Farrakhan in Philadelphia: Pre Justice or Else Rally

By Gloria Dulan-Wilson

Hello All:

Farrakhan in Philadelphia: Pre Justice or Else Rally

By Gloria Dulan-Wilson

The Countdown to the 20^th Anniversary of the MILLION MAN MARCH has begun, and it's less than 10 days away.  Local coordinating committees are organizing buses, accommodations and literature in their respective states.

The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan

And that's why Minister Louis Farrakhan has been personally visiting and speaking to packed rooms of African Americans, from Chicago to New York, to Philadelphia to DC, as well as on the West Coast.

Part of the strategy is to remind those who participated 20 years ago of their pledge; partly to examine the progress, or lack thereof, over the past 20 years; and partly encourage the youth who were mere infants then, to become part of a new and better history. 

Philadelphia's Tingley Temple was packed standing room only on September 8th;  from the main sanctuary to the three tiered balcony to the overflow room downstairs to several hundred standing outside unable to get in.

Tingley Temple where Minister Louis Farrakhan addressed a packed audience in Philadelphia, September 8, 2015

Always elegantly dressed to impress, the Brother/Minister started promptly at 7:00PM and ended precisely at 9:00PM, and covered issues that have been plaguing the Black community and the diaspora for the past 20 years.

Farrakhan, who looks and acts younger at age 82 than many men half his age, covered everything - from distortions of his messages in the meanstream media to women being used as pawns to entice men from their purpose in nation building while simultaneously being denigrated as substandard in the eyes of society.

For the first time since I've been writing about the great leader/activist, I heard him use the “n” word no less than 15 times throughout his speech. Not calling Black men by that negative appellation directly, but by quoting what others have said in reference to Black people and youth. His characterization of Jews and their efforts to undermine and stymie Black businesses was no less vituperative – being careful to leave no doubt in the minds of the audience where the source of their misery stemmed from for the most part.

That said, however, he did not bite his tongue when he began to lay the responsibility for the lack of progress, the sorry state of Black communities, educational systems, health, etc., squarely on the shoulders of those most responsible – Black people themselves.

He asserted firmly, "I would be a hypocrite if I pointed to the officers who gunned down Michael Brown in Ferguson, Tamir Rice, and ignored those Black youth who have killed more than a generation of Black youth on their own. Black on Black crime in the Black community is worse than ever before."

He alluded to the fact that, despite his own best efforts, President Obama is in charge of maintaining the status quo of the country for white people. “If Bill Clinton is the first “Black” president, then President Obama is the first Jewish President, as evidenced by the fact that most of the appointees to high positions have been Jews."

“We hear of Muslims coming from other countries to live in America, and they walk by us. They come to live in freedom like other people, and they walk by us! How can you say that the rest of the world is full of disbelievers if you never offered them the chance to know about you, or shared with them your belief and your faith. Or shared with them the wisdom of the Qu'ran. We thank God for more than the Qu'ran; we thank Jesus and the Gospel. If we are to spread the message, we can't go through the world looking as if we would rather kill them than share with them. I am so very grateful that I was shepherded into my early days of the Qu'ran by Malcolm X. I'm so grateful that I met Jeremiah Shabazz and; I'm so grateful that I met some of the greats in Jazz in America right here at the top of the Clef (referring to Philadelphia's famous Clef Club, a jazz staple in the community for decades).“

In expressing his gratitude for those who helped shape his message, Farrakhan also spoke of one man who has been key to the success of the first Million Man March: “I want to thank Rev. Dr. Ben Chavis for his wisdom and guidance.” For those who are unfamiliar with Dr. Chavis, he is literally the person behind the scenes who garnered the speakers, the security, the equipment, shaped the outreach and the message of the Million Man March of 1995. Teaming up with Minister Farrakhan for the reunion he has likewise hit the ground running, and now sat on the podium with Minister Farrakhan, and Rodney Muhammad, the first Muslim head of Philadelphia's Chapter of the NAACP.

The Great Dr. Ben Chavis

Farrakhan continued, “I came back to Philadelphia tonight, because the first time I came I met with the leadership, the activists – and I wanted to encourage them because they were so helpful with the first march. The largest contingent of the Million Man March came from Philadelphia. And from Philadelphia there was a brother who walked from Philly to Washington, DC. I am likewise grateful to Pastor Johnson who allowed us to be here. We need that kind of spirit to be reignited here. As I met with Mr. Miller and others from the Philadelphia Tribune, and as he spoke to me about the conditions in Philadelphia, I thought I saw tears come up in his eyes. And he wanted to know what can we do to change the reality of Black life – in Philly, in America, and really throughout the world. The paper was sincere and it was genuine in dealing with an old subject. Our people are lacking in self knowledge. With self knowledge comes self love; with self love comes self determination; with self determination comes self respect!”

Minister Farrakhan continued, “I was with Martin Luther King, III in Atlanta a few weeks ago and he asked 'Brother Farrakhan, what can we do about the Black on Black crime? What can we do?' I said brother it takes a deep love that we can withstand their evil and we can change their hearts. Your father had a dream that one day we would see brothers and sisters coming together. So many followers of King - and I -  was an admirer from the distance; but we Nationalists, we like Brother Malcolm, we weren't turning no cheek, we were not willing to allow the enemy to cattle prod us and water us down in order to get freedom. And because of that, after the bombing of the Church in Birmingham, and the four beautiful little girls were trapped inside – and after that some laws were passed, and we got public accommodations that allowed us to spend our dollar in white businesses.”

Continuing to give context to the current problems we face as a people, he stated, “A consumer nation has evolved. From the time of Dr. King's last message to us, Black people had $30 billion dollars – if we had used it as a weapon, and redistributed the pain.*  Bloody Sunday came and some of our beautiful brothers and sisters got a beat down on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. We now have more than three trillion dollars, but we have no control, or discipline about what we do with our money.  After that, we got the Voting Rights Bill and in 2013 the Supreme Court {subprime court/GDW} took the protection part off that bill.” 
*[Toward the end of the address, Minister Farrakhan announced that on Black Friday, we're boycotting the white man's Christmas.  Put your money in your pocket and use it for something tangible for your family.]

“In the late 50s the Hon. Elijah Muhammad was in a debate with the great J.P. Stoner, the grand wizard of the KuKluxKlan.  J.P. Stoner told Elijah Muhammad that "in the future we won't be wearing these white things."  He went on to say they would be wearing business suits, uniforms, and even be part of the police force. You won't be able to tell them from the regular people. “In the future we'll be judges on the bench; in the future we'll be insurance executives and businessmen with the same attitude of the KKK.”

Showing that Elijah Muhammad's summation was correct, he reflected: “Thurgood Marshall was the first {only} Black to serve on the Supreme Court. And before he passed he stated that the KKK was right there where he was in the Supreme court (which is why I call it the "subprime court"/GDW). He saw that at the highest level of law and supposed justice, of nine men he saw racism.”

“This generation of children are considered the lost generation.  They're lost because we lost them! The enemy was in charge, so we became sheriffs, we became mayors, but we could not get it together in our own homes to take the evil down that made Black men and women bow down. Weak men! Weak women! Our leaders became pawns.   They could be bought and sold on the plantation. But we could only go so far. I convinced our beautiful brother Barack to run, but he was reluctant because there was evil all around him - many thought Barack Obama was the first Jewish president – because he indeed gave jobs to people of the jewish faith. If you want to know who the boss is, just follow the money – it will lead you to them every time. “

Our youth are on any corner of the red light districts disrobing themselves to find a job. It's sad to see how big money buys men and women; and you think you have elected your man, but you don't see the trail of money. And it's true, the piper comes along and must be paid.

“The CIA, under the Reagan administration, wanted to stem the tide of socialism; and when Mr. Reagan went before the Congress to ask for the money to do it, Congress rejected him. So they cooked up a scheme – they sold weapons to Iran and used that money to prosecute a war. With that war Bush tied everything from college attendance, to home ownership, to whether or a person could or could not get credit.”

Bible says “Behold how good and pleasant it is to come together in joy and unity.” We don't know the joy of the love of a brotherhood because we're all hypnotized into trying to make it in their world. That pleasure has been taken from us. So where do we find pleasure? I love watching the boxing matches and ...I love {Floyd} Mayweather he's brought me great joy in my life. Muhammad Ali, not only a great fighter but also a great thinker, because the honorable Elijah Muhammad took time to instill wisdom in him and taught him how to think outside of the box. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad compares wealth and children as compliments together with a conjunction called “AND” = WEALTH AND CHILDREN. You don't know power until you make a family.” (Note: Minister Farrakhan and his wife Khadijah have been together for over 50 years now).

The Minister noted how the meanstream media routinely takes words or statements of activists and leaders and distorts them. The theme of the upcoming Million Man March reunion is "JUSTICE, OR ELSE!" He asked for 10,000 good men of courage who would come together and take a stand for Black people. According to the distorted meanstream media headlines, Farrakhan was telling Black men to shoot white men. Something that brought a fair amount of ridicule since members of the Nation of Islam carried no guns, or weapons of any kind.

Then, as if to mock them, Farrakhan joked “What? No guns? How does Farrakhan expect to win??? – he can't defend the nation without guns."

But the fact is that the Nation of Islam has been an activist organization that has never owned a gun, fired a shot, or been involved in a riot in their entire existence. Most of the vilification of the Nation of Islam stems from distortion of the Minister's speeches. The “or else” statement was as much an exhortation to Black people, as it was a warning to the federal government.

Justice or Else we perish; Justice or Else we continue to wallow in poverty; Justice or Else we continue being homeless; Justice or Else our children will grow up marginalized in this society.

Minister Farrakhan, who always speaks with a quiet, but passionate, tone of voice - where you have to lean in just a little bit to make sure you don't miss any of what he's saying - emphasized that it's the responsibility of every man to leave a legacy for his children, for his family; to be the example they can look up to for wise decision. And if it is the man's responsibility, it is even more so for the Black man, who has been thwarted at every turn.

Wanting to be very clear about he where stood on issues that had become popular within the last decade, he emphatically denounced same sex "marriages" as the extinction of the family itself, as well as anathema to procreation and the bond that had been established by God between man and woman.

With so many women under the dictates of fashion and media, he warned women about “Bringing out the dog in men.” Using tongue in cheek, he gently admonished women for dressing and behaving inappropriately, in provocative ways. “It will have the inevitable result of bringing out the dog in a man, unless he's not a man. No real man can resist the site of a woman where more of her body parts are exposed for all to see.” He also spoke of how important it was for a woman to comport herself with dignity, both in public places and at home. “You attract to you the opposite of the kind of man you want in your life,” he stated.

In addition to massive unemployment, and discrimination in the workplace, the failure of the men to protect their wives and families, can be directly laid at the threshold of the prison military industrial complex, and the fact that the largest population is Black. And, unless it's stopped, it will continue to expand and be a cancer on our community.

"So, “OR ELSE” is more of a warning to Black people than to whites. I want to be sure that the Brothers and Sisters of Philadelphia know how much I appreciate them for always defying the negative predictions the world has made about them, and coming up higher than expectations, the Brother/Minister concluded.  

Philadelphia is in trouble, according to Farrakhan, and has been slipping over the past decades into major decline – with schools closing, families losing homes, nearly half of the Black population has relocated to other cities and states – yet, even with those facts, they managed to bring in the largest votes for the both the election and re-election of President Obama, showing that the negative predictions generated from the outside had no bearing on their independent thinking.

“Don't let anyone tell you that Farrakhan is talking about killing white people, or that OR ELSE is a threat to the white man. No my brothers and sisters, OR ELSE is as important for what will happen to the Black man if he does not learn to stand for himself, do for self, and to comport himself in an honorable way. Tell all your friends, neighbors, youth it's time to reunite as a people – OR ELSE.
  ###

There are buses leaving from New York, New Jersey, Boston, DC, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Ohio, Connecticut, Chicago, and points in between - contact your local Organizing Committee to find about accommodations and make sure you GET ON THE BUS!

Philadelphia can contact the National Action Network of Philadelphia for bus information; 
New York can contact Brother Abdul Hafeez Muhammad at Muhammad's Mosque No. 7 in Harlem.  


NOW THAT YOU KNOW, WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?  


SEE YOU IN DC!!

Stay Blessed & 
ECLECTICALLY BLACK

Gloria

-->