Minister Farrakhan and BET correspondent Jeff Johnson at the National House in Chicago, IL. March 6, 2007.

The interview began with Mr. Johnson asking Minister Farrakhan what made him join the Nation of Islam and devote his life to following the Honorable Elijah Muhammad.

“He was a man that I had been looking for all of my life,” said Minister Farrakhan. “I always grew up with a longing for someone who would deliver Black people.” Minister Farrakhan said he was a little hesitant the first time he heard the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, but noted that his uncle informed him that his wife had already joined. He followed suit and said that after he went to New York and heard Minister Malcolm X, he was “convinced beyond the shadow of a doubt” that the Nation of Islam was where he belonged.

“I’m so grateful to God that he allowed me to believe in what the Honorable Elijah Muhammad taught, because it gave greater purpose to my life, and I live today to see the rise of our people here and throughout the world.”

Mr. Johnson then asked Minister Farrakhan what gave him the courage and strength to rebuild the Nation of Islam after the Honorable Elijah Muhammad’s departure, especially since there were many who did not want to see his work rebuilt. Mr. Johnson said those people would be called “haters” in today’s jargon.

“Because I loved the Honorable Elijah Muhammad so much, I loved the community so much, I thought at least, since his name was being written out of history, that I should do something, because a man that great, who did that much should never be written out of history. There wouldn’t have been a Malcolm X if there were no Elijah, there wouldn’t have been a Muhammad Ali if there were no Elijah, there wouldn’t have been an Imam (Warith Deen) Mohammed if there were no Elijah, and there wouldn’t be any Farrakhan if there were no Elijah. The media takes the students and lifts the students and compares the students and tries to make the students greater than the teacher,” Minister Farrakhan said. “They didn’t fear Malcolm, especially when he left Elijah, and they didn’t fear the change of direction of the Nation, they feared the idea of Elijah Muhammad,” he added.

“Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come. If we have an idea that undercuts White supremacy, that undercuts a social, political, economic and religious system that has suppressed and oppressed the masses of dark people all over the world— and White people too—then that idea must be crushed. You can kill the man, but if his idea lives he lives.”

Minister Farrakhan recalled the early days of the rebuilding of the Nation of Islam and that even though his life was in danger he continued the work.

“When you have a purpose for your life, you don’t think about consequences, you think about doing what it is that God put you here to do,” he said.

Minister Farrakhan was then asked about the assassination of Malcolm X. He pointed out that going back to the time of the assassination, none of the eleven daily New York newspapers mentioned him as having any part in Malcolm’s assassination.

According to Minister Farrakhan, it was not until the mid-80s when he began to reach large and enthusiastic crowds such as the 19,000 in Los Angeles and over 50,000 in Madison Square Garden in New York amidst death threats from the Jewish Defense League (JDL) that the media began to connect him in any way to Malcolm’s death.

Minister Farrakhan also noted that after those speeches, many in the media began to describe him as the “premier leader among Black people.” Minister Farrakhan said there is much about Malcolm X and the circumstances surrounding his death that remain unknown by many of those who see themselves as continuing Malcolm’s legacy. As one who actually lived through this period of history, Minister Farrakhan delivered the actual facts to the interviewer.

“Did you know that when Brother Malcolm was assassinated, the papers rejoiced at his death? Go back and read. Did you know that Brother Malcolm in 1965 when he was assassinated was called by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) the leading Black anti-Semite? Did you know that it was Brother Malcolm who exposed the real powers behind the NAACP and the civil rights movement? Did you know that it was Brother Malcolm that put on our reading list the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion?” Minister Farrakhan said to Mr. Johnson who at this time was on the edge of his seat.

“Brother Malcolm was no fool,” said Minister Farrakhan. “If Brother Malcolm, could come back today and see himself on a U.S. government stamp, he would wonder what happened because he did not like the U.S. government. When I split with Brother Malcolm was when he split with the Honorable Elijah Muhammad.”

Minister Farrakhan went on to point out that it was the FBI’s COINTELPRO that benefited the most from the split between Malcolm X and the Honorable Elijah Muhammad.

Minister Farrakhan said that today’s hip hop artists are potentially the most powerful leaders, because the youth are listening to rappers more than civic leaders or preachers. He admonished the preachers to “get out of the pulpit” and “stop preaching to the choir.”

“Get out in the street and talk to our people,” he said. “Don’t condemn them, teach them. Don’t condemn them, reform their thinking,” said Minister Farrakhan who then pointed out the sinister motives of many record executives, who, as a result of their marketing domination and control over distribution determine musical content continually profiting from profanity, violence and degrading lyrics.

Minister Farrakhan suggested that we start our own distribution companies and then place revolutionary ideas into the cultural mainstream of Black consciousness, which would then elevate the minds of the people.

“Mao Tse Tung, one of the greatest revolutionaries of our time had a billion people to convert to his idea. What did he do? He saw the value of the cultural community. They took his ideas and put them in songs, put them in dance, put them in plays, put them in books and before you knew it, China became a great nation. We will never become a great nation without our artists. Our artists are the key not only to the liberation of Black people, but the liberation of humanity itself,” Minister Farrakhan said.