By
William P. Muhammad
As
the 20th Anniversary of the Million Man March draws nigh, from the
halls of power and policy to the streets of major American cities, a
cacophony of media voices, political pundits, and frontline protesters continue
their boisterous clamor over the application of justice in the United States.
In
nearly every state of the union, amidst the mass incarceration of Blacks and
darker skinned people, paramilitary policing procedures, and the tyranny of
suppression, Black Americans, and others sharing similar experiences, have now
entered the valley of decision between which stands the final choices of either
a promised land, leading to meaningful change, or a wilderness of an unsustainable
business as usual.
Within
this context, and for over 40 years, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan has
worked tirelessly for the liberation of our people, all the while sharing the tried
and tested methods of his teacher, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, giving us an
example of success, empowerment and independence. However, while holding the
old adage true: “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink
it,” the individual choices and decisions Black America has embraced since 1975,
have proven not only Minister Farrakhan’s words truthful, but also prophetic as
worsening conditions continue to undermine Black communities at a faster pace.
Consistently
warning that a war on Black youth is being waged from the highest levels of
society and government, the minister, and those with him, have been
crisscrossing the country since the 1980s, alerting Black communities not only
to the dangers facing them, but also to tangible self-help programs that will
lift them from their overall conditions. As the masses of Black people continue
suffering from violence, uncertainty, and an increasingly overt and hostile
form of racism, it is laziness, jealousy and envy, particularly among critics
in the Black leadership class, who prevent or slow the successful
implementation of effective solutions.
A
Lesson from History
Like
today, a little over 100 years ago, Black activists pressed for justice through
protests, rallies, appeals to white philanthropy, and through the formation of
organizations, advocacy for justice and equal treatment within American
society. Spawned from the tyranny of the blatant injustices and humiliations
associated with the 1896 Plessy v.
Ferguson Supreme Court decision, the denial of voting rights, and widespread
lynching throughout both the North and the South, men such as William Monroe
Trotter, Charles Edwin Bentley, Fredrick L. McGhee and W.E.B. DuBois, founded
what would become known as the Niagara Movement to counter the work of Booker
T. Washington, who emphasized self-help, education and entrepreneurship more
than he vocalized opposition to southern segregation and Jim Crow racism.
The
Niagara Movement, which at that time, called for radical changes by demanding social,
economic and political equality between Blacks and Whites, subsequently engaged
in a ‘battle royal’ of differing agendas where Black leadership, backed by
white benefactors, newspapers and politicians, vehemently denounced one another
over methods and ideology. Fostering conflicts and divisions, thereby
preventing a unified effort between the northern based Niagara Movement and the
southern based efforts of Booker T. Washington and his associates, the public tearing
down of each other weakened their collective impact and fractured their ability
to fulfill their overall goals independent of white tutelage and control.
As
the Niagara Movement began its dissolution from internal disagreements and
external manipulation, the NAACP was founded shortly thereafter in 1909, after deadly
race riots erupted a year earlier in Springfield, Illinois. Set up and financed
by white liberals and northern Jews, the activism and resources placed behind
the NAACP deemphasized Booker T. Washington’s approach in favor of non-economic
liberalism where concerns centering on social and political inclusion outweighed
the virtues of land ownership, entrepreneurship and economic independence. As Washington’s
philosophy of building an independent and self-sustaining infrastructure gave
way to a civil rights agenda dependent upon white patronage and philanthropy, the
die was set for the next 100 years, and the producing ethos facilitated by
Washington’s efforts eventually transformed into the consuming culture that dominates
Black America today. 
On
both the national and international stage, the upcoming Justice or Else march
on Washington D.C. represents the last stand of those embracing the dignity of self-determination;
and for those who understand the big picture, our response to 10-10-15 will
determine the destiny of Black America as the United States undergoes the
greatest demographic shift in the history of its existence. Having the
potential to become a watershed event regarding real change, and with an annual
spending economy of $1.3 trillion, Blacks can no longer dismiss the clear
pattern of snares, traps and pitfalls obstructing our way to true social,
political and economic liberation on the global level.
While
many will agree with the aim and purpose of the movement, as always, some will
disagree either through ignorance of its intentions, from the fear of change, or because
of satisfaction with the current state of affairs. Nevertheless, selling out
the legitimate grievances of our people, in the name of backroom deals,
subterfuge and the seeking of favor from the former slave masters and their children,
will no longer be tolerated. Our time is now, and for the sake of our children
and our children’s children, we will not be condemned as the generation that
refused to lay a tangible foundation for their future. The only
question is: Will you watch history unfold from the sidelines or will you
become a part of the change that you seek? 