From The Final Call Newspaper

No Time For Fear!

By James G. Muhammad -Contributing Editor- | Last updated: Feb 21, 2017 - 12:01:20 PM

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A greater power is at work and is using President Trump to end America and White Supremacy warns Farrakhan


“Blessed is He Who sent down the Discrimination upon His servant that he might be a warner to the nations.” – Holy Qur’an 25:1

DETROIT—Donald J. Trump was elevated to the presidency by God’s permission to be used as a tool to dismantle the rule of White supremacy and to bring America and the western world to their knees, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan warned Feb. 19 in his keynote address wrapping up the Saviours’ Day 2017 weekend here.

Russia did not put Trump there, the outspoken minister said, addressing allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 elections. He also warned the president that the decisions he makes regarding Blacks in America can hasten the destruction of the country.

“You are living in the breakup of America and the breakup of the White man’s world,” Min. Farrakhan, 83, said to the cheers of thousands in the Joe Louis Arena. “America will never be great again. The God of justice has come and America now must pay for what she has done.

“I’m here to announce today the end of this world and the beginning of a brand-new reality where all human beings will enjoy peace, justice and equality under the rule of Allah (God),” he said, speaking as a divine warner from God.
                    
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Saviours' Day gathering attracts diverse audience. Photos: Andrea Muhammad (Bottom) Young people in the audience listen closely to message. Photo: Hannibal Muhammad

With the theme “Have No Fear For the Future: The Future Is Ours,” Saviours’ Day 2017 marked the third of the last four years the Muslim organization has held its annual celebration in Detroit, the city where it was founded in 1930 by Master Fard Muhammad, teacher of Nation of Islam patriarch the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. Saviours’ Day has also been known as the “crowning event” of the February Black History Month.
Joined on stage by city officials, scholars and activists from across the country, Min. Farrakhan pointed to the confusion in the U.S. Congress and the bewilderment of world leaders as a sign that they are losing control. He further warned the unseen powers that control the seat of the presidency to be careful how they treat Mr. Trump, a man who has deviated from norms and traditions of past presidents.

Mr. Trump says he’s not listening to his intelligence agencies, Min. Farrakhan said. Deceitful intelligence given to past presidents has taken the country to war, he said, noting that former Secretary of State Colin Powell required the heads of the CIA and the FBI sit with him as he testified false information at the United Nations given to him by those agencies. That information was used to help bring America into war with Iraq, he noted.
“Trump is justified of being suspicious of intelligence,” he said. “The war machine always wants America on the war footing.”

The powers that control the presidency, or  “shadow government” as it is labeled, are measuring Mr. Trump because they can’t control him, the Minister said. If they can’t control someone they usually kill him and doing so would inflame White nationalists who back the president and engulf the country in civil unrest, he said.

“If anything happens to Mr. Trump these [White nationalists] are going to cut loose and who do you think they’re going to cut loose on?” the Minister asked.

Meanwhile, Mr. Trump is being serenaded by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and supporters of Israel. Following their advice would engulf America in war, the Minister said.
He challenged Jewish scholars to prove they are the chosen people of God who never received a divine warner as described in the scriptures. Jews and Arabs have had numerous prophets, but Blacks in America fit the prophetic description, he said.

The Minister laid the foundation for his three-hour message, advising the audience and the governments of the world that God is on the scene to pass judgement. He explained that the Hon. Elijah Muhammad gave him and his family alone the name Farrakhan but never told him the meaning of the name.

He (Elijah) told me he had many Alis’ and Sharrieffs’ but only one Farrakhan, the Minister said. Referencing the 25th chapter of the Holy Qur’an titled “Al Furqan” or “The Discrimination,” the Minister said the truths he speaks puts the listener in the valley of decision.

Referring to Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali and Imam Warith Deen Mohammad, the Minister said the students who left the Hon. Elijah Muhammad never attained the success they had with him. With Muhammad’s teachings, Min. Farrakhan said he has confounded scholars of the Muslim world. Becoming a follower of the Hon. Elijah Muhammad 62 years ago this month “was the best move of my life,” he said.

“When you become a follower of a man made by God, you come into a Master Class,” he said.

Frightened Black leadership
The Minister expressed disappointment at Black leaders who criticized him for not backing Hillary Clinton for president. He questioned how they thought they would get anything more from her than they have gotten from their decades of allegiance to the Democratic Party.

“I have been your faithful servant for 60 years or more but you will be angry with me because that White woman lost? I feel I have given you the best of my life. I have never wavered on our cause no matter how strong the opposition came,” he said.

With President Trump, many Black leaders are frightened they will no longer receive “the crumbs” that fall from their former slave masters’ table; and he has been used as a litmus test in order for Black leaders to gain favor with Whites, the Minister said.

Holding a book titled, “Understanding the Assault on the Black Man, Black Manhood and Black Masculinity,” by N.O.I. member Dr. Wesley Muhammad, Min. Farrakhan advised the president to read it before he sends the military into Black communities in Chicago to address the violence as he has planned.

The book documents how the CIA and FBI used chemical experimentation that targeted Black males and how that sinister effort has turned Black men, particularly through the prisons, into “super predators,” as they have been described by Mrs. Clinton.

“I’m sending this book to the White House. Before you come (to Chicago), read it,” the Minister advised the president. “You got to learn how White people, your people, destroyed Black youth in a chemical experiment.

“If you slaughter my little young brothers (gangs), watch what God will do for you and for the country you said you want to make great again,” he warned.

Min. Farrakhan described a plan to destabilize seven Muslim countries shown to retired general Wesley Clark 10 years before the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Centers. Those attacks gave the government the American support it needed to attack Iraq and Afghanistan, he said.

The Muslim leader called off the names of the seven Islamic nations that are the targets of Mr. Trump’s controversial attempts to ban Muslims traveling to the United States.

“U.S. presidents created the conditions in the Middle East that led to the refugee problem in the Middle East. It didn’t start with some Arab terrorist. It started with White folks in the Pentagon,” the Minister said.

He warned Black America that God wants them to separate from Whites. That is the reason for the unusual weather and the heightening of White rage, he said.

Have you noticed how fast Whites will call you nigger? he asked.

“In this day and time God wants to manifest himself,” the Minister said. “God wants to separate you from them and give you a nation of your own, but you don’t want that.

“I warn Mr. Trump, this is not a forsaken people and the God we serve has promised us He would fight our battles,” he said.
Jesus saves
The program began with a welcome from Muhammad Mosque No. 1 Student Minister Troy Muhammad. He said he comes to the event with an increased understanding of what Saviours’ Day means.

Calling his mother to join him at the dais, Min. Troy Muhammad said this time last year his father passed. Min. Troy Muhammad told Min. Farrakhan he feared his mother, who has had drug abuse problems, would turn to drugs to ease her pain. The Minister told Bro. Troy to bring his mother to him.

Min. Troy Muhammad told the audience that after the meeting his mother said, “I felt like I met with Jesus.” I told her, “you did,” he said to loud applause.

“One year later I can say that my mom hasn’t picked up a drug since,” he said to a standing ovation.
A proclamation welcoming the Nation of Islam to the city was also read. Michigan state Senator Bert Johnson said God is looking for people who will speak truth to power. “After we receive instructions today, I pray that we do the work. No one is coming to save us but us,” he said.

Imam Ahmed Salih of the Imams Muslim Community Council described prior meetings with Min. Farrakhan as “mesmerizing and magical.” He called on society to be “Christ-like, savior-like”; we need a healing touch, he said.

“We have policy makers that are anti-Christ-like. War is a terrorism of the rich and powerful,” he said. “Today, Muslims, Hispanics, Native Americans … we can only be Christ-like if we touch the lives of others.”

Rev. Willie Wilson of the District of Columbia and a co-convener of the historic Million Man March said the day marked 40 years that he and Min. Farrakhan have walked together in the struggle for Black liberation.

“The question becomes how did a Muslim and Christian pastor stay and work together for 40 years?” he asked.  He answered saying they didn’t allow narrow differences to keep them apart. They stand for truth and righteousness among all God’s people. There is only one God, he said.

Detroit City Council President Brenda Jones welcomed the Muslims home, adding when the Nation of Islam comes home, crime goes down … consciousness becomes the order of the day.

She announced that she introduced and passed an ordinance to name a street Mother Tynnetta Muhammad Street, in honor of the late wife of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, that would be erected the following day.

Student Minister Ishmael Muhammad of Chicago introduced Min. Farrakhan saying America would receive much needed guidance in a time of great trouble.

The Minister “has been there for you when the enemy has spit you out,” he said to Black leaders. “How dare you speak an unkind word against a man who has laid down his life for you and me. Black people will never be liberated from our oppressed condition with scared to death leadership.
“[Farrakhan] is the last man standing,” he said.

Hip hop legend Doug. E Fresh listened intently to the message. “What I really got from the Minister more than anything, man, is that he’s really on top of this game to the fullest. He sees everything, he’s paying attention. The part about him wanting to continuously learn, his humility, I mean, they say he’s 83, but he moves like he’s 45 or something. I mean, you can still feel that young spirit in him. He’s a warner,” said the entertainer, who was proud that his father came to Saviours’ Day with him.

“Me and my father, we make it an annual trip to come see the Minister. My pops, he don’t really go see nobody, so it’s just one of those blessings where you know that he’s the man of God. You know that he’s here to deliver this message and you take heed to it. You take heed to the warning or suffer the consequences.”

Hammurabi Bey, the rapper’s father said, “I found that he was a man better than me. He is a better man than me. He’s done some things I have not done, I mean, I’m doing some things, but it’s not as big as what he’s done. We just need for everybody to push for that same avenue that he’s talking about. Every man and woman got to step up to change it.” He has been coming to Saviours’ Day for about 15 years. He teaches classes in Mt. Vernon, N.Y. on science and etymology.

Federica Bey, founder of the Newark-based organization, Women In Support Of The Million Man March, who introduced the Minister at the recent State of the Black World Conference, in Newark feels there isn’t anything else that the Minister needs to say.

She said his message concerning President Donald Trump really resonated. She said she was one of the ones that voted for Hillary Clinton. She said the Minister had warned that the choices were Satan and Lucifer. She said, President Obama “said we have a choice between chicken and fish and a lot of us were vegetarians.” She said, being under much pressure from family and friends, “I chose Satan.”
Detroit resident  Elaine Steele is co-founder, along with civil rights icon Rosa Parks, of the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self-Development. Black folks must see President Donald Trump in the context of what his presidency means for “our people,” she said.

The Detroit educator added, what really resonated “is what [Min. Farrakhan] said about educating ourselves and understanding clearly what this new administration is about, and what it means for us, as a people. What it’s going to do for us and we better be clear, as to what path we’re following.”

For Terra Defoe, faith-based director for Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan’s office, said they were on hand to welcome Saviours’ Day and to continue the relationship. Min. Farrakhan’s message about making sure people understand the history and their purpose and mission to move forward was key for her. His words also spoke to her personally, she said. “As a woman, making sure that we have men that treat us fairly as women, and that is the most important part for me,” said Ms. Defoe.

Like Rev. Wilson, Michael Roberts, Sr., chairman and CEO of Roberts Riverwalk Hotel, too has a great, long relationship with Min. Farrakhan and is good friends with the Nation of Islam. 

The St. Louis native and “serial entrepreneur,” said he bought a hotel (now the Roberts Riverwalk Hotel) in December of 2010 after Min. Farrakhan encouraged investment in Detroit.

“I was delighted that the Minister covered so many subjects.  He did cover the concept of financial independence, which is very important.  He broached the political environment that we’re in now, and ostensibly, he’s saying what we all know, and that is both parties, if they’re going to help us, then good luck. Otherwise, we need to help ourselves,” Mr. Roberts said.

Several first time Saviours’ Day attendees from Detroit, MaKenzie, Porsha, and Kendall, shared how Min. Farrakhan’s message touched them as young women.

“It was very powerful and moving. I’ve been discussing certain things with my mother as far as like worrying and fearing about what’s happening and what’s next,” said Mackenzie. “No fear. There’s no reason to have any fear because we have God leading us. That’s been my whole thing, and when I walked in and he said that! It just further validated what I thought anyway,” she told The Final Call.
(Final Call staff contributed to this report.)

From The Final Call Newspaper

Black America, The Ultimate Challenge And Our Future

By Starla Muhammad -Managing Editor- | Last updated: Feb 1, 2017 - 8:56:20 PM

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“We must stop relying upon the White man to care for us. We must become an independent people.”—the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, Message to the Blackman
“That old slave mentality that keeps us at odds with one another and dependent on White people has to be broken.”— Minister Louis Farrakhan, A Torchlight for America
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Black America is in a prime position to chart its own destiny and path toward a better and brighter future, but it will take focus, working together and a commitment to implementing realistic and practical strategies to move forward. During the first few days in the new administration of U.S. President Donald J. Trump, anger, fear, dissatisfaction and uncertainty has gripped millions of people inside and outside America. But, in the midst of turmoil, chaos and confusion, can Blacks use this as an opportunity to begin building a bright future?


“Electoral politics are necessary but they are not sufficient for Black liberation,” said economist and author Dr. Julianne Malveaux. “By that I mean is, the Trump presidency is indeed disconcerting, puzzling and troubling. But even had Secretary Hillary Clinton won we still would not have immediately closed the gap. So we have to look in our communities at the things that we can do to close gaps,” said Dr. Malveaux, president emerita of Bennett College for Women and author of “Are We Better Off? Race, Obama and Public Policy.”

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First issue of the Final Call newspaper produced by The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan in the basement of his home, in 1979.
One of Black America’s biggest challenges explained Dr. Malveaux is, “although we don’t have our fair share, we also are not doing the most we can with what we do have.”


“We’re not going to get a bigger slice of the pie under Trump but can we maximize our own resources internally so that we can have more? We’re not going to get it because Mr. Trump gives it or because Mr. Trump does anything in particular,” she added.

Analyzing the numbers
According to the U.S. Census Bureau the population of Blacks either alone or in combination with one or more races was 46. 3 million on July 1, 2015, an increase of 1.3 percent from the previous year. The Black population alone or in combination with one or more races is projected to jump to 74.5 million by 2060 which would make up 17.9 percent of the U.S. population. Blacks currently have $1.2 trillion in buying power, and there are 2.6 million Black-owned businesses in the U.S. All except for 109,137 or 4.2 percent, of Black or African American-owned firms were non-employers.

When it comes to education, 84.7 percent of the Black population 25 and older has a high school diploma, 20.2 percent of that same age group has a bachelor’s degree or higher and 2.8 million Blacks were enrolled in undergraduate college in 2015. Yet when it comes to unemployment rates and wages, Blacks still lag behind.

According to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) Black-White wage gaps are larger today than they were in 1979. “Relative to the average hourly wages of White men with the same education, experience, metro status, and region of residence, Black men make 22.0 percent less, and Black women make 34.2 percent less,” notes the Washington, D.C.-based group. Among other statistics the institute noted is that the Black-White wealth gap is larger than the wage gap. Median White wealth is $134,000 or 12 times higher than median Black wealth at $11,000. Twentyseven percent of Black households have zero net worth compared to nine percent of White households.

Housing discrimination, housing segregation and environmental racism particularly in poor and minority communities is also connected to health, future economic well-being and crime rates, noted “Racial gaps in wages, wealth, and more: a quick recap” written by Elise Gould on epi.org.
In many of these areas, Blacks and Native Americans are disproportionately at the bottom.

“In other words, Black Americans face particular difficulties in trying to get ahead themselves or helping their children get ahead—in achieving the elusive American dream,” notes EPI. But all is not lost.
                    
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The ultimate challenge
There are things we can do to be more efficient with our resources internally, explained Dr. Malveaux. “That’s where we need to look now.” Focusing on politics from the perspective that there are going to be as many as 33 U.S. Senators up for re-elections in 2018, as well as focusing on state and local elections is one strategy, she continued. But economics is the key area where Blacks have tended to pay less attention than politics, Dr. Malveaux pointed out.

“We need to pay more attention to economics, especially in this time period.” Individually, Blacks must begin to pay attention to and manage their individual finances, she continued. Dr. Malveaux and other analysts and activists also point to the various #BuyBlack and #BankBlack initiatives as a critical measure for Blacks to begin taking control of their future.

Michael A. Grant is president of the National Bankers Association which was originally founded as a trade association for the country’s Black-owned banks and today advocates for Black and other minority-owned banks. The more Black banks are supported by the Black community, the more Black banks can give back to the community through business and home loans and other financial endeavors, he explained.

Mr. Grant told The Final Call that there is a consciousness rising not just among Blacks in America but throughout the Diaspora when it comes to supporting Black-owned banks through deposits and doing business. Black banks in Africa and the Caribbean have reached out to the National Bankers Association about future endeavors.

“This movement toward Black economic empowerment is not limited to the sovereign boundaries of the U.S., it’s literally a world-wide thing. Wherever Black people are all over the planet there seems to be this consciousness raising going on where people are beginning to understand that political power without economic power is no power at all because at the end of the day money drives everything,” said Mr. Grant.

Since July of last year, Mr. Grant said there has been a phenomenal outpouring of support for Black-owned banks in the U.S. and he thanked celebrities such as T. I., Killer Mike, Solange and others for standing up as advocates and encouraging others to open deposits. One bank has reported that since the #BankBlack movement started last summer it has had $30 million in new deposits and $120 million in lending.

“Those two are connected. The reason you want people to open deposits is liquidity and then if the bank has the responsibility to go out and raise capital it is the liquidity plus the capital that increases the bank’s capacity for lending. The more lending the bank can do, especially to our small businesses the more jobs and opportunities they can create in our communities,” said Mr. Grant. He as well as other heads of national Black organizations have received numerous invitations to present on Black economic empowerment and supporting Black-owned businesses.

The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan is directing Black America in particular to what his teacher, the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, warned and that is that God will make Blacks separate, explained attorney and author Dr. Ava Muhammad during a recent broadcast of her blog talk radio show, Elevated Places.

“We’re witnessing and experiencing America disintegrate into her constituent parts, that is what’s literally occurring and for Saviours’ Day the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, his address is, ‘Have No Fear For The Future: The Future is Ours,’” said Dr. Ava Muhammad during the show’s Jan. 26 broadcast. Dr. Ava Muhammad is also a student minister in the Nation of Islam and student national spokesperson for Min. Farrakhan.
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Saviours’ Day is the Nation of Islam’s annual convention and will be held this year in Detroit the weekend of Feb. 17-19 and will consist of plenary sessions, interactive workshops centering on Nine Ministries (Education, Information, Health and Human Services, Defense, Justice, Arts and Culture, Science and Technology, Agriculture and Trade and Commerce) conceived by and developed by Min. Farrakhan as a catalyst for nation building in the Black community.


The theme for the weekend is taken from the very first published issue of The Final Call newspaper from May 1979 titled, “The Ultimate Challenge: The Survival of the Black Nation.”

The theme for Saviours’ Day 2017 is relevant, very appropriate and timely, especially in the areas of health, education and economics, said Student Minister Ishmael R. Muhammad, National Assistant to Min. Farrakhan.

“All of the current statistics tell us that if we don’t act and respond quickly to these indicators that as the Black male is becoming increasingly endangered, the next step for us is extinction if we do not act responsibly to these vital signs,” said Student Minister Ishmael Muhammad.

So the survival of the Black nation is important and the Black community is invited to participate this Saviours Day, he continued.

“This is not a Nation of Islam event. It is the crowning event of Black history month so we’re inviting educators and health professionals and those in the field of agriculture, science, technology to sit and to talk about the development of these ministries that the Minister put before us because our survival depends on us creating independent systems that are not dependent upon the White man’s system that has resulted in the death and destruction of the Black community.”

For more information on Saviours’ Day 2017, visit noi.org and see the ad on the back page.