Thinking beyond the intellectual plantation
by William P. Muhammad
Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved a
nd mistreated four hundred years. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions (Bible Genesis 15: 13-14).”
With the recent release of the Nation of Islam’s new book, “The Secret Relationship between Blacks and Jews, volume 2,” there has been a renewed effort among Jewish organizations, right wing conservatives and Blacks who have not yet read the book, to once again condemn the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan.
In order to deflect attention from its central thesis, and to avoid a much needed and straightforward dialogue on race relations, those attacking Minister Farrakhan, by means of straw man argument, seem more interested in avoiding exposure than they are with examining historical facts. Citing Jewish scholars, historical records and other non anti-Semitic sources, the book exposes myths, names individuals and identifies institutions that took part in the economic oppression of Blacks in the Jim Crow South.
Releasing this scholarly work to demonstrate and prove that Black economic development has been consistently undermined since the Emancipation Proclamation, it appears that for fear of moral or legal obligations, the anger and defensiveness coming from Jewish organizations, and their conservative allies, is based more upon a sense of denial than upon any genuine claims of Antisemitism or so-called reverse racism.
Establishing the basis of legitimate grievance, “The Secret Relationship between Blacks and Jews, volume 2” is intended to spur discussion and to lay the perimeters for a proper dialogue regarding many decades of economic exploitation. While Blacks had absolutely nothing to do with Jewish suffering, either in Europe or in America, it is indeed unfortunate that those victimized by their European brethren would now minimize the significance of their own documented roles in the historical suffering of Black people.
There is an anecdote that says when an adversary runs out of an intelligent argument, he will resort to name calling. Under a long and blistering campaign of unjust charges and personal attacks, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan has never returned evil for evil. His stance on principle has been consistently resolute and uncompromising and, regardless of whom or what, he has always spoken truth to power when others feared to stand up and speak for themselves.
Today, in order to break the mold of an economically unjust relationship, and to honestly address the current impasse between Blacks and Jews, there must be willingness among Jewish advocacy and interest groups to acknowledge an historical wrong. Regarding Black leadership, there must also be the courage to stand on actual facts, and without fear of material loss or censure, to lay out the case for repairing the damage 400 years of slavery and undeserved suffering has caused.
In order to enable and empower an economy worthy of 40 million Black people, it is important to know what was in order to decipher and correct what is and what could be. For that to happen, it is first necessary to realize the significance of the nearly one trillion dollars Black consumers spend annually, and how this wealth could be leveraged beyond civil rights concerns and requests for corporate philanthropy.
Regarding the economic agendas of those who, in large part, built their wealth from Black consumer dollars, the evolution of a consuming culture into a producing culture would constitute a “game changer.” If business is a form of warfare and business systems are the basis of American economics, then the current condition of the Black community, when described in terms of winners and losers, is self-evident.
In terms of simple finance, if one takes the time to notice, it is clear the Black consumer is the golden goose that lays the golden eggs. However, through unfocused spending and the inefficient use of hard earned dollars, the potential leverage Black Americans have failed to command has empowered others more than we have empowered ourselves. As a result, we are poor when we are actually rich and we are weak although we are actually strong.
When the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan coined the phrase: “politics without economics is symbol without substance,” the collective spending power of Black people in America was more than 400 billion dollars per year. Now, with nearly one trillion dollars passing through our hands annually, we still find ourselves on a 21st century “economic” plantation where poverty, want and dependency remain the order of the day.
As fear, ignorance and outside control prevented our forefathers from leaving the plantations of the post-slavery South, fear, ignorance and outside control is discouraging our willingness and ability to build an economy worthy of our numbers today. As other racial and ethnic groups build their communities, and see doing so the duty of a free and independent people, the descendants of enslaved Africans continue to lag behind.
Although the reasons are for the most part well documented, the time is long overdue for a straightforward dialogue that no longer skirts the issue. Prolonging a paradigm whose time has come to an end will not solve the unwarranted servant-master relationship. Let us review history with honesty, work to repair the damage injustice has caused and leave the plantation behind us once and for all.
Throughout the history of our sojourn in North America, many have likened the legacy of the Black struggle to that of the Children of Israel under Pharaoh. From the era of slavery through emancipation, and eventual Civil Rights victories 100 years later, “the Promised Land,” as a metaphor for so-called acceptance into the “mainstream,” became an idea more in line with integration and assimilation than with independence and self-determination.
Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved a
nd mistreated four hundred years. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions (Bible Genesis 15: 13-14).”With the recent release of the Nation of Islam’s new book, “The Secret Relationship between Blacks and Jews, volume 2,” there has been a renewed effort among Jewish organizations, right wing conservatives and Blacks who have not yet read the book, to once again condemn the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan.
In order to deflect attention from its central thesis, and to avoid a much needed and straightforward dialogue on race relations, those attacking Minister Farrakhan, by means of straw man argument, seem more interested in avoiding exposure than they are with examining historical facts. Citing Jewish scholars, historical records and other non anti-Semitic sources, the book exposes myths, names individuals and identifies institutions that took part in the economic oppression of Blacks in the Jim Crow South.
Releasing this scholarly work to demonstrate and prove that Black economic development has been consistently undermined since the Emancipation Proclamation, it appears that for fear of moral or legal obligations, the anger and defensiveness coming from Jewish organizations, and their conservative allies, is based more upon a sense of denial than upon any genuine claims of Antisemitism or so-called reverse racism.
Establishing the basis of legitimate grievance, “The Secret Relationship between Blacks and Jews, volume 2” is intended to spur discussion and to lay the perimeters for a proper dialogue regarding many decades of economic exploitation. While Blacks had absolutely nothing to do with Jewish suffering, either in Europe or in America, it is indeed unfortunate that those victimized by their European brethren would now minimize the significance of their own documented roles in the historical suffering of Black people.
There is an anecdote that says when an adversary runs out of an intelligent argument, he will resort to name calling. Under a long and blistering campaign of unjust charges and personal attacks, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan has never returned evil for evil. His stance on principle has been consistently resolute and uncompromising and, regardless of whom or what, he has always spoken truth to power when others feared to stand up and speak for themselves.
Today, in order to break the mold of an economically unjust relationship, and to honestly address the current impasse between Blacks and Jews, there must be willingness among Jewish advocacy and interest groups to acknowledge an historical wrong. Regarding Black leadership, there must also be the courage to stand on actual facts, and without fear of material loss or censure, to lay out the case for repairing the damage 400 years of slavery and undeserved suffering has caused.
In order to enable and empower an economy worthy of 40 million Black people, it is important to know what was in order to decipher and correct what is and what could be. For that to happen, it is first necessary to realize the significance of the nearly one trillion dollars Black consumers spend annually, and how this wealth could be leveraged beyond civil rights concerns and requests for corporate philanthropy.
Regarding the economic agendas of those who, in large part, built their wealth from Black consumer dollars, the evolution of a consuming culture into a producing culture would constitute a “game changer.” If business is a form of warfare and business systems are the basis of American economics, then the current condition of the Black community, when described in terms of winners and losers, is self-evident.
In terms of simple finance, if one takes the time to notice, it is clear the Black consumer is the golden goose that lays the golden eggs. However, through unfocused spending and the inefficient use of hard earned dollars, the potential leverage Black Americans have failed to command has empowered others more than we have empowered ourselves. As a result, we are poor when we are actually rich and we are weak although we are actually strong.
When the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan coined the phrase: “politics without economics is symbol without substance,” the collective spending power of Black people in America was more than 400 billion dollars per year. Now, with nearly one trillion dollars passing through our hands annually, we still find ourselves on a 21st century “economic” plantation where poverty, want and dependency remain the order of the day.
As fear, ignorance and outside control prevented our forefathers from leaving the plantations of the post-slavery South, fear, ignorance and outside control is discouraging our willingness and ability to build an economy worthy of our numbers today. As other racial and ethnic groups build their communities, and see doing so the duty of a free and independent people, the descendants of enslaved Africans continue to lag behind.
Although the reasons are for the most part well documented, the time is long overdue for a straightforward dialogue that no longer skirts the issue. Prolonging a paradigm whose time has come to an end will not solve the unwarranted servant-master relationship. Let us review history with honesty, work to repair the damage injustice has caused and leave the plantation behind us once and for all.
Redefining freedom from the modern day Pharaoh
by William P. Muhammad
Failing to grasp the significance of Black unity as the solution to an unequal racial paradigm, traditional Civil Rights leadership seemed more comfortable with the symbolism of social and political inclusion than with the substance offered by an equality rooted in a national movement dedicated to self-sufficiency. This “Civil Rights” interpretation of the Moses and Pharaoh narrative, sufficing for many as the final reward for generations of servitude and discrimination, overlooks the necessity of freeing minds from the many illusions associated with so-called American democracy.
Looking back in history, the Reconstruction Period after the Civil War offered Blacks the opportunity not only to build new lives, but also, under the protection of federal troops, to build new economic and political realities. With experience in agriculture, construction and the trades, “freedmen” were in the beginning stages of becoming masters of their own destinies. As Black communities and towns sprouted throughout the South and West, becoming a participant in the American economy was seen not only as a birthright, but also as a natural component to the concept of freedom.
However, with the “Compromise of 1877” and the removal of federal troops from the former Confederacy, Black advancement was almost immediately turned backwards as whites reestablished their power through malfeasance and terrorism, often with the complicity of government. As the fledgling economic systems Blacks were striving to build were intentionally broken, the architects of white supremacy worked to discourage, if not to prevent, the rise of an economy worthy of a significant Black population.
Coupled with declining numbers in Black land ownership, from 16 million acres in 1910 to less than 2 million acres by 2002, the ability to access capital for the purpose of building an independent economy was stifled. Undermining a necessary step toward eventually owning the means of production, protracted land loss has been a significant factor in not only the weakening of Black American commerce, but also in the disintegration of viable Black communities.
As Pharaoh and his advisers forced the Children of Israel to make bricks without straw, advocates of the white establishment denied Blacks the right to fully participate in the American economy. Deprived of an economic base from which to compete, the intentional suppression of a Black producing culture gave way to an exploitable consuming culture, guaranteeing that hard earned dollars would continue to flow into the coffers of others outside of the Black community.
From yesterday’s intimidation with the whip, gun and noose through today’s use of philanthropic dollars to gain leverage over Black leadership, the deliberate seizing and dismemberment of Black America’s economy now requires a reassessment of priorities and a reinterpretation of self-interests. If “politics without economics is symbol without substance,” and economic freedom requires reclaiming the will and desire to “do-for-self,” then begging others to do for the Black community what it is capable of doing for itself must be reexamined.
As many have stepped forward to offer solutions, one tried and tested model was the Honorable Elijah Muhammad’s “Economic Blueprint.” Teaching his followers to look within for answers to the social, political and economic woes facing Black America, he challenged Black people to embrace the following steps in order to reestablish a culture and ethos of producing:
1. Recognize the necessity for unity and group operation (activities).
2. Pool your resources, physically as well as financially.
3. Stop wanton criticisms of everything that is Black-owned and Black-operated.
4. Keep in mind — jealousy destroys from within.
5. Observe the operations of the White man. He is successful. He makes no excuses for his failures. He works hard in a collective manner. You do the same.
Following this advice, from 46 years ago, is sure to bring an end to the aimless wandering the masses of Black people have endured in the desert of economic desolation. Sound economic principles and ideas are irrefutable regardless of one’s religion or faith tradition, and by employing a program with proven results, it is possible not only to address essential needs such as food, clothing and shelter, but also “to build schools, hospitals, factories, buy farmland and enter into international trade and commerce for the good of ourselves, our families and our people.”
While many have been led to believe that a house, a car and a job constitutes the end of the struggle, the hard truth is that time is dictating that Black people do something for self before it is too late. The question is no longer whether or not illusions will sustain the Black community, but whether or not we are willing to accept the responsibility that comes with knowing the truth.
The Nation of Islam is a hate group? Not!
Let’s step into “The Upper Situation Room”, sit down at the table and discuss hate for a second. If you have received your education about the Nation of Islam from the media, then more than likely you have heard we’re accused of being a hate group. I guess we can thank the misguided researchers at the Southern Poverty Law Center, the heads of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the FBI, the CIA, mainstream media and others for their contributions to this outright recycled lie. Yes, it is a lie.
We could argue this point with volumes of information but I only want to provide you with these two points to show that we are not a hate group and that the true haters and terrorists do not belong to the Nation of Islam under Minister Farrakhan.
Point #1: A White Judge rules that The Muslim Program is not racially inflammatory
After I posted my first blog on this website, I was unsurprisingly attacked as a “blogger of hate” plus someone wrote the Chronicle Editors to ask that I be removed from Houston Belief on the grounds that an aspect of our belief system is racially inflammatory. This individual says that The Muslim Program, which appears on the inside back cover of every edition of our newspaper The Final Call, is racially inflammatory.
I am sorry to disappoint you, but you must not have heard the latest news out of Louisiana wherein a White U.S. District Judge said otherwise.
Yes, he is White.
A Louisiana inmate named Henry Leonard was being unconstitutionally denied The Final Call newspaper in the David Wade Correctional Center (DWCC). Attorneys representing Louisiana claimed on behalf of prison officials that the reason behind the censorship was that content inside the newspaper was deemed racially inflammatory–in particular The Muslim Program. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Louisiana backed a lawsuit by Mr. Leonard and filed it May 2007, which was a year after he was restricted from receiving copies of the weekly Nation of Islam newspaper.
What was the outcome? After hearing all of the evidence including a nearly 200-page deposition presented by Nation of Islam Attorney Ava Muhammad, Judge Donald Walter of Shreveport, La., ruled in favor of the plaintiff on March 31 of this year.
He made this ruling on the basis that the prison officials could not deliver any evidence that The Final Call newspaper was the source of any violence. “Again, this Court is concerned that the complete banning of the publication because of the inclusion of “The Muslim Program” is an exaggerated response to DWCC’s concern about racially inflammatory material,” Judge Walter wrote in his 21-page ruling.
So, why would someone want to ban me from Houston Belief? I don’t represent hate.
Point#2: The Department of Homeland Security illegally spied on the NOI
A Washington Post article, titled Documents show DHS improperly spied on Nation of Islam in 2007, was posted on December 17, 2009. It stated in part:
The Nation of Islam advocates mental and spiritual resurrection–not hate. We teach our people to love themselves. What’s wrong with that? You do it for your own. We have no history of plotting attacks, bombing any synagogues, churches or mosques. We don’t even carry so much as a pen knife.
Next time in “The Upper Situation Room” we’re going to go into anti-Semitism. Is Farrakhan really an anti-Semite?
Until then I invite you to read this article: Enough! Is EVERY Black Person AN ‘Anti-Semite’?
(You’re welcome to follow Brother Jesse Muhammad further on Twitter, become a friend on Facebook, or visit his award-winning site Brother Jesse Blog)
The Nation of Islam is a hate group? Not!
by Jessie Muhammad
We could argue this point with volumes of information but I only want to provide you with these two points to show that we are not a hate group and that the true haters and terrorists do not belong to the Nation of Islam under Minister Farrakhan.
Point #1: A White Judge rules that The Muslim Program is not racially inflammatory
After I posted my first blog on this website, I was unsurprisingly attacked as a “blogger of hate” plus someone wrote the Chronicle Editors to ask that I be removed from Houston Belief on the grounds that an aspect of our belief system is racially inflammatory. This individual says that The Muslim Program, which appears on the inside back cover of every edition of our newspaper The Final Call, is racially inflammatory.
I am sorry to disappoint you, but you must not have heard the latest news out of Louisiana wherein a White U.S. District Judge said otherwise.
Yes, he is White.
What was the outcome? After hearing all of the evidence including a nearly 200-page deposition presented by Nation of Islam Attorney Ava Muhammad, Judge Donald Walter of Shreveport, La., ruled in favor of the plaintiff on March 31 of this year.
He made this ruling on the basis that the prison officials could not deliver any evidence that The Final Call newspaper was the source of any violence. “Again, this Court is concerned that the complete banning of the publication because of the inclusion of “The Muslim Program” is an exaggerated response to DWCC’s concern about racially inflammatory material,” Judge Walter wrote in his 21-page ruling.
So, why would someone want to ban me from Houston Belief? I don’t represent hate.
Point#2: The Department of Homeland Security illegally spied on the NOI
A Washington Post article, titled Documents show DHS improperly spied on Nation of Islam in 2007, was posted on December 17, 2009. It stated in part:
The Department of Homeland Security improperly gathered intelligence on the Nation of Islam for eight months in 2007 when the leader of the black Muslim group, Louis Farrakhan, was in poor health and appeared to be yielding power, according to government documents…The intelligence gathering violated domestic spying rules because analysts took longer than 180 days to determine whether the U.S-based group or its American members posed a terrorist threat…I am sure you’re wondering what they found on us, right? According to the article:
“Charles E. Allen, who was DHS undersecretary for intelligence and analysis at the time, said that although violations were unintentional and inadvertent — only publicly available information was collected — the report should never have been issued. “The [Nation of Islam] organization — despite its highly volatile and extreme rhetoric — has neither advocated violence nor engaged in violence,” Allen wrote in a March 2008 memo. “Moreover, we have no indications that it will change its goals and priorities, even if there is a near-term change in the organization’s leadership.”So, let’s please stop categorizing those who speak truth with those who advocate hate and violence. I am pretty sure if Jesus of 2,000 years ago was speaking in the streets today, his strong words would be taken out of context in the news. He would be called a hate teacher depending on who is reporting.
The Nation of Islam advocates mental and spiritual resurrection–not hate. We teach our people to love themselves. What’s wrong with that? You do it for your own. We have no history of plotting attacks, bombing any synagogues, churches or mosques. We don’t even carry so much as a pen knife.
Next time in “The Upper Situation Room” we’re going to go into anti-Semitism. Is Farrakhan really an anti-Semite?
Until then I invite you to read this article: Enough! Is EVERY Black Person AN ‘Anti-Semite’?
(You’re welcome to follow Brother Jesse Muhammad further on Twitter, become a friend on Facebook, or visit his award-winning site Brother Jesse Blog)
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