Posted on 10/25/2002 4:38:31 AM PDT by SES1066
By Michael L. Betsch
CNSNews.com Staff Writer
October 25, 2002
(CNSNews.com) - The prime suspect in the Beltway Sniper shootings and one of the ten people killed by the sniper apparently shared something in common besides allegedly being in the same place at the same time on the morning of Oct. 11.
Suspected sniper John Allen Muhammad reportedly provided security for the Million Man March in Washington, D.C. in 1995, the same event sniper victim Kenneth Bridges attended and is said to have used as an inspiration in co-founding the MATAH Network, Inc., a black-owned Internet business dedicated to fulfilling a wide array of black consumers' needs.
Bridges, a social activist and father of six from the Philadelphia area, was the eighth person killed and the tenth victim overall in the sniper shootings. He was shot at a Fredericksburg, Va. gas station Oct. 11. He was 53 years old.
A graduate of the prestigious Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, Bridges worked with Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan in 1986 to launch a line of health and beauty products for blacks manufactured by People Organized and Working for Economic Rebirth (POWER).
However, POWER's affiliation with the controversial Farrakhan caused several cosmetic manufacturers to withdraw their support out of fear of alienating Jewish distributors.
In 1995, Bridges attended Farrakhan's Million Man March, where thousands of black men were encouraged to take responsibility for their own lives and fight the scourges of violence, drugs and unemployment.
According to the MATAH website, Bridges and his partner, Al Wellington, developed their business in accordance with consumer research conducted at the Million Man March and the Million Woman March, which took place five years ago in Philadelphia.
Bridges and Wellington further developed their online store format to incorporate and reflect the seven principles of the African-American celebration, Kwanzaa, every day of the year. The website notes that special emphasis is placed on the principle of "Self Determination."
Since it launched in late 1997, MATAH's online store has provided a venue for black entrepreneurs, manufacturers and consumers to share in the common goal of "giving and buying black."
MATAH representatives were also in Washington Aug. 18 for the Millions for Reparations Rally, an event held to urge the awarding of financial reparations to the descendants of black slaves.
Calvin Robinson, a member of MATAH, told CNSNews.com that the African American Business/Consumer network is organized around a "race-first philosophy without apology."
However, Robinson said the mission of MATAH's online store is to encourage "internal reparation" in the black community. "Internal reparation," he said, "means that we are not going to sit down and just wait for it to come from the outside."
A 79-year-old retired insurance agent from Philadelphia, Robinson said he's not waiting for a reparations check from the U.S. government. "We're going to do all the things ourselves," he said.
"When you seem to be always begging, then [whites] who are looking at you feel as though that you are unworthy of help," Robinson said. "MATAH is kind of taking our own initiative."
On the day Kenneth Bridges was killed, he had just completed a $1 million deal for the growing MATAH Network.
Although the Nation of Islam has yet to confirm or deny that Muhammad provided security for the Million Man March, an acquaintance of Muhammad told the Seattle Times Thursday that he had indeed done so.
Federal sources told the Seattle Times the Beltway Sniper's deadly shooting spree might have "been motivated by anti-American sentiments in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks."
While Muhammad is not believed to be associated with Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terrorist network, news reports indicated he had previously spoken sympathetically about the hijackers responsible for the terrorist attacks on America. Muhammad reportedly converted to Islam last year.
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5.56mm
Thank goodness. I was terrified it might be skulking behind the bushes, waiting to ambush me. I feel much better now.
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