What's your opinion on this article?
[Editor’s note: The following article contains edited excerpts of the Saviours’ Day keynote address delivered by the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan on Sunday, February 23, 2014 at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan. Click to order this message is in its entirety on audio/video download, DVD or CD or call 1.866.602.1230, ext. 200.]
In The Name of Allah, The Beneficent, The Merciful.
We give Him praise and thanks for His Coming in the Person of Master Fard Muhammad to Whom praise is due forever, The Great Mahdi. We thank Him for His Coming, for the start of the Nation of Islam in this great city of Detroit. We thank Him for The Work that He did under disguise: Most of the people that saw Him did not know Who He was.
We thank Him for coming to Detroit—to Black Bottom Detroit. It’s like that parable in the Bible (Matthew 13): That a man saw a field, but in that field was a pearl of great price; and he gave all that he had to acquire that field, because in that field was a pearl of great price.
Black people of Detroit, Black people of America, Black people of the world: You are a very, very special people! And you would not think that you were so special, that God would not send you “a prophet” but that He would come Himself to see after you, as it is written of Him.
And that “pearl of great price” that He found here in Detroit is the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, His Messenger/Messiah, The Exalted Christ.
‘February 26, 1955, Saviour’s Day’: When my Teacher gave me my Assignment
I thank Allah for the day that I met him, because all my life I’d been longing for somebody who would love us enough to free us from the oppressive hand of our wicked oppressors. I looked for him; I searched for him, and the closest that I came to finding him was when my uncle showed me a picture of The Right Honorable Marcus Mosiah Garvey. When I asked my uncle who is that man, he said, “He came to unite our people,” and I wanted to go right away to meet him! But my uncle told me that Mr. Garvey had passed. And, as a 12-year-old, the tears were running down my face, because I had come so close to the man I was looking for, and he was gone.
I thank Allah for the day of “February 26th,” which is the birth date of Master Fard Muhammad; and on that day, we celebrate “Saviours’ Day.” In 1955, I was in Chicago playing at a local night club, and my friend asked if I wanted to come to Saviour’s Day, which was being held at 5335 S. Greenwood Avenue in Chicago, to hear the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. And I said, “Yes.”
(And when I went, unfortunately I had a little cannabis; and I tucked it away in my hat band, because I heard that these brothers were searching. And they didn’t disturb my hat band (smile); but I went in, and I heard the Honorable Elijah Muhammad.)
I can’t tell you that I was “ready” at that moment, because he frightened me! Because, I was a student of English—and he was splitting verbs; and in my mind, as I was criticizing him, he looked right up where I was sitting and said: “Brother, I didn’t get that mighty fine education that you got. When I got to the school door, it was closing. But you don’t pay no attention to ‘how’ I’m saying it—you pay attention to ‘what’ I’m saying; then you take it, and put it in that fine language that you know. Only try to understand what I am saying.” And he gave me my Assignment the first day that I saw him, and that he saw me.
Detroit as ‘a model for change’ in the reformation and uniting of our people
We are honored, Congressman John Conyers, to be back in Detroit. And I want Detroit to know: We Are Back To Stay. This is a great city! This city gave economic life and stability to America, and made her a power, through the automobile industry, throughout the world. Detroit attracted Black people from the South, who were tired of sharecropping and allowing somebody else to take advantage of their sweat and their labor; and they came to Detroit seeking a job. And they started working in factories …
Henry Ford, a great man; who was called an “anti-Semite”—(well, I feel like I’m in “good company,” you know?): That man set up in Highland Park [metro Detroit], a community building homes for the workers, to give them a middle class existence. And there was a time in Detroit when Black people were living under the best housing conditions of any city in America! But, Detroit has become as a “hole”—“Black Bottom”—again.
They are building up downtown, where the wealthy have come in and have bought a lot of property cheaply. They are not coming to a “bankrupt city” that they don’t think can live again; they know that Detroit can live, and will live, again! They know that!
Our ministers were blessed to meet his honor, the new mayor, Mike Duggan; and this is the first time in a long time that the city of Detroit had a White mayor, and we hope he will be successful! Now, “politics” is what it is; and evidently you wanted him, so you voted for him! So, we said to the mayor, “It is one thing to build downtown … But if downtown is built up, but ‘uptown’ and ‘crosstown’ are blighted”—and Detroit is still a majority Black city—“then why would you want to be mayor over downtown, and not mayor over ‘all the town’?”
And as you are building up downtown: What plan is there to resurrect the blighted communities of people that have worked, paid their taxes, and suffered in this city; to tell them after they are retired and looking for their pension, and looking for the promises that were made to them, that “I’m sorry”—that you can’t pay them?
As this is not the “first” city in America that has declared bankruptcy, know that many more are going to follow.
*********
I don’t want to speak ahead of our actual power “to do,” but Detroit offers us a great opportunity. Consider when The Stock Market crashes: There are a lot of people that are sad. But those who have cash? They are happy, because they come in and buy up stocks; in fact, sometimes it is said by some that they manipulate The Stock Market. And when people lose their money, then the rich come in and buy up stock—take it all—and become rich and powerful. But I want to warn you, by The Grace of Allah, that the days of exploiting “the misery of the mass” are over. And if you really want a good city, let’s form a partnership.
In The Nation of Islam, Our Job is “reform.” Our people are in a savage state. Don’t be mad with me; because a “savage” is a person that has lost the knowledge of self, and is living a life of a beast. Look at the murder rate! Look at the rape! Look at the blight! Look at the garbage! Look at the city in deterioration—not just around Detroit, but travel throughout America, and see!
But this presents us with a great opportunity. Study intelligent White people: They don’t have “all” the money, but they pool their monies, and then they buy up a lot. What’s wrong with us doing the same? If parts of Detroit are for sale, your disunity won’t allow you to use your money properly. But if there was somebody you could trust—and I will say, “Here am I! Send me.”
I will not rob you! I will give my life—oh, yes! And when we start taking peoples’ money, I want everybody with me to sign a Pledge! “What kind of pledge?” A Pledge to die if you misuse the people and their money (and the F.O.I. will be glad to kill you, immediately!) We are tired of crooked leadership! We’re tired of leaders that lie to the people, take their money, and run away! I think enough is enough.
Black people of America: How are we going to stand around, and let people “stand their ground,” shoot us down—get away with it—and we don’t get justice? As the Honorable Elijah Muhammad writes in “The Muslim Program,” Point No. 2 in “What The Muslims Want”: “We want justice. Equal justice under the law.”
We want the federal government to intercede to see that Black men and women tried in your courts get justice in accordance with the law! I’m going on record with this today, because the breasts of our people can’t take much more.
So we have to have our own courts. You (the American judicial system) have failed us! Well, to hell with you—we are going to try them in our court, “in absentia”; but we’ll carry out the sentence openly—in the public! Until we put a stop to it, it won’t stop.
Now if you are a leader, and this is “too strong a medicine” for you: Then when your son is shot down, when your precious daughters are raped, and ravished… Refer to the scene in the movie The Godfather, when the man (at first) didn’t pay him any respect; but when somebody ravished his daughter, he went to “The Godfather.” Not that I’m a “Godfather,” or anything like that. Also, there was another movie where the people screamed out the window, “We’re sick and tired! And we can’t take it no more!”… As Muslims, the Holy Qur’an is our Book (and the Bible, too) But the Holy Qur’an gives you laws governing “retaliation.” (Surah 2, verse 178)
Muslims: If the Holy Qur’an is our Book, then at some point Allah will hold us responsible if we don’t act on His Word. “Well, wait a minute Farrakhan! You’re living in America.” Really? I ask this: Has America been just to us? No. Has America been fair to us? No. Has America looked out for us? No! So, if we retaliate: America, you can bring out your soldiers—but we’ve got some, too!
Has America been fair to us? I have been telling you about a Wheel over your head … We have a Weapon. And above all, we have Allah. I don’t mean to frighten anybody, by the spirit in which I am speaking; but, I love you! I offer my life—and I am willing to live and to die to see us free! We cannot have leaders in front of us who are not willing to die to see the people free.
In the Book of Matthew, Chapter 16, verse 25, Jesus said “if you love your life, you’ll lose it”; but “if you will lose your life for my sake, you will find eternal life.” That is not an empty promise of a “foolish” Christ. That is a Word from God to a scared-to-death people who keep on passing to new generations the legacy of cowardice. I am saying to our mayor, our governor of the state of Michigan, our political leaders: We can work with our pastors in Detroit, and reform our people. We’ve got to do that. The savage condition of our people can be erased with the presence of knowledge. I would like us to form a union with our pastors, Christians and Muslims working together—“Jesus” and “Muhammad” would be arm-in-arm!
The prophets are “one community”: But the division among us was not caused by the prophets, it was caused by Satan interfering with the communities of the prophets. So, my subject asks the question: “How Strong is The Foundation; Can We Survive?”
To the Muslims of Detroit: We need to sit down with our pastors (there are pastors all over the city) But don’t hurry to get on the payroll of anybody to do nothing! Let’s unite! And work to civilize our people!
The Nation of Islam’s F.O.I. & M.G.T. Vanguard as models of ‘soldiers for Christ’
When we mention “reform,” take a look at the F.O.I. (“Fruit of Islam”) and M.G.T. and G.C.C. Vanguard (“Muslim Girls’ Training/General Civilization Class”) of The Nation of Islam.
Dear pastors, I want you to testify to this! That The Teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad: He used the very Bible that you have in your possession, but you are not following it, and you don’t act like you believe in it. But Elijah Muhammad took that Bible, and cleaned us up. Look at these brothers and sisters: You don’t have anybody that looks like that … These are young men: They’re not dope dealers; they’re not wine bibbers; they’re not prostitute chasers—don’t you know, pastors, we can turn out men and women like this in the church? In the school? Yes we can! The same Bible teachings that you know: You have to put something with it; a discipline. Don’t say you’re a “Christian,” and you have no discipline.
These brothers (and sisters): They look so good; so clean, so handsome … (Don’t disappoint me!) But, none of us are “perfect”; we all have made mistakes. Sometimes we stumble, sometimes we fall. But, we don’t lay down and stay down—we get back up and dust off. These are soldiers for Christ.
Christ needs soldiers. Christ doesn’t need people that know how to sing, but don’t know how to walk the walk! Christ doesn’t need people that just know how to talk the talk, but don’t know how to live the life. Christ wants real soldiers. That’s why you sing that song: “Onward Christian soldiers”—I like that—“Marching as to war. With the cross of Jesus, going on before. …”
Now some Muslims may be wondering: “Farrakhan, what—what are you saying?” See, if you really understand The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, He spoke to Christians, he spoke to Jews, he spoke to the Zoroastrians; he spoke to the religious people of his day, and he spoke to them out of their Book. If we united, then we could work the community.
(Those of who are “the elders” of our community): When you hit “threescore and ten,” you did your job! But I’m not in that “threescore and ten” group. Me and Moses: See, I like to hang out with the 120-year-old group! (Smile). I don’t know about you all, but I don’t have any time to die. We have work to do to change the horrible reality of our people!
And what better place to start than right here in this city that Master Fard Muhammad set foot in, that needs our attention?
*********
Study the 47th Chapter of the Holy Qur’an titled “Muhammad”—but, this chapter has another name, Al-Qital, which means “War.” Questions:
War against who? Satan and Wickedness.
So when the song says, “Marching as to war”—no! You’re marching into war. But, not with carnal weapons! We really don’t need carnal weapons. “The Weapon” that we need is The Word of God in our mouths; and, The Spirit of God in our being.
‘Symbolism vs. Substance’: Examples of ‘the price’ one must pay to help save a fallen humanity
When you say “The Cross of Jesus,” then let me tell you: Jesus didn’t know anything about a “cross.” The one you wear around your neck: That is a symbol of something. When we sing, “On a hill far away, stood an old rugged cross, an emblem of sufferin’ and shame…”—haven’t we suffered enough? Well, are you going to wear a “.45 caliber pistol” around your neck because Mama got shot with one?
“The Cross” is a symbol of “Christ’s Suffering” to redeem and to reconcile a people to God. And anyone that wants to help save fallen humanity: You have a cross to bear. (Not that “you’re a Christian”; but, you have “a cross to bear.”) Jesus said, “If any man would be my disciple, he must first deny himself”—then do what? “Pick up your cross.” And then do what? “Follow me.” It’s that “following” part that is difficult…
And the “picking up your own cross”: That’s “heavy”! Because everybody wants “the crown,” but there isn’t anybody who wants to suffer; and they say, “everybody wants to go to heaven”—but nobody wants to die! I can understand that: Do you think when you hear your brother speaking Truth like this to “power,” that he is not aware of his mortality?
Do you think that I don’t know “the price” that I ultimately will have to pay for challenging this crooked, corrupt, wicked, filthy world? Do you think that I don’t know “the price” that I have to pay to correct “Christians” that are embracing what the Bible forbids?
Do you think that I don’t know “the price” that I have to pay to challenge milquetoast “Muslims”? Cowardly, spineless “Muslims”—who want “acceptance” from the government of America rather than acceptance from Almighty God Allah… Do you think that I don’t know “the price” that I have to pay to raise up the name “Elijah Muhammad” and “Master Fard Muhammad”—and declare “Who They Are” to the world?
See, I am prepared, by Allah’s Grace, to die for what I believe! But I’m also prepared to fight for what I believe! As we sing in “The Muslim National Fight Song”: “We are fighting for our Nation, and we will surely win. With our Saviour, Allah, The Universal King. We are united with our Nation and called by His Name. So let us rise ye Muslims! Fight for your own! Fight O ye Muslims! Fight for your own! Fight for your Nation, and we will all be Free! Fight for your Nation! Fight for your own! …”
One day the Honorable Elijah Muhammad said: “One day you’re going to know the meaning of that.” Because if you’re not willing to fight for what you believe, then throw your “belief” in the garbage pail—and get in the garbage pail with it!
*********
Better men and women have died for the faith! Think about the early Christians, and what they suffered under that wicked Caesar, Nero (it might have been spelled “Negro”): He burned up Rome! And as Rome was burning, he’s trying to find “a scapegoat” for his evil plans: “Who you lookin’ for, Nero?” “I tell you what—these ‘Christians’: They’ve been ‘round here talkin’ about ‘another kingdom.’ These ‘Christians’: They’ve been around here, talkin’ about ‘Jesus’ and ‘a king’—he’s a ‘new king’ of a ‘new government’. Maybe we can put it on him, and them.” So they went to rounding up all the Christians that they could find; some of them hiding down in The Catacombs in Rome.
When you meet people that really believe—really believe: Those early Christians died in the arena, according to the history; they were fed to lions—but they went down, bearing witness to Jesus Christ. You think about that!
And consider Galileo, bless his heart! A very “popular” brother: He discovered that the Earth was not “the center” of The Universe (as what was commonly believed); and, he started teaching that The Sun was “the center.” Well, what was the condition of The Church at that time? See, “religious people” that are messed up… And most of the people follow their dumb leaders! Because you don’t read—you let people read for you!
You’re a foolish woman and a foolish man, when The Qur’an is Present, and the Bible is Present! And you’re going to let somebody else read for you, when you can read for yourself, and ask God to bless you with understanding!
So they, the early Christians, had “a foundation.” And evidently, their foundation was strong. “What do you mean ‘strong’?” I mean, “able to withstand great force or pressure.” That is why you have a church today, because somebody suffered, somebody died, that we might have the right to bear witness to Christ.
Doing the bidding of infidels against one’s brother: The dilemma The Muslim World faces today
Muslims: Prophet Muhammad sent 70 Muslims to teach some of the savage tribes in Arabia; and it was a ruse to get them out there—the enemy intended to kill all of them. And the Muslims, according to what I read, said, “We would like to say our prayers first.”
The enemy said, “Go ahead and pray,” and as they were praying, they didn’t make “long ayats” of The Qur’an, as if to “stretch it out” [the time before they are killed]. They made it real short, because they didn’t want their enemies to think that they were “afraid to die for what they believed.” Where are those kinds of Muslims today?
What we have are “Muslims” who are killing one another at the behest of a European infidel. Don’t you know Allah will kill you all? What excuse do you have, that you would kill another man who says Ashadu an la illaha il Allah, wa ashadu ana Muhammadan Rasul-lu-lah (“I bear witness there is no god but Allah! And I bear witness that Muhammad is His Messenger!”)? “Well, he ain’t my kind of ‘Muslim’!” What kind of “Muslim” are you? “Well, I’m Sunni—he’s Shia.” And what was The Prophet? He wasn’t any of that! What has happened to our community? See, Satan has gotten in among us.
A Muslim bombing another Muslim’s mosque (masjid), killing each other—and hollering out, “Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar!”? Slaughtering your own people, for America? God Damn you! You are no damn good! And Allah is about to destroy much of The Middle East—I want to tell it to you before you see it come down!
Toppling Syria; tearing up Egypt, Jordan… Over what? “Well, we want democracy.” What the hell is “democracy”? Talk to me about this “democracy”! You can’t even define that word, because you’ve never experienced it in your life! “The Constitution” of Muslims is The Qur’an! “The Constitution” of Christians is The Gospel [of Jesus Christ]; anything else after that, Paul said: “Should I obey man? Or should I obey God?”—that’s “the dilemma” that Muslims and Christians and Jews are in today.
You are here telling God, “To hell with You, and what You teach.”
Honoring the work of our ancestral foundation; recognizing the many streams of thoughts that are produced from disagreements
“How Strong Is The Foundation; Can We Survive?” For Saviours’ Day, we produced an image containing the faces of many of our historic Black leaders, both men and women; some of which include: Master Fard Muhammad, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, Imam Warithudeen Mohammed, Harriet Tubman, Malcolm X, the Honorable Marcus Garvey, Khalid Muhammad, Ida B. Wells, Dr. Booker T. Washington, Noble Drew Ali; Edward Wilmont Blyden, Rosa Parks, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Sojourner Truth, Paul Robeson, Nelson Mandela, W.E.B. DuBois, David Walker, Fannie Lou Hamer, and Frederick Douglass.
These persons represent “a Foundation” for us, Black people, here in America—and our desire should be to give them the accolades that they are due, for what they have done for us!
As we are standing on “the shoulders” of those who went before us, we, hopefully, are going to be “the shoulders” of those that come after us!
These great men and women: They didn’t agree with each other all the time! In fact, they were bitter rivals at times. Would you agree with me? But they are our ancestors. In their work, there were disagreements among them; and out of their disagreements, many streams of thought and method arose. And many of us in this room have these men and women as our “patron saints.”
I asked my Research Team to look up the words of these men and women, but particularly: Words near the time of their death, for there is a great lesson in this for us!
*********
Booker T. Washington: A man from Tuskegee, Alabama, who was the father of Tuskegee Institute. Did you know that Marcus Garvey was in Jamaica, reading the book Up From Slavery by Booker T.? And Marcus Garvey said, “When I read his book, it was then that I decided to be a race leader.” Well, now Marcus Garvey is coming to America. What you think he’s coming here for? He is coming to meet Booker T.
But look at this: How many of you have heard that Booker T. Washington was an “Uncle Tom”? [Remember, there was a Jewish rabbi who said to me]: “Anyone who is critical of Jewish people is not spoken of well in History.” See, they write our history, and feed it back to us, who walked with our leaders… And we are so happy that their publishing houses had said something kind about our leader, that we allow them to weaken our leaders down to nothing!
Why would a man who is the father of Pan-Africanism, and the father of Black Nationalism, come to meet an “Uncle Tom”? How many of you belong to an organization, such as the NAACP, Urban League; a “union” or a church? Booker T., three months before he passed, said that no matter what organization you belong to: “… All of these have their place and with none of them would we seek to interfere [with]; but the history of civilization, throughout the world, shows that without economic and commercial success there can be no lasting or commanding success in other fields of endeavor. …” This man wanted economic success for us!
But “economic success for us” means that those who suck the lifeblood of us would lose us as a customer! So to destroy that man’s reputation, and turn a new generation away from him, they referred to him as an “Uncle Tom.”
Marcus Garvey, bless him forever and ever: That man organized Black people in a way that had never been done before in America—(“One Faith. One Aim. One Destiny”). Here are his words when he was imprisoned in Atlanta… And remember! All good men go to prison—they don’t even fear going to jail! One has fear just in going to jail for pimping; fear in going to jail for dope smoking. But to go to jail for standing up for your people? That’s an honorable sentence. Accept it, if that is your lot! Mr. Garvey said: “If I die in Atlanta”—he’s in prison—“my work shall then only begin, but I shall live in the physical or spiritual, to see the day of Africa’s glory. When I am dead, wrap the mantle of the Red, Black and Green around me, for in the new life I shall rise with God’s grace and blessing to lead the millions up the heights of triumph with the colors that you well know. Look for me in the whirlwind or the storm, look for me all around you, for, with God’s grace, I shall come and bring with me countless millions of black slaves who have died in America and the West Indies and the millions in Africa to aid you in the fight for Liberty, Freedom and Life.”
Now let’s look at Noble Drew Ali: A man that died a young man; he lived from 1886 to 1929. I salute my brother: He is the first man to bring Islam to us in the way he tried to bring; and, I thank him and I thank Allah for him! He said: “The Moors were enslaved by reducing their mentality to that of Negroes, Blacks and Colored People. As a man thinketh so is he.” He’s calling all Black people in America “Moors”; but “Moors” is the name given to the Muslims from North Africa that invaded the Iberian Peninsula, and brought Islam to Spain and Portugal and southern France! So, he’s calling us “Moors”—and he dressed his followers in the fez of the Muslim people of the East! He also is quoted as saying, “Moors, you sleep too much. Wake up, and see the seven bridges crossing in the sky. Can you see that you are a people?” Not an “organization”—we are a people! We are a nation!
W.E.B. DuBois: He had an argument with Mr. Booker T. Washington, and Mr. Garvey! And if you notice, he is what they would call a “mulatto.” He was with Carter G. Woodson in The Niagara Movement; and he broke from The Niagara Movement because Carter G. Woodson didn’t want any White folk in it.
(And a lot of you don’t feel you’re going anyway unless White folks are going there with you! You weren’t born with any White people [when they were made by their father, Yakub]! You pre-date them. They weren’t in your life—until recently: So how come you think you can’t get along without them?
Mr. DuBois graduated from Harvard. He, along with Joel Spingarn and others set up the NAACP. And look at his words—though he started out as a staunch integrationist and official of the NAACP, later in life he became more disillusioned, and more radical: “Today, the rich and the powerful rulers of America divide themselves into republicans and democrats in order to raise $10 million to buy the next election. And prevent you from having a third party to vote for, or to stop war, theft and murder by your votes. Today, I have reached a firm conclusion: Capitalism cannot reform itself. It is doomed to self-destruction.” He continued: “As a race, we must strive by race organization, by race solidarity, by race unity. A belief in humanity means a belief in the Colored people. The future world will, in all reasonable probability, be what Colored men make it.” Now, this is just before he died!
Paul Robeson: Oh, a beautiful Black man, who was not only a “thespian” (a marvelous actor/singer), he was a scholar; and an activist! They accused him of being a “Communist.” Pay attention to his words: “The modern White American is a member of the lowest form of civilization in the world today.” You never knew he said that, did you? You “ain’t heard nothin’ yet”; he said: “My problem is not to counteract his prejudice against The Negro—that does not matter. What I have set myself to do is to educate my brother, The Negro, to believe in himself”; he said, “All American Negros want to be exactly like the White man. …”; and, he said: “If they succeed,”—and it looks like they have!—“ within the next generation, they will destroy themselves. I want to lead the Negro out of this new Egypt into a new Promised Land. We are a great race, greater in tradition and culture than the American race. Why should we copy something that is inferior?”
Beloved: What am I trying to show us? See, the “Negro History Week” [that Paul Robeson was referring to] was a “sanitized version of Black Struggle” in a way that pleases our oppressor!
*********
And here comes the great Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Now, I have to tell you: I’m in love with that man, Martin Luther King, Jr. “Why you love him, Farrakhan?” Because Martin Luther King was a man of strength, valor, courage, confidence; and, a superior intellect! In 1966, in February, he met with the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. The two of them talked—two “sons of Georgia,” from Georgia … Two years later, Martin Luther King was dead.
The “Martin Luther King” that you celebrate for his speech in 1963: You never learned the speeches that he made, that caused America to want to kill him. Here are his words; he told his friend, Harry Belafonte, quote: “I’ve come to the realization that I think we may be integrating into a burning house.” And Dr. King ultimately found that “integration”: “…ended up as merely adding color to a still-predominately white power structure.” He conceded that: “…there are points at which I see the necessity for temporary separation, as a temporary way-station to a truly integrated society.”
And I want you to get his final speech that I referenced in Part 33 of “The Time and What Must Be Done,” titled “I’ve Been To The Mountain Top.” This April 3, 1968 speech that I quoted in my broadcast: He is talking about “land,” and “boycotting White establishments.” This is just “days” before he was killed.
But they don’t talk about that to you! It’s “I Have A Dream”—that “my little Black children” and “your little White children” will “play together.” See, that’s a sanitized look at a serious problem!
My end remark: ‘Study the 37th Chapter of the Book of Ezekiel on The Parable of The Dry Bones’
I want you to read the 37th Chapter of Ezekiel: “The Parable of The Dry Bones.” They have not heard, and responded properly, to The Word. And “The Son of Man”—the head “Son of Man,” said to that “son of man”: “They didn’t hear you because they didn’t hear Me.”
All these great ones in that image: They preached to you; and we “applauded them.” But we betrayed each one by not carrying on their Work. I am through preaching to you. I want you to hear me! I’ve said to you all that needs to be said… But when he went back to his Lord and Sender, and said, “I have preached to them, and they have not responded,” so The Lord said, “Don’t speak to them anymore. Prophesy unto The Winds—and let The Winds blow on these slain of God.”
And when The Winds began to blow, and they realized that they were being chastised: There’s no people that have had this great a pantheon of leaders to talk to us. And in every generation, “we praise God for them,” and then walked away, and did nothing. You will not do that with me.
My Father said—Elijah Muhammad, that is: “It’s gonna take more than ‘good teaching’ to get our people up.” I have come to that conclusion, after nearly 60 years of teaching you, and 37 years absent my Teacher, talking to you. It’s clear to me that you need something else. And so, I’m talking to The Winds. And I guarantee you, when you leave me, you’ll see: Everything is going to get worse, and worse, and worse—for them and for you! If you don’t submit, He will whip you into submission!
Thank you for reading these words. As-Salaam Alaikum.