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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And yet, Brother Larry remains behind bars.

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

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

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

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

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

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

And because he is still a man.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The post The United Nations and adding up the cost for reparations appeared first on Final Call News.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Amen.

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

The post What was Erykah saying? appeared first on Final Call News.

The struggle for Black self-determination in the United States has been long, arduous and dangerous. Central to that struggle has been our need for information and the ability to define ourselves.

It led to the credo of the Black Press: “We wish to plead our own cause; For too long others have spoken for us, now we speak for ourselves.” These words were written by John Brown Russwurm and Samuel Eli Cornish, who established Freedom’s Journal, the first Black-owned newspaper in America, in 1827.

So, when I was invited by the Chicago Chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists to join a discussion about the Black Press in Chicago, I agreed to join the forum at Navy Pier.

I was on a panel with Myiti Sengstacke Rice of Chicago Defender Charities, Melody Spann-Cooper of WVON-AM, and Noel Bentley of DePaul NABJ was our moderator.

Chicago Defender Charities help support the newspaper, which is digital only. Ms. Spann Cooper is chair and CEO of Midway Broadcasting Corporation, whose flagship station is WVON-AM 1690, Black talk radio Chicago.

Both of these entities have incredible histories: The Chicago Defender, founded by Robert Abbott in 1905, helped drive the Great Migration of Blacks in the South to the North in search of brighter days that changed the country.

Spann-Cooper’s father made WVON into a powerhouse for Black news, thought, expression and action that reverberated throughout the Windy City and into the rest of the country. WVON went on air in 1963.

The Final Call started publishing in 1979 as the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan started rebuilding the Nation of Islam and has maintained longevity as an award-winning publication.

But times are hard now with some outlets closing. And, diversity, equity and inclusion which primarily benefited White women, just like affirmative action, is dead.

Like others, Blacks are in an “entrepreneurial” journalists’ space, working to capture their audiences, followers and their financial support. Since we are all in the position of “doing for self” perhaps we can work better together.

Corporations and companies are not our friends. You can have a strategic relationship, business relationship or personal relationship with them. But don’t ever confuse somebody who isn’t even your friend with somebody that loves you.

Robert Abbott and Pervis Spann loved Black people and wanted to see us progress and prosper. The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan has the mission of his teacher the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad to resurrect the mentally, morally, economically and spiritually dead Black man and woman. That is the mission of The Final Call.

Minister Farrakhan loves Black people and has devoted over 70 years of his life to our complete liberation and freedom, justice and equality. He has been under constant condemnation, attacks, lies and plots from the enemy. But he has never wavered in his commitment to us. He has only gotten stronger.

Black people need someone who loves them and who is eager to fight for them. This isn’t the time to be afraid or a sell out when our people are suffering, confused and under vicious assault from within and from without our community. Our people need help. Our people are brilliant, and our people are in the crosshairs of our enemies.

Minister Farrakhan once told me The Final Call is to be a watchman on the wall, scanning the horizon for threats or anything that could endanger our people.

Mainstream media today are not good watchmen. Many are bought out by corporations, biased, and afraid to seek and speak the truth as the country goes further and further into hell.

With mainstream media losing public confidence and trust, the Black Press isn’t dead if we do our job. Our job is serving the interests of our people. We are only a relic if we are out of step with the time, which requires building and acting based on our agenda and not someone else’s.

By Allah’s (God’s) Grace, The Final Call will outlive White outlets Blacks once took pride in working for.

Black buying power is projected to reach $1.98 trillion by 2025 and could reach $2.5 trillion to $3 trillion by 2030. The Selig Center for Economic Growth estimates Black buying power accounts for nine percent of America’s total buying power.

If we as a people focus on capturing our part of the trillions of dollars we spend, we have enough to sustain our operations and fund the survival of an independent Black nation. But we must be bold and constantly working to master what we do.

Capturing our niche of our market in order to serve our people must be what we are committed to. We don’t worship at the altar of the almighty dollar; the dollar is a tool used to preserve, protect and defend the people we love.

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

The post No time to be silent appeared first on Final Call News.

When we look at how nations, institutions, organizations, and movements grow and evolve, we must never forget those who worked and contributed to making that nation, institution, organization, or movement that we love and respect into what it is.

By Allah’s (God’s) grace, we marked 45 years of the existence of The Final Call last year. It has grown from an intermittent publication to a respected, award-winning weekly journal which offers a digital newspaper, social media, and video to deliver the truth to our people and the world.

It’s very easy to look at a nation, institution, organization or movement and appreciate where it is today without considering where it came from or where it was yesterday.

Nation building, in particular, is not an easy nor quick endeavor. Bringing a new reality into existence and nourishing it until it reaches its full potential is not easy.

Over time, individuals step in who not only believe in the vision, but who labor, sacrifice and endure much to bring the vision into being.

Sister Rosalind Diallo, also known as Sister Rosalind Muhammad, was one of those workers who helped make The Final Call what it is today and her contribution must never be forgotten.

She departed this life Feb. 2 and her funeral services were held in Los Angeles. She grew up in California and studied communications at California State University Los Angeles.

When I first heard the news of Sister Rosalind’s passing, I was rather shocked and tried to gather myself to write something about her.

It wasn’t an easy task. It took me a little time to pull my thoughts together and acquire some actual facts about her before I could begin to express my appreciation for her.

Sister Rosalind was a beautiful writer, a very talented storyteller, and a journalist filled with integrity and passion.

When it came to the rise of our people, our Nation and the Teachings of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad and the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, she chronicled our journey and defended us.

She joined The Final Call in 1991 and worked through important stories for us. Among them was the CIA-crack cocaine pipeline escapade, which was exposed by the late journalist Gary Webb.

He found CIA operatives were involved in drug dealing for the Contra forces in Nicaragua which spread crack cocaine into Black communities in the United States.

Unfortunately, this man was attacked and his work maligned though it was full of truth. The mainstream media targeted him and he was reported dead by suicide.

The CIA operation used drug money to pay for weapons the right-wing Contras used in their war against the socialist Sandinista regime to get around congressional action that ceased funding.

Sister Rosalind interviewed “Freeway” Rick Ross, who was a Johnny Appleseed in the early days of crack distribution. He traveled throughout California and other places, dispensing his deadly wares.

He started as a young Black man unaware of the international and long-term devastating, impact the drug would have in our neighborhoods. He later grew in consciousness and talked about his regrets at having played a destructive role in the lives of our people.

Sister Rosalind covered the release of Black Panther Geronimo Pratt, after 27 years of unjust incarceration and other notable stories.

She went on to live in Paris with her then-husband Brother Abdul-Karim Diallo Muhammad and serve as an international writer for The Final Call. She also worked with and traveled with Mother Tynnetta Muhammad, wife of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad.

“Fond memories I have of our dear Sister Rosalind Muhammad include her way with words and strong voice in print, yet how quiet she appeared,” said Sister Charlene Muhammad, who succeeded Sister Rosalind and worked briefly with her in Los Angeles in 1997 before the talented scribe moved to France.

“One of the first lessons she taught me in our totally brief time together—if I recall, one meeting—was to write from an outline each and every time and to have a dictionary, an old one, on hand,” said Sister Charlene.

“I’d been an avid reader of The Final Call and learned all about her through her work before we even met. It was an honor to speak with her and follow in her footsteps, for she laid a base and foundation in the West for The Final Call that I cherish deeply and strive to uphold today,” said Sister Charlene, who serves as national correspondent for The Final Call.

Brother Abdul-Karim shared how he and Sister Rosalind met in Chicago at Saviours’ Day 1996, where she interviewed him for The Final Call. He was from France and opening an N.O.I. study group in the country.

“She immediately offered to support me by sending me The Final Call newspaper and other information and documents likely to help me in my mission.

When I didn’t return to France, we started communicating by telephone, and after a few months we discovered a mutual affinity and attraction, and after a year I came to find her in Los Angeles to marry her. That was in 1997,” he said.

“What I can say about Sister Rosalind is that she immediately caught my attention not only because she was very beautiful, but also because of her intelligence, knowledge and understanding of the Teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, and the fact that she and her family belonged to the first resurrection,” said Brother Abdul-Karim referring to the time period before 1975.

“From what she told me; her father had been introduced to the Nation of Islam by Malcolm X. But what struck me most about her was her curiosity and desire to learn. She seized every opportunity to learn in any field and especially on subjects she knew would be of interest to The Final Call newspaper and its readers.

“She was always taking notes with a notepad. She was also very involved in the Paris study group in France and very supportive of my work with the brothers and sisters on activities related to the work we do within the Nation of Islam.

Such as Friday study guides and Sunday meetings. She also took part in training the sisters, the future M.G.T. and G.C.C. (women of the Nation of Islam),” said Brother Abdul-Karim. “I’ll never forget her.”

Sister Rosalind was an example of the Teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad that say, a nation can rise no higher than its women. We should be forever grateful for her and those who serve us. Never take for granted where we are today. Never believe that we are where we are as the result of happenstance.

Success and institution building come through the grace of Almighty God, Allah, and those He sends to build that which is envisioned. Sister Rosalind was a builder and we honor her.

Lastly, Allah (God) hates ingratitude. We should hate ingratitude too and show our appreciation by respecting those who helped bring us to where we are and the work it takes to stay there.

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

The post Servant, soldier, scribe: Remembering Sister Rosalind appeared first on Final Call News.

What struck me most were the powerful images of Panther Party leader Huey P. Newton, as well as images of Newton with Bobby Seale  standing outside a Panther office.

I read “Revolutionary Suicide,” comrade Newton’s autobiography first published in 1973, in my early teens. Later as a teenager I read the “Autobiography of Malcolm X,” who was an inspiration for the Panthers.

The work of the Panthers, holding political education classes to awaken Blacks, standing against police brutality, running lunch and breakfast programs, free health clinics, early testing for sickle cell anemia, programs to teach and train Black children about themselves, race and oppression in America and beyond, was phenomenal.

Many have been inspired by the bold examples of the Panthers and infused some of their activity into modern struggle, from boycotts, to prison advocacy, to political education and organizing, health awareness and services, to video monitoring of police and organizing Black youth.

We should respect the Panthers for their courage, love and even their militant style, complete with black leather jackets, sunglasses and berets, but we must never forget their intense suffering and slaughter.

We must also do more than just remember and lionize these soldiers in the Black Power and Black liberation struggle. According to the Jericho Movement, Black political prisoners languish in federal and state institutions, including Panthers and revolutionaries jailed some 55 years ago.

“Six Black radicals have endured decades of incarceration because of their 1970s membership in the Black Panthers or its offshoot, the Black Liberation Army. In 2018, there were 19 such political prisoners (and who knows how many before then).

After being incarcerated for 40 to 50 years, the other 14 were either released, died in prison, or died shortly after release. (Assata Shakur escaped prison, in 1979, to Cuba where she lives under asylum. She is now 76.),” said the Jericho Movement, which fights to free these freedom fighters.

“It is generally understood that the crimes for which these prisoners were arrested and convicted were pinned on them and/or led to disproportionate sentences by officials eager to neutralize and punish these political activists. They are political prisoners,” said the Jericho Movement.

Imam Jamil Al-Amin, formerly known as Black Panther and Black revolutionary H. Rap Brown, is among these prisoners. We need to do more than quote him from 1967, “Violence is a part of American culture. It is as American as cherry pie,” or talk about him during Black History Month.

We need to act now to save him.

The family and supporters of Imam Al-Amin are fighting to get him emergency medical treatment through a transfer to a different federal prison, one with a hospital. He was an enemy of the state according to the FBI and the U.S. government and was targeted as such.

During the 1960s and 1970s, he chaired the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee and organized for Black voting rights and against southern segregation.

A leader of the Black Panther Party, he demanded justice for Black and oppressed people and condemned U.S. evils at home and abroad.

After years of being hunted by federal authorities, local officials and prosecutors, he served five years in a New York prison, where he converted to Islam in the 1970s, taking the name Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin.

Upon release, he moved to Atlanta, setting up a mosque in the city’s West End and organizing against violence, prostitution, crime and supporting the gang truce and urban peace movement of the 1990s.

“As far as my father’s health goes, it is deteriorating relatively rapidly. We’re dealing with a situation now where we’re in real time watching the system murder my father,” said Kairi Al-Amin, who is the imam’s son and attorney, alongside Atty. Maha ELKolalli. They talked about his life and death struggle in late December during an online forum hosted by the Islamic Circle of North America.

In Atlanta, he was accused of fatally shooting one and injuring another Fulton County deputy while facing some minor charges. He was convicted in 2000 of murder, despite another man confessing to the crime, say supporters. The man matches the description that the surviving officer gave and has a bullet wound in his shoulder the surviving officer said they put in him, they add.

Though convicted of a state crime, the imam served time in a federal Supermax prison in Colorado through an agreement where Georgia pays to have state inmates housed in federal institutions. Pressure led to his being moved to a federal penitentiary in Tucson, where he is still held far from his family and suffers today.

The 81-year-old imam’s medical issues include cancer, problems with his eyesight, blood clots in his legs, using a walker and massive swelling in his face, Kairi Al-Amin explained.

“He had a baseball-sized knot in his face and I’m just glad we were able to get that picture out to the public because saying is one thing, seeing it is another. They claim that they took him to the hospital for that knot,” he continued. But after talks with his father in December,  the son said Imam Al-Amin hadn’t seen a doctor since November.

“No hospital in America is going to see a human being walk in with a baseball on their face and tell them, ‘well, you should see another doctor in two months. Maybe they can do something about that.’

And that’s essentially what they’ve done to my father. Not essentially, that’s exactly what they’ve done to my father,” he added. Pressure from supporters moved the appointment with doctors up; it was supposed to happen in January.

According to his son and Atty. ELKolalli, the growth has increased, leaving the imam unable to eat solid food, unable to see out of one eye, and having difficulty hearing.

They are pushing for his transfer to a federal prison in Butner, N.C., which has a hospital. “We want him free because he didn’t do this. But we also have to make sure that while they are holding him, that he’s being cared for adequately and that also is not being done,” said Kairi Al-Amin.

“Unfortunately, you see that Cointelpro still lives; it’s alive and well and kicking. There are things that happen that you just kind of sit back and you say, ‘oh wow, this is interesting how this is playing out.’ This is really just a simple process of transferring this man to a hospital,” Atty. ELKolalli observed.

“We want to see an immediate transfer; we want to see immediate medical treatment. We want people to make the calls and send the emails,” she added.

Supporters of the imam are producing a documentary. It’s a fundraiser. The hope is the project will be completed by summer and ready for resubmission to Netflix or other streaming platforms.

For more information about the campaign or to support the documentary, “What Happened To H. Rap Brown,” visit freeimamjamil.com.

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

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Did the “protest puppets” threaten Jewish people, demean Jews or mock Jews? No. They depicted the bloody hands of Israel’s prime minister and the U.S. government in the deaths of 60,000 Palestinians, according to The Lancet medical journal.

That’s in addition to reducing Gaza to rubble, driving Palestinians to starvation or the brink of starvation, displacing Gazans and leaving children to freeze to death.

“The free, public exhibit in the city-run building features bloodied caricatures of Uncle Sam and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described on a sign as ‘protest puppets.’

Writing on the wooden bases holding up the figures criticizes U.S. financial support for Israel’s war efforts in Gaza and labels the characters as ‘children killers’ and ‘murderers,’” the Chicago Tribune reported.

“The display is ‘extremely offensive’ and ‘crosses into unprotected hate speech,’ according to the letter addressed to Johnson, sent Wednesday and signed by 27 aldermen,” the Tribune reported Jan. 22.

Ald. Debra Silverstein, the city’s only Jewish council member, led the attack on the mayor and got the exhibit changed. She got the display’s title, “US-Israel War Machine,” removed, had a warning the exhibition “contains sensitive content” inserted, and removed a death count, according to the Tribune.

She called the exhibit “very anti-American, and very anti-Semitic.” She also blasted Mayor Johnson almost a year ago when Chicago called for a ceasefire in Gaza, the Tribune noted. Mayor Johnson cast the deciding vote that passed the measure.

Zionists care nothing for the truth and, unfortunately, neither do many Black politicians who kowtow to the Jewish community. They don’t care what principles are violated and don’t consider the loss of human life.

How can art that criticizes Mr. Netanyahu, an accused war criminal and leader of a government engaged in slaughter that has been internationally condemned, be anti-Semitic?

How can a puppet of Uncle Sam, representing the U.S. government sending weapons and billions since 2023 to bankroll the genocide, be anti-Semitic? It’s not.

The false cries of anti-Semitism are a tactic to bully and silence people as Israel wreaks havoc in Gaza, the West Bank and the Middle East without hindrance or criticism.

These Zionists care nothing for the righteous teachings of Moses and justify conduct that violates what he taught. They care nothing about lives they destroy in the United States.

Americans have lost their free speech rights, jobs, educational opportunities, reputations, security, contracts and even face prosecution for speaking out against the holocaust in Gaza.

Meanwhile, Blacks slammed the ADL, that many see as anti-Black, for excusing Elon Musk after what many saw as a Nazi salute when he spoke during President Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration celebration.

“This is a delicate moment. It’s a new day, and yet so many are on edge. Our politics are inflamed and social media only adds to the anxiety. It seems that Elon Musk made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute, but again, we appreciate that people are on edge in this moment.

All sides should give one another a bit of grace. Perhaps even the benefit of the doubt … . This is a new beginning. Let’s hope for healing and work toward unity in the months and years ahead,” the ADL said via X.

“If you’re brushing that off as an awkward gesture, you do it. Do it in public. Do it at work at your kid’s school. Try it at church. Do it at the ballgame. Say hi to your neighbor and do it. Yeah, that’s exactly what I thought.

The fact that some of you support the things that come with this man is disappointing af,” wrote DL Hughley, radio host and comedian, on Instagram.

There were many other comments posted on social media platforms pointing to the fact that the ADL has demanded and forced Black athletes and entertainers to apologize after accusing them of “anti-Semitism” or making “anti-Semitic” remarks.

Social media users pointed out that the ADL has gone after hip-hop artists Ye (formerly Kanye West) and 21 Savage; athletes Kyrie Irving and DeSean Jackson, actress and talk-show host Whoopi Goldberg, podcast host and commentator Candace Owens and the late, great Michael Jackson to name just a few.

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

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Stopping to make snow angels, the young child, who was with her cousin and other girls, was grabbed, cuffed and told she was a car thief.

The deputies said she fit the description—wearing a pink jacket and camo pants—of a person allegedly involved in the Jan. 12 theft of a gray Kia. The innocent girl was detained and handcuffed the day of the theft, according to the sheriff’s department.

Her cousin started recording the encounter on her phone and the moment went viral.

Where would we be without it?

The school children calmly insist their friend is innocent. Police mock them. A female officer says derisively, “Girl, you’re gonna tell me that’s not you?”

The deputies accuse the children of lying. They show the girls a photo of their suspect. According to the sheriff’s office, a 14 year old was arrested in connection with the car theft.

The courageous girls, who continued to defend their friend, pointed out how the appearances of the alleged perpetrator and their companion aren’t the same.

The complexions are different, the hairstyles are different and the patterns on the clothing are different, Black school girls tell professional, trained, armed, adult police officers.

After other deputies arrive and other conversations, handcuffs are taken off. Deputies offer a half-hearted apology but defend their actions. Apologies aren’t being accepted.

“She no longer wants to walk to and from school anymore. That was the only freedom she had and it’s now gone,” said the girl’s mother in an interview with a local TV station.

“I couldn’t even finish watching the video,” she added. “Even if it wasn’t my child, I wouldn’t be able to finish watching the video because that’s not how you handle children.”

“Why would we handcuff this child? Detainees are usually handcuffed initially. Detainees may become uncooperative, may decide to flee, or may decide to fight. In some cases, detainees may be armed or have contraband/evidence they will try to destroy,” said the sheriff’s department. “Handcuffing juveniles in this circumstance is lawful, within policy, and common practice in law enforcement.”

“The NYCLU is extremely disturbed by the aggressive treatment of an 11-year-old Black child at the hands of Syracuse Sheriff’s deputies and their failure to notify the child’s parents. There was no reason to handcuff a scared child, one who had simply been making snow angels,” argued the civil liberties group.

“This mistreatment raises serious concerns about implicit racial bias, which too often leads law enforcement officers to perceive children of color as a threat,” added the New York Civil Liberties Union.

“I’m confused. I’m scared,” say the girls in the video. They note when another police car shows up. “No. I gotta stay with her, that’s my sister. That’s my sister-cousin, we’re related,” the cousin responds when told to move on by officers.

“We can’t leave her,” says another girl.

Onondaga County is just over 75 percent White. In 2022, the New York ACLU said Blacks in the county were convicted 10.2 more times than Whites.

Black children are also disproportionately arrested and prosecuted in Onondaga County. Some 15 years ago a serious bias problem was officially noted but remains.

“The impact of the significant drop in detention varied by the race/ethnicity of the youth, raising concerns about what is called Disproportionate Minority Contact.

DMC occurs when the proportion of youth of color at various points in the juvenile justice system is greater than the proportion of youth of color in the general population,” explained the Project to Reduce Disproportionate Minority Contact with Onondaga County’s Juvenile Justice System in a 2011 final report to the county’s juvenile justice reform committee.

“Racial disparities often become increasingly worse as a young person is processed deeper and deeper into the system,” the report warned. Black youngsters, just 15 percent of county youth and only 38 percent of Syracuse’s youth, were 73 percent of admissions to secure detention, it noted.

That process begins with being held by cops and being arrested.

This isn’t just an Onondaga County or New York state problem: Black youth are 2.4 times more likely to be arrested than White youth and Black girls are four times more likely to be arrested than White girls, say experts.

We must fight against systems and people working to destroy us as we work feverishly to create systems that will protect us and, most importantly, our children. No one is coming to their rescue, but us.

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

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