Lessons in character and leadership

By Ashahed M. Muhammad -Assistant Editor- | Last updated: Aug 19, 2015 - 2:35:48 PM

Photos: Haroon Rajaee

HARVEY, Ill. - Calling the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan “a passionate visionary” and “one of the greatest leaders of our time,” Mayor Eric Kellogg welcomed him to Thornton Township High School to speak to the south suburban community about upcoming plans for the 20th anniversary of the historic Million Man March themed: “Justice or Else!”

“Minister Farrakhan is our modern day Moses who has the prescription to set us free, he has the prescription to set us free from our inequities, from our inequalities,” said Mayor Kellogg.

Joined by Village of Dolton Mayor Riley Rogers, and Village of Dixmoor Mayor Dorothy Armstrong, Mayor Kellogg also said Min. Farrakhan has “a pure heart for the people.” He noted Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., both died at the age of 39, and Min. Farrakhan, now 82, is poised to show the world what the evolving work of those two visionary leaders would look like.

On spiritual and political corruption

Photos: Haroon Rajaee

Minister Farrakhan said in America democracy is being eroded because the rich buy those in political office, spiritual leaders, and those leading civic organizations. Without principled leadership, advancement is halted, and the people are not served. That has been the problem in the Black community, and that must change, he noted.

“Corruption is the enemy of every organization,” said Min. Farrakhan. “If you love money more than you love freedom for your people, then you can be bought and you’re not a good person!”

The Minister said he remains “unbought, unbossed, filled with character, and willing to die only for the liberation of every one of our suffering people,” he said. “That’s what makes Farrakhan, Farrakhan!”

“None of us are what we say we are or believe we are until we discipline ourselves by the teachings and the examples of the masters that we serve and follow,” said the Minister.

That goes for Muslims who claim to follow Muhammad, Christians who follow Jesus. No longer can political and spiritual leaders be “apologists from tyranny,” he said.

Real followers of Christ would not lynch Black people or implement Jim Crow laws, nor would they stand by and watch injustice take place, he noted. Black Christians were taught and trained by slave masters who gave them a doctrine that kept Blacks passive and powerless.

“The slave master is not interested in making you a real Christian,” he said.

He found it strange that he was accused of being a teacher of hate, when false charges spread through the media of anti-Semitism and “being divisive” compel him to deal with lies before he can even begin to teach people who come to hear him speak.

“I have to come through the propaganda of the media just to get to talk to my people,” said the Minister. “They will tell you ‘don’t go near Farrakhan, he’s a hater,’ as though I taught them to hang Black people, or taught them to be prejudiced against Black people, or taught them to give you a Black toilet to go to and a Black drinking fountain to go to. Farrakhan didn’t do that. That’s hate and I didn’t teach it. I met it when I came into this world.”

The role of police

Min. Farrakhan acknowledged police officers are doing work in a very difficult and challenging time, but police should have affinity for the communities they are patrolling, he said. Such affinity is not the case in many areas, but is the case in Harvey, he added Aug. 11.

“You’ve never been in our community to serve and protect, let’s be clear! The enemy has been present in our community to establish their control and to make sure that the savage behavior doesn’t spill out into the White community,” said the Minister. “That’s why I’m happy to come home to this place because I know the mayor is my brother. I know the police chief is my brother. I know the principal is my brother. I know the members of the city council are my brothers and sisters; I feel a sense of family.”

The Minister’s warm smile and firm faith remains in the face of opposition from outside forces. He was supposed to speak at Mason Temple in Memphis Aug. 20, the place where Dr. King made his last speech. Initially, the church directors gave their approval, but later said no. He will still speak in Memphis, but a different location had to be found.

“I so looked forward to standing in that place and honoring my fallen brother,” he said.

Minister Farrakhan also hoped to speak in Charleston, S.C., at the historic Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal church. He wants to lay a wreath where nine Black people were shot and killed “by an enemy who entered a spiritual house of worship.” Again, at first, officials appeared to be agreeable, but then they received a call from outsiders exerting pressure and working to prevent the event from taking place, he said.

Strangely, many family members of those who were killed were calling for forgiveness for the accused shooter Dylann Roof, and the Minister pointed this out to those in attendance.

“You are not natural. You are supernatural in a sick kind of way. It just is not natural for somebody to kill your brother and before your brother is buried and before they even seek forgiveness—that little White boy wasn’t seeking nothing—but we offered it to him,” said the Minister.

Blacks hate each other, kill each other, and won’t forgive each other, he said. The strategy of nonviolence should be practiced in Black communities nationwide, but Black on Black killing continues.

“You hate yourself, but you’ve been made to love your enemy and you love them like a silly woman loves a no-good man that’s beating the hell out of her every day!” he said.

Once oppressed people have had enough, they are ready to deliver pain to those who have caused them pain and are ready to give their lives for a cause bigger than their individual lives, and those in power in this society are clearly concerned, he said.

“Black people have had enough!” said the Minister. “When you’ve had enough, you don’t care anymore about life or consequences of what you are about to do. When you live under tyranny long enough, when you live under injustice long enough, it tips the balance of your mind.”

Harvey and Thornton H.S.

There is a long relationship between the Farrakhan family and the city of Harvey. There is a street named after Min. Farrakhan in the city with a population of a little over 25,000. Several of Min. Farrakhan’s grandchildren graduated from Thornton Township High School and Mayor Kellogg called the Nation of Islam’s Supreme Captain Mustapha Farrakhan “one of his top police administrators.” The Supreme Captain’s son Mustapha Farrakhan Jr., was an All-State Basketball player at Thornton and his daughter Ruqayyah Farrakhan—currently in medical school in Cuba—were both honor roll students there.

The high school’s principal Tony Ratliff, said Thornton is a good example of political officials working with school administrations to ensure all students have an educational environment that will enable them to achieve, excel, and succeed. When he came to the school about a decade ago, there were “on average seven or eight” fights a day, he said. Now there is no gang problem at the school, and 100 percent of seniors graduated with an acceptance letter to continue their education and they “graduate with a purpose,” continued Principal Ratliff. He attributed much of the success to what he has learned from Min. Farrakhan over the years.

“It is a perfect example of success through collaborative efforts,” said Mr. Ratliff. “We’ve actually changed the culture of Thornton Township high school.”

Bishop Lance Davis of New Zion Covenant church in Dolton said the Minister’s message was “poignant and on point.” Min. Farrakhan’s call for economic withdrawal through a boycott of Christmas season spending stood out to him.

“It’s one of those messages that we really need to hear at this time,” said Bishop Davis. “If we’re going to get justice, we’re going to have to get it through economic means.”

Dixmoor Mayor Armstrong enjoyed the message of unity and said a collective effort is needed to fight crime, joblessness and bolster economic development. “We just need to move forward, take this, and stick together, and we, the people, can make a difference,” she said.

Alderman Keith Price, Harvey’s economic development chairman, said the Minister’s message was “awesome.”

“Anytime I hear Minister Farrakhan, he brings a powerful message and I’m definitely a supporter of the Nation of Islam. I believe they’ve done many great things to uplift our brothers and sisters of all ages,” said Ald. Price.

Mayor Kellogg said it was an historic day and commended Muslims for their tremendous efforts to serve Black people. “When you look at the disproportionate rate of African-Americans dying, we need someone like Min. Farrakhan to teach that message so that when he teaches that message they begin to feel what he is teaching and stop the violence in our communities,” said Mayor Kellogg. “Minister Farrakhan is the only true leader that is speaking from his heart to the people and so when we have a man of his magnitude in our midst speaking with that type of fire, we have to get our children to come and listen to that message, that’s the only way we can begin to revitalize our communities.”

Mr. Kellogg recently weathered political adversaries and attacks in the media to win a fourth term as mayor. He said faith in God led him through it all and allowed him to see beyond the attacks to the reasons why some might have tried to oppose his administration.

“They’re attacking me because of my close relationship with the Muslim community, however, I will never bend, bow or buck for those who don’t want to see me connected with Minister Farrakhan or the Muslim faith,” said Mayor Kellogg. “Anytime you have someone like Minister Farrakhan who is teaching a message of hope and teaching us how to do for ourselves, they want to cut that off and stop that because they don’t want to see the progress of African-American people and that’s why they come after me so hard,” Mayor Kellogg added.

The Final Call