Posted on 05/15/2004 5:16:30 AM PDT by schaketo
WASHINGTON (NNPA) – Minister Louis Farrakhan is considering organizing another national march next year – the 10th anniversary of the Million Man March – to encourage African Americans to keep a larger share of their $688 billion annual spending in the Black community.
That disclosure was ignored last week after the Nation of Islam leader held a 2-hour speech/news conference at the National Press Club here that dealt primarily with the U.S. occupation of Iraq, the Middle East and foreign affairs.
“I’m not so much interested in a march,” Farrakhan said, replying to a question. “I’m not too much interested in gathering a million or two million men in one place – unless it is to direct those men to do that which will liberate our people.”
Warming to his subject, he said, “There is no reason for Morris Brown (a financially troubled Black college in Atlanta) to close. There is no reason that we don’t have hospitals and clinics across this nation to service our needs. It’s the misuse of our dollars. So, I don’t see any reason to call 2 million men again, unless we’re calling them for serious work.”
And there are plenty of dollars that quickly work their way out of the Black community. According to the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia, annual Black spending power will grow from $688 billion in 2002 to $921 billion in 2008.
Although Farrakhan said that he will consider whether organizing another march, some of his senior aides say he appears to be leaning toward calling for a rally in 2005.
Farrakhan, who became a registered voter for the first time in 1984 to help bolster the presidential candidacy of Jesse Jackson, issued a word of caution to Black leaders.
“My dear Black brothers and sisters and Hispanic brothers and sisters, I know that you’re Democrats. And I know that you want Sen. (John) Kerry to win,” Farrakhan said, his voice barely above a whisper. “But I say to Black leadership, don’t you herd our people to the polls before you put before Sen. Kerry an agenda that’s in the best interest of the masses of our people. If you betray our people, as a suffering masses that want to be relieved, then your leadership is finished.
This is the last time that you will herd our votes into the hands of any political leader without having the necessary strength to put before such a leader, those issues that affect our lives.”
The first group to meet with Kerry after he clinched the Democratic nomination was the Congressional Black Caucus, chaired by Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.). Cummings has stated that African American lawmakers have a list of issues that they want Kerry to adopt. And for his part, Kerry has pledged to lean heavily on CBC members and other Black national leaders for advice.
Farrakhan chided Sen. Kerry for opposing reparations for African Americans and not supporting a bill introduced each year by Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) calling for a study of the issue.
“Senator Kerry, you come off as a moderate, a White moderate who prefers order – don’t disturb the order by asking for a study of whether Black people deserve reparations,” the Nation of Islam leader said. Mocking Kerry, he continued, “Let’s not go to the past, but remember the Alamo, remember Pearl Harbor, remember the Holocaust. But forget what you have suffered.” With his voice rising, Farrakhan added, “We, the Blacks in America, deserve to be repaired.”
On the war in Iraq, Farrakhan charged that it was unlikely that ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein would have ever conspired with Osama bin Laden, a key leader in the al Qaeda terrorist group.
“They cannot with truth tie al Qaeda to Saddam Hussein,” Farrakhan declared. “If you know anything about Osama bin Laden, he is what you would call a religious zealot who saw Saddam Hussein as a hypocrite who went away from Islam to follow a path of socialism. So there’s no way Osama would have been connected to Saddam. But the neo-conservatives (in the U.S.) wanted to make a case for war.”
More accurately, Farrakhan contends, they were eager to go to war to protect Israel. “Iraq never threatened America, could not threat America,” Farrakhan said. “But as long as Saddam Hussein was alive, in their minds, he was a threat to Israel. Syria is a threat to Israel. Iran is a threat to Israel. Anyone that does not believe in their justification of the state of Israel on Palestinian land is an enemy that must be destroyed.”
Farrakhan alleged that war served the dual purpose of attacking Islam and protecting the interests of Israel.
“What America is seeking is actually to change Islam to make Islam suitable and non-threatening to Western hegemony over the entire world. So the war is not just against brutal dictators. The war, at the root, is against Islam. The government will not admit to that.”
Farrakhan made public two letters he sent to Bush. In the first one, dated Dec. 1, 2001, he said: “Afghanistan is only a preliminary to a much wider war, which is already planned. And this war also has a home front aspect as well.” He warned at if President Bush persisted on his present course, “You will unite the Muslim world in hostility against America and Great Britain, and you will use your great position of power, inadvertently, to call for a Holy War against the West.”
At the National Press Club, Farrakhan said, “I have been a faithful warner to you. I know that the Sanhedrin (an ancient Jewish court system) will meet after this speech. They will decide what to do with me. You may do as you please, but if this country is to survive it must renounce and repudiate the doctrine of the neoconservatives and distance this country from her agenda. If America is to survive she must not use the might of America to fight the battles of Israel and allow herself to be used to destroy the real or perceived enemies of Israel.”
Like all recent administrations, Bush officials view Israel as America’s most important ally in the Middle East.
Farrakhan says that’s part of the problem.
“…They are saying that President George W. Bush is the greatest friend that Israel has had of any president in this country. If George W. Bush is a brilliant friend, then how can he be an honest broker in a search for peace?”
As usual, Farrakhan saved his harshest criticism for Jews.
“A Jew is a noble name,” he said. “A Jew means one who is in a covenant relationship with God in obedience to the divine laws, statures and commandments of God. But these people claim to be Jews, but they’re not in obedience to God’s law. They have given a mission of evil a divine look on it and George W. Bush has swallowed that bait, hook, line and sinker. The Synagogue of Satan is a gathering of persons of like mind and spirit who are in opposition to the will of God.”
The Anti-Defamation League, which catalogues and documents public attacks on Jews, says on its Web site that Farrakhan “has long expressed anti-Semitic and anti-white rhetoric, that mark him as a notable figure on the extremist scene.”
Minister Farrakhan predicted that unemployment will remain a serious problem in the U.S.
“I know that America cannot provide for the millions of her own unemployed as well as ours,” he said. “And that’s why our agenda must think in terms of a future for our people. Not integration, not sitting next to a White child that will be beneficial to him.
But equal access to information and knowledge. For once you know what the other man knows, he can no longer rule you. And as long as you’re being ruled, it’s because you have inferior knowledge.”
And how many of them plan to attend Rev. Farrakhan's "Million Man March"?
"And how many of them plan to attend Rev. Farrakhan's 'Million Man March'?"
How should I know. I was simply pointing out that your remark about black men was uncalled for. You implied that none of them work Monday through Friday and therefore should be available to attend the Million Man March.
Oh that Crazy Louis Farra-CON
Get off the high horse.
My remark was directed at black men who attend rallies sponsored by Louis Farrakhan.
I have no respect for them.
Wallace Fard was one of the many Lebanese and Yemenite immigrants (most were Christian, but many were Muslim) that was attracted to Detroit via Henry Ford's labor recruitment drives. The story is that, while peddling goods in the black neighborhoods of Detroit, he notices that the blacks took a strong interest in pop Astrology, sprituality and a mythic past and bought books on these subjects. Seeing a great business opportunity, he decided to sell Islamic tracts, while pushing the idea that American blacks were Muslims until they were enslaved by the Christian infidel. The rest is history...
"Allah is just an 'other' god..."
Amen, Joe! Just like the "gods" Elijah taunted to "Wake up!", though they didn't.
It's hard for non-existent gods to respond to the simplest of requests.
The original MMM was on a Monday. Just about everyone I know who went, including one of my brothers, had jobs or were in school and took the time off.
And it didn't bother you one bit that your brother attended a rally sponsored by an anti-American, racist bigot like Louis Farrakhan?
racist remarks are always uncalled for. keep your hateful comments to yourself!
You obviously meant to direct your comments at Louis Farrakhan...right?
Touche
Ouch
Not at all for a few reasons:
1. My brother uses his money and his time the way he wants to.
2. He's never cared for Farrakhan and so didn't go because of him.
3. I attended the Million Woman and Million Family marches myself and don't regret it because they both were about some things that were bigger and deeper than Farrakhan or any other individual involved.
BS.
"You obviously meant to direct your comments at Louis Farrakahn...right?"
If he were here...I would...but since he's not here...then it has to be you.
All I'm saying is that your remark however innocent you meant it to be came across as bad. You told me to get off of my high horse....I told you to keep your uncalled comments to yourself. We both got the chance to save face, now let's move on to more important things. Okay?
BTW...no hard feelings on my part.
I don't attend a Klan rally for the bar-b-que.
That's just a load of crap.
Yes, "Calypso" Louie has a right to express himself in the public square...so do I.
I don't like his message any more than his supporters like mine, and I don't care what they think any more than he cares about what I think.
You are welcomed to your opinion, but I wouldn't go to anything sponsored by hate filled bigots. No matter whatever else we had in common, I can't imagine attending things like that.
It's amazing how racial demagogues manage to bring out the crowds but a conservative has to almost pay to get any time at all.
I don't think you are getting my point! Noone, including me, disagrees with the fact that Farrakhan is a racist...but that's not what you said in your very first post on this thread. You implied that most black men don't work Monday through Friday, and therefor should be available during those five days to show up and march with Farrakahn.
Aside from the MMM, I wonder what the bedraggled ANSWER protestors do for a living *LOL* These people always seem to find time during the week to march at the snap of a finger.
No, I did not...that's you projecting.
I was directing my comments at the men who attend this event...far from "most" black men.
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