark nights, in empty medicine cabinets, and in impossible choices.

Yanela Gonzalez Gonzalez, a professor at Isri International University, spoke passionately about daily life under the siege. “There is genocide in Cuba, in a silent way among the people,” she said. “It’s very, very bad for the people, and especially for the Black women and our kids.”

She recalled a devastating loss: “Yesterday, my neighbor passed away because she didn’t have transportation to go to the hospital. When she previously tried to go to the hospital, she was told there wasn’t enough medicine to attend to her.”

Her plea was direct: “We need you to share our voices with the people in the United States. We need your solidarity. We need solar panels; we need medicine; we need people to respect the way that we decide to live.”

The delegation met with Carlos Fernández de Cossío, deputy minister at MINREX (Ministry of Foreign Affairs), who detailed the revolutionary gains now under threat.

He reminded the group that Cuba once guaranteed a liter of milk to every child and every pregnant woman, “regardless of who they are, who their parents are, if they’re professionals, if they’re farmers, if they’re delinquents, if they’re in jail, if they’re counterrevolutionary.”

That, he said, is social justice, along with free healthcare and free education for all. For decades, Cuba’s child mortality, maternal mortality, and life expectancy outpaced every country in the hemisphere except Canada.

But today, those gains are crumbling under U.S. economic warfare. Deputy Minister Fernández de Cossío asked plainly: “Is that a crime? Is that a criminal punishment imposed on a population that includes infants?”

The official described a nation that often endures 16 to 42 hours without electricity in the 21st century, with food spoiling, children doing homework at 2:00 a.m. when power returns, and those with respiratory illnesses unable to run medical equipment. Meanwhile, he charged, the U.S. spends $30–50 million annually on propaganda blaming Cuba’s own government for suffering caused by the blockade.

Walking through Cuban neighborhoods, delegation members heard directly from residents.

Alejandro, a man with asthma, explained that because medical supplies are restricted, he can only obtain his inhaler on the black market. “Tell the Americans that we are suffering in Cuba because we can’t get basic care,” he said. “I need my inhaler but can’t find it. If I do, should I pay for it or get food for my family? These are choices people shouldn’t have to make.”

Dr. E. Faye Williams, peace activist, senior advisor to the World Council of Mayors, and former president of the National Congress of Black Women, said the Cubans she met were willing to share their struggles openly. But she stressed solidarity is not one-way.

“I certainly hope that the women we talked with here don’t feel that we have it so good in America,” Dr. Williams told The Final Call. “We, women, have our challenges in America, too. I hope they feel that they’re not alone, and that what we promised to do as we heard what their challenges are, [we will] do what we can to resolve, and also know that we have challenges.”

Dr. Haki Ammi, IBW board member, author, and educator, said the trip clarified the need for stronger organizing. “I’m dissecting the power dynamics, in terms of what Black people actually represent, and how we have to up our ante,” he said.

“The U.S. has oppressed this nation for decades. We have to expose the contradictions in the system, and expose that if the U.S. comes for Cuba, who else are they coming for?”

The delegation met with a range of Cuban officials, including at MINREX, the National Assembly, and municipal levels. They also visited the Afro-Cuban civil society and anti-racist organizations. Their conclusion: The solidarity movement must deepen and broaden.

Dr. Daniels announced that the group will return to the U.S. committed to systematic engagement through channels established by Pastors for Peace, which regularly sends aid to Cuba. They will also urge the Congressional Black Caucus, legacy civil and human rights organizations, and progressive faith groups to demand normalization of relations with Cuba.

“The Black world owes a debt to the people of Cuba,” Dr. Daniels said. “Hopefully, the African Union will have the audacity to follow CARICOM’s lead and defy the rogue regime in the U.S. by assembling an aid package and challenging the blockade.”

The post A silent genocide Cuba’s suffering continues under U.S. blockade appeared first on Final Call News.

On June 9, a jury which had no Black people, after deliberating less than three hours, found Karmelo Anthony, now 19, guilty of murder and sentenced him to 35 years in prison. He will be eligible for parole after serving half the sentence. He had faced anywhere from five to 99 years.

His attorneys have filed an appeal.

Too many questions linger, despite the verdict and sentencing since the incident with Austin Metcalf, argue attorneys, activists, legal analysts, and observers.

Karmelo Anthony and Austin Metcalf were both 17 when the incident occurred. Karmelo, was accused of stabbing Austin Metcalf, during a Frisco Independent School District track meet on April 2, 2025.

Investigators say the two teens, who attended different schools and did not know each other, got into an altercation at Kuykendall Stadium before Karmelo stabbed Austin, who later died at the hospital.

The trial began with jury selection on June 1 in Collin County. While it is unclear how many prospective Black jurors were part of the initial jury pool, various media outlets reported that defense attorneys objected to the prosecution’s removal of two Black prospective jurors from the pool, but the judge allowed it.

The case centered on whether Karmelo acted in self-defense. White youth tend to receive sympathy and the benefit of the doubt, but Black youth, historically, get the book thrown at them.

Wearing shirts that read “#BelieveKarmelo,” his parents Kayla Hayes and Andrew Anthony expressed their feelings about the verdict and their family’s ordeal in an interview with The Breakfast Club’s Front Page News anchor, Mimi Brown on June 11.

“Absolutely not,” they exclaimed when asked if they believe their son received a fair trial.

“And we’re going to keep fighting. We will not stop fighting for justice for my son,” Ms. Hayes said through tears.

“It’s hard for us right now, and I’ve had my moments,” said Mr. Anthony. He noted that despite their son working two jobs, still graduating high school and never being in trouble, he was up against an unjust smear campaign.

“He’s a wonderful son. He’s a wonderful student … a 3.7 GPA; worked two jobs … he was actually taking online classes during all of this and still held a great GPA going through this traumatic time,” both said in tandem.

They told Ms. Brown they didn’t feel the world has not received an accurate description of who their son really is. His face was plastered all over, though he was still a minor, they received threats, and had to leave their home for their safety, they stated.

Karmelo, his father said, did everything he was supposed to do. He had a job, he went to school. “I kept him busy, too, and this whole situation, the reality of this is that somebody literally walked in his life, no, literally walked into his life. He did everything by the law, and look where we’re at,” said Mr. Anthony, as his wife wept.

He could still picture the way the verdict was read, and got emotional, but chose to hold his emotions, said Mr. Anthony. “I had to humble myself. It wasn’t just for me and my family, it was for all of us,” he said.

“So, I played that game, and I’m just letting you know that game don’t work. It’s not for us. The justice system is not for us. They can’t say we did anything out of what was told. We followed all the instructions and we followed the law. It just don’t work for us,” he said.

“Everybody lied,” Mr. Anthony stated. “Perjury. Everybody did, basically just did it,” he said.  “All of the witnesses’ statements and stories were inconsistent, so we’re thinking that the jury is going to notice that, but they already had their mind made up when they sat in that courtroom, their mind was made up already,” argued Ms. Hayes. 

The couple, who have three other children, pushed back against what they argue is misinformation circulating, from claims that they bought a house and other trinkets with money raised for Karmelo’s defense, among other harassment, which forced them to move. 

“We were in a blessed community. I hope a lot of people get this message, it don’t matter where you’re at. It don’t matter where you’re at, because we were supposed to be in the safest place, but it’s like they’re telling us that you could be assaulted, but you better not fight back. This is what this case is saying. …,” he said.

News Nation reported from the courtroom that Karmelo’s attorneys argued he acted in self-defense and reacted in fear during a “split second” moment after Austin made physical contact with him. Prosecutors argued that deadly force has to be “immediately necessary” to be legal.

Attorney Sadiyah A. Evangelista Karriem of Houston, Texas, a criminal defense lawyer, noted that Karmelo was 17 at the time of the incident but tried as a 19-year-old.

She raised constitutional concerns about the jury, arguing that the Sixth Amendment guarantees an impartial jury, and the spirit of that jury is drawn from a fair cross-section of the community, and that a racially charged case involving a Black defendant, absent Black jurors, was deeply troubling.

“We know that the case, prior to the trial, was a very racially charged case,” she said. That raises a fair question of what the Constitution provides, she said, adding that the strikes of Black potential jurors on the panel may be an appealable issue for Karmelo.

Another aspect is the murder vs. manslaughter, she said. “The jury found that he ‘knowingly’ caused the death rather than in manslaughter, recklessly caused the death, and then they refused the sudden passion argument, so you’re talking about two separate rejections of mitigation,” Atty. Evangelista Karriem told The Final Call.

“You’re talking about self-defense, and then you’re talking about sudden passion … and so when you talk about self-defense in Texas, you’re talking about reasonableness and proportionality,” she stated, adding, Texas allows for deadly force when a person reasonably believes it’s immediately necessary.

In the context of sentencing, she feels there was some inequality and she raised questions about other concerns including how fast the verdict came back.

In another Texas case that is drawing parallels, Caysen Allison, now 21, was sentenced to 10 years in prison without parole after being convicted of criminally negligent homicide in the death of Jose “Joe” Luis Ramirez Jr..

Both were 18 years old and in high school when that incident occurred. Caysen is White and Jose, Latino. The incident happened at Belton High School and was the result of a “bathroom brawl.”

According to reports, Caysen claimed self-defense. However, though he was found guilty, his sentence is 10 years in prison without the possibility of parole, after being convicted of criminally negligent homicide in the death of Jose.

Data has shown that “Stand Your Ground,” or “self-defense laws” are not always applied equally when it comes to Blacks and Whites in America. “Civil rights activists, celebrities, and politicians have expressed outrage at the case, with some saying that Anthony’s conviction highlights a clear double standard in self-defense claims in the United States:

If a white person kills a Black person, courts (and white juries) are more likely to rule the killing justified than if the situation were reversed,” wrote Arianna Coghill, an assistant news and engagement writer, in an article published in June on Mother Jones.

“According to a 2021 study from Everytown for Gun Safety, a nonprofit that advocates against gun violence, homicides are deemed justified more often, in nearly every state, when the shooter is white and the victim is Black.

A study from the Urban Institute found that homicides with a Black shooter and a white victim were ruled justified self-defense in a little more than 1 percent of cases. For a white shooter and Black victim, the figure jumps to 11.4 percent,” Coghill writes.

For Los Angeles-based activist Dr. Melina Abdullah of Black Lives Matters Grassroots, she also has concerns about the Karmelo Anthony case. Part of her concerns was the gag order placed early on in the case, the exclusion of cameras from the courtroom, and the hostile environment outside the courthouse. 

“I think one of the big misses from media is it should have been more aggressively challenged that there were no cameras allowed in the courtroom. It should be aggressively challenged what photos of Karmelo and what photos of the Metcalfs are being put out there,” she argued.

At the end of the day, the story is not done, she said, citing the appeals process.

“We want to make sure people pray fervently for the Anthony family,” she said. “They’ve raised their children to be good students and good human beings and we have to throw our arms around them and make sure that they are held up and when you see things that are not true or are disparaging, even this (AI generated) photo they’ve got out of Karmelo, tell people to take those down,” she added.

Dominique Alexander, president of the Next Generation Action Network (NGAN), had been a spokesperson for the Anthony family since before the trial. He said the family was “looking forward to the opportunity to present the facts in a court of law.”

He argued that the verdict illustrated “Black lives do not matter in Collin County,” the location of the trial. “After Trayvon Martin and so many countless names, it has shown us that Black life is not safe in Collin County,” Mr. Alexander added.

The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan has warned that real justice for Black people is ultimately not found in the White man’s courts and that integration and fighting to get closer to the slavemasters children did not and does not help black people.

Minister Farrakhan spoke about real justice in a 2015 interview with Felisha Monet of Miami’s WEDR 99 JAMZ radio show, during the “Justice Or Else!” tour ahead of the 20th Anniversary of The Million Man March in Washington, D.C. held on 10.10.15. 

“’Justice’ isn’t going to a toilet with a White man, ‘justice’ is not going to school, sitting with White children!  ‘Justice’ is getting the knowledge that will allow you to provide for yourself! They never wanted you to have that kind of knowledge. 

So here we are. …  But the fight is coming to an end:  We’re in the ‘championship rounds’ now. And we will win! Real ‘justice’ comes from God because the White man doesn’t have it in him to give it,” Minister Farrakhan said.

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Hours after his announcement to the press at the White House, Iran’s news agency IRNA published points in the agreement causing Mr. Trump to lash out.

According to firstpost.com, points included: Permanent and immediate cessation of war on all fronts, including Lebanon; complete lifting of the naval blockade within 30 days; and reopening of the Strait of Hormuz within 30 days under arrangements determined by Iran, among others.

The information amounts to “Fake News” that has “NOTHING to do with the terms that were agreed to, in writing,” the president wrote on his Truth Social site.

The leaked information amounts to “Fake News” that has “NOTHING to do with the terms that were agreed to, in writing,” the president wrote on his Truth Social site.

He wrote that Iranian authorities are “Very dishonorable people to deal with. … They better get their act together, and FAST!”

Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi posted on X that, in fact, an MOU “has never been closer.” He called on media outlets to “refrain from entering speculation about its content.”

The MOU agreement stipulates there would be a cessation of fighting for 60 days while the finer points of contention are hammered out, according to press reports.

Parties in agreement with the MOU in its current form include Israel, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Turkey, Pakistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt, and others, President Trump acknowledged in a Truth Social post, adding the U.S. Naval blockade of Iran would remain until the agreement is signed.

At Final Call presstime, President Trump announced yet again that a peace deal had been reached. The Iranian outlet PressTV.ir, reported on June 14 that.

“The secretariat of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) has confirmed that Tehran and Washington have finalized the text of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on ending the war, bringing an immediate and permanent halt to military operations on all fronts, including Lebanon, and terminating the US naval blockade against Iran.”

In an April ceasefire agreement, Iran stipulated lifting of U.S. sanctions and unfreezing of Iranian assets, continued Iranian control of the Strait of Hormuz, reparations for damage done in the war, the withdrawal of U.S. forces from bases in the region, among other demands, many of which still stand.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance recently addressed some of these points: “If the Islamic Republic of Iran meets its obligations, then economic benefits will flow to them and to the entire region,” he posted on X.

On the other hand, the U.S. Treasury Department has announced it will use Iranian assets to help America’s Gulf allies to recover from war damages caused by Iran, according to cbsnews.com.

Days before the MOU announcement, President Trump increased attacks on Iran partly because of the downing of a U.S. Apache helicopter over the Strait of Hormuz but also because Iranians were “taking too long” to reach an agreement.

He announced through Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth that the U.S. would “negotiate with bombs.” The president also announced a desire to capture Kharg Island, an important Iranian port to store oil.

“At some point in the not too distant future, we will be taking Kharg Island, and other oil infrastructure points, and assume total control of their Oil and Gas Markets, much like we have with Venezuela …” Mr. Trump said on social media.

The U.S. already has enforced a Naval blockade on Iranian shipments. Capturing the island would almost certainly involve U.S. boots-on-the ground, a situation the president said the American public probably would not support.

“Iran is not Venezuela,” commented historian and University of Houston professor Dr. Gerald Horne, adding that President Trump’s persistent promises of ceasefires and peace deals “is an attempt to manipulate the price of oil and stock markets.”

Critics have consistently voiced frustration with the president’s regular contradictory announcements regarding ceasefires and pending peace agreements. Bombs have fallen throughout the April 8 “ceasefire” announcement, partly due to violations from Israel through their attacks against Hezbollah resistance fighters in Lebanon.

At one point, the disagreement grew into a public spat with President Trump scolding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for potentially derailing a peace deal.

Who’s in charge?

When Iran launched a June 7 attack on Israel in retaliation for an Israeli assault on Hezbollah in Lebanon, President Trump appealed to Prime Minister Netanyahu to stand down and not retaliate.

“I call all the shots. He doesn’t call the shots,” the U.S. president was quoted saying in response to a question from reporters. The next day, Israel launched attacks into Iran, apparently ignoring Mr. Trumps appeal.

The public disagreements have observers wondering who’s in charge.

Dr. Wilmer Leon, professor of Political Science at Morgan State University, doesn’t consider either leader “in charge” of the direction of the war.

“When you look at how much money AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) has poured into this, when you look at the interests of Lockheed Martin and McDonnell Douglas, and General Electric, the military industrial complex is in charge of this,” he declared.

“When you look at Shell Oil, ExxonMobil, they’re in charge of this. Donald Trump is merely a figurehead.”

Dr. Leon said the U.S. and other western nations want to maintain the “settler colonial project known as Israel” in the region and western Christian Zionists have a religious interest in maintaining the status quo.

“I think it was (former president) Joe Biden who said, ‘if Israel didn’t exist, we would create one,’” he noted. “Then you have the Christian Zionists and their interest as it relates to Armageddon and the whole belief of the rapture.”

Appearing at a recent Congressional hearing, Secretary of State Marco Rubio was asked by Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX.) whether Israel has nuclear weapons. Rep. Castro prefaced his question stating that he and 29 other representatives wrote Rubio a letter expressing the need to understand the “full risk, including the nuclear risk” involved in the Iran war. With American soldiers in the region, Congress needs to know if Israel would use nuclear force, he implied.

Rep. Castro said the response from Rubio’s Bureau of Legislative Affairs department was Congress should “ask Israel,” a response he described as “very bizarre.”

“Will you tell us … whether Israel, in fact, possesses nuclear weapons?” he asked.

The secretary did not answer the question directly, saying only that “most of the world assesses that they do.” The question was more appropriate for a “classified and sensitive” setting, Sec. Rubio said.

“The reason he can’t answer that question,” said Dr. Leon, “is because as soon as he admits that Israel has a nuclear weapon, that changes the legal dynamics that the United States now finds itself engaged in.”

The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan has warned America about her efforts to destabilize foreign nations and warned Muslim leaders to stand united.

“Iranians have the right to resolve their own problems without outside interference, just as the U.S. has claimed its right to conduct elections free of Russian influence,” Minister Farrakhan said in a statement regarding his 2018 trip to Iran and message to Iran and America. Self-determination is a right of every nation, Minister Farrakhan said.

“The Muslim World needs unity and must find the path to reconciliation despite efforts to pit Muslims against one another. Satan seeks to divide Muslims and wants them to kill each other, while Allah God tells us in the Qur’an to be united.”

A view of the damages at Hypercar, an auto service center, which according to the company’s officials were caused by strikes on March 1, in Tehran, Iran, March 28. Photo: AP/Vahid Salemi

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—The Final Call

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A longtime international staff writer for The Final Call, whose work carried him from the streets of America to villages across Africa in service to the Nation of Islam and the cause of Black liberation.

Holding obituaries adorned with photographs chronicling his life and service, attendees filled the church pews while family members sat near the front of the sanctuary. The mood was solemn but uplifting as speakers reflected on a man remembered for his journalism, humility, sacrifice and commitment to helping others.

Brother Brian Muhammad, born Dec. 16, 1965, in Brooklyn, New York, made his transition May 31 at age 60. His journey, from a young man searching for purpose in New York City to becoming an international servant and helper of the Nation of Islam and one of The Final Call’s most respected writers, was recounted throughout the afternoon service.

Officiating the service was Student Minister Anthony Muhammad of Muhammad Mosque No. 38 in Columbia, South Carolina, who thanked Rev. Dr. Willie J. Thompson Jr. and Oak Grove Baptist Church for opening its doors to the family and community before offering words of comfort to the family.

“Our prayers are that Allah (God) will lift the burden of sorrow from your hearts,” Student Minister Anthony told mourners. “Funerals are not for the dead. They are for the living,” Student Minister Anthony said. “As we gather here today, we pause for a moment to reflect on the precious and fragile end of life, knowing that we will not be here forever.”

According to the obituary, Brother Brian was introduced to the Teachings of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad while attending Morgan State University, an HBCU in Baltimore, Maryland.

Drawn by the message of self-improvement, justice and liberation, he eventually joined the Nation of Islam under the leadership of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan and became a devoted laborer in the work of resurrection and redemption.

His path led him to Muhammad Mosque No. 7 in Harlem, where he served on the secretarial staff and developed a reputation as a dependable laborer. There, he met Minister Abdul Akbar Muhammad, the International Representative of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam, a relationship that would shape the remainder of his life.

In a recent appearance on the podcast “I Have A Testimony,” hosted by Student Minister Willie Muhammad of Muhammad Mosque No. 46 in New Orleans, Brother Brian reflected on how his international journey began.

“That trip happened to be a very significant trip,” Brother Brian recalled of his first visit to Africa with Minister Abdul Akbar Muhammad. The delegation traveled to Egypt and later to Accra, Ghana. “It had an impact on me,” said Brother Brian.

The experience proved transformative. By 1993, Minister Farrakhan had agreed to hold Saviours’ Day in Accra, Ghana—the first time the Nation of Islam’s annual convention would be held outside the United States.

After Minister Akbar Muhammad helped secure the necessary resources, Brother Brian returned to Ghana in December 1993 and remained there through much of 1994, assisting with preparations for the historic gathering.

“He said, ‘I did not have Africa in my mind. I just wanted to help,’” Student Minister Anthony recalled in his remarks. “That spirit of service would define the rest of his life.”

Student Minister Anthony said Brother Brian devoted most of his adult life to the mission of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad as taught and exemplified by the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan.

“Brother Brian Muhammad has been a great helper to his Nation and to every brother and sister that he came across,” he said. “I think we can all bear witness and say he always kept a smile, being a cheerful worker.”

He described Brother Brian as a “company man,” wholly committed to the work of the Nation of Islam. He was “One who was about the business of the Nation of Islam and striving to make sure things were right,” Student Minister Anthony said.

“One thing that we know about Brother Brian, he was steadfast,” he added. “Even in the midst of health challenges, he never stopped working. He made sure he submitted his articles to The Final Call. He made himself available to the ministry class, and whatever was needed, Brother Brian Muhammad was there,” he continued.

“He did not waver in his work,” Student Minister Anthony added. “He is the embodiment of when we say, ‘My prayers, my sacrifice, my life and my death are all for Allah.’ We can say Brother Brian Muhammad gave it his all.”

Along with written tributes, more meaningful remarks also came from Student Minister Abdul Rasul Muhammad, General Manager for The Final Call.

“I met some of your best representation in the name of Brother Brian E. Muhammad,” he said speaking directly to the family. “He represented every member of the family with dignity and grace.”

Brother Abdul Rasul conveyed the love and condolences of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, Mother Khadijah Farrakhan and the Farrakhan family, noting that Minister Farrakhan deeply appreciated Brother Brian’s service and enjoyed reading his work.

“He was our international staff writer,” Brother Abdul Rasul said. “He went after the stories that most people couldn’t tackle if their life depended on it.”

For years, Brother Brian’s reporting appeared prominently throughout The Final Call, often leading the newspaper’s coverage of major national and international events. He had the cover story in The Final Call at the time of his janazah.

“He was about the business of telling the truth,” Brother Abdul Rasul continued. “His name and his legacy will live on forever.”

The bond Brother Brian shared with Minister Akbar Muhammad remained strong until the international representative returned to Allah earlier this year. Following Minister Akbar Muhammad’s March 17 transition, Brother Brian posted a heartfelt tribute reflecting on the impact of the man many considered a mentor.

“A glimpse into the impact of Bro. Student Minister Abdul Akbar Muhammad,” he wrote. “May Allah be pleased with his many contributions and works in this cause. I, like so many, will miss my Brother and mentor who poured so much in us.”

“We will not fall into grief, for grief is for the wicked who receives death with the regret of unfinished, unresolved issues wrought from a life of injustice to one another,” he wrote. “Strive to live right and do right by one another so when the evil accident of time touches one of us, we accept the irrevocable Will of God,” Brother Brian posted of his friend and mentor.

Brother Michael Z. Muhammad, a contributing Final Call writer, offered a personal reflection on Brother Brian.

“Brother Brian is one of those extraordinary brothers that you only meet once in a lifetime,” he said. “Brother was dedicated to his craft, dedicated to the Nation of Islam. Brother was also always warm, friendly and had a massive heart.”

Student Minister Anthony reminded attendees that Brother Brian’s legacy would endure through the thousands of words he left behind.

“We don’t have to guess what Brother Brian Muhammad said. We don’t have to guess what Brother Brian Muhammad’s thoughts were,” he said. “You can look in The Final Call, and there he is.”

Journalism was not Brother Brian’s original path. Through years of work alongside Minister Akbar Muhammad, including assignments connected to the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan’s World Friendship Tours, he developed skills that eventually led him to The Final Call.

Brother Brian began submitting articles as a freelance writer. Later, encouraged by then-Final Call Editor-in-Chief Brother Naba’a (Richard) Muhammad, Brother Brian became one of the newspaper’s most prolific writers, producing front-page stories.

International reports and analysis while contributing to projects such as The Sankofa Experience and Global Peeks. From 2009-2015 he was a contributing writer and later in 2015 he became a staff writer.

Final Call Interim Editor, Sister Starla Muhammad, shared her memories and reflections of her brother, colleague and friend. “Brother Brian was always willing to share his insight and information on various topics.

Especially those impacting our people in Africa, the Middle East, the Caribbean, Latin America and the U.S. He had a love and respect for Black people throughout the diaspora,” she said. He was a definite newsman, she added.

“I will miss our regular, weekly conversations where I would learn so much from him. He was always excited to share stories from his travels with the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan and Minister Akbar and what he learned from them. You could hear the excitement and passion in his voice as he recounted his experiences,” said Sister Starla.

“The entire Final Call Staff and our writing team will miss our dear brother tremendously and may Allah (God) comfort us all, especially his family.”

As the service neared its conclusion, mourners participated in the traditional janazah custom taught by the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad by receiving a peppermint to symbolize the sweetness of a righteous life. Family members approached first, followed by believers, friends and guests who quietly passed by the casket.

Nation of Islam Student Mid-Atlantic Regional Minister Abdul Khadir Muhammad explained that just as the sweetness of the mint lingers after it dissolves, the memory of a righteous person remains after they depart this life.

Mourners then filed past in silence.

Outside, family members embraced one another while friends shared stories about Brother Brian’s impact and the responsibility of carrying forward the work he loved.

Also among those paying their respects was Brother Don Enoch Muhammad, an aide to Minister Farrakhan. “Brother was a soldier in the cause of Islam, and he was a beautiful brother and a dear friend,” said Brother Don Enoch.

“We thank Allah for the service that he gave to his Nation, to the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan and also to Brother Akbar,” he added.

“We thank Allah for him. We love him,” Brother Abdul Rasul said. “He may be gone physically, but he will never be forgotten because we simply will not let that happen.”

Final Call National Correspondent Charlene Muhammad contributed to this report.

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