From The Final Call Newspaper

A Message and Warning to the President and America

By James G. Muhammad Contributing Editor @jgm3000


DETROIT—A crowd of 14,000 people jumped to their feet with a rousing applause at the sight of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan entering the stage at the TCF Center for his keynote address to culminate the four-day weekend of activities during the Nation of Islam’s annual Saviours’ Day 2020, Feb. 21-23.

Dressed in an olive-green suit, green bow tie and a green pocket square, a beaming Minister greeted dignitaries on stage and bowed to the excited audience.


Min. Louis Farrakhan


He expressed joy at seeing the packed auditorium and to know that even more were watching the video feed in three overflow rooms.

He then launched into a three-and-one-half hour message he described as having good news for Black and oppressed people and warning to President Trump and the government of America, despite standing with torn meniscus ligaments in both knees.

Chaos and confusion gripped America during the recent hearings of President Donald Trump, puzzling the nations of the earth as they watched a great nation going to hell under a president who wants to be a king, the Minister said.

Speaking from the city where the NOI was founded 90 years ago, Min. Farrakhan said the deterioration of the moral fiber of America was on full display as lies and deceit were spun to give cover for the president to be acquitted.

“You are opting to be a part of that which is unraveling right in front of your eyes,” he said to Black people who put their hopes in America to give justice to the children of their former slaves.

“I was looking at America not at her finest level. I watched the high level of deceit. I watched brilliant lawyers … none willing to agree with the truth,” he said of the hearings. “I watched the Bible being fulfilled: If Satan casts out Satan, how then can his kingdom stand.

“Satan is having a field day with America and evil has been made fair seeming,” the Minister said.

Attorney Alan Dershowitz deceitfully gave cover for the Senate to acquit President Trump by admitting that Mr. Trump committed the acts he was accused of, but they didn’t rise to a level to be removed from office, the Minister said.

In his message titled, “The Unraveling of a Great Nation,” Min. Farrakhan chastised presidents for taking young people into war because they covet the oil and other natural resources in those countries. He also rebuked Mr. Trump and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for murdering foreign leaders they did not like, citing Iranian military leader Qasem Soleimani, killed by Trump in a drone attack, and Colonel Muammar Gadhafi, at the behest of Mrs. Clinton.

President Trump said Gen. Soleimani killed a lot of Americans, so he killed him, the Minister said. “Where were the men he killed? He killed them in Iraq. What the hell were you doing in Iraq?” he asked.

The Minister noted that although the Founding Fathers had lofty goals, “the nation called America was doomed from its inception” because it was built on a foundation of lies. He cited the Declaration of Independence as evidence.





The promise of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” and the self-evident truths of “We the people” didn’t include the enslaved Africans nor the decimated Native Americans, he said. It didn’t even include White women who were denied the right to vote for a century, he said.

He also cited the government’s desire to unravel the burgeoning Nation of Islam from its inception.

“What has America’s promise been to us?” he asked. “Having the pursuit of happiness means you create the means of self-sufficiency. A few (Black people) doing good has not benefitted the masses of our people.

“When you have good words, you have to have a good heart to give life to those good words,” he said to the American government.

The popular Minister said the Founding Fathers knew they would face God’s judgment one day. He displayed the original Seal of the United States with a coat of arms recognizing immigrants from six European countries, a woman holding the scales of justice and the initials of the 13 original colonies.

On the back were images of Moses and the Children of Israel and Pharaoh with his army drowning in the Red Sea.

“They knew judgment was coming to America … that one day they would have to pay for what they did to the Native Americans, to the slaves. God has never favored the undertakings of slavery, genocide and colonialism,” he said.

At the end of the time of Caucasian rule, God comes to set up a new heaven and a new earth, Min. Farrakhan said. A new heaven means a new spiritual power and a new earth indicates a new political power, he explained.

The Muslim minister also offered President Trump a way to delay judgement.

“Mr. Trump, you are written in the scriptures in many places. I am too,” he said. “I’m inviting you to sit down and talk because I have a message for you from God.”

The King of Babylon once had a heart of a human being and God gave him the heart of a beast. After a while the king’s heart began to turn human again, he said.

“Suppose I’m talking to that Nebuchadnezzar?” he asked. “I can come to you like Jonah. America, Mr. President, needs to repent for what you have done.

“If Mr. Trump realizes that the penalty of rejection is death of the nation, then let’s make a deal. You know the art of the deal,” he said.



U.S. gov’t targets Nation of Islam


Saviours’ Day is the annual celebration of the birth of Master Fard Muhammad, the long-awaited Mahdi of the Muslims and the Messiah of the Christian faith.

He was born on Feb. 26, 1877 in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, and came to North America with the sole purpose of raising the Black man and woman of America from mental and spiritual death, fulfilling the scriptures that God would come for a people in bondage for 400 years and He would judge that nation.

After teaching his top student, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, for a little over three years, Master Fard Muhammad left the work of resurrection to The Honorable Elijah Muhammad.

The Honorable Elijah Muhammad worked for 40 years absent his teacher and built the most productive group of Black people in America and impacted the movement for Black liberation around the world, even though the U.S. Government sought to destroy it every step of the way.

Forty-two years ago, the world thought the Honorable Elijah Muhammad was dead, Min. Farrakhan said of his teacher. They tried to bury my teacher, not only in a grave but to destroy his works that the name of the Nation of Islam would no longer be remembered in us, he said.

He said the conspiracy to kill his teacher was between the U.S. government, hypocrites among NOI ranks and members of the Arab world.

The Minister would come to recognize that the Honorable Elijah Muhammad was physically alive and made that announcement in 1981 during the first Saviour’s Day celebration in his rebuilding effort.

“I made a declaration that took a lot of courage,” he explained, adding that many of his friends pulled away from him. “I offered the (Muhammad) family to exhume the body. If you can prove the body is Elijah Muhammad, I will stop teaching,” he offered.

“Thirty-nine Saviours’ Days after, here we are,” he said.

The Minister said the NOI has mosques or study groups in more than 130 cities, in the isles of the Caribbean, in counties of the United Kingdom, Africa and others.

“We have been opposed by the most powerful nation on earth, and don’t forget her little brother Israel,” he said.

“We had to grow from nothing to bring back the name and teaching of the greatest Black man to ever walk among us, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. To see the Nation of Islam come back is a miracle,” he said.

Min. Farrakhan challenged the audience to consider how his teacher, who only completed the third grade, was able to produce giants like Malcom X, Muhammad Ali and others who were respected leaders in their city.

Malcolm and Ali’s growth were aborted because they left their teacher, he said. They tried to abort me from my class, but I stayed with my teacher, he said.

The beaming Minister offered thanks to the First Lady of the Nation of Islam, Mother Khadijah Farrakhan, his families and children and “to all no matter how small your contribution” to building the Nation of Islam.

He thanked Student Min. Troy Muhammad and the Believers of Mosque No. 1 in Detroit and the staff of Mosque Maryam in Chicago “for aiding us in Detroit to produce this marvelous crowd” that filled the arena and three overflow rooms.

He thanked the Executive Council of Laborers that “guides and governs” the Nation of Islam. “Why a council?” he asked? “Because power destroys those not made to handle it. Organizations run by personalities that are dictatorial … not any of you know enough to dictate that which brings about true freedom, justice and equality to the people you serve,” he said.






The price of a name and Kobe’s death

Min. Farrakhan discussed the trials of his grandson, Mustapha Farrakhan, Jr., who was denied access to a career in the NBA because of his name Farrakhan. He also discussed the death of basketball great Kobe Bryant.

A basketball standout at high school and a co-captain of the team at University of Virginia, the Minister said “we thought for sure (Mustapha) would make it to the NBA. The only thing wrong with him was he had a name that White folk were terrified over.”

He offered that those with the name could give it up, but they’d lose the respect of people. “You give it up for something you think is a privilege to curry some favor for something you desire to better your life. But I’m assured that my name will live down through the generations,” he said.

Upon hearing about the death of Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and others killed in a fiery helicopter accident, Min. Farrakhan said he became quiet to ask God for the deeper meaning of the death in order to comfort Kobe’s family and those who loved him.

The Minister said by taking Kobe’s life in the way it happened stopped the world of sport and play. He said people don’t consider enough that God is the sovereign of our lives and that no soul dies without His permission.

We focus on the sadness of the tragedies and one minute you’re a believer, the next you have doubt and when anger sets in you become a disbeliever, he said.

“The lesson in Kobe’s death is God wanted us to focus on Kobe to see the sacrifice of Kobe as a teenager coming into the league from high school and his constant focus on improving his craft,” Min. Farrakhan explained. “I want us to think about ourselves because each of us is a creation of God in which he has deposited a treasure.

With the image of Kobe at the center of a constellation of basketball greats like Michael Jordan, Lebron James and other, the Minister said, “The duty you have is to exploit your gift, evaluate its value and use it to help others for the glory of God,” he said.

The outspoken leader also weighed in on the controversy around news personality Gayle King’s interview with WNBA star Lisa Leslie that probed alleged rape allegations against Kobe.

The Minister explained his love for Ms. King and her accomplishments, but she was used by the White media to besmirch Kobe’s memory.

He said she defended Charlie Rose, a White broadcaster accused of sexual harassment. Kobe did so much good in his life, couldn’t you find something good to say, he asked?

He defended rapper Snoop Dogg’s angry rebuke of Ms. King, adding that he doesn’t approve of any man calling a woman the “b” word, which Snoop Dogg did.

But “in his anger I defend him from the Holy Qur’an,” he said. “When somebody feels hurt and uses hurtful speech, it is justified.

“What you did was so unnecessary. He was hurt, and we are hurt,” he said. “You can regain your place with us but not by justifying what you did. Why don’t you just repent and say you’re sorry.”


From The Final Call Newspaper

Saviours’ Day 2020: A special homecoming


CHICAGO—Saviours’ Day, the annual Nation of Islam celebration and crowning event of Black History Month, is coming back to where it all started for the groundbreaking Islamic movement—Detroit!


Jumu’ah Congressional Prayer service at Saviours’ Day 2016 led by Imam Abdul Malik.


Thousands of followers of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad under the leadership of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan and their supporters, visitors and guests from the U.S. and abroad will convene Feb. 21-23 for a full weekend of workshops and activities for all ages at the TCF Center located at 1 Washington Blvd. in Detroit.

The highlight of the weekend will be the keynote message of instruction, divine guidance and warning by Min. Farrakhan on Sunday, Feb. 23 at the TCF Center. Doors open at 12 p.m. EDT and the program will be broadcast live via internet at NOI.org starting at 2 p. m. EDT. Min. Farrakhan’s message is titled, “The Unraveling of a Great Nation.”


Audience claps during Saviours’ Day 2014 pro- gram.

Saviours’ Day is the commemoration of the birth of Master W. Fard Muhammad, the Messiah of the Christians, Mahdi of the Muslims and teacher of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad. He was born February 26, 1877 in the Holy City of Mecca in Arabia and traveled to America in search of the Black man and woman of America to teach and resurrect them from a “dead” state caused by over 400 years of systematic oppression, slavery and brutal mistreatment.


Youngsters enjoy playing chess at 2016 Saviours’ Day.

Detroit is where Master Fard Muhammad and the Hon. Elijah Muhammad first met in the early 1930s and where the first temple—as it was called then—of the Nation of Islam was established.

The last two years Saviours’ Day was held in Chicago, where Nation of Islam headquarters is located. There is tremendous anticipation and excitement that the convention this year is returning to the city of its birth as the global movement approaches 90 years since its founding and the coming of Master W. Fard Muhammad.


Joe Louis Memorial In Detroit.

Saviours’ Day 2020 is also a milestone in the ministry and mission of Min. Farrakhan as it marks 65 years since his acceptance of his teacher’s message and becoming a follower of Mr. Muhammad. This also marks the 45th year of Min. Farrakhan working in the absence of his teacher.

There will be workshops on Friday and Saturday featuring panelists and facilitators that are experts in various areas and based on The Muslim Program of the Hon. Elijah Muhammad found on the back page of The Final Call newspaper.

Workshops will include a wide range of topics including: agriculture, real estate and land acquisition, marriage and courtship, youth summit, mental and physical health and various aspects of the Nation of Islam’s Nine Ministries. A special screening of a feature film, Pushout: Crimilization of Black Girls in Schools will be shown on Friday and Saturday. The Nation of Islam Historical Exhibit and Mother Khadijah Farrakhan’s Children’s Village will also be featured. Friday night features The Final Call Newspaper 40th anniversary celebratory black-tie banquet and there will be a special town hall meeting at the Shrine of the Black Madonna on Saturday afternoon titled, “The Black Man and Woman Must Consider Separation.”


Detroit skyline

Detroit is a special city not just because it is the Mecca of the Nation of Islam and where it was founded, but the city is also the Mecca for Black people in general, explained Student Minister Ishmael R. Muhammad, national assistant to Min. Farrakhan.

“The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam is happy and proud to return to the city of our birth and establishment as the Nation of Islam. We celebrate the birth of a Saviour and commemorate 90 years of the Nation of Islam,” he said.

See pages 17, 34, 36, 37, back page and visit www.noi.org for more information and updates on Saviours’ Day 2020 including registration, Final Call banquet tickets, Sunday tickets, hotels, workshops, Children’s Village and more.

From The Final Call Newspaper

Can anyone stop ‘King Trump’?
By Barrington M. Salmon Contributing Writer @bsalmondc


Donald Trump and the Republican Party may have won the impeachment battle against the president by blocking witnesses and standing together, but critics say it will prove to be a victory that takes a heavy toll. The loser, they say, is the United States.


Protesters hold signs and sing outside the U.S. Capitol Jan 31, in Washington, as Senators continue the impeachment trial for President Donald Trump. Photo: AP Photo/Steve Helber

Democrats blasted Republicans for what they called a “sham” Senate trial and critics worry what a Trump acquittal portends for a nation whose president has demonstrated he can do whatever he wants with little to no consequences, checks or balances.

Closing arguments from Mr. Trump’s legal team and House Managers concluded Feb. 3. At Final Call press time, the country was prepared to hear from President Trump during his Feb. 4 State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress with a looming Feb. 5 Senate vote to officially acquit him.

On Jan. 31, Senate Republicans, led by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell were able to fend off the furious month-long efforts of House Democrats to convince senators to allow witnesses to testify in the impeachment trial of President Trump.

In the end, the compelling evidence presented by House managers detailing President Trump’s abuse of power and his attempts to convince Ukrainian government officials to launch an investigation designed to politically damage potential rival Joe Biden meant nothing. Members of the president’s defense team argued that the commander-in-chief had not committed any impeachable offenses, could not be prosecuted or impeached for his behavior, whatever it is, and—as retired Harvard Law School Prof. Alan Dershowitz asserted, President Trump could not be impeached if the actions he took were “in the public interest.”


Demonstrators hold signs outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Jan. 31, during the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Photo: AP Photo/Julio Cortez


One by one, undecided “moderate” senators, Lamar Alexander (Tennessee), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Cory Gardner (Colorado) and Martha McSally (Arizona) announced they would not vote to allow witnesses to testify. Following that, the Republican-controlled Senate voted 51-49 to disallow witnesses after Democrats failed to persuade four Republican moderates to join them. With no witnesses to hear from, the trial proceeded to wrap up.

‘Nothing will change’


Even as the trial concluded, constitutional scholars, ethicists, historians, certain elected officials and others expressed dismay at the decision by Sen. McConnell and his fellow Republicans to eschew non-partisanship and abrogate their constitutional responsibility to be a check and balance on the executive branch. Many lament the damage Republican defenses of the president have and will have on Congress, other American institutions and the body politic.

Ohio native Maureen Curran, a lifelong Republican, has been frustrated since Mr. Trump ascended to the White House. As she watched the trial proceedings, she has become more disillusioned.

“We know it’s not going anywhere,” the neonatal nurse and self-described moderate Republican said of the impeachment trial. “I guess I’m disheartened. I’m not sure what Trump’s hold is over these people. He’s not as powerful as they think. I’m not afraid of him. If I was an elected official, I would lose my job with dignity. At some point in your life you have to have personal pride. If this was Obama, I’d be saying the same thing,” she said.

“Everyone has already made up their mind. They are voting party instead of country. They work for us but seem to have forgotten that. The country is tired of all this. Nothing is going to change, and the Senate won’t impeach or remove him.”

“With no censure he will go on, do more questionable things and say, ‘I did it. So what?’ ” she said. “As a citizen watching this, it’s discouraging, disheartening. This makes us really realize that neither party has us as a priority. It’s really sad. We have been reduced to this. He doesn’t represent my father or I.”

Veteran labor organizer Bill Fletcher, Jr., thinks the corruptness of the impeachment trial process will energize anti-Trump resistors.

“The substance of the charges is documented and has been proven. The substance is what the Democrats presented,” Mr. Fletcher told The Final Call. “For a long time, I was against impeachment until Ukraine. It was so blatant.”

“He will always be the impeached president and he is forever hurt by this, but it is dangerous with Donald Trump because of his fragile ego. He can say that the elections were stolen and people will hit the streets. It’s entirely possible that he’ll declare martial law or choose to ignore the results if he loses in November,” added Mr. Fletcher.

A District of Columbia resident, who said she’s been watching the impeachment hearings and trial, was frustrated and dismayed by the Republican senators’ failure to do their constitutional duty.

“I’ve been watching and listening. It’s really disappointing that Republicans have chosen Trump and their long-term interests over that of the country,” said the attorney and business executive, who because of the toxic nature of political discourse requested anonymity.

“They have used false process arguments to acquit him. At the agency level, institutional knowledge is leaving, there’s a brain drain, a lack of talent and them polarizing people who are staying. The attack on the Constitution is a real problem. They’re making sure that the Constitution is radically impacted. Constitutionally, getting anything done will be hampered for a generation,” she added. “There is a record number of people without health insurance, the financial recovery has never been a reality for poor people and when we consider the impact of dismantling the state on ordinary Americans … .”

She and any number of Trump administration critics argue that cabinet officials and others who support his agenda are dismantling agencies, weakening laws, reversing or trying to erase Obama era regulations, eviscerating environmental and labor and workforce protections and packing the courts with nominees who are arch-conservative but mostly unqualified, activist jurists. Many refuse to answer whether they consider Brown v. Board of Education and Roe v. Wade as settled law.

“Trump has given life and breath to White supremacy,” she said. “Can we put someone in place to replace the infrastructure? I’m a hyper-realist. We won’t see a radical restoration of racial justice whoever we elect, but he might put it back the way it was. At a bare minimum, we need some restoration (of norms and institutions). I think we’re in a worst situation than when Michael Brown died. What happens next?”

American conflict


Dr. James Pope, Jr., said America’s true and unvarnished nature has been laid bare. “You know the overwhelming thought I have as I balance my competing priorities is that we are watching, in live and vivid color, the reverberations of the myths that the United States was built upon: settler colonialism, narrow and contradictory notions of equality, justice, freedom and the implications of racial capitalism on human and natural resources,” said Dr. Pope, associate professor and program coordinator of Africana Studies at Winston Salem State University.

“I know this may be a bit more complex to understand by some, because we often are caught in the moment of crisis. However, every crisis is always rooted in a longer trajectory,” he added.

“What we are witnessing is the true face of ‘democracy’ that was born in the milieu of Western Europe defining itself, through the exploitation of itself and others. We cannot forget that the U.S. was an outgrowth of this internal strife between warring clans—the aristocracy—those who rule by birthright, as ordained by ‘God’ and those who challenged this birthright rule—a financial class. This conflict is and has been played out over time and space. However, the myths upon which each of these clans justified their existence are turning on themselves.”

“The system (Whiteness) is (re)consolidating, not for a narrow conceptualization of the now moment or for the election or some moral, just stand. The system is seeking a (re)consolidation in the face of a perceived threat to its mythical authority, the growing Black and Brown population, economic and planetary crisis and war,” said Dr. Pope, who specializes in comparative African and Diasporic history and politics as well as international relations.

In an interview he granted The Final Call three years ago, Mr. Fletcher said President Trump is being used by conservatives and the political and economic elite “as a blunt force object, an effective mechanism to move their long-term agenda” which is to ensure that power in America remains in the hands of a White minority.

Nothing has changed since he gave that interview, he said, in fact, since then, the fear and apprehension White people feel has intensified.

“This hardened right wing party is very aware of the coming environmental catastrophe and economic fragility and they are trying to secure power before the catastrophe. They are less concerned with the pretense of democracy,” said Mr. Fletcher, a talk show host, racial justice, labor and international activist and author.

He also argued that the political right has made race central to their organizing approach and message, and contends that fear of demographic change is driving the White nationalist agenda.

“There is a growing crisis within the settler state of the U.S., brought on by a convergence of economic, environmental and demographic factors. This is also a White nationalist revolt against everything we won in ‘60s,” said Mr. Fletcher. “As America experiences a seismic demographic shift and becomes browner, the fear of a Black and Brown planet and trepidation about the loss of power is fueling desperate efforts to thwart Black advancement, their access to the vote and political, social and economic power.”

“When you think about what Trump said during the election, he’s demonstrated how much there is to lose,” said Mr. Fletcher, chairman of the board of directors for the International Labor Rights Forum and executive editor of The Black Commentator. “Affirmative action, denaturalization—who are they gonna be coming after? Africans, Caribbeans, Asians and anyone who raises hell. We have a lot to fear and lot to lose.”

Political analyst and author Dr. Wilmer Leon, III said he has watched the tussle between Democrats and Republicans with fascination, especially when revelations from former Trump National Security Advisor John Bolton’s upcoming book threatened to upend the trial. In Mr. Bolton’s book, which is expected to be published soon, he says he was in the room when Mr. Trump said he wanted military aid withheld from Ukraine until it agreed to investigate the Bidens. In the wake of that revelation, Mr. Trump strenuously denied that he said that.

“The whole tide shifted with Bolton,” said Dr. Leon, a talk show host, commentator and academic. “This is a struggle among elites in this country—financial versus military elites—and Donald Trump is in the middle of it. They’re fighting over domestic and foreign policy. The military don’t know if they can trust him because of North Korea and Iran and he’s wreaking havoc with tariffs and trade wars.”

With regard to the impeachment trial, Dr. Leon asked, “Are the Democrats playing to win or playing not to lose? I think they’re doing the latter. Losing means they don’t control the narrative.”

Sen. McConnell is customarily playing games and outwitting his Democratic counterparts, he observed. While there were reports that as many as 12 Republicans were said to be amenable to calling witnesses, most are too fearful of the president’s wrath and of upsetting his base, observers argued.

“Fear of the Trump base is real, but it depends on where you are,” said Dr. Leon. “The base is not really as big as people suggest but they are vocal and well-funded. The question is, are you strong enough to withstand his base?”