A Special Visit To Boston: A Special Message For Artists

By Askia Muhammad -Senior Editor- | Last updated: Jun 28, 2016 - 9:16:35 PM

Min. Farrakhan with gallery owner Susie Smith and her husband Dwight Miller (far right).

DORCHESTER, Mass.—Artists have the power to be an important force in the “break up of the colonial status in the Black community,” the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan told a group of Boston area painters, sculptors, doll makers and fabric artists at the Susie Smith Gallery here on June 25.

Min. Farrakhan with gallery owner Susie Smith.

The Muslim leader was in Boston, the home of Muhammad Mosque No. 11—“the mosque so nice they named it Number One twice”—to celebrate the distinguished career in the Nation of Islam of Minister Emeritus Don Muhammad and his wife, Sister Shirley Muhammad.

The Muslim leader was also able to reunite—after a more than 55-year separation—with Brother Donald Reid, who was known as Donald X when he offered then Brother Louis X two songs which became part of the hit musical “Orgena,” “a Negro spelled backwards.” Back in that day, the men performed their songs in the most prestigious concert halls on the East Coast.

Min. Farrakhan inside Susie Smith Gallery next to a doll designed by Ms. Smith.

Then, even after the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad instructed his talented young minister to discontinue performances of the stage play, and to devote his career to spiritual teaching rather than to entertainment, the compelling music from that production was not to be silenced. The songs “Look at My Chains” and especially “A White Man’s Heaven is a Black Man’s Hell” were recorded in a studio and released on the long-ago obsolete, 7-inch, 45 rpm, vinyl record format then sold to thousands of people, and played repeatedly in Muslim snack shops and eateries all over the country.

Many people—young Olympic heavyweight boxing champion and Muslim convert Cassius Clay among them—who heard “White Man’s Heaven” were attracted to attend a Nation of Islam meeting and were in fact inspired to accept Mr. Muhammad’s teaching and join on to the Muslim nation in “the wilderness of North America.”

Min. Farrakhan visited with artists and guests.

Brothers Louis and Donald collaborated on two songs in the play, “Chains,” and another called “Black Gold,” and they are now set to be released soon by Minister Farrakhan on a new 40-song, five-CD album called “Change This World.”

And although Minister Farrakhan was the co-author of the two songs, he wanted to be sure to share the credit with Brother Donald, one of his first collaborators. The Minister said he has virtually searched the globe to find and properly acknowledge, every single person who contributed so much as a toothpick to the success of the project.

Other contributors to Minister Farrakhan’s long-awaited, upcoming “opus,” are Stevie Wonder, Chaka Khan, Common, Damien Marley, Snoop Lion, and Denise Williams, as well as some of the virtuoso instrumental performers from some of the country’s premier symphony orchestras.

After the brief live-stage run of Orgena ended, Brother Donald decided to pursue his musical career, studying he said at Boston’s renowned Berklee College of Music, going on to compose lyrics and songs for some of this country’s most famous recording artists including Quincy Jones and Kenny G.

Painter Kenyatta Blue with painting called No Gentrification.

“You are the hope of the resurrection of Black people and the people of the world,” Minister Farrakhan told the dozen or so artisans gathered in what felt like an enchanted garden, with lawns and flowers, trees and gazebos on an idyllic 80 degree day on the fifth day of summer.

“The politicians have ruined the world, and the spiritual teachers, in the name of religion, have done more to destroy human beings over God, and so today, the cultural community is the community that can speak the loudest to change the human condition. So art and culture is the future. So all of you that are artists, pursue your craft with diligence and devotion,” the Muslim leader, who is himself a world class artist said. “This is your and my time to change this world.”

Inside the Susie Smith Gallery, Minister Farrakhan and everyone who saw her works, as well as the work of others exhibited there, everyone was moved by the stunning lifelike reality of Ms. Smiths dolls and lampshades, among other items. The only dispute during the Minister’s visit was over what the Muslim leader would purchase. Ms. Smith insisted on giving the Minister a gift. He insisted on purchasing it. They compromised: the gallery gifted Minister Farrakhan with one of his favorite pieces, and he chose another handsome work, which he purchased.

(L) Warrior / angel doll created and designed by artist and gallery owner Susie Smith. (R) Male doll created and designed by artist and gallery owner Susie Smith.

There were many emotional high points during the Minister’s three-day Boston homecoming, not only at the gallery, but during his stirring remarks at the Sunday worship service at Mosque No. 11 where there was only enough room inside the sanctuary and two adjoining overflow rooms for the non-registered Muslim guests. Those guests included several leaders of Black-Native American tribes, a 95-year-old pastor who was present in the church almost 60 years ago when Minister Farrakhan and Mother Khadijah Farrakhan—high school sweethearts—were married. He even brought with him a portrait of the bridal couple which was taken on that September day.

Another surprise guest was the Minister’s childhood friend since they were 10-years-old, named Brother Garnett. Minister Farrakhan noticed his friend in the audience, and recalled seeing him not long ago, after more than 60 years apart, when Brother Garnett told him that he was moving back to Boston and that he was going to register with the Nation of Islam, and sure enough, there was his childhood friend, now among the ranks of the F.O.I.

See next week’s edition for more about this special homecoming for Min. Farrakhan, who grew up in Boston and once led Muhammad Mosque No. 11.

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