From The Final Call Newspaper

 Racial Terrorism in America

By Brian E. Muhammad -Contributing Writer- | Last updated: Jun 23, 2015 - 9:41:28 AM

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CHARLESTON, S.C. (The Final Call) - Many are still trying to comprehend life in America where an act of murder occurs with deep racist motivation in a house of worship amid a growing climate of turmoil, mayhem and what can only be described as White domestic terror.

Shock and alarm gripped Charleston and the country after Dylann Roof, a 21-year-old White male allegedly walked into Emanuel African Methodist Episcopalian Church—one of the oldest Black churches in the South—and sat through the Wednesday night Bible Study. He then pulled out a gun and subsequently unleashed a barrage of deadly bullets, reportedly reloading five times. When he finished, eight parishioners, including the prominent church pastor and State Senator Clementa C. Pinckney were dead. A ninth victim died from wounds at an area hospital. After an intense manhunt involving local, state and federal authorities, Mr. Roof was apprehended less than 24 hours later in North Carolina, returned to Charleston and charged with the killings.

Emanuel A.M.E. Church: Photo: Andrea Muhammad

Mr. Roof is now in the Sheriff Cannon Detention Center, on a $1 million bond for weapons charges and is expected to be back in court in August where the bond will set for nine counts of murder.

“I thought back on the history of our people and how in 1963, in Montgomery, Ala., a church was bombed and here we are 52 years later in 2015, and we have a psycho-terrorist massacring people in a place of worship.” said Mama Abena, an elder and self-described Pan Africanist native of Charleston who recently moved back home. “If I said that it was unbelievable, I will be lying to myself because it’s very believable … It’s not like these very horrific and heinous situations have not happened to us as a people.”

In the days that followed the June 17 massacre, prayer vigils and gatherings of solidarity and support were held throughout the country—primarily pastor led—where the messages were “we must forgive” and “love conquers hate.” Some called the show of togetherness nothing more than “symbolism” driven by the desire to contain an angry Black, Brown and poor people who live under the pressure of marginalization and oppression. “We symbolically talk about unity,” Mama Abena said further. But “that’s going to end … what are we going to do from here; from right now?”

A memorial to those who lost their lives. Photo: Andrea Muhammad

“Black people still have a tendency to think that everything will be okay; that everything is still peaceful with us among White people. But in the midst of this you also have a class of people that’s tired … frustrated … fed up,” explained DeAndre Muhammad, Charleston representative for the Nation of Islam.

Some question whether healing and forgiveness exist absent of justice and repentance, looking at America’s sordid past and not so peaceful present. “This man was steeped in White supremacy, but that White supremacy is not just an individual thing, that’s something that stems from the whole of this United States from its foundation,” said Jack Turner, a White organizer from Atlanta with the Revolutionary Communist Party. “I think this outrage should manifest itself in resistance. People actually need to pour out into the streets.”

On Sunday, June 21, Emanuel AME Church opened its doors as a signal that the act of terror on its space and parishioners would not stop the spiritual calling and historical legacy the church has. Thousands stood in the blazing sun and lined the street outside the sprawling church as the sanctuary was filled to capacity as were the lower level rooms where the bloodshed happened. Supporters from around the United States and Canada, fellow Christians, Jews and Muslims from the Central Mosque of Charleston attended in a show of interfaith support.

Najee Washington holds a photo of her grandmother Ethel Lance, one of the nine people killed in Wednesday’s shooting at Emanuel AME Church, as she poses for a portrait outside her home June 19, in Charleston, S.C. “She cared for everyone. She took care of people. She would give her last to anyone,” said Washington. “That’s what she was and that’s what she’ll always be.” Photo: AP/Wide World photos

Friends and family shared their gratitude in the midst of their pain with The Final Call for the outpouring of condolences and concern. Sherrell Nelson lost her 87-year-old aunt Susie Jackson and 26-year-old cousin Tywanza Sanders. “It’s overwhelming to see the outpouring of love with all the flowers and tributes,” she said.

Patricia Jones either worked with or went to school with at least four of the victims, saying she was “saddened by the whole thing” that rocked the tight knit church community.

The shooting happened at the church Denmark Vesey co-founded in 1818 that historically was a hub for liberation and organizing for self-determination, a cause that freeman Vesey lived, fought and was hanged for in 1822 along with 35 others. The church was dedicated to an anti-slavery agenda, and at one point was burned down by proponents of White terror, oppression and slavery.

Now the question of racial terror comes front and center again, at a time when people have been resisting injustice in the wake of police and vigilante killings of Blacks. The cases of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Renisha McBride, Tamir Rice and the brutal murder of Walter Scott, coldly shot in the back by now jailed former North Charleston police officer Michael Slager are among the most often cited.

There are concerns about a spate of Black men found hanging from trees in recent times, raising the reminder of America’s history of “terror lynching” where Black people were tortured, maimed, beat, burned to death and suffered slow, agonizing hanging deaths.

Dylann Roof, 21, was arrested in the slayings of several people, including the pastor, at a prayer meeting inside The Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C. Photo: MGN Online

A report from the Birmingham, Ala.-based Equal Justice Initiative called “Lynching in America: Confronting the Legacy of Racial Terror” revealed between the American Civil War and World War II, Blacks were lynched regularly in the United States and an estimated nearly 5,000 men, women and children were lynching victims.

Between the 1990s to as recent as April 2015, Lennon Lacy, Otis Byrd, Roosevelt Champion III, Fredrick Jermaine Carter; Anthony Hill; James Byrd; Brandon McClelland and Andre Jones were Black men who experienced hideous deaths either by hanging from a tree, hanging in a jail cell or the horrific dragging of  bodies chained behind pickup trucks.

The history of these crimes along with the execution of Rev. Clementa Pinckney, 41; Cynthia Hurd, 54; Rev. Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, 45; Tywanza Sanders, 26; Ethel Lance, 70 Rev. Depayne Middleton-Doctor, 49; Susie Jackson, 87; Rev. Daniel Simmons Sr., 74; Myra Thompson, 59, in the basement of Emanuel AME adds to a wider context and question around White supremacist ideology and White terrorism targeting Black and Brown people.  Photos have surfaced of the gunman Dylann Roof wearing White supremacist iconography and reportedly told his Black victims: “I have to do it. ... You rape our women and you’re taking over our country, and you have to go.”

Charleston residents unite in prayer. Photo: Andrea Muhammad

“We need to be clear, this is not an aberrational event,” said Cornell William Brooks, president and CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to The Final Call after the first Sunday church service at Emanuel AME after the June 17 attack.

Mr. Brooks believes there is a national resolve to move forward and “be tragically inspired by this to prevent future tragedies from happening” but cautioned underlying racism and that the shooter was fueled by White nationalism must be addressed. To “blink that or ignore that, ignores the tragedy, he said.

There are reportedly 18 White supremacy organizations in South Carolina described as neo-Nazi, White nationalist, racist skin head and neo-confederate. A Federal Bureau of Investigation document on domestic threats notes that “white supremacy extremists specifically target racial, ethnic, and religious minorities; the federal government; and in some instances, even each other. Their tactics include assault, murder, threats and intimidation, and bombing.”

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics data obtained from interviews with victims, the number of hate crimes has remained fairly constant over the past decade between an astronomical 200,000 and 300,000 per year. Their statistics reveal the vast majority are perpetrated against Blacks.

Van Jones, political commentator and environmental advocate, told The Final Call he sees a double standard in how the shooter is being handled in comparison to how other communities are handled. Every time a Muslim does something crazy, every Muslim leader has to come out and explain, he said. If Black youth “riot” in Baltimore—every Black leader is expected to apologize and explain, he added. In contrast, he said, when White bikers shoot themselves up; nobody calls them thugs or talk about White on White crime. “White 20-year-old males continue to pull off massacre after massacre and nobody is asking where their fathers are and no White leaders are being asked to explain themselves,” he said.
“You cannot overcome a demon until you face that demon,” said Mr. Jones. Many leaders refuse to face the demon of racism and it festered to the point of catastrophe at the church, he said.

 “At some point you have to have leaders—and I mean White leaders—who are willing to say we have a problem and ask tough questions of the White community. What are we doing behind our closed doors that leads to our children coming out to do such things?” asked Mr. Jones.

Malik Zulu Shabazz of Black Lawyers for Justice said to move forward and change things there must be a “stirring of the pot” against what he called a conspiracy to keep White supremacy in control of Black people. There is “collaboration between the power structure and a certain class of Blacks who have agreed to cooperate with the power structure,” he said.

There is a strong grip on the local clergy in South Carolina that must be broken, the lawyer said. They are dedicated to keeping the Black population “quiet and obedient” and the people need a lifeline they can’t get from local leadership that has “cut a dirty deal with the devil,” Attorney Shabazz charged.

Meanwhile White domestic terrorism, whether in the form of bullets from police guns or massacres as in Charleston, S.C., America and the Black and Brown victims of the domestic terrorism has reached a juncture of history for Justice … Or Else!

“The Honorable Elijah Muhammad said God is going to force the enemy to treat you worse and worse by the day! Every day he is going to treat you more and more evil! So don’t think you’ve run out of hearing about ‘Black suffering’ and ‘Black death and slaughter’—oh, no … It’s going to increase! Increase for what? So that your ‘agreement with hell,’ as Isaiah the Prophet says, ‘will not stand.’ You’ll have to come away from your 400-year-old enemy, and build a nation of your own, or suffer the consequences,” said the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan in a June 20 FaceBook posting.

From The Final Call Newspaper

Fearless Organizing for Justice or Else

By Richard B. Muhammad (FCN)

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Nation of Islam minister spreads vision, message for October gathering, demand for gov’t redress in Washington, D.C.

CHICAGO - Speaking to an array of youth, leaders, activists, pastors and politicians, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan continued sharing the vision of and need for the 20th anniversary gathering of the Million Man March in Washington, D.C. in early October.

The Nation of Islam minister spoke passionately and frankly to a crowded ballroom at Salaam Restaurant, warning that the American system and world governments have failed. These governments are ruled by Satan and cannot bring into reality what the people desire and want, he said.

This is the day when God himself is bringing in a new reality and the Black man and woman of America are the cornerstone of this new world, he said June 11. Blacks are chosen not as dancers, singers, great athletes, accomplished professionals or even the president of the United States, a doomed and fading modern Rome and modern Babylon, Min. Farrakhan said.

“You don’t want to believe it but the Black man and woman of America are the choice of God. For what? What have we done to be his choice? If you go by our actions we’ve done nothing,” said the Minister. But God has chosen Black people as the question was asked in the Bible, can any good come out of Nazareth, the question is can any good come out of Black people? he said.


Young activists meet with Min. Farrakhan in Washington, D.C.


No time for cowardice
God will not be denied and cowardice will bring the wrath of God Himself because this is not the time for cowardice or cowering when God has come has come to deliver a suffering people, the Minister continued.

Slave labor made America rich, Blacks have fought in every war only to be lynched  in uniform while immigrants benefited from the wealth of a country forged out of the destruction and oppression of Black bodies that never enjoyed freedom, the Minister said.
Then today Blacks are shot down almost daily and the federal government is too weak and corrupt to protect the lives of Black people, Min. Farrakhan said.

“How long are you are going to live under tyranny and continue to pass on the legacy of cowardice to your children? How long will you continue to suffer what we suffer and when somebody is bold enough to speak truth to power, you get frightened?” he asked. “What are you afraid of?” 
“We must never let fleeting wealth and ever fleeting fame stop us from seeing the plantation. The same owners that came from Europe that owned the acres of land that they could not work but found it easy to own the ships that brought our fathers out of Africa. So slavery made America rich, slavery never made us rich.”

So-called education is training to keep Blacks in a “slave box” as Black neighborhoods don’t provide goods and services for themselves, are exploited and receive the worst products and services from those who provide goods and services, he said.

 The law is restricted and expanded as Whites use the criminal justice system to release and punish those as it wishes without regard for justice, he said.
Black America needs to wake up, said the Minister, vowing to sound the alarm to bring a slumbering people out of their dream as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., awoke from his dream. In the last year of his life, Dr. King spoke strongly about the failures of America, the reality of racial intransigence, economic boycotts and the criminality of White society, the Minister said.
Dr. King’s life cannot be summed up in I Have A Dream in 1963 when in 1967, he talked about waking from a dream and seeing an American nightmare, Min. Farrakhan said.

Dr. King was a revolutionary thinker and the speeches of the last year of his life must be studied by those who come to Washington, D.C. on Oct. 10, as the civil rights leader spoke of boycotts, spreading economic pain and collective Black economic action, said Min. Farrakhan.
The Million Man March anniversary gathering is about justice and a demand on government for redress of grievances, so if you are afraid stay home, he said. “Leave me alone, if you don’t have it in your heart that Justice must come Or Else,” the Minister said as the audience exploded into applause.

“When you are seeking justice, you aren’t laughing and clowning. When you want justice you got to have a mind prepared for the ‘Or Else,’” he said.

“If we are denied what is rightfully due to us, then there has to be unified action that we take that will force the justice that we seek,” said the Minister. “This is no march, this is a gathering of those who seek justice.”

We can no longer be threatened by militarized police and when a people are willing to die for their freedom, they are worthy of freedom, he added.

As America tries to police the world, China and other nations are sending American officials back home saying clean up your human rights violations, the Minister said.

The Minister’s themes in Chicago reflected similar themes from messages delivered in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and in New York in early June that focused on the need for concerted economic action and withdrawal, as advocated by Dr. King, the power of Black unity and the opportunity to seek justice for Latinos, Native Americans and even poor Whites.

 We need to boycott Xmas holiday spending as part of demands for addressing the crisis in Black America, the Minister declared. The crowd again applauded and shouted its approval.


Min. Farrakhan spoke to a crowded room in Philadelphia which included, far right, Luqman Abdul Haqq, who made a name for himself as legendary music producer and writer Kenny Gamble.


God’s judgment against America
The wrath of God is displayed in the forces of nature with weather forecasters unable to explain severe conditions as the author of the climate is using nature to destroy this world, the Minister said.

Forces and circumstances are producing an event that will usher in a great change, not political change but divine change, he stressed.

America is not a democracy and has always been of, for and by the rich, the Minister said.
“Look at the pain now we are suffering,” said Minister Farrakhan, speaking to leaders, activists and youth on June 5 at the Harlem State Office Building in New York. “It’s not getting better, it’s worse in the face of some progress made by some of us who are intelligent, gifted, well-meaning. We are like the crabs in a barrel that the crab master has reached into the barrel and taken a few crabs and put them at the top of the barrel.”

Justice is the weapon God is using today, which is the Day of Judgement, and in the future U.S. cities will be leveled as America has leveled cities, the Minister warned. Even Blacks will pay for evil done to one another and rejection of the promise of God because Elijah Muhammad said the enemy would treat Blacks worse and worse, Minister Farrakhan said. Blacks must stop the killing of one another and it can be done, he said.

Using scripture, history and current conditions the Minister described how the national crisis in policing, plots against Black America, and the end of weak and apologetic leadership is ushering in a demand for a serious decision.

Black youth aren’t “thugs” as wrongly described by the president but angry and courageous young people who need right guidance, he said.

We will not collect Black votes to simply give votes to Hillary Clinton or any politician, the Minister vowed. He was referring to the former U.S. senator’s run for the White House and national elections in 2016.

We can accomplish this with courage and unity, but some things are worth giving your life for and we must be willing to pay the ultimate price, Min Farrakhan said. The fight isn’t with silly weapons but with unity and the power of God Himself, he added. But this is no time for cowards, Min. Farrakhan said.

Conditions in urban America are social engineering with the shutdown of factories and divestiture from cities set up to destroy Black people, he explained. Drugs and guns were brought in and music promoted to foment Blacks killing Blacks, he said. The federal government of America has produced the darkness the inner cities are in, said Min Farrakhan. But we can make our communities better, he said.
Student Minister Abdul Hafeez Muhammad of Muhammad Mosque No. 7 in New York organized the meeting for those who could “endorse the 20th anniversary of the Million Man March and its theme, ‘Justice Or Else.’ We have to strike a blow for our young people’s future in a very real way,” said Min. Hafeez Muhammad.
 “I like that he called everyone out. We gotta go street by street and block by block, interact with our young men and women,” said Hakim Yahmadi, a community activist from the Bronx.
“We’ve got to recharge and get young people and women of all ages who are merely chasing that money to hear the message,” he said.

 “There were a lot of people there who are newer faces,” observed Bob Law, a legendary national radio host and New York-based activist. “That there (were) young people interested in what the Minister has to say and what is being planned for the 20th anniversary of the Million Man March is good. So when the Minister comes … people (get to) know what justice is,” he added.

Iesha Sekou of Street Corner Resources and chairwoman of the National Action Network’s Anti-Violence Committee said the Harlem meeting re-inspired her to go out “into the community and increase, not just the work, but the enthusiasms of others to do more to empower our community.”

She loved the Minister’s idea “regarding our health and growing our own food. The Minister said we should use empty spaces to grow gardens and I thought that that was so timely, especially the way fruits and vegetables are being grown, handled and stored.”

Cheyenne Alisha Smith, a medical student and member of Make The Road-New York, became emotional seeing the Minister face to face for the first time. When she got home she thought about her role as a future cardiologist. “It’s not about income, it’s about helping people,” she said.

Queen Nasirah, a former police officer and the founder of the Eye See You 7 organization, called the Minister’s message empowering. “Unity is the only method we can use to come out of the confusion we suffer as a people,” she said. “When we begin to (see) our connection to God—we won’t so easily shoot one another. You can’t know God and look at your brother or sister with an intention to kill him or her.”

Min. Farrakhan speaks as from left the widow of Eric Garner, Esaw Garner, daughter Emerald and analyst Marc Lamont Hill listen. Photos: Richard B. Muhammad.


Student Minister Hafeez Muhammad said the Local Organizing Committees are developing through organizations and individuals that can move people.
“The visit of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan to Philadelphia, in early June was a great example of leadership. The Minister is so confident in his leadership that he doesn’t have to send out a team of advance people to build a crowd and create the correct environment for his presence. Having served in government and politics for 40 years, I’ve seen close-up, how politicians and others go to great lengths to make sure that just the right crowd is present, when they make an appearance. In Philadelphia all the Minister said is that he would like to meet with leaders. When I made calls to let people know, the only ones who couldn’t be there were the ones who had schedules that they couldn’t change or folks (like me) who experienced emergencies,” said Joe Certaine, a former managing director for the city of Philadelphia. He was an integral part of the Philadelphia effort for the Million Man March and is backing the anniversary gathering.

“Since that day, everyone who spoke with me has asked about the next steps to get things moving. Minister Farrakhan has inspired us in ways that no other leader can. But, in his humility, he asked to sit with us and explain his view of why the Million Man March anniversary is necessary and important. Many of my friends and allies, who support the Minister, are preparing to hold the first organizing meeting for the regional effort. Most of us interact with leadership in other parts of the state and region so, as we’ve done in the past, we’ll begin an outreach campaign that will marshal resources and the people to answer the Minister’s call,” he said.

“We will begin to recruit and prepare the marshals that we have always sent to the Million Man March. We’ll work with the organizers to assist with material and logistics. Philadelphia has always been intimately involved in providing strategic and tactical support along with the thousands of people we send to support the Minister. Here in Philly we say, ‘No Excuses’… ‘Justice or Else.’ ”

“The 20th anniversary of the Million Man March will be commemorated on October 16, 2015. The last time this historical event took place in 1995, I was only five years of age, barely old enough to know myself, yet alone comprehend the complexities of systemic oppression, institutionalized racism and pervasive White supremacy. Twenty years later, I am now 25 years of age, have since become very much acclimated with the realities of the African-American struggle in America,” said Seff Al- Afriqi, a spoken word artist and author from Philadelphia and khateeb, a person who delivers Islamic sermons.

“As a result, I am exceedingly enthusiastic to attend the Million Man March for the first time as a youth organizer, activist and community leader. Today, many of my young African-American peers have only heard about the historical ‘Holy Day of Atonement, Reconciliation and Responsibility’ where over 1 million gathered in the name of justice through books and third party sources. So, in preparation for the upcoming commemoration we have taken upon ourselves as African-American youth to organize and mobilize.”

“I’m excited because the Minister is drawing the line in the sand, saying we have to wake up,” said Father Michael Pfleger of St. Sabina Catholic Church in Chicago. What is out here is broken and it’s time to build something new, he added.

“Now we got to rally around him,” said the priest. “We got to let the government and we got to let America know he doesn’t stand alone, we stand together.”

It’s due time and Minister Farrakhan is the only one who can corral the masses for a critical message and commitment to Black people in America and globally, said Tara Stamps, a 46-year-old educator and daughter of legendary activist Marion Stamps. She felt the Minister’s call for Black-Latino unity is “necessary.” It’s in the interest of the White power structure to keep Black and Latinos apart but both communities are suffering violence, police killings, imprisonment and education failures, she added. And, said the recent aldermanic candidate, the theme of “Justice Or Else” rings with young people.

(Lamont Muhammad reported on this story from New York. Jehron Muhammad reported from Philadelphia.)


   

From The Final Call Newspaper

Breakfast with Farrakhan

By Richard B. Muhammad - Editor | Last updated: Jun 9, 2015 - 10:55:10 AM

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Minister Louis Farrakhan (2nd Right) passionately discusses issues effecting Black people with The Breakfast Club (L-R) DJ Envy, Charlamagne Tha God and Angela Yee in New York.

NEW YORK (FinalCall.com) - The “World’s Most Dangerous Morning Show” may have lived up to its name with a powerful appearance by Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan on “The Breakfast Club,” a popular syndicated hip hop program.

The 82-year-old leader was energetic, spirited and passionate in his words to Breakfast Club hosts Charlemagne Tha God, DJ Envy and Angela Yee.
“Every generation that we have produced has confronted White racism. It doesn’t get better,” said Min. Farrakhan in the full roughly 90-minute interview.
“We are 50 years now from the March on Washington with Dr. King and the civil rights movement; and a few months ago we were in Selma celebrating ‘Bloody Sunday’ that made Lyndon Baines Johnson sign a Voting Rights bill, and Congress did that—and in 2013, the Supreme Court comes back and guts the protection aspect of the bill.  So where are we?  Can we really keep going like this?  Or is it better—since we’re going to die anyway:  Why not make a difference, and pay the price to be free?”

The Minister’s main topic was “Justice Or Else!” the theme of the upcoming 20th anniversary gathering of the Million Man March scheduled for Oct. 10 in the Nation’s Capitol.

There was no generation gap here as the man who counted Malcolm X as a mentor and bows to the Honorable Elijah Muhammad as his teacher spoke words that had Twitter—and young people—on fire. “Farrakhan” trended for hours as a hot topic and social media sites were lit up June 5.

The Minister stressed the need for Black America to make a serious decision about its response to and its future as police killings and assaults, racial oppression, mass incarceration and disrespect for Black life seems to know no limit inside America.

“Damn it, if we can’t get justice, if we can’t have peace; if our children are dying in the streets, and there is no redress for our grievances, why the hell should we stay here and continue to live like this?” he asked.

“And then join an army, and go somewhere and fight for the same damn enemy that’s doing what he’s doing to us?  We’ve got to make a serious decision and there’s not much time left to play with life, and to play with the future of our children.

“And all these weak leaders, that are apologists for tyranny:  They have to get out of the way,” said Min. Farrakhan.

“Because our children are angry … I would not mislead them in their anger to do something to get them killed or slaughtered; but there is a verse in the Qur’an that says ‘persecution is worse than slaughter.’ ”

He applauded Floyd “Money” Mayweather for breaking from boxing promoter Bob Arum to earn $30 million in a single fight by forming his own company. He advised the boxer to carefully watch those who come to help with investment and other advice and to be aware of the conniving that exists in the hearts of those who hate Black independence and Black success.

He urged Black athletes and entertainers to reject the status of highly paid slaves poked, prodded, pinched, bought and sold on modern auction blocks. The sports owners and their associates will make you rich, but will never show you how to pool your resources to have real power and real impact on the lives of your people, he said. Riches don’t buy you out of oppression of disrespect, the Minister said.

‘Am I the only man who doesn’t fear death, to speak truth to power? Don’t I have strong brothers and sisters out there who will stand with me? I’m prepared to go alone, because if God is with me, I’m still the winner—it’s just me and God!’ —Min. Louis Farrakhan

He spoke candidly about President Barack Obama’s out-of-bounds condemnation of Black youth who exploded because of outrageous suffering and police brutality in Baltimore.

“We helped our brother get in office; and we were so excited and proud to have our first Black president. And then when our brothers in Baltimore—I mean, that’s a city where Black folk have been catching hell for a long time.  When they rise up, our president refers to them as ‘thugs’ and ‘criminals?’  I want to say to Brother Barack:  You know, when the highest office in the land can look at our children and call them “thugs” and “criminals”… unwittingly, he’s sentencing them to death by the forces that deal with thugs and criminals.

“They are not thugs! They are not criminals! They are angry young people,” said Min. Farrakhan.

“The Breakfast Club” airs on New York’s Power 105.1 radio and discusses hip hop, celebrity news, current events and trending topics. Through syndication the show is one of the most popular for young people across the country. It also has a popular YouTube presence and the hosts have Twitter followers that range from one million to over half a million followers.

It was this audience that Min. Farrakhan was determined to reach in the face of growing threats to Black youth and Black life—threats that come from without and within. Fratricidal violence must stop and this is a war to be fought on two fronts, the Minister stressed.

But his message was incredibly passionate, including a few instances of raw language, as he recited history lessons about struggles, warned of ongoing plots to Black existence and explained the power and success that comes with unity and courage. This is not a time for cowardice, he said.

“ ‘Singing in,’ ‘wading in,’ ‘crying in,’ ‘praying in’ has not worked; marches have not worked. And the oppression and the tyranny is getting worse,” said the Minister. Thirty minutes of the interview was broadcast over Power 105.1 on June 5 before the entire interview was posted online. The interview was taped June 4.

With the anniversary gathering of the Million Man March, the theme isn’t “Atonement, Reconciliation, Responsibility” but a serious demand for justice, the Minister said.

“When you say you’re going for ‘justice’ and ‘jobs,’ that’s no time to party! That’s a time to be serious, because (of) the cry for justice against the forces who uphold injustice. Now you’ve got to have a mind:  ‘What are you going to do to move the forces of injustice if they won’t bow to the truth that should bring justice?” he said.

“And at that point, we’re in ‘The Valley of Decision. We’ve been living in ‘The Valley of The Shadow of Death’—but we’ve been doing the dying.  So we’ve got some serious decisions to make as a people!  And I intend to put that before the Congress, before the government, before the Department of Justice, [and] the president.  But more importantly, to put it before us as a people: What are we going to do to prepare a future for our children and our grandchildren?” he asked.

“Our young people represent the strongest and the best generation that we ever had.  They’re not the wisest, but they are the best because they are fearless.  And when you see fearless young men and women, that’s the generation that God’s hand is on because that’s the generation that will fulfill the promise of the ancestors who died struggling for true freedom, justice and liberation; but the young are the generation that will deliver on that promise—with the right leadership,” the Minister continued. His way would never put youth in a foolish and dangerous position, but God Himself is with Blacks in America and we must show a willingness to fight and die if necessary, said Min. Farrakhan.

There is an assault on Black life through law enforcement, through the courts, through attacks on voting rights, through joblessness and flooding poor neighborhoods with drugs and guns and even through vaccines and the scourge of AIDS, he warned in a strident voice. These conditions are “social engineering” designed to destroy Blacks from within and without and bear witness to biblical scripture of “principalities and power and spiritual wickedness in high places,” the Minister said.

Presidential administrations have looked at decreasing world population as a matter of American security interest, and that plot today targets Blacks, said Min. Farrakhan. The Bible speaks of pharaoh dealing wisely with the growing population of the children of Israel by plotting against them—and that scripture is being fulfilled today, he said.

We cannot pass on a legacy of cowardice to our children and will not collect Black votes to simply give votes to Hillary Clinton or any politician, he added. We will hold our votes to make demands and extract justice, which means we have to put power behind those demands to force our oppressors to give us what we deserve, the Minister said.

Read Dr. Martin Luther King’s speeches during his last year of life and you hear a man who woke to the America nightmare, said Min. Farrakhan. He wasn’t assassinated because he had a dream, the Minister added.

The interview helped bring the Minister to a new generation, with a media blackout and ban on colleges campuses against him.

“Eighty-two years young, looks better than all of us,” said host Charlemagne Tha God, at the beginning of the interview. On Twitter he said to his 1.1 million followers, that the Minister would be on his show, and the show sparked follow up stories from hip hop outlets and media outlets, including the Source, BET.com, and Hip Hop Wired.

“They done pushed Farrakhan to cursing S--t just got real on the @breakfastclubam  @djenvy @cthagod @angelayee,” tweeted Hell Rell ‏@sxynymamii on June 5.

“@LouisFarrakhan just changed my way of thinking to help lead this generation,” tweeted WORDPLAYTJAY ‏@wordplaytjay on June 5.

“Over 270K views: Minister Louis Farrakhan Interview With The Breakfast Club:

http://www.worldstarhiphop.com/videos,” tweeted Jesse Muhammad, who handles social media for Min. Farrakhan, under the Twitter handle @brotherjesse on June 7.

“I think this was a watershed moment in American history. I think it was truly, truly, truly a bold and courageous thing for them to do to bring in the Minister who really is the leader for the times that we are living in right now,” said Dr. Boyce Watkins of YourBlackWorld.com, FinancialJunteenth.com and strong advocate for Black self-reliance and economic cooperation to build power.

“The thing about Farrakhan that’s really interesting to me is that he is very, very different from the other leaders that we’ve seen over the last 40 years,” said Dr. Watkins in a YouTube video.

“The reason I am very excited about Farrakhan being on The Breakfast Club is because The Breakfast Club has done an amazing job of capturing the ear of urban America,” he observed. Part of the Minister’s appeal is “real recognizes real,” and young people need real leadership to harness their power and gifts, Dr. Watkins said. Min. Farrakhan has been independent of President Obama, dignified, respectful but critical when necessary and outspoken on urban issues and problems, he added.

Min. Farrakhan “has been the voice that connects with the people and he’s connecting through love, connecting through empowerment. He talks to these kids with a degree of respect,” he said. “He is kinda like the father or grandfather of Black America.”

Conversations with Min Farrakhan were talks with a free Black man who offered words about what it takes to be free not begging, compromising or hoping for the best, said Dr. Watkins.

When it comes to education, economic power, and protection, we have to do that for ourselves, no matter how many corporate jobs we get, he said.

“What I love about Farrakhan’s interview on Breakfast Club is that he brings a seriousness, a righteousness, a type of respect. It’s not condescending. But yet he challenges you to do what Black men have to do which is just to stand up and be men.”