The Final Call

Farrakhan asks: 'What is the best way forward?'

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Minister calls for meeting of leaders and establishment of an elusive united Black front

The Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad’s 1966 letter to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. calling for a meeting to discuss the establishment of a ‘united Black front.’ Photo: The King Center

The Minister said although he had planned to take a short rest, and a break, he really could not because his mind was still on his people, the problems being faced, and what the future holds. He also said his mind was still on where this broadcast would go in the subsequent weeks.

“In truth, I never really got the rest that I thought I would get, however, I am grateful for some of the quiet time that allowed me to receive some powerful thoughts through my study, that Allah and His Messiah gave to me for future broadcasts to you,” said the Minister.

The Minister’s words coincided with the 50th anniversary of the historic March on Washington D.C., in which Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered what is now known as the “I Have A Dream” speech. However, Dr. King was so much more than what has been portrayed in the media, and through historical revisionism, said Min. Farrakhan.

Echoing the words of his teacher, the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, the Minister said Black people in America are a nation within a nation but completely dependent upon their former slave masters for jobs, education and sustenance. America cannot furnish jobs for the millions who are unemployed.

“Fifty years ago, when the historic March on Washington took place, the cry at that time was for jobs and justice,” said the Minister. “Fifty years later, we are now at nearly fifty million Black people in America in a completely dependent condition at a time when the economy of America and the world is in a steady decline,” he said.

“The question that we must ask ourselves and try to answer intelligently is: ‘What is the best way forward for us?’ Is it to march again to beg for jobs and justice when the government can no longer provide this for themselves much less us?”

The Minister suggests the wisdom and guidance of the Hon. Elijah Muhammad in a letter he wrote to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., dated July 6, 1966, in which Mr. Muhammad called for a meeting with Dr. King, to also include Roy Wilkins, Executive Secretary of the NAACP, Whitney Young, Executive Director of the National Urban League, Floyd B. McKissick, Congress of Racial Equality and Stokely Carmichael (later known as Kwame Ture) chairman of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee.

“Let us realize that in unity there is strength. Let us come together in a meeting to discuss the future plans and programs needed to achieve these goals for our people,” Mr. Muhammad continued, “If we have any love and respect for each other, let us be intelligent about the matter and present to America and all the world, a united Black front,” he wrote.

External factors often prevent this, as evidenced by the fact that Minister Farrakhan—who convened the largest gathering by Black men in the history of this country—was not invited by organizers to participate in this year’s festivities. This despite the fact that on October 16, 1995, on the day of the Million Man March, Min. Farrakhan permitted everyone—even those who did not aid in organizing—to speak.

 “Although I was not invited, I must say that I am happy to see that so many convened to listen to the various speakers,” the Minister continued, “This however, demonstrates a condition that needs to be rectified, when someone else has to finance our ideas of paying tribute to Dr. King and the great Civil Rights movement or marches for whatever purpose we wish to march—those who finance us feel they have the right to tell us who is permitted to speak, and who is not,” he added. 

The Minister said presently, all great minds and “all hands on deck” are needed to solve the critical problems that Black people in America face. As he has many times recently, he made reference to Dr. King’s little-known writings from 1967, which marked an ideological shift in his  thinking. The Dr. King represented in his later writings and speeches appeared to be more interested in actively challenging those who heaped injustice and discrimination upon Blacks.

The time is now for all Black civil rights, religious and economic leaders to come together for strategic planning aimed at solutions, said the Minister.

“My appeal to you today is for a united front for all our leaders and organizations to meet, to plan. So, can we meet after such demonstration, at a place that does not necessarily have to be mentioned or known? Will you accept an invitation from Brother Farrakhan to meet so that we can sit and strategize as a people who love our people and want to see us in a better state than we are presently in?” he asked. Would you meet with me so that we together might plan a better way forward rather than asking the government that cannot properly respond to our needs?”