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FinalCall.com News
National News
Farrakhan calls for independence through pooling resources
By Ashahed M. Muhammad -Asst. Editor-
Updated Feb 27, 2013 - 1:25:47 AM
Sacrifice, purposeful action using Muhammad’s Economic Blueprint needed for Black America to survive, thrive and gain true freedom
CHICAGO (FinalCall.com) - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan presented a clear plan for those ready to work to establish a free and independent Black nation during his Saviours’ Day 2013 keynote address themed “Muhammad’s Economic Blueprint: Ending Poverty and Want.”
“When this lecture is over, I want to see if you are in agreement with what we say, and if in agreement, you are willing to act upon the principles that you will hear,” said Minister Farrakhan. “Today’s subject, by Allah’s grace, will give you a vision of what we as a people must do to solve our problems.”
There was a festive atmosphere in the University of Illinois at Chicago Pavilion, which was packed to the rafters with those traveling from across the city, throughout the region, around the country and the globe to hear solutions presented by the National Representative of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, patriarch of the Nation of Islam.
“The fact is, we are now facing the grim reality that everything the Honorable Elijah Muhammad predicted has now come to pass,” he said.
The Honorable Elijah Muhammad outlined in Muhammad Speaks newspaper nearly 50 years ago, a plan addressing the economic plight of Blacks in the United States. It was presented as an “Economic Savings Program” and a “3-Year Savings Plan” that called on all Black wage earners across political, religious and ideological lines to make regular, affordable contributions into a single national treasury. The Minister called again for Blacks to heed the wisdom of his teacher and to follow the divine directive to unite, pool resources and build a reality for themselves.
An Economic Blueprint, a way to success
The Minister defined the words “economic” and “blueprint” and explained why Mr. Muhammad presented it as he did. The word economics comes from the Greek oikonomikos, “denoting the science of household management, but it has come to be defined as the science of the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services, or the material welfare of humanity,” he said. A blueprint is defined as “something that acts as a plan, a model, or something providing guidance; a detailed plan or program of action.”
The Honorable Elijah Muhammad saw in God’s creation the perfect representation of economy demonstrated by the human body, the Minister said. He described the process by which food enters the body, is broken down, digested and nutrients distributed to all parts of the body that are in need. When the body is diseased, life’s essentials are not delivered to the body in sufficient quantities. This is exactly what manifested in uprisings taking place across the globe, Min. Farrakhan explained.
“The people are not getting what they need to survive!” said the Minister.
The problem is the capitalistic system of distribution of wealth which is exploitative in nature, he continued. The human body is not a capitalist system; it is a system of socialism which works because all are fed what they need. “Imagine if such a system of government existed, who would go to bed on this earth hungry, who would be deprived of education?”
A nickel a day
The Hon. Elijah Muhammad asked people to save just a nickel a day, a quarter a week for 52-weeks, amounting to $13 a year kept in a national treasury, the Minister explained. With 5 million wage earners at that time, it amounted to $65 million raised in one year.
In 2013 with 16 million Black wage earners contributing the same nickel a day seven days a week would mean over $291 million raised in one year, Min. Farrakhan said.
The Hon. Elijah Muhammad wrote “the farm is the engine of our national life” and said 100 million acres of land—about the size of California—under cultivation was needed as a start, the Minister said. That needed farmland would provide a foundation for economic progress and better health—as organic food that is not poisoned by chemicals or genetically modified products is grown, he said.
The nearly $300 million could fund these operations and could also be used to fund the many struggling Historically Black Colleges and Universities across America, freeing institutions to offer curriculum, direction, and staffing that teaches how to be independent as part of a self-determined community, he added.
The Nation of Islam has an example of what can be done since repurchasing 1,600 acres of farmland in Georgia that was previously owned by the Nation, Min. Farrakhan said.
Under the direction of Dr. Ridgely Abdul Mu’min Muhammad, worn out weed-infested, hard rock clay land has been transformed into arable land and workable soil which brought back birds and wildlife. Annually the farmland produces 400,000 pounds of watermelons, 12,000 pounds of vegetables, and 100,000 pounds of wheat. Products and other goods are delivered to 35 cities and jobs have been created in the area.
Spending money, not keeping money
Annual Black spending power amounts to about $1.1 trillion. Where does it go? Blacks own hardly any of the blighted and abandoned buildings within their neighborhoods that are scattered throughout the cities of America, Min. Farrakhan noted. The crowd nodded in agreement as the Minister presented statistics dealing with Black America, which is in a “dire condition,” and suffers disproportionally from U.S. economic woes.
The same cries for justice and jobs have been heard for the last 50 years, and in 2013, conditions are worse, Min. Farrakhan said.
Blacks make up 13 percent of the U.S. population but own a meager one percent of America’s total wealth. The Black home foreclosure rate is 80 percent higher than the rate of Whites, and financial gains made by the Black middle class over the last 30 years have been wiped out with the fall of the housing market, the Minister said. Some economists say the real Black unemployment rate is close to 30 percent, much higher than what is officially reported in the media and by financial institutions.
One in every 15 Black men is incarcerated, and there have been more than a 250,000 Black-on-Black homicides since 1976, Min. Farrakhan said.
In some of America’s poorest areas, the high school dropout rate is nearly 60 percent. While the federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, nearly 7.7 million people are now known as the “working poor,” meaning they have incomes, but they still live below the poverty line.
Although Blacks represent 13 percent of the population, they represent 28 percent of the poor population, the largest number ever recorded, and the Black-White wealth gap is still growing, the Minister said.
Neither President Obama nor the Congress has solutions to the problem, he stated.
“Even with a Black two-term president, he has not been able to repair the damage caused by centuries of racism and greed,” said Min. Farrakhan. “His presence in that highest political office has not, cannot and will not solve our problems.”
At the same time, God is pounding America with one calamity after another. Twenty-nine states are under drought conditions and America’s dollar, that the Minister referred to as “phony money,” is growing weaker by the day. Everything happening is placing more pressure on an American economy that the Minister described as already on life-support.
He also noted that it has been 100 years since the creation of the Federal Reserve Bank, the Internal Revenue Service and the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith, and it is not a coincidence that since 1913, the American debt has gone from $2 billion to more than $16.4 trillion.
“They set these institutions up to work in unity,” said the Minister. “One was to create debt, the other was enforce a tax policy to take from the American citizens enough to pay that debt and the watchdog of the whole thing was to see who would recognize who did this, and that’s when the Anti-Defamation League would raise the cry of anti-Semitism.
Citing a study titled “The Buying Power of Black America,” by Target Market News, Min. Farrakhan shared how Blacks spend $3.3 billion per year on tobacco, another $3 billion per year on alcohol, and $29.3 billion on clothes.
The crowd groaned as the Minister pointed out Blacks spend $19 billion on cell phone services and 54 percent of Blacks own smart phones.
Minister Farrakhan said Muhammad’s Economic Program was sent to economists and others, some of whom met with him recently in Phoenix to discuss its viability. Not one of them rejected the program, he said.
Unlike other groups, such as the Koreans, Chinese and Jews, Blacks are hardly involved in purposeful saving and investing, Min. Farrakhan said. Goods are supplied and services are delivered by often exploitative and unscrupulous business owners who “swoop in like vultures and buzzards”—birds of prey that hover over dead carcasses—waiting to descend, he said.
He had some sharp words for Palestinian merchants who claim to be Muslims, but sell pork, alcohol, tobacco and take sexual advantage of young Black females. Instead of taking advantage of the ignorance and terribly savage conditions within the underserved Black community, these merchants should help in the Nation of Islam’s work of reformation, said the Minister.
“I’m asking you to help me! My job is the same as the job of Prophet Muhammad ibn Abdullah!” he said.
The building shook and the crowd leapt to its feet and cheered. “We have to reform our people and you’re making it more difficult for us,” he said.
Black America and Africa
One of the areas where Blacks in America can exert power is in U.S. policies toward Africa. Africa is so large that America, Canada, Spain, France, Europe, India, China and Japan can all fit inside her land area, said Min. Farrakhan.
Africa holds almost every known natural resource needed to run the Western industrial economy, he said. China and Russia have already beat America to establish arrangements to rebuild infrastructure on the continent, the Minister said.
“They want to cooperate with Africa, while America and Europe want to co-opt Africa,” he said. “Now through AFRICOM the United States is now forcing her way into Africa. Now from our position as Blacks in America, our potential strength will enable us to help Africa.”
Africa can’t be helped by Blacks in America who are weak economically and politically, Min. Farrakhan said candidly. However, if conditions improve there could be a mutually beneficial future for Africa and America, if the U.S. desires to negotiate fairly, he said.
America and Europe fear Africa becoming strong and controlling her own land and resources, the Minister warned. There is a “new scramble for Africa” which is the main reason Libya’s Col. Muammar Gadhafi was targeted for regime change and assassination.
“If you allowed Muammar Gadhafi to stay in power, and you wanted to treat Africa fairly, Muammar Gadhafi was your door to Africa!” said the Minister.
“You killed my brother, and now you’ve got the same thing in your mind for me. You want to put your hands on me, in fact, you’re plotting as I am speaking. You killed my brother, but you won’t kill me,” said Minister Farrakhan. “You killed my brother Jesus! Notice how I said that—you killed my brother Jesus 2,000 years ago and he was the last prophet to you and you killed him.”
“He warned you that if you rejected him, one would come 2,000 years later in his name, and he would end your civilization. Well, that one is here now!” he said. “To hell with the enemy! His time to rule is all over!” said the Minister boldly. The choices made by this world’s rulers are key in the unfolding divine drama, he said.
“God made a promise—an agreement—with all of those who received a prophet, and particularly he made an agreement with the Jewish people. And—speaking now to the Jewish people—you accepted that agreement, according to the Qur’an. And what is that agreement? That when that one comes that is found written of in the Torah and the Gospel, that you would help him and in helping him you would be helping yourself. I represent that one—I am in his place, he is alive, well, and now in power. You have to choose between the Talmud and Torah. If you choose the Torah, you live. If you choose the Talmud, unfortunately, this is the end of your civilization.”
Separation: The way to end Black suffering
“The American dream is built on a Black nightmare,” said Min. Farrakhan. America only likes separation when it suits her purpose, whether foreign or domestic, he said. The same thing that worked for the separatist founders of America and separatist movements across the globe can work for Black people in America, he said. God has prophesied that he would give his chosen people the kingdom, Min. Farrakhan added. But economics must be linked to moral reform, character and self-knowledge, Min. Farrakhan said.
In 1966 the Hon. Elijah Muhammad wrote a letter to the major Black organizational leaders calling for a meeting to establish a Black united front. The Minister said he would be doing the same, writing a letter to Black leaders, military leaders, and street organization leaders.
Further outlining separation from the perspective of the Nation of Islam, the Minister argued the call for separation, freedom and independence should not be frightening. American presidents Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, James Monroe and Woodrow Wilson all spoke in favor of racial separation to solve America’s racial dilemma, Min. Farrakhan pointed out.
Former slaves who colonized Liberia were so grateful to President Monroe that Liberia’s capital is named for him, said Min. Farrakhan. President Jefferson called for letting Blacks have a separate nation, supplying their needs and forming a mutual protection pact, the Minister added.
With the establishment of a Black homeland, protection of borders and resources would be required and would make the Second Amendment, the right bear arms, relevant for Black people, he said. Today Blacks wield illegal weapons and foolishly kill one another, Min. Farrakhan said. Black youth in street organizations are natural leaders and should be defenders of the community, he said.
“We have to protect what is ours from any thief or robber that would try to take it from us and that’s where the Second Amendment comes in for us! … When we get what is required to build a nation, what kind of nation would we be if we can’t protect our own borders, our own airspace and our own land?”
“All you gang-bangers—we know you love to shoot, but you’re killing yourselves. We want to make you the defenders of the territories that your people’s dollars, dimes and ours will buy. You are the natural warriors to defend it and the science of war must be taught to us so that we will protect whatever God allows us to buy or to build,” said the Minister.
“We have 400,000 Black soldiers fighting someone else’s wars—come on home Black soldiers! Come on and stand with us!” he said. “We don’t believe we should take part in wars which take the lives of humans especially where we have nothing to gain from it. Unless we have the necessary territory where we have something to fight for! The Honorable Elijah Muhammad taught me how to negotiate for weapons to defend our land!”
