And for those of you who are going to write me, call yourself anonymous and say, "Errrr...you're a racist", don't bother me. This has nothing to do with race, only extremism. And if anything, it divides Americans even more. This country is no longer "We the People".
If you can't see that, you're stupid. Head on back to Kentucky with your confederate flag bumper sticker.
Farrakhan: 'We charge America with criminal neglect'
October 15, 2005
A crowd of thousands cheered as dozens of prominent speakers -- academics, activists, artists and media pundits -- spoke, recited poetry and sang songs in the 12-hour program on the National Mall.
Pointing to the broad spectrum of participants, Farrakhan said in a 75 minute speech that the march included an "unprecedented" array of black leaders of organizations "coming together to speak to America and the world with one voice." "This tells us that a new day is dawning in America," he said. Ten years ago, Farrakhan urged black men to improve their families and communities -- women, whites and other minorities had not been invited.
On the day of the march 10 years ago -- a weekday, when regular commuters drove up overall ridership -- that number was just over 804,000, the third-highest ever recorded. Still, participants said they were inspired by the gathering. Farrakhan "is the only one who can pull this magnitude of people together," said Michael Warren, 41, a Washington resident who attended for about five hours with three youths that he mentors. "No other leader since Martin and Malcolm have done this."
Many said the day held echoes of earlier gatherings. Kelly Callahan, 65, of Newark said he had attended the 1995 march and Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1963 March on Washington. The movement, he said, is "more universal now."
Mouchettee Muhummad, 38, drove through the night from Detroit with four companions. "We have to show that the spirit from 10 years ago did not die -- it's still alive," he said. "We have to show that we didn't forget and we're actually carrying out what we pledged" a decade ago. He added that Farrakhan "is asking us to organize beyond political boundaries, religious differences, cultural differences." Some speakers paid tribute to victims of the hurricanes in prayers and pledges of support, and many participants said the storm helped inspire them to come. Katrina "brought the issues to the surface to some who were asleep," said Jason 2X, a Nation of Islam member who attended the march with several family members from Chicago.
During his speech, Farrakhan announced a Millions More Movement disaster relief fund, urging participants to give one dollar each week for victims. He did not repeat his speculations in recent weeks that someone bombed New Orleans' protective levees, deliberately flooding black neighborhoods after Katrina struck. "We want to know what happened to the levees," Farrakhan said Saturday. "We don't want to guess about it and we don't want to be guilty of following rumors."
Earlier, Jesse Jackson, the president of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, urged people to channel their frustration about Katrina toward change in their communities. He also told the crowd that "a barge in the canal hit the levee and the waters came rushing in," but he did not elaborate on whether he believed this may have been deliberate.
Other prominent speakers included former presidential candidate Al Sharpton, hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons, singer Erykah Badu and Congressional Black Caucus chairman Rep. Mel Watts, D-N.C. Farrakhan's appears to be broadening his message beyond those of concern specifically to black Americans and the poor.
He denounced President Bush, the war in Iraq and Muslims who kill "innocent life for political purposes." He also called for unity with Africa, reparations for slavery, inclusion of undocumented immigrants and a government apology to American Indians. Danny Bakewell, publisher of the Los Angeles Sentinel, a black newspaper, said the gathering was "a glaring symbol of the possibilities that are in front of black people. This is not the end, it's a beginning."
COO-COO!!?? You've got to be kidding me...
Louis Farrakhan (born Louis Eugene Walcott, May 11, 1933 in Bronx, New York, also known as "The Charmer" as a Calypso musician) is the leader of the largely African AmericanNation of Islam.
Walcott was raised in the West Indian community in the Roxbury section of Boston. His mother had emigrated from the Caribbean island of Saint Kitts in the 1920s; his father was a Jamaican cab driver from New York but was not involved in his upbringing.
Early in life Walcott was an up-and-coming calypso singer and violinist who recorded several Calypso albums under the name "The Charmer."[1] In 1955, Walcott first came in contact with the teachings of the Nation of Islam after being inspired by Malcolm X and accepting a friend's invitation to attend the Nation of Islam's annual Saviours' Day address by Elijah Muhammad in Chicago, Illinois. Walcott accepted Elijah Muhammad's teachings that day and became "Louis X" later to be renamed Louis Farrakhan by Elijah Muhammad.
Nation of Islam doctrine explains that because in mathematics the 'X' represents an unknown variable, followers use it to represent their lost, unknown African surnames. The followers accept this 'X' as a symbol of the rejection of their slave names and the absence of a "proper" Muslim name. Eventually, the 'X' is replaced with an Arabic name more descriptive of a person's personality and character.
After joining the Nation of Islam, Farrakhan quickly rose through the ranks to become Minister of the Nation of Islam's Boston Mosque. He was appointed Minister of the influential Harlem Mosque from 1965 to 1975.
After Elijah Muhammad's son, Warith Deen Mohammad, was installed as Supreme Minister of the Nation of Islam, he disavowed many of his father's beliefs and practices. He brought the group closer to mainstream Islam and renamed the organization as the Muslim American Society.
By 1976 Farrakhan became disillusioned with Warith Deen Mohammad's leadership and quietly walked away from the movement. In 1978 Farrakhan, with a few supporters, decided to rebuild the Nation of Islam. In 1981, he publicly announced the restoration of the Nation of Islam as an organization that followed Elijah Muhammad's teachings.
On October 24, 1989, at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Washington, DC., Louis Farrakhan stated that he had a vision of being abducted in 1985 by an invisible pilot in a UFO and carried up on a beam of light to a "human built planet" known as the "Mother Wheel." There the voice of Elijah Muhammad informed him that the president and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, under the direction of Gen. Colin Powell, were planning a war, which Farrakhan said he later came to realize was "a war against the black people of America, the Nation of Islam and Louis Farrakhan." "I saw a city in the sky," Farrakhan said, after which the UFO "brought me back to Earth and dropped me off near Washington; over to Tyson Corners and Fifth Street I think...to make The Announcement."
On January 12, 1995, Malcolm X's daughter, Qubilah Shabazz, was arrested for conspiring to kill Farrakhan. It was later alleged that the FBI had used a paid informant, Michael Fitzpatrick, to set up Shabazz. After Shabazz's arrest, Farrakhan held a press conference in Chicago in which he accused the FBI of attempting to exacerbate division and conflict between the Nation of Islam and the family of Malcolm X. Nearly four months later, on May 1, U.S. government prosecutors dropped their case against Shabazz.
On May 6, 1995, a packed public meeting in Harlem, New York termed A New BeginningBetty Shabazz. Originally organized by community activists as a fund raiser for Qubilah Shabazz's legal defense, the meeting marked the first public rapprochement between Farrakhan, the Nation of Islam and the Shabazz family. featured Louis Farrakhan and Malcolm X's widow,
On October 16, 1995 Farrakhan convened a broad coalition of black men in what many say was the largest march in American history, the Million Man March. The calming of Farrakhan's fiery rhetoric in recent years possibly signals a change of direction in the Nation of Islam, and may also be due as well to the seriousness of the advanced prostate cancer with which he was diagnosed years ago, but is evidently now in remission.
Louis Farrakhan is currently the leader of the Nation of Islam and lives in Chicago, Illinois at the former home of Elijah Muhammad, near the campus of the University of Chicago.
Farrakhan, along with Malik Zulu Shabazz, leader of the New Black Panther Party, Al Sharpton, Barack Obama and other prominent African-Americans are planning to mark the 10th anniversary of the Million Man March by holding a second march, the Millions More Movement on October 14, 2005 through October 17, 2005, in Washington.
One of the most controversial quotes attributed to Farrakhan, and which led to him being censured unaminously by the United States Senate, was, "Hitler was a very great man." Farrakhan made this statement in response to a Jewish journalist at The Village Voice referring to him as a "Black Hitler":
"So I said to the members of the press, 'Why won't you go and look into what we are saying about the threats on Reverend Jackson's life?' Here the Jews don't like Farrakhan and so they call me 'Hitler.' Well that's a good name. Hitler was a very great man. He wasn't great for me as a Black man but he was a great German and he rose Germany up from the ashes of her defeat by the united force of all of Europe and America after the first world war. Yet Hitler took Germany from the ashes and rose her up and made her the greatest fighting machine of the twentieth century, brothers and sisters, and even though Europe and America had deciphered the code that Hitler was using to speak to his chiefs of staff, they still had trouble defeating Hitler even after knowing his plans in advance. Now I'm not proud of Hitler's evil toward Jewish people, but that's a matter of record. He rose Germany up from nothing. Well, in a sense you could say there is a similarity in that we are rising our people up from nothing, but don't compare me with your wicked killers."
LATEST ACCUSATION
In comments regarding the flooding of New Orleans in consequence of Hurricane Katrina, Louis Farrakhan revealed to the press a report that he received, from a "very reliable source" he said, that there was a 25-foot hole under one of the levees that broke, which suggested it may have been busted on purpose to destroy the part of the city where Black people lived. The Final Call Farrakhan in a broadcast leading up to the Million Man March 10th Anniversary revealed that New Orleans' Mayor Nagin during a meeting in Dallas, Texas shared with him the information regarding the 25-foot crater underneath the levee. [2]
Citing the fact that the levee broke the day after Hurricane Katrina passed, others including Baltimore Sun and BlackAmericaWeb columnist Gregory Kane and political commentator, Cedric Muhammad have raised additional questions and called for federal investigations into the source of the levee break.
WHAT'S UP WITH THIS MILLION MORE MARCH?
In an "Open Letter on the Millions More Movement," Minister Louis Farrakhan stated in part,
For the first time in our history, those of us of different ideologies, philosophies, methodologies, denominations, sects and religions, political and fraternal affiliations have come together to create the Millions More Movement. Each of us, who have agreed to work together for the benefit of the whole of our people, have said from our particular platforms, based on our beliefs and understanding or the lack thereof, words that have offended members of our own people and others; and our ideology, philosophy, religion and pronouncements may have hurt the ears and sentiments of others outside of our community. Therefore, this has kept us working inside of our own circles with those who think as we think or believe as we believe. As a result, some of us would never appear on the same stage with one another, for fear of being hurt by association with those with whom we have serious disagreements.
The Millions More Movement is challenging all of us to rise above the things that have kept us divided in the past, by focusing us on the agenda of the Millions More Movement to see how all of us, with all of our varied differences, can come together and direct our energy, not at each other, but at the condition of the reality of the suffering of our people, that we might use all of our skills, gifts and talents to create a better world for ourselves, our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.[2]
'MILLION MORE MARCH' WEB POLL
Do you believe that Black people should receive reparations for 400 years of free labor?
Yes----74%
No----22%
I don't know---3%
WHAT IS THE MESSAGE? YOU'VE LOST ME
1. Unity
We call, first, for the unity amongst Black peoples and organizations. We call for unity amongst all African peoples and peoples of African descent worldwide. We call for unity with our Brown, Red, disenfranchised and oppressed Brothers and Sisters in America, Caribbean, Central and South America, Asia and all over the world. “The Power of One” is the synthesis of men, women, youth and elders working in unity for our total liberation.
2. Spiritual Values
We call for Atonement, Reconciliation and Responsibility. We organize in the name of our God (The One Creator) and on sound ethical, moral principles and values. Our Movement affirms the rich legacy and diversity of our spiritual traditions and calls for unity and understanding among our religious faiths and spiritual traditions.
3. Education
We demand an end to substandard education in our community. The Millions More Movement advocates, and will develop, a new, independent educational paradigm for our people. We must have a knowledge of self, our history, and the best education in civilized society. We will build a skills bank, the talent of which will be used in the development of our people.
4. Economic Development
We will establish a Black Economic Development Fund, with the support of millions, to aid in building an economic infrastructure. We will also offer housing ownership opportunities to check the adverse tide of gentrification. The Millions More Movement will produce and distribute its own products and supports “Buy Black” campaigns.
5. Political Power
The Millions More Movement is the political voice of the poor and disenfranchised. We are resolved to take an independent political path in order to achieve political power. The Millions More Movement will be an organized political force of consequence in America and all over the world.
6. Reparations
We demand full and complete Reparations for the descendants of slaves. We demand that America take the appropriate steps to help in the repair of the damage done from 300 years of slavery, 100 years of segregation, and 50 years of the misuse and abuse of governmental power to destroy Black organizations and leaders.
7. Prison Industrial Complex
We demand freedom for all political prisoners held in U.S. prisons and detention facilities, both foreign and domestic. We demand an end to police brutality, mob attacks, racial profiling, the herding of our young men and women into prisons and the biological and chemical warfare perpetrated against our people.
8. Health
We demand an end to the lack of adequate health care in our community and we demand free health care for the descendants of slaves in this nation. The Millions More Movement will present a Preventive Health Care Plan to our people that will begin with a campaign to educate our people on healthy dietary, eating and exercise habits.
9. Artistic/ Cultural Development
We demand a greater accountability and responsibility of our artists, entertainers, industry personnel and executives, for them to commit to the redevelopment and upliftment of our people. We demand an end to the exploitation of our talent by outside forces. We will make strides in obtaining greater control over the means of production and distribution of our immense artistic talent and creative genius. We advocate for cultural development, and for the knowledge of our original culture to be used as a model for future advancement.
10. Peace
We call for the establishment of peace in the world. We demand an end to wars of foreign aggression waged by the United States Government against other sovereign nations and peoples. We demand an end to senseless violence, and advocate peace amongst street organizations (gangs) and youth.
3 comments:
Speaking of paying for past slave labour, there is speculation that the 2004 coup in Hati was to prevent a lawsuit against France for the same type of thing. See http://www.vheadline.com/printer_news.asp?id=46099
I have more reading to do on this, if you want to, follow this link to many links on the 2004 Hait coup. I know that Aristides now says that he was abducted by U.S military personell against his will. Reports at the time were that he was removed for his own safety and that he willingly resigned.
If you want to read more, follow this link http://www.africaspeaks.com/haiti2004/
Missed it in the last comment
By the way, I could use the same argument for women regarding 'reparations'.
Since the beginning of time women have provided 'free labor', have been sex slaves, endured rapes, beatings and were completely dispossessed. Where are our reparations then?
So stupid!!!!!
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