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![]() Student Minister Abel Muhammad, Esperanza Tijerina, Reies Lopez Tijerina, The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, and Mother Tynetta Muhammad
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In “Closing the Gap,” The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan gives deeper insight to the use of the term “with” in reference to the descendants of the conquered peoples of the West. “Seventeen million ‘with’ the two million Indians—well, if every man will go unto his own, and find refuge under his own vine and fig tree, then the question that must be asked is what is his own?... His own is Islam, the nature made by God in which He has created the human being.”
![]() Cesar Chavez holding a copy of Muhammad Speaks. This photo ran with an interview in the August 4, 1972 edition.
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There are several significant events in the history of the Nation of Islam where this relationship between Blacks and the Native American and Hispanic peoples was solidified. One early account of this is the friendship of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad with Henry Almanza Sr., a Mexican living in Detroit who had married a Black American woman, Mary Almanza. Mary Almanza, along with her 10 children, had become some of the early members of Detroit’s Temple #1 under Master Fard Muhammad. She became one of the first teachers in the University of Islam, even being arrested during the raids on the Temple. Her husband, who immigrated to the U.S. after the Mexican revolution, dined with the Honorable Elijah Muhammad frequently and was a great supporter of his cause, although never registering in the Temple himself.
![]() Clipping from Muhammad Speaks Newspaper
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As Allah’s Nation in the wilderness of North America grew, the repression and abuse from America’s race struggles naturally drew Blacks and Hispanics together, with many finding refuge within the ranks of the Nation of Islam. By the 1950s many Caribbean born Latinos and Central Americans had served in the movements New York Mosque while on the West Coast a number of Mexicans became among the first Hispanics to embrace Islam. Mexican pioneers of the Nation of Islam included Brother Benjamin X Perez (Imam Benjamin Perez Mahoma) of Oakland, a friend of farmworker Activist Cesar Chavez; Minister Emanuel X Villalobos of Los Angeles who spoke during Saviour’s Day 1968; and Manuel X Alva who established an outpost in Tijuana, Mexico.
The seeds of this unity planted by the Great Mahdi were now budding and coming into fruition under the leadership of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad and his young National Representative of Caribbean parentage, Minister Louis Farrakhan. It was through the articulation of these teachings by the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan that many Latinos embraced Islam, as well as impacting the Hispanic community outside of the Nation.
![]() Members of the Nation of Islam pause for photo during Saviours' Day 2008 Convention in Chicago, IL.
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Today, more and more, young Latinos have found a voice against the racism and oppression experienced by their parents and themselves in Islam as taught by the Honorable Elijah Muhammad under the guidance of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan.
(David J. Muhammad is a historian, researcher, and activist whose work has focused on Latin America and Islam. He maintains a blog dealing with religion, culture, and knowledge of self, www.djmuhammad.blogspot.com, and can be reached at [email protected].)