The Final Call

'City of the Dead' comes to life as support for Justice Or Else! grows

By Rashad Muhammad | Last updated: Aug 25, 2015 - 1:09:38 PM

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MEMPHIS - A couple thousand people packed the Cannon Center and after braving long lines were glad to have heard Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan and were looking forward to making history on Oct. 10 in Washington, D.C., the 20th anniversary of the Million Man March and the Justice Or Else! gathering the Minister came to promote.

“It’s the right time; it’s the right call, ‘Justice Or Else!’ with the right man,” said Brandon Parker who traveled from Nashville, to hear the Minister.

Barry Anderson, who stood in a long line outside in the August heat, also supported the Minister’s call for “Justice Or Else!” “What prompted me to come is to get the knowledge from the Minister and support the cause of justice and peace,” said Mr. Anderson. “I’ll forever be with him.”

Several dignitaries offered their reactions to the Minister’s words.

Michael “Boogaloo” Boyer, a popular Memphis performer and hip hop radio personality, said, “It was powerful. I think he’s taking away that fear of the Black man coming together. He has given us a plan on how we can unify.”

Michael Adrian Davis, a popular gospel radio personality on 95.7 Hallelujah FM, believes the Minister’s articulation of relevant timely points and words were sincere. “It seemed to have come from his heart,” said Mr. Davis. “The gamut from Israel all the way back to Black on Black crime, which really allowed us to look at ourselves introspectively to understand what our marching orders should be, not as a religious group or a sect, but as a Black nation … The message is pretty clear; it’s time for us to fend for ourselves.”

“What stood out to me was his talk on self-help,” said businessman Stevie Moore who is also a political consultant, community activist and president and founder of FFUN, Freedom From Unnecessary Negatives. “We’ve got to stop depending on everybody else and save our own money and deal with our own business; stop asking folks to give us something, but to do it for ourselves. The other thing that stood out is that he talked about how we can’t keep going to them about stopping the killing and we keep killing ourselves. We’ve got to come to a point to be self-sufficient, stop killing one another, and take care of our own and bring family back together,” he said.