Farrakhan: New educational solutions needed

By Ashahed M. Muhammad
Assistant Editor | Last updated: Aug 14, 2008 - 6:31:00 PM

New educational solutions needed for a civilization that has ‘flatlined’

The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan

CHICAGO (FinalCall.com) - Delivering his first national message in over six months, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan addressed concerned parents and educators offering solutions to the challenges they are faced with in efforts to provide proper education for the nation’s youth.

“Without education and the right and proper education, no human being can fulfill his or her destiny,” said Minister Farrakhan in his opening remarks viewed in 120 cites nationwide via webcast. “The Honorable Elijah Muhammad said that education is the torchlight of civilization. Civilizations begin with knowledge and civilizations end when the knowledge that originated that civilization begins to decline.”

Minister Farrakhan’s message concluded a three-day educational conference which drew professors, teachers, administrators and independent educators from across the country to Chicago, for workshops, networking and stimulating discussions aimed at improving educational attainment and providing the opportunity to use the proper application of knowledge to create a new world and a new civilization based on the infinite wisdom of God.

The crowd listened closely to Min. Farrakhan�s words of guidance. Photos: Kenneth Muhammad

“We are living in a world and in a civilization that was given by God a certain time to exercise itself. But it was also prophesied that this civilization and this world in which we live would come to an end. This would mean that the knowledge that guides this civilization would reach a point where it would no longer be effective in solving the problems presented by the time. Therefore at that time, that knowledge would be like a light that has gone out and darkness would then come over the people and this would lead to such dissatisfaction that it would call into existence a change factor,” Minister Farrakhan said.

America’s failing educational system

Minister Farrakhan cited sobering statistics showing that America’s educational system has not only miseducated Black people but has also failed its own people by providing an inferior education to the American people rooted in the idea of White Supremacy. As a result, millions of American youth are left “educationally deficient.”

For example, America’s 12th graders rank 19th out of 21 industrialized nations in Mathematics and 16th out of 21 in Science. Forty-two-million American adults cannot read at all and another 50 million adults are unable to read at the 4th or 5th grade level. Twenty percent of all high school seniors are functionally illiterate.

The statistics for Black children are even more troubling.

Minister Farrakhan told the crowd that only 12 percent of Black high school seniors are considered proficient readers. Fifty-four percent have below basic reading skills. It is estimated that 40 to 44 percent of Blacks are functionally illiterate. Black children are almost 3 times more likely than White children to be labeled mentally retarded and 2 and a half times more likely to be placed in remedial classes. Even when Black students show potential equal to or greater than their White counterparts, they are 40 percent less likely to be placed in advanced or accelerated classes. Black males have the lowest level of educational attainment.

Of those who have gone on to higher education, only 26 percent of Blacks who finish high school go to college and Black women make up 60 percent of the enrollment at the Historically Black Colleges and Universities. After college and upon entering the workforce, statistics show that Blacks are only 3.2 percent of lawyers, 3 percent of doctors and less than 1 percent of architects.

“With statistics like this, if I were a doctor, and the country were a patient, we could say that America has flatlined,” said Minister Farrakhan.

Minister Farrakhan went on to point out that the educational system designed with the idea of White Supremacy at its root was designed to make the masses subservient to the classes with higher quality education. This subjugation extends throughout the entire globe because those who come to America from Africa, Asia and other foreign lands for education are “baptized” into the idea of American domination.

“The educational system with that idea at its root is not designed to cultivate to the fullest extent the recipients of that kind and quality of education,” said Minister Farrakhan. “The elites were to rule the masses with a less quality education, and you have strata of elite, but at the top of that elite is Satan himself,” said Minister Farrakhan. “Good education was never designed for the masses.”

The keynote address was held at Christ Universal Temple, founded by the Rev. Dr. Johnnie Colemon whom Minister Farrakhan referred to as one of the “foremost spiritual teachers among us today.”

Phillip Jackson

�Minister Farrakhan is ahead of his time. He accurately diagnosed that the American educational system has flatlined, and a lot of people are in denial about that. He is also accurate in his solution in the prescription for solving the problem.�
�Phillip Jackson, Black Star Project

Phillip Jackson, executive director of the Black Star Project based in Chicago said Minister Farrakhan’s subject is a “worldwide issue.” He also described the three-day educational conference as “groundbreaking.”

“I have been to many educational conferences, and they were nothing like this,” said Mr. Jackson. “Instead of putting a pedagogy first or unionization first, or things like curriculum first, they actually put the spirit of the children first. Unfortunately that is unheard of for educators.”

Mr. Jackson also said he was purchasing several copies of the speech for educators that were not able to be in attendance as he prepares for a nationwide mobilization for Black men to take personal responsibility for their children by taking them to school on the first day.

“Minister Farrakhan is ahead of his time. He accurately diagnosed that the American educational system has flatlined, and a lot of people are in denial about that. He is also accurate in his solution in the prescription for solving the problem,” Mr. Jackson added.

Reactions from across the country

Although it was one of the hottest days of the year in Houston, Texas, that did not detour people from overflowing Muhammad Mosque No. 45 to hear Minister Farrakhan live via webcast. The webcast was also viewed in the Northwest area at the Beaulah Shepherd Center, which had an enormous turnout as well.

Joseph Bourba, 25, was hearing Minister Farrakhan for the first-time.

“Being a Christian, this was the first time I was shown by a Muslim that there is a likeness within all of our beliefs as well as the Jesus figure. He gave me a very clear picture although this was my first time coming to the mosque. I love how he is teaching us that we are all gods from the Most High God. Youth today need to hear that.”

Carlos Segura, 15, said, “His message was powerful. Those statistics he read really made me sad yet it also inspired me to work harder and do something with my education.”

Crystal Lofton, a 24-year-old striving for a master’s degree in Social Work said, “This was informative and a spiritual necessity. As I am getting my master’s degree, he gave a more focused and detailed rule book on how to put this education into practice.”

In Las Vegas, Nevada, some 200 people braved triple digit temperatures to hear Min. Farrakhan’s address at Muhammad Mosque No.75.

Kena Adams, a representative of the Indian Voices Newspaper, a grassroots publication that provides multi-cultural news from a Native American perspective, was among those in the standing-room-only audience.

“This was my first time and I loved it. We’ve always been told that the Muslims are like, we have this stereotype—so when I came here and the feeling that I got was absolutely amazing. Everything we’ve been told is the total opposite of what’s true. People aren’t preaching hate here. I guess it’s just a way to put negative publicity on the Nation but never again and I will definitely let my readers know what the Nation of Islam is all about.”

Ms. Adams pledged that at least once a month the Indian Voices Newspaper would dedicate an article to the Nation of Islam to help bridge the gap between the two communities.

Minister Farrakhan’s timely message on education also resonated with the people of Columbia, South Carolina, where 150 people watched the webcast at the Cecil Tillis Training Center.

According to Kimbrellyn Muhammad, an educator and member of the Ministry of Education at Muhammad Mosque No. 38, South Carolina ranks 49th in reading. The words of the Honorable Louis Farrakhan bore witness to and answered the challenging questions that educators face in the state. “The basis of it is, you have to know how to read and comprehend in order to understand all other subjects like the sciences and mathematics,” she pointed out.

Brother Carl Muhammad, student minister of Muhammad Mosque No. 38 in Columbia, South Carolina, also observed how the national statistics by Minister Farrakhan matched the dismal state of education locally.

“He brought us back to the root of what the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad taught us of what the purpose of education is, which is to cultivate the divine nature in men and women.”

“God must be put back in education,” said Dr. Cynthia McQueen, Principal of Torchlight Academy, a K-5 Charter School in Raleigh, N.C. “Our educational system is truly a killing field for Black children and our only hope is God. I thank Minister Farrakhan for his beautiful and inspiring words on this most important topic.”

Muhammad Mosque No.6 in Baltimore, Maryland was packed with those desiring to hear Minister Farrakhan’s message on education. Baltimore is another city in which young Black men are more likely to be incarcerated than educated.

Brother Andre 2X said, “Today’s lecture continues to prove that Minister Farrakhan is not only an excellent teacher but his message is one that is good for Black and Whites. All people can learn from him.”

At Muhammad Mosque No. 48 in Dallas, Texas, supporters welcomed the return of Minister Farrakhan enjoying every word. They said he delivered all they were expecting, and then some by giving them something to think about.

Nancy Powell from Dallas, Texas said she is considering alternate schooling options for her children. “The public educational system of Dallas is horrible. I would certainly consider removing my children from it, and putting them in a school where they could be truly educated.”

Ester King viewing in Houston put everything in perspective.

“Every time the Minister comes out, you can just feel that we are coming to the end of something. If we are in tune, we can read into it but most of us miss it. Minister Farrakhan makes other so-called leaders and preachers look like infants in terms of his broad knowledge of things. He is a precious gift but too many of us take it for granted.”

(Charlene Muhammad from Las Vegas, Brian E. Muhammad from Columbia, S.C., Jesse Muhammad from Houston, Nisa I. Muhammad from Baltimore, Tyrone H. Muhammad from Dallas, and Audrey Muhammad from Raleigh, N.C., contributed to this report.)

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