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The lawsuit filed Sept. 10, Guzmán v. DHS, filed with attorneys from the National Immigration Project, Amica Center for Immigrant Rights and American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland, challenges what plaintiffs describe as ICE’s “arrest first, ask questions later” policy. Plaintiffs filed a motion for a preliminary injunction seeking to halt the alleged practice while the case proceeds.

“Every day, as Maryland residents go about their daily lives, traveling to and from work, school, church, and other essential activities, federal immigration agents roam the state’s roadways and parking lots hunting for people to arrest to fill their unattainable quotas. The federal agents—most of whom are from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (‘ICE’)—adhere to a consistent policy: aggressively stop people who they perceive to be Brown or Black immigrants and immediately arrest them without a warrant and without making the individual assessments required for such warrantless arrests,” the complaint says.

Yulie Landan, a staff attorney with the National Immigration Project, shared with The Final Call there are two conditions that must be met before an immigration officer can arrest someone without a warrant. “Before an immigration officer can arrest an individual in their car, in the street, out and about without a warrant, they have to pre-arrest—have individualized probable cause as to that specific person that they are both present in violation of the immigration law and likely to escape before a warrant can be obtained,” she said.

Atty. Landan painted the picture of how so many warrantless arrests are happening in Maryland. “A lot of them are happening while people are in cars driving. Officers are looking at the driver, are seeing that they look Black or Brown, and that’s when they pull them over. ICE does not have independent authority to conduct traffic stops for traffic violations,” she said. “They are pulling people over, often very violently, forcing them out of their cars and arresting them often without asking them a single question.”

Final Call staff who were part of a delegation sent to Springfield, Ohio, by the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, heard similar accounts from Haitian activists assisting residents affected by immigration enforcement. Activists told The Final Call that ICE agents drive through the area in large black vehicles actively looking for people to “kidnap.” (See The Final Call, Vol. 45, No. 50)

Haitians in Maryland are also facing ICE impacts. “One of the things we saw start to change early August is that more and more Haitian individuals are being arrested, and that is related to TPS [Temporary Protected Status] being expired now for Haitian individuals,” Atty. Landan said, adding she has seen an uptick in warrantless arrests in the Haitian community. She shared that there have been nearly 7,000 street arrests between January 2025 and August 5, 2026, and of those arrested, nearly 93% are from Latin American and Caribbean countries. “The number here really speaks for itself, and they are stalking the streets looking for drivers and passengers who they think look Brown and Black, and specifically then with the Haitian TPS expiring, that has only worsened the situation,” she said. U.S. citizens have also been arrested, according to the complaint. Some of those arrested are shackled and forced to spend days in a crowded cell before being whisked away to remote detention facilities across the country, the complaint says. “Some are released weeks or months later after a federal habeas court determines their detention was unlawful,” it adds.

“When they took me—without a warrant, without cause—they didn’t just take my freedom. They took a father away from the school pickup line. They removed a husband from his home. They took an essential worker from a family that depends on him,” We Are CASA quoted an anonymous individual in a statement. 

“To my kids—I know you didn’t ask for this. You didn’t ask to be the ones explaining to your friends why Papá wasn’t home. You didn’t ask to be scared every time you heard a car outside, or to grow up faster than you should have,” the individual, identified by the pseudonym Guillermo, said. “But you didn’t just carry that fear silently—you turned it into something else. You stood up for me. You believed in getting your father back when it would have been easier to just be sad and stay quiet. I am standing here today, in part, because my own children refused to give up on me.”

The immigrant rights groups represented plaintiffs in a similar class-action lawsuit in Washington, D.C. In December 2025, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting federal immigration authorities in D.C., from making warrantless civil immigration arrests without probable cause to believe that the person is likely to escape before a warrant can be obtained.

“As ICE roams Maryland’s streets looking for people to arrest to fill their quotas, our Brown and Black immigrant neighbors live in constant fear of being arbitrarily arrested, beaten, and shot by masked and armed agents,” Austin Rose, managing attorney at the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, said in a Sept. 10 statement. “Federal courts in other states have already found that ICE’s ‘arrest first, ask questions later’ policy is blatantly unlawful, and now it’s time to put an end to it here in Maryland.”

When the Department of Homeland Security announced deportation operations in Maryland a few weeks ago, Governor Wes Moore issued a statement criticizing the move. While he pointed out that public safety and working with “federal partners” to maintain this safety, is important, he disagreed with the recent moves by ICE.

“These actions also undermine our economy.  I’ve heard firsthand from business leaders across the State that these immigration policies are taking legal workers out of our nursing homes, scaring farmworkers from showing up to work, and making the cost of everything from groceries to delivery services higher,” Gov. Moore said in an Aug. 25 statement.
“Deploying untrained, unqualified, and unaccountable agents to sweep through our communities and spread fear is not a public safety strategy. It undermines trust between law enforcement and the people they serve, and it does not make us safer.”

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At about $750 billion (now $4.3 trillion) in spending, America spends more on health care than any other country. However, very little of this money is spent on preventive care. If America seriously hopes to end its crisis in health care, it must redirect its attention to preventive care.

While I support a reasonable universal health care coverage plan, making America healthy must become the personal responsibility of each citizen, and not the responsibility of government, except in those cases where preventive care is not adequate. 

This approach would require that each individual becomes more knowledgeable, and that leadership in the food industry, medical community and government become more responsible in providing and teaching the people the truth about caring for the human body.

The greatest gift that we have been given is the gift of life. The essence of our very being is housed within this magnificent creation of flesh and blood known as our bodies.

Unfortunately, we live in a society that misdirects us and misinforms us in such a way that we place our own bodies at risk. We take care of our clothes, our pets and our material possessions better than we take care of our own bodies.

Knowledge is the principle resource that can help us take better care of our bodies and our health. God, the Creator and Sustainer of all life, has given us direction for taking care of our health. However, we live in a society that is in opposition to the directions from the Giver of life, and as a result we suffer.

It is sad that buying material possessions is valued more than getting a simple yearly checkup by a competent doctor. It is sad that watching television several hours a day takes precedence over scheduling a few minutes of exercise that would help keep our bodies and our minds fit. 

It is sad that we put more emphasis on going to movies and listening to music feeding our minds through the reading of proper books and literature.

And it’s a tragedy that we overeat, eat the wrong foods, smoke, take drugs, drink alcohol, and take an excessive amount of pills to cope with life’s stresses instead of developing the core values and self­-control to protect ourselves from these addictions.

Here again, the airwaves can be used to promote a healthy lifestyle among the people.

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In the U.S., the summer of 2026 through today has been marked by active wildfires, thunderstorms, and a string of coastal and seismic events. These events will become more frequent, and as the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, Eternal Leader of the Nation of Islam, warned, “the worst is yet to come.” His National Representative, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, has constantly warned to “watch the weather.” For decades, both Divine Servants and Warners taught their followers to prepare for these pending calamities.

September is National Preparedness Month and was established in 2004 by FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) to encourage individuals, their families, neighborhoods and communities to prepare for natural and man-made weather-related and other disasters and emergencies.

Weather and warning

Southern California felt the effects of Tropical Storm Marie over Labor Day weekend in early September, even though the storm itself never made landfall, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). Its Los Angeles/Oxnard office reported a significant southerly swell producing hazardous surf conditions – reaching up to 5- 15 feet high on some beaches and life-threatening rip currents along the coast- alongside increasing heat and humidity causing moderate to major impacts focused on the coasts and valleys.

In Malibu, a beachfront driveway on Sea Level Drive collapsed on September 8, forming a sinkhole roughly 25–30 feet deep and 30 by 60 feet wide, and rupturing a natural gas line, prompting the proclamation of a local emergency the same day. City building inspectors ultimately red-tagged seven properties for direct structural damage from the collapse and red-tagged an additional 24 homes because the destroyed roadway cut off emergency vehicle access. The 31 properties were placed under an evacuation order, according to an official statement and Emergency Proclamation, Sept. 8–9.

Student Minister Ishmael Muhammad is the National Assistant to the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan and a son of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad and he recently spoke on these extreme weather events and what they signify.

“I wish we could tell you that it’s going to go away soon. It’s not. It’s not. The only way that God will stay His hand is if America does a miraculous thing,” he said, in part 4 of his message, “Accept Your Own And Be Yourself,” delivered September 16, 2026 at Mosque Maryam in Chicago. He referenced the Bible and the book of Jonah 3:6 and the King of Nineveh and the people humbling themselves before God to repent. Nineveh was a great and powerful nation, and God sent the prophet Jonah to warn them of their wickedness before His Judgment.

“He came out in sackcloth and ashes, and repented, and asked God, but it was from the king all the way down to the little man, and the whole city went out in sackcloth and ashes, and that stayed the hand of God,” Student Min. Ishmael Muhammad explained.

“What if we just did that in a city? … Pray to your God. But the whole point is, see, unless we repent, unless we ask God for forgiveness, then things are not going to get better. But America? America is under divine judgment. That’s the point I’m making: the weather is going continue to intensify, and Minister Farrakhan has told us for years. What does he say?” he asked the audience.

“Watch the weather!” some replied. He repeated, “What did he say?” “Watch the weather,” they replied. “Okay. Well, these rains and these storms are only going to intensify,” added Student Minister Ishmael Muhammad.

The damage from Hurricane Marie sustained in Dana Point, located in Orange County, California, impacted the area’s Beach Road/Capistrano Bay community beginning August 28. When a residential deck was destroyed by coastal erosion undermining a home’s foundation. Inspectors inspected it and red-tagged it the same night.

“It is a war zone down here,” Chris Rogers told ABC 7. Their back deck is gone, and their kitchen now opens up to the ocean, she reported during a tour of their property.

The City’s Director of Emergency Services issued a formal Proclamation of the Existence of a Local Emergency for the Capistrano Bay Community Services District on September 9.

In Long Beach, waves generated by the remnants of Hurricane Marie battered the Peninsula neighborhood for several consecutive days beginning around September 6. The Long Beach Fire Department issued mandatory evacuation orders for approximately 20 homes in the Seaside Walk community, between 63rd and 67th Place, after waves compromised a seawall and damaged the boardwalk.

Earthquakes near Compton and nationwide wildfires

A magnitude 3.1 earthquake struck on September 6 about 2.5 miles Southeast of Compton, Calif., according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). This followed a similar-magnitude earthquake near Ontario, in neighboring San Bernardino County, on September 2. On September 17, USGS recorded a second magnitude 3.1 earthquake at the identical location.

Nationwide, wildfire activity remained severe through late summer. As of August 31, approximately 8.2 million acres had burned across the country and the National Preparedness Level stayed at Level 5, the highest possible, throughout August, with active-duty military and international crews from Australia and New Zealand brought in to help with firefighting resources, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

By early September, the national preparedness level had eased to Level 3, though 56 large fires remained uncontained nationwide as of September 17, with 86 new fires reported in a single day and more than 12,000 personnel assigned to incidents, USGS reported.

Texas became one of the season’s most active states in late August, when the Ross Fire ignited August 24 near Fort Worth and grew to roughly 80,000 acres, prompting the evacuation of about 630 homes overnight, according to Governor Greg Abbott’s office.

Preparedness is key

Nation of Islam Student Southwest Regional Minister Dr. Abdul Haleem Muhammad, an urban planner, strongly suggested that people stop procrastinating and take this lull before the next calamity to prepare to either learn what is required to shelter in place or evacuate during these natural and man-made disasters. “Your very life is at stake. The frequency, intensity, and the sudden unfolding of these events should heighten our awareness and efforts toward preparedness,” he said.

Sister A’ishah Muhammad, a member of the Nation of Islam Shura Executive Council and National Student Auditing Coordinator, said the pattern of disasters striking unfamiliar regions demands a mindset shift. “It doesn’t matter where we live anymore,” she said. “We used to expect tornadoes in certain parts of the country and hurricanes in others … but at any moment, at any time, it could strike any one of us.”

She described residents of her own town walking around “in a trance” after an EF-1 tornado, unable to believe their community could be hit—and she pointed to Minister Farrakhan’s longstanding instruction to “watch the weather” as guidance too many still dismiss until disaster forces the point home.

“Although we have been talking about and encouraging and pushing and warning others to pay attention to the Divine Warner, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, some of us, as they used to say in the South: ‘don’t believe that fat meat is greasy,’ until we are faced with it, unfortunately. Now we don’t have to really try to convince too many because they see it for themselves. There are still those of us who don’t get it until we feel it, and unfortunately we will have to feel (it) hard! Hopefully we can live beyond that to make sound decisions going forward,” she told The Final Call.

In practical terms, Sis. A’ishah Muhammad explained that it is better to have the items and supplies needed to prepare ourselves and our families than to have nothing.

“It’s better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it,” she said, describing how households in flood-prone areas should keep a small boat, raft, or canoe with paddles, wading boots, and life vests on hand.

She stressed neighborhood-level readiness—meeting neighbors, discussing what has worked and what has not, and arranging walkable backup shelter agreements—alongside power redundancy. Power redundancy, she explained, means that generators need backups of their own, and even a sump pump’s battery should be swapped every three years, since a working indicator light doesn’t guarantee full power.

She recalled Indiana residents stranded at gas stations during outages, one paying “two dollars and some change” just to beat someone else to the last portion of the fuel.

Sister A’ishah Muhammad also flagged less obvious preparedness gaps, such as safely managing dry ice used to preserve food during extended outages and planning for basic sanitation if toilets stop working.

The Nation of Islam has made online videos available that cover several practical preparedness areas to help individuals protect themselves and their families while sheltering in place as severe weather becomes more frequent.

Panelists discussed situational awareness, cybersecurity, how to respond in a medical emergency, how to secure one’s home, being security-minded, protecting self and family while building alliances in the community, how to secure, organize, and occupy children while sheltering in place, what to do to prepare for an emergency evacuation, handling stress, and other tips.

The videos are available to view on media.noi.org or watch.noi.org under the titles: “The Days of Trouble: Are We Prepared?” and on The Nation of Islam official Facebook Page.

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By the grace of Almighty God Allah, the Nation of Islam successfully reestablished its Prison Reform Ministry at the Coleman Federal Correctional Complex on June 24 after nearly three years since the institution’s last visit by Brother Abdullah Muhammad, Student National Prison Reform Minister of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam.

The June visit included Student Minister Chad Muhammad of Mosque No. 47 in Tampa, and Student Minister Ali S. Muhammad of the Nation of Islam Prison Reform Ministry. Their mission was clear: to serve and encourage incarcerated brothers through the Life-Giving Teachings of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, as taught by the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan.

Coleman Federal Correction Complex is a federal prison complex for male inmates in unincorporated Sumter County, Florida, near Wildwood.

Since the last visit in 2024 by Student National Prison Reform Minister Abdullah Muhammad, his presence had remained fresh in the memory of many of the incarcerated brothers. During interactions across multiple areas of the Coleman complex, several brothers independently asked about him—how he was doing, when he might return, and expressed sincere appreciation for the beauty and spirit of what he shared during that previous visit. Many voiced that they were praying for his well-being and hoping for his return to continue the uplifting work he, on behalf of Minister Farrakhan began among them. This sentiment was shared directly with Student Minister Ali during several of the engagements as the delegation moved from unit to unit throughout the facility.

The effort to return to Coleman required years of persistence through institutional procedures and administrative review. Progress came in March 2026 through the assistance of longtime Nation of Islam friend and Christian chaplain, Brother Henry Dale, who helped move the application process forward.

Unexpectedly, shortly before the visit, Chaplain Dale retired from the institution. Rather than allowing the process to end, communication continued, and by Allah’s Grace, Chaplain Juan Alba completed the process that had been initiated and helped secure final approval for the visit.

Upon arrival, the delegation was received by the institution’s mentor and program coordinator, Ms. Cote, whose professionalism helped facilitate a full day of ministry throughout the prison complex.

The schedule included sessions across the designated institutions within the Coleman complex, including USP I, Coleman Medium, Coleman Low, and Coleman Camp. A lockdown interrupted plans for USP II, requiring that session to be postponed for a future visit. By day’s end, 37 incarcerated brothers had been personally ministered to.

At Coleman Camp, one attendee who identified himself as agnostic participated actively in discussion and expressed agreement with the social reform principles presented, stating that the message carried value beyond religious background. The interaction demonstrated how principles rooted in justice, accountability, and human dignity can reach broadly.

The prison reform ministry remained grounded in scripture. The Bible states: “But this is a people robbed and spoiled; they are all of them snared in holes, and they are hid in prison houses …”—Isaiah 42:22

And: “Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered? … Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away.”—Isaiah 49:24–25

These verses continue to inspire the Nation of Islam’s prison reform work and reinforce the belief that those who are incarcerated are not forgotten by Almighty God Allah.

Following the guidance of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan to become extensions of his love through service to the sick, the shut-in, and the incarcerated, the first session opened at USP with: “In the Name of Allah.”

Student Minister Ali began each session with the opening message from the Nation of Islam National webcast introduction by the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan. The message emphasized knowledge, re-education, retraining, and uplifting humanity through the Teachings of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad. Those words established the tone throughout the day.

Approximately 70% of attendees identified as Christians, while others included members of the Nation of Islam, members of the Five Percent Nation, and participants who expressed appreciation for the Nation of Islam’s message of spiritual, moral, and social reform.

Student Minister Chad Muhammad delivered a deeply personal testimony in each session. Drawing from his own experience, he shared how he overcame adversity and circumstances that once led him into prison. He explained that through accepting and applying the discipline found in the Teachings of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, Allah transformed his life and enabled him to become a productive servant to his people and now a student minister at Mosque No. 47.

His testimony reflected Revelation 12:11 in the Bible which states: “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony … .”

His sincerity resonated deeply with the incarcerated brothers, many of whom expressed appreciation for hearing directly from someone who had personally experienced incarceration and rebuilt his life through faith, discipline, and service.

During question-and-answer sessions, participants expressed gratitude for the Nation of Islam’s presence and repeatedly stated they could have listened throughout the day. Several asked about the health and well-being of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan and shared their desire to contribute their own talents and abilities in support of the Nation of Islam.

There was also strong interest in receiving additional Nation of Islam materials, including books, newspapers, and study guides. Participants expressed appreciation for the materials distributed and remained engaged throughout each session. Many stated the day’s message renewed their hope and encouraged them to treat incarceration as a season of preparation rather than despair. Student Minister Chad encouraged each man to use his time to grow spiritually, mentally, morally, and educationally so that upon release he could return to his family and community as a positive and productive citizen.

Relationships were also established with incarcerated brothers who agreed to serve as future points of contact within the institutions. Muhammad’s Mosque No. 47 further supported the effort through distribution of reading materials, including The Final Call newspaper and “Message to the Blackman in America” by the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad.

By Allah’s Grace, the visit reestablished meaningful relationships with the incarcerated and institutional staff and laid a foundation for continued prison ministry in the future.

We extend our sincere appreciation to our Student 7th Regional Prison Ministry Coordinator, Brother Zachariah Muhammad, whose tireless leadership continues to strengthen the prison reform ministry and the efforts of Student 7th Regional Minister Patrick Muhammad throughout the 7th Region of the Nation of Islam.

All praise is due to Almighty God Allah for granting this opportunity to serve His people.

As-Salaam Alaikum (Peace Be Unto You)

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By far the largest outbreak this year involves Cyclospora-contaminated iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico and reportedly supplied by Taylor Farms. Cyclospora is a parasite that can cause cyclosporiasis, an intestinal illness. The lettuce made its way into thousands of Taco Bell locations before the link was identified. As of the FDA’s August 27 update, lab results had confirmed 11,458 illnesses across 20 states directly traced to the recalled lettuce, with 495 hospitalizations and two deaths in Michigan.

For decades, the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad and His National Representative, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, taught the importance of Black people growing their own foods amid dangers associated with depending and relying on food grown, regulated and sold by the government or by unreliable sources.

Minister Farrakhan in a 2010 interview with The Final Call under the headline, “Why We Must Produce Food and Control Our Food Sources,” attributed problems on the food horizon to “our food growth is in the hands of those whom we call the Merchants of Death.”

“They’re not caring about how food is raised or how to protect the earth and its nurturing qualities,” he said. “Pesticides and chemicals are being used; hormones are used to grow livestock at faster rates and chemicals are used for the growth of vegetation.”

Minister Farrakhan continued: “It may look good, but in the end, the product is toxic. This is why so many diseases are afflicting us. So, we’re learning how to eat to live, what foods to choose, but now we must be willing to go to the earth and produce that food so that we can extend our days.”

Brother Dr. Ridgely Mu’min Muhammad, manager of the Nation of Islam’s Muhammad Farms in Georgia, emphasized that the more fundamental problem is how far modern food travels before it reaches a plate.

“It’s no telling where that food comes from, and how many times it’s been handled by either humans or equipment,” he said, describing a food system built on long chains of growers, processors, distributors, and retailers rather than direct, local sourcing.

In addition to attributing recall risks to globalized food production, extensive handling, weak inspection, and unsafe agricultural practices, including manure runoff entering irrigation systems, Bro. Dr. Ridgely Muhammad contrasted modern food systems with local gardening, washing, cooking, and same-day consumption.

“People are so used to being able to go and get any type of produce or any type of anything to eat any time they want it. They don’t realize what the possibilities of error are,” he said.

He recalled a time when people grew, washed, and cooked their own food. Agriculture itself began as an alternative to hunting, fishing, and gathering, he said. Instead of foraging for what nature provided, people started saving seeds from the crops they wanted, planting them near their homes or villages, and then simply going out to gather what they needed each day.

“As a matter of fact, when we went to Cuba in 2006, every vacant lot in Havana, there was a garden, raised bed garden,” said Bro. Dr. Ridgely Muhammad, who was among a delegation from the Nation of Islam with the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan on a trip to Cuba. Without refrigeration, he said, residents simply “go out to the garden in the area, and they would go to the stand and buy what they wanted for that day”—fresh food obtained daily rather than stored and shipped.

Unfortunately, most people have stepped back from growing or preparing their own food entirely, he stated. “We don’t want to cook anymore, so we allow somebody else not only to grow the food, but to mix the food up and to prepare the food and to cook the food. We don’t have any idea where the food comes from nor how it was handled,” Bro. Dr. Ridgely Muhammad said.

Further, he pointed to thinning government oversight as compounding food recall risks. “When government cuts down on the inspectors for inspecting the food system, and you have people who cheat, trying to compete, you left yourself open for such incidents as Salmonella and these other incidents.”

Food-safety advocacy groups have expressed similar concerns, pointing to reduced federal inspection and surveillance staffing as a factor in how outbreaks have unfolded.

“Consumers deserve recall notices that are clear, specific, and actionable,” said former USDA official Sandra Eskin, now CEO of Stop Foodborne Illness.

When done correctly, she told The Final Call, recall messages clearly state what the issue is, what products are affected, and exactly what to do next. “When that information is shared quickly and clearly, it not only reduces public health risks, but it also helps consumers feel more confident that the food industry is taking their safety seriously,” she continued.

The case count crept upward for weeks even after Taylor Farms voluntarily pulled their product on July 17, a delay FDA attributes to the up-to-six-week lag required to confirm whether a sick person belongs to a given outbreak. The FDA has since conducted onsite inspections at Mexican growing and processing facilities and says it is confident the implicated lettuce is off the market, though the investigation remains open.

Taylor Farms has said it voluntarily suspended all iceberg lettuce sourcing and production from central Mexico and commissioned an independent review of food safety protocols at the implicated facility. “We are confident in our food and food safety systems and will continue to be transparent as more information becomes available,” read a company statement online.

According to CDC data cited by U.S. PIRG (Public Interest Research Group) Education Fund, a consumer advocacy organization, regulators tracked at least seven cyclospora outbreaks this summer—the Taylor Farms lettuce outbreak plus six unidentified sources—totaling more than 18,445 illnesses and 990 hospitalizations across 47 states as of August 31, with more suspected cases pending. The lettuce outbreak alone ranks as the third-largest foodborne outbreak in U.S. history.

The report also noted that separately, a Salmonella Javiana outbreak traced to Sinaloa-grown jalapeños (distributed by Coast Citrus) sickened 431 people in more than 30 states, hospitalizing 57. A limited late-July recall snowballed into recalls by Whole Foods, Taylor Fresh Foods (the legal and corporate name of Taylor Fresh Farms), NatureBest, Salata, and 18 USDA-flagged meat/poultry products. PIRG notes Chipotle switched suppliers July 20, but USDA didn’t warn the public until August 8, a gap it says allowed preventable illnesses.

The report also notes that a smaller outbreak involves organic frozen blueberries from Chile’s Frutas y Hortalizas del Sur, linked to GreenWise (Publix) and, since September 2, Great Value (Walmart) berries in 16 states—17 illnesses, six hospitalizations, no deaths, as of September 3.

The FDA’s remote review of Frutas y Hortalizas del Sur’s Chilean facility raised enough concerns that it added the company to Import Alert 99-35, allowing future blueberry shipments to be detained at the border unless the issues are resolved.

The FDA also reported on its website that a Listeria outbreak tied to Clover Hill Dairy’s cheese has ended. CDC closed the case in August after tracing 15 illnesses back to March 2023; 14 were hospitalized and one died. The cheese was resold under multiple names—La Colonia, Selectos Latinos, Kesso—making it hard for consumers to track.

The FDA’s response has leaned on import alerts and root-cause facility inspections, like the Chilean assessment and on-site visits to Mexican lettuce growers. Critics say it’s still too slow: the 2022 Food Traceability Rule, meant to speed recordkeeping for high-risk foods, was delayed from January 2026 to July 2028. PIRG says 2025 data show faster tracing could have curbed dozens of downstream recalls.

PIRG also cites a 2025 GAO report on fragmented federal food safety oversight, plus 2025 data showing many outbreaks lack identified sources, recalls, or allergen compliance.

Separately, food safety veterans including Ms. Eskin, weighed in on whether recalls are increasing or is detection just improving?

“Food companies initiate recalls for a number of reasons—contamination with bacteria and other pathogens (or the likelihood of such contamination), unlabeled allergens, and foreign objects (e.g. plastic or metal fragments). Stop Foodborne Illness focuses on reducing pathogenic contamination so we do not focus on the number of recalls, but instead the number of people who have gotten sick from them,” she told The Final Call.

In terms of what regulatory gaps still need closing, she said the prior administration proposed stricter standards for Salmonella contamination in poultry, but the current administration withdrew that proposal.

“It would protect public health,” she said.

According to Ms. Eskin, the major gap in the FDA’s regulatory oversight is the delay in making the traceability rule enforceable. The Food Traceability Rule requires persons who manufacture, process, pack, or hold foods on the Food Traceability List (FTL) to maintain certain records and make records available to FDA, she explained.

Currently, the lag time between when illness starts and when a recall is issued is generally three to four weeks, but it can stretch to six weeks or longer depending on the pathogen, she emphasized.

Beyond the four major outbreaks above, the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service has issued a string of smaller, unrelated recalls in recent weeks, including Shanghai Ravioli’s uninspected Buffalo chicken items, Indus Foods’ uninspected pickled goat/chicken, Corte Argentino’s beef lacking import reinspection, and Ukrop’s baked dishes contaminated with metal slivers, per FSIS’s active alerts page.

None of these five are connected to the jalapeño, blueberry, lettuce, or cheese outbreaks detailed above; they reflect the routine, ongoing pace of recall activity FSIS handles independent of any single outbreak investigation.

The reason, Minister Farrakhan said during his interview, is “that we are interested in food and the raising of food and how—and the correct foods to eat—is because that is the only way we can prolong human life and that is the gift of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad from Allah to teach us what foods to eat and what foods to store in our houses.”

He continued: “If we go to the Teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, all economies are based on land and what the land produces.”

“If we now have no earth that we can call our own, then our food consumption is based on what others raise and how others raise that food. So we’re at the mercy of others because we don’t have earth that would give us sustainable agricultural growth and progress,” Minister Farrakhan said.

“The Honorable Elijah Muhammad gave us an example. When he was here in the 1960s, we went to Georgia and purchased 5,000 acres of land. We went to Alabama and purchased another 8,000 or 10,000 acres of land. We went to Honduras and bought another 20,000 acres of land and the Honorable Elijah Muhammad had an ad in our paper at that time, Muhammad Speaks, that said we wanted to lease one million acres of land. Why? Because we wanted to produce a sustainable agricultural program that would give us health, maintain our health and sustain us in a proper way.”

The post Is America’s food supply in jeopardy? appeared first on Final Call News.

PHOENIX—Muhammad Mosque No. 32 brought the Nation of Islam’s Musical Ensemble “Sounds of Harmony” concert tour to a sold-out theatre in Phoenix, Arizona, offering an evening in which music became a vehicle for healing, inspiration and a glimpse into what is possible.

The evening was riveting as the theatre was filled with sounds that were emotional, piercing and stirring. For many the Sept. 5 event was their first time attending a concert highlighting classical music. The experience was described as “amazing, incredible and inspiring.”

The works of Beethoven, Bach and Schubert filled the theatre, alongside original compositions by the talented members of the ensemble. Between performances, videos of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan were the backdrop; highlighting his musical journey and the special influences of his mother Sumayyah Farrakhan and his wife Mother Khadijah Farrakhan.

For those who attended, the evening was more than an opportunity to hear beautiful music performed by youth and young adults whose skill, to many, seemed far beyond their age. Audience members described being moved spiritually and emotionally.

Parents saw possibilities for their children. Guests heard the healing power of music. Young people saw themselves reflected onstage and were inspired by the idea they can one day be musicians too with a new appreciation for classical music. Throughout the evening, one theme continued to resonate:Our future is indeed bright.

Nation of Islam Western Regional Student Minister Abdul Malik Sayyid Muhammad explained that when the ensemble performed in Los Angeles, believers from Phoenix were there to witness it. “They were so inspired and said, we want to be next.”

That desire set in motion the work of bringing Sounds of Harmony to the Valley of the Sun. For Student Min. Abdul Malik Sayyid, what was experienced in Los Angeles went far beyond entertainment. “You could feel the healing power of the music coming from these young people.”

The Sounds of Harmony represents an important step toward fulfilling the desire of Minister Farrakhan for the establishment of a Nation of Islam Symphony Orchestra.

The Shura Executive Council of the Nation of Islam began taking steps to bring the desire of Minister Farrakhan to life by creating opportunities for the ensemble to showcase its talents throughout the Nation. Those efforts developed into the Sounds of Harmony concert tour, which began in the summer of 2024.

Minister Farrakhan offered words of encouragement to members of the ensemble on February 25, 2024, at Saviours’ Day in Detroit: “All of you were so great, we have a talented family among us, and I want to encourage you to keep going and inspiring others to pick up an instrument and let’s make The Nation of Islam Symphony Orchestra a reality!”

For Sister Kameela Latif, the music reached somewhere deeply personal. “My experience was very spiritual,” she said. “I was feeling very emotional while I was listening to the music, and I was also feeling joy and happiness.”

She was particularly moved to see young musicians performing compositions of their own. “Their compositions were beautiful,” she said. “They really touched me.” The most meaningful moment came from her son. After watching the young musicians perform, he said, “Mom, I believe I can do this too.” 

Student Western Regional M.G.T. and G.C.C. Captain Sajdah Karriem expressed similar pride as she watched the young musicians. “I am so excited about this event,” she said. “I’m so proud of our young people. It’s amazing to see them at this age playing these instruments.” 

For Sister Alitash Muhammad, who comes from a musical background, the concert was “absolutely electrifying.” She described it as beautiful and heartfelt. Her appreciation extended across the entire ensemble.

“I loved every single instrument all the way down to the cymbals, because I come from a musical background.” She was also moved that the tour came West. “I feel honored that they’ve come to the West Coast … to show their love for Phoenix, Arizona. I love that.”

Sister Maryam Muhammad was excited to see “the beautiful music, the beautiful talent.” She is the mother of 10 children, nine of whom play musical instruments. “We have classical, we have guitar, drums, piano, violin, viola, cello,” she said. “We’re trying to build our own little orchestra here.”

Sister Rashida Muhammad was inspired saying, “I think when given the opportunity, it just shows you the abilities that it doesn’t matter the age,” she said. “You don’t have to be a certain age to become successful or to master something.

When you have a made-up mind and a willing spirit, you can do anything.” Seeing young people accomplish something so extraordinary is simply “beautiful,” she added.

For Sis. Sakinah Muhammad, seeing young people represented within the ensemble created a connection to her generation. “I think it connects to us, especially having a lot of the ensemble representing the youth as well,” she said.

“We are a very musical generation. I love music. I’m always at concerts. I’m always at other people’s concerts,” Sis. Sakinah continued. “It’s good to finally be able to attend one of our concerts as well.” 

Interim Student Minister Tremikus Muhammad of Mosque No. 32 had previously experienced the tour in Los Angeles. He thought he might experience the same concert again. What he encountered surprised him.

“I thought that I would see the same thing that I saw in L.A.,” he said. “But I didn’t. The spirit was new. And the spirit still touched me. This is an experience that is unimaginable, unspeakable,” he said. “You have to have it for yourself.”

For him, their presence challenges an image of Black youth too often associated with violence and chaos and replaces it with another image—one of young people who are highly gifted, intelligent, spiritually grounded and capable of translating their gifts through music.

The evening’s program demonstrated the breadth of the ensemble’s musical development. Act I included Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 5, performed by Bro. Timothy Muhammad, and Dmitry Kabalevsky’s Concerto in C Major, Op. 48, performed by violinist Bro. Abdul-Malik Muhammad with Sis. Vivian Mosley accompanied on piano.

The String Ensemble performed the third movement of J.S. Bach’s Concerto for Two Violins in D Minor. Sis. Khadijah Y. Muhammad, soprano and vocalist also performed Franz Schubert’s “Ave Maria” with Sis. Vivian on piano.

The selection was presented as a tribute to Mother Sumayyah Farrakhan, the mother of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan. That tribute carried particular meaning given the role Minister Farrakhan’s mother played in nurturing his musical gifts during his childhood.

Act II continued the connection between music and family with Jules Massenet’s “Meditation (from Thaïs),” presented as a tribute to Mother Khadijah Farrakhan, wife of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan.

The mistress and master of ceremony Sis. Arian Muhammad and Bro. Nasir Muhammad navigated everyone through the program as guests enjoyed performances by Bro. Markel Reed of “Ain’t Got Time to Die” and “Don’t Feel No-Ways Tired.”

The concert also gave everyone an opportunity to hear original compositions including “Evolution” by E.W. Hardy performed by Sis. Amirah I. Muhammad, “Moon” by Bro. Henry Leon Akbarkhan Muhammad, “Avenger” ‘

by Bro. Abdul Karriem Muhammad, and “The Wheel” by Bro. Farrad Muhammad. The evening concluded with “The Fight Song,” by the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, performed by the ensemble.

Brother Hashim Hakim was in Phoenix for rehabilitation following a serious automobile accident. At one point, he said, doctors told him he would remain paralyzed. “I didn’t ever think I’d be able to come,” he said of the concert. “But I came to Phoenix for rehab and got blessed with the tour in Phoenix,”  Bro. Hashim continued.

“The doctor told me I would be paralyzed forever,” he said. “But Allah (God) said, ‘I’m your doctor.’ And now I’m here.” Brother Hashim is an artist himself, and his relationship with music has been central to his recovery. “Second to Allah, music has been my healing agent,” he said. 

Student National Secretary and Shura Executive Council Member Sa’ad Alim Muhammad has watched the performers develop as the tour has traveled. “What we’re seeing and discovering is that the young performers are becoming so much more confident and comfortable being on stage and presenting their craft.”

They have traveled to at least eight major cities around the country. At tender ages, they are learning that their gifts can carry them beyond their hometowns and introduce them to people and places throughout the country.

The tour stop in Phoenix was special to vocalist, Sis. Khadijah Muhammad. She had never visited Phoenix. “It’s been amazing, actually,” she said. “Just seeing the mountains was beautiful,” she said. “The believers have been beautiful.”

She also had an opportunity to see the Phoenix home of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad. 

Brother Sa’ad also spoke about Phoenix’s significance within the Nation of Islam. He pointed to its history and its connection to the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, describing Phoenix and Chicago as distinctive places where he established residences and could find comfort and quiet of mind. “You all are special in Phoenix.”

The post Sounds of Harmony brings music, healing and inspiration to Phoenix appeared first on Final Call News.

The federal lawsuit, filed on Sept. 8 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleges that the administration’s planned discounted grocery stores constitute illegal predatory pricing and antitrust violations.

Since launching his 2024 mayoral campaign, Mr. Mamdani has centered his platform on restoring affordability across New York, which is currently ranked among the top 10 most expensive states in the nation.

Since winning office, the mayor has embedded an ambitious “Affordability Agenda,” designed to lower daily expenses for working-class New Yorkers burdened by the surging cost of living, into the administration’s policies.

As one of the latest expansions of the administration’s broader agenda, Mayor Mamdani announced that his office, along with other New York officials and the NYC Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), are proposing a new grocery store initiative, the “N.Y.C. Groceries: Recipe for Affordability.”

The proposal aims to use $70 million in public capital funds to build one municipally owned store on city-owned property in each of the five boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island.

The stores would offer a 30% discount on essential goods like meats, dairy products, fruits and vegetables. The goal is to combat the average rise in grocery prices in New York since 2020.

While the mayor, who was sworn in Jan. 1 of this year, says this initiative will lower the cost of living for New Yorkers, attorneys and supporters of the lawsuit against him claim the plan would leave private grocery store owners with a larger bill to pay in an already financially taxing industry.

The city’s grocery stores would not pay rent or property taxes and would receive substantial municipal financial support. This would allow them to lower prices without adding financial strain. Local grocers, which must pay for everything from rent to electricity bills to full price on staple goods, simply cannot afford to lower their prices.

The lawsuit claims that the mayor’s proposed city-run grocery stores’ low prices would create unfair competition for small local markets.

Mark Jaffe, is President and CEO of the Greater New York Chamber of Commerce. He told The Final Call that the greater concern is that if local marketers go out of business because they can’t compete with the government’s low grocery prices, city-run stores would then begin to hike prices. This could create a monopoly in the New York food industry, supporters of the lawsuit argue. 

The National Supermarket Association’s federal lawsuit comes just weeks after the Multicultural Business Coalition filed two state lawsuits to block the establishment of Mayor Mamdani’s plan.

The Multicultural Business Coalition’s first lawsuit argues that the plan violates the civil rights of local business owners. The second challenges the city’s authority to launch the plan without conducting proper economic reviews or assessments.

Still, despite the pending lawsuits, critics say they are looking for tangible collaboration with the mayor’s office.

“We could avoid all of these lawsuits if the mayor would just sit down with us and say, “How can we best help business in New York? That’s really what it comes down to. But to date, the mayor’s office has not wanted to sit down and do that,” Don Rogeriers, strategic advisor to the Greater New York Chamber of Commerce, told The Final Call.

“When you really look at it from a New York economic perspective and how that impacts the businesses in New York, it’s simply not fair to use taxpayer-funded money to compete with businesses who are struggling,” he added.

Mayor Mamdani, meanwhile, maintains his confidence in establishing the city-owned stores. During a city press conference on Aug. 24, he said in part, “I continue to be fully confident in both the legality and the importance of our initiative to deliver five city-run grocery stores, one in each borough, to the people of our city.”

“We are talking about a reflection of a cost of living crisis that has seen grocery prices increase by about 30% over the last few years, and we’re also talking about delivering five city-run grocery stores in a city of 8.5 million people that has more than a thousand grocery stores,” he added.

“And we’ve seen, in fact, with Essex Street Market in Manhattan, as well as, more Street Market in Brooklyn, a model where the city has subsidized groceries and it has not had a negative effect on bodegas around them or on grocery stores around them,” said Mayor Mamdani.

The first city-run grocery store is slated to open by 2027 in Hunts Point, a historic food desert, replacing the former Spofford Juvenile Detention Facility on 20,000 square feet of municipal land in the Bronx.

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Seven Republicans joined the Democrats to pass the mostly symbolic measure that can be vetoed if it reaches the president’s desk.

The House passed the measure on Sept. 15. President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched the unprovoked attack on Feb. 28.

The vote and allegations came as a front in the war opened wider as Iran-backed Ansar Allah (Houthi) forces advanced in its fight to control the Bab Al Mandeb Strait, the second critical waterway in the Gulf region through which Saudi Arabia ships crude oil.

Prior to the war, the Strait of Hormuz, now controlled by Iran, accounted for about 20% of the world’s crude oil shipments, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, while Bab al Mandeb accounted 5%-9%.

In a perhaps surprising and unexpected move, a reported request from Saudi Prince Mohammed Bin Salman for U.S. military assistance to halt advancing Ansar Allah forces was rebuffed by President Trump, deciding instead to provide the Kingdom with military intelligence.

“There is no sense in Washington that the U.S. owes the Saudis anything,” said Phyllis Bennis, director of the New Internationalism Project at the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS), emphasizing the “transactional” nature of Trump administration’s relationships.

“The Trump administration has said that explicitly about NATO countries, that we have no obligation to support them. This is just one more example that the Saudis are not special in that way.”

She said Persian Gulf countries that rely on U.S. military protection may seek other means of security while not necessarily moving completely away from the U.S. “Some may look for other options, some may try to normalize their relationship with Iran,” she said. “They’re seeing they can’t count on the U.S. for what they thought were promises of what they’d get for hosting a military base in their country.”

The War Powers vote might have been influenced by a Sept. 15 government watchdog report that quantified significant war-related hardware and facility losses previously known but not widely reported.

Compounding the administration’s problems are Sept. 18 reports by The Washington Post that four more service members died than what appears in the Pentagon’s public database, known as the Defense Casualty Analysis System, and UN allegations that the U.S. committed war crimes for the bombings of a school and sports facility at the beginning of the war.

Watchdogs confirm damage

An Inspector General’s report that included information from watchdog groups for the Defense and State departments and the U.S. Agency for International Development revealed Iranian missiles damaged or destroyed hundreds of buildings and other structures on U.S. bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman and Jordan.

Iranian attacks compromised dozens of U.S. airplanes and drones, including MQ-9 Reaper drones and KC-135 refueling planes. Reaper drones cost $30 million each, the report noted.

At the same time, according to the report, the State Department negotiated sales of more than $44 billion in emergency and non-emergency military products to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations.  Sales included military helicopters, munitions and munitions support as well as advanced precision weapons systems, the report said.

The War Powers vote took place as nervous Republican legislators return home to campaign for November midterm elections. They know they will face voters who mostly oppose the war and are tired of rising gas and food prices.

The BBC reported that a barrel of oil cost $72.48 at the start of the war. A barrel was priced at $103.47 on Sept. 18, according to oilprice.com.

Iowa’s two Republican representatives, both military veterans, voted in favor of the War Powers resolution. Both opposed it in previous votes.

“I will not vote to keep our soldiers in an open-ended war, with Iowans paying too much at the pump. The Iranian regime and its nuclear ambitions have been defanged. The President needs to present a plan to Congress and the American people for how these ends so we can focus on bringing our soldiers home and lowering prices,” said Rep. Marionnette Miller-Meeks.

Referencing two Iowans killed in a drone attack in Kuwait, Rep. Zach Nunn said, “Congress owes them, their families, and every American in uniform clear objectives and constitutional oversight. With the negotiating window closed, sustained combat operations now require congressional authorization. … We can defend Americans, pressure Iran, and pursue peace while ensuring Congress fulfills its constitutional responsibility.”

Other Republicans voting for the resolution were Thomas Massie (Ky.), Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.), Warren Davisson (Ohio), Tom Barrett (Mich.), and Nancy Mace (S.C.).

The Senate has narrowly voted to oppose a resolution on two previous occasions and has not voted since July 30.

No U.S. strategy in Iran war

With the Strait of Hormuz controlled by Iran, the U.S. and other nations were concerned that Iran-allied Ansar Allah would seize control of the Bab Al Mandeb strait at the southern end of the Red Sea.

Prince bin Salman made two calls to President Trump Sept. 10, one asking for military strikes on Ansar Allah forces, according to news reports. Ansar Allah succeeded in securing Bab al Mandeb coastal territory and the island of Perim (also known as Mayyum) giving them control of the waterway.

Ansar Allah forces, however, signaled to the international community that shipping through the strait remains safe for ships, except those from Saudi Arabia.

The conflict between Ansar Allah and Saudi Arabia began in 2014 when Ansar Allah captured the capital city Sana’a from the transitional government of Abdurabbuh Mansur Hadi.

In 2015, Mr. Hadi fled to Saudi Arabia from which Operation Decisive Storm—a Saudi-led coalition of forces to reinstate Mr. Hadi—was launched. Today, the civil war continues with Ansar Allah controlling one third of Yemen. President Rashad Al-Amini leads the Saudi-backed, internationally recognized Yemen government.

The lack of U.S. strategic planning has been a major criticism of Mr. Trump’s “unnecessary war,” according to Morgan State University political science professor Wilmer Leon.

“If the Trump administration had a plan, then how to deal with the Saudi situation would have been part of the plan. Because there was no plan, there was no process to deal with peripheral issues,” he told The Final Call.

He recounted the U.S.’ role in creating what’s happening between the Saudis and Ansar Allah.  The (Barack) Obama administration encouraged the Saudis to fight Yemen, he said, adding the Biden administration later labeled Ansar Allah as a terrorist group during a time when the Saudis and Ansar Allah were negotiating a peace treaty.

‘They blew the hell out of Bahrain’

Evidence of the lack of planning has been seen in depleted weapons stockpiles, lengthy troop deployments, maintenance issues on ships, depletion of emergency fuel stockpiles, and low morale among military personnel, among other issues.

The USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier recently was ordered to return to port after more than 10 months at sea resulting in unsustainable conditions on the ship and among shipmates.

Two U.S. officials who spoke to The Intercept news told of early miscalculations in the U.S. strategy: one, that Iran would buckle under the size of the U.S. Navy presence; two, the U.S.’ mission was seriously crippled at the outset when Iranian missiles destroyed the U.S. Navy logistics hub in Bahrain.

“They blew the hell out of Bahrain,” Navy Secretary Hung Cao would later admit in an interview with The Epoch Times, the damage of which was documented in the Inspector General’s report.

Dr. Leon said the USS Gerald Ford is an example of the lack of strategy and planning by the U.S. Iran knows it can’t defeat the Navy ships, so they just cut off  the fleets’ supply chain, he said.

“Iran says, ‘It’s gonna need water. They’re gonna need food. They’re going to need to be resupplied,’” Dr. Leon said.

“So, they strike the base that supplies the ship. They don’t have to attack the ship. The ship will eventually leave because it can’t support itself and that takes us back to the adage: You have the watches, but we have the time.”

The post U.S. grows weary of Iran war appeared first on Final Call News.

GARY, Ind.—For the first five days after the Aug. 11 derecho that caused widespread damages and power outages in Northwest Indiana, every household Sister Alva Muhammad checked on was still in the dark. Then one person’s lights came on. The next day, another household was restored.

Members of the Nation of Islam Gary, Indiana, study group celebrated each small victory while continuing to check on those still without power. It was a quiet, block-by-block rhythm of watching out for one another that would define Gary’s recovery long before utility crews finished their work.

“We took care of one another,” she said. “And that, to me, was the most beautiful thing that I saw in all of the weeks without power.”

That instinct—neighbors organizing for neighbors, before government aid arrived and long after headlines moved on—is the story Gary is telling about itself now.

Weeks after one of the most violent storms in Northwest Indiana history, with utility poles broken and hundreds of thousands of customers plunged into darkness, what residents describe isn’t chaos.

It’s a city that fed itself, checked on its elders, cleared its own streets, and found out exactly who its neighbors were. And it’s a city now asking, with that same unity behind it, why the outage lasted as long as it did.

What people needed, and what people gave

The first days after the storm brought the obvious emergencies: food, water, gasoline, baby formula, phone charging. Then the outage aged and the needs changed, turning toward refrigerated medicine, oxygen tanks needing refills, seniors without transportation to pharmacies that still had power. Gary eventually supplied oxygen to more than 75 residents from the city and surrounding communities.

KC Thompson, known as DJ KCeaser, who lost power for 14 days like much of the city, spent that time in the streets. His social media became an informal dispatch center: “Gary, what do you or someone you may know need today?”

He’d post, and residents would ask openly for rides, food, supplies, wellness checks, or simply somebody to talk to. Weeks later, he was still coordinating: volunteers with chainsaws, school-supply deliveries, relief crews working block-by-block to clear trees that had been lying in yards since the storm.

“This storm has brought us out,” he said. “It takes a village and it was deeper than a child. We all children.”

What struck him most was watching people who had lived beside each other for 20 or 30 years without speaking, suddenly learn who among them was a plumber, an electrician, or simply someone willing to help.

Houston rapper and activist Trae Tha Truth, who brought tractor-trailer loads of supplies to Gary and worked alongside local crews cutting downed trees, put it plainly: “Everybody needs to play their part.”

Refusing the rumors

Part of what Sister Alva Muhammad did during the outage was less visible but just as important: she policed the truth. Using what cell service she could find, she distributed only information she could personally verify, by phone, by seeing it herself, or from a source she trusted directly.

“I did not want to spread rumors because there was already plenty of that going around,” she said.

That mattered, because rumors were circulating that Gary was descending into lawlessness. She said that wasn’t what she saw. “There was no rioting in Gary. There was no chaos in Gary. There was no widespread looting in Gary. There was no crime spree in Gary,” she said.

Instead: neighbors setting up grills and feeding strangers, businesses without electricity still finding ways to provide food, residents carrying water into neighborhoods where wells had stopped working because their pumps needed power to run.

In a disaster, misinformation can spread as fast as the emergency itself. Gary’s response was to counter it, house-by-house, with verified fact and shared labor.

A church built for exactly this moment

One institution had prepared for this kind of failure years in advance. Progressive Community Church installed solar panels roughly a decade ago and, more recently with help from the American Red Cross, added battery backup capability. So, when much of Gary went dark, the church didn’t, and it became an anchor almost immediately.

Calls came quickly. The Red Cross wanted to set up there. City representatives asked to use the site. Fire personnel needed operational space. “We heard y’all got power,” Pastor Curtis Whittaker remembered people telling them.

Ms. Freida Graves, a lifelong Gary resident and director of Food as Medicine for Faith CDC, said the church was able to provide food, electricity and charging while other facilities in the city struggled to offer the same.

Pastor Whittaker said the experience has only sharpened his sense of what Gary’s institutions owe each other going forward: resilience hubs, churches, schools, community centers, equipped with solar generation, battery storage, refrigeration for food and medicine, and charging stations, so that “when the grid goes down, our communities don’t have to go down with it.”

The church is now advocating for a community-scale solar farm and microgrid near its property, an effort Pastor Whittaker estimates at roughly $10 million, a bet that the next crisis should find Gary readier than this one did.

The unity is turning into a demand

That same solidarity that fed neighbors and cleared streets hasn’t dissolved now that the lights are back. It has shifted into a shared, pointed question: why did this take so long, and could it have been prevented?

At the center of that question sits a number nobody in authority has yet been willing, or able, to provide: how much of Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO) documented tree-trimming shortfall was sitting in Gary when the storm hit.

State records establish the shortfall clearly at the system level. NIPSCO told the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC), it planned to trim vegetation along more than 1,263 miles of power lines during the prior year, but completed only about 954, a gap of roughly 309 miles.

Or about a quarter of the plan, left undone heading into storm season. NIPSCO says its vegetation-management spending has more than doubled since 2016 and that the company is targeting a seven-year trimming cycle budgeted at roughly $27 million to $29 million a year.

What none of that discloses is where those 309 uncompleted miles were. NIPSCO’s service territory spans Northwest and North Central Indiana; the 1,263-mile plan and the 954-mile completion figure are both territory-wide totals, not a city-by-city accounting.

No public filing, company statement or regulatory record reviewed by The Final Call breaks the shortfall down by circuit, county or municipality. That means the claim animating much of Gary’s grievance, that its trees, specifically, were the ones left untrimmed, has not actually been confirmed or denied by anyone with the data to do it.

That silence is now part of the story. Gary absorbed the largest outage event in NIPSCO’s history: about 375,000 customers knocked out, with the city among the hardest and longest hit. If Gary’s circuits carried a disproportionate share of the system-wide shortfall, that would be a serious finding.

If Gary’s trimming was actually current and the outage was purely a function of storm severity, that would matter too.  Right now, the record supports neither conclusion, only the fact that the question hasn’t been answered.

Rev. Whittaker’s Change.org petition, “Tell NIPSCO to Slash Residents’ Bills After Two Weeks Without Power,” had gathered 950 signatures toward its goal of 1,000 as of the latest count.

It calls for automatic outage credits, reimbursement for spoiled food and medication, extended protection from disconnections, and fewer regulatory barriers for churches and nonprofits seeking solar and battery systems.

But beneath its specific asks is a simpler demand: an answer. Not a territory-wide average, not a spending total, but a circuit-by-circuit accounting of what NIPSCO actually did, or didn’t do, to the trees hanging over Gary’s power lines before Aug. 11.

The Final Call contacted NIPSCO with a series of questions for a response and received the following email response from the company on Sept. 11, stating, “We decline to comment.”

The case for asking

For some, the circumstantial case for asking or demanding accountability from utility providers is challenging. Eyewitness accounts from residents like Sister Alva Muhammad describe years of visibly overgrown vegetation near lines in her neighborhood, a concern she’d carried since moving to Gary in 2015.

Weeks after the storm, volunteer chainsaw crews were still clearing trees block by block, a pace and volume that residents and city officials have pointed to as evidence of years of deferred maintenance, not just a single catastrophic storm.

A proposed class-action lawsuit specifically alleges that NIPSCO failed to adequately maintain vegetation and inspect poles and lines before the storm; the company disputes the claims, which have not been proven in court.

Indiana Gov. Mike Braun cited the same territory-wide vegetation numbers when he directed the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor (OUCC) to petition the IURC for a formal investigation.

Saying NIPSCO “is a monopoly utility that Hoosiers pay every month with the expectation that it will use its considerable resources to maintain its system, prepare for severe weather and restore service as quickly as possible.” 

The OUCC’s petition asks regulators to examine NIPSCO’s vegetation management, right-of-way maintenance and whether ratepayer-funded reliability investments were used as promised.

The kind of inquiry that could, if pursued rigorously, finally produce a circuit-level answer for Gary specifically. NIPSCO customers paid more than $81 million for vegetation management from 2023 through 2025, according to figures cited by the OUCC.

The vegetation question sits inside a larger one about what five years of promised grid modernization actually bought Gary. In 2021, NIPSCO won IURC approval for a $1.635 billion transmission, distribution and grid-improvement plan covering 2021 through 2026, pitched partly as a way to reduce outages and speed restoration.

Consumer advocates objected at the time, arguing the plan represented roughly a 70% increase in average annual spending over the prior plan for diminishing returns. In rebuttal testimony, NIPSCO’s own witness, Charles Vamos, acknowledged that core reliability measures.

How often outages occur and how long they last, had not recently improved, and that less than 8% of NIPSCO’s assets had even been touched by the prior investment cycle. He said the company had “room to improve.”  Five years and $1.6 billion later, Gary became the test case.

NIPSCO maintains that storm severity, not any gap in preparation, explains the length of the outage. The company points out that the 99-mph gust recorded at Gary’s airport falls within Category 2 hurricane-equivalent wind range, a severity level neighboring Illinois utilities did not face from the same system.

“This was the worst damage we have ever seen,” NIPSCO President Vince Parisi said when the company announced 99%  restoration on Aug. 25. The storm’s severity is independently confirmed by the National Weather Service. 

But severity and preparation are not mutually exclusive questions, and NIPSCO’s own comparison to Illinois cuts both ways: if wind alone explained the outage’s length, it raises the question of why NIPSCO’s Indiana infrastructure fared so much worse than infrastructure just across the state line facing a related, if smaller, event.

Lessons for the next storm

Sister Alva Muhammad has spent more than 20 years studying disaster preparedness, guided by the Teachings of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad and His National Representative, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan.

This guidance includes in part, storing food, learning preservation methods, securing the home, having necessities ready before an emergency arrives. That preparation helped her family withstand 14 days without electricity. But she said the derecho taught her something more humbling.

“I think this storm taught us that none of us is as prepared as we think we are,” she said.

“What if this happened in winter?” she asked, a question that turns the community’s improvised, ad hoc response into something residents are trying to formalize before they need it again.

Her answer keeps returning to a directive she describes as familiar to students of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan: make our communities a decent and safe place to live. “Part of that starts with making our homes a decent and safe place to live,” she said, “so that if we can’t leave our homes, then we’ll be safe.”

Restoring more than power

The lights are mostly back on in Gary now. But residents who spent two weeks depending on each other rather than the grid aren’t describing the recovery as something that simply happened to them. Pastor Whittaker draws a sharp line between the two.

“Charity responds to the storm,” he said. “Justice changes things before the next storm.”

Then, simpler still: “We don’t just want restoration. We want transformation.”

The power company restored the electricity.  In the weeks it took to do that, Gary’s residents were already restoring something else: proof, delivered street-by-street, that a city can hold itself together while it waits for everyone else to catch up. What’s left now is the question that same unity is refusing to let go of, whether the wait was as unavoidable as the storm itself.

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