by Richard Muhammad
Managing Editor

KINGSTON, Jamaica (FinalCall.com)�The wailing of the woman on the local news program was chilling. It was difficult to understand her words, but the message was clear: there had been another murder and she was pleading for help.

That cry, that plea, must be heard by government and Jamaica cannot afford tribal politics, in which party is put above the good of the nation, the leader of the Nation of Islam warned March 24, speaking to several thousand people here at the National Arena.

His theme, "Out of Many, One Love, Part 2," was a follow-up to an address made six-years-ago at the same venue. But this message was made more timely by a spiraling murder rate, crime and drug trafficking, joblessness, deadly political squabbles and violence.

"The art of governance is the art of the preservation and evolution and nurturing of human life. So when political parties want power so bad that life is surrendered in the process, something is wrong with the politics," Min. Farrakhan said.

When politics destroys, instead of protects human life and human rights that political system needs to be re-examined, the Nation of Islam leader continued.

"You cannot love Jamaica and place party over nation," Min. Farrakhan said. Doing so relegates you to tribes and tribal leaders, when it is time for Jamaica to be a great nation, he added.

National loyalty demands doing good for the whole, not just narrow party interests, the Minister said.

He also urged Jamaica to throw off the notion that government can satisfy all needs. Government only creates an environment where business and personal development can thrive, he argued.

But government and business must invest in education, proper education, to prepare people to take advantage of opportunity that is created, Min. Farrakhan said.

He reminded Jamaica of the great gifts it has given to the world, such as the leadership of the Honorable Marcus Garvey and the consciousness-raising music of Bob Marley. The country has a multi-racial, multi-religious legacy, Min. Farrakhan noted.

"You are a great people, a wonderful people, a mighty people that must now take your destiny in your hands. Not only for Jamaica, but for Barbados, for Trinidad, for St. Lucia, Antigua, St. Kitts & Nevis and the whole of the Caribbean is waiting on you to rise up. They will come follow you," he said.

The Minister expressed regret that the audience was asked to pay $500 Jamaican dollars, about $10-$12 U.S., to defray costs. He had copies of his lecture given away for free that night to allow wider access to his message.

Reggae artists Luciano, Mackie Conscious, acapella group The Word, and rapper Nadirah were among performers who joined the program. The Minister was also presented with gifts of art and a history of the Islamic presence in Jamaica.

The lecture theme put an exclamation point on a grueling six-visit by the nearly 70-year-old beloved leader. In advertisements and interviews, his was hailed as "the right voice at the right time."

A little smaller than Connecticut, Jamaica received full independence within the British Commonwealth in 1962. It has struggled often with economic and political challenges.

But the combination of drugs transshipped from the south and guns from the north, alongside other social problems, has brought the beautiful island to a kind of crossroads.

Last year more than 1,100 people were murdered out of a population of just 2.5 million people, one of the highest murder rates in the world. Drug gangs exert considerable power and killings by often-outgunned police officers soared to 140 in the year 2000, observers note.

Some 600 Jamaican teachers left the island last year, lured by heavy recruitment from schools in the United Kingdom and the United States. Falling prices for bauxite, an island resource, and subsequent rise in the price of fuel has hurt.

Unemployment was pegged at 16 percent in 2000 and average annual income is about $2,440.

These harrowing problems demand greater unity and cooperation and the Minister�s message contains needed guidance, said Jamaicans, from top to bottom in the society.

The country must get away from division over religion, politics and class, commented Junior Lincoln, whose 21st Century Productions invited the Minister to Jamaica. He was also involved in the 1996 visit. Jamaica also needs more investment, but the crime is making investors leery, he explained. And, Mr. Lincoln added, above all Min. Farrakhan brings a spiritual message that the country can use.

With almost daily TV and radio appearances, private meetings with politicians, heads of the national security and tourism ministries, women�s groups, prominent business leaders, educators, student leaders, Christian pastors, Muslims, a luncheon, two banquets, two press conferences, ceremonial visits to monuments to Jamaica�s national heroes, a prison stop, and other appointments, this was no vacation for Min. Farrakhan�it was an intense labor of love.

Locksley Comrie, chairman of the Pan African Cultural and Educational Alliance, said Min. Farrakhan has emerged as not only a defender of Jamaica, but also a defender of an entire race of people, like the great Marcus Garvey, who was born in the country.

"There is one among us, I wish I could say two, but only one comes to mind. He needs our love, our protection," he observed March 22, during a dinner for Min. Farrakhan at the Le Meridien Jamaica Pegasus Hotel. "This man is bringing salvation to us. Jamaica, we have one last chance," Mr. Comrie said.

If Jamaica treated the Minister like a head of state in 1996, the P.J. Patterson administration and others went even further this trip.

During a visit to Jamaica House, the official residence for the prime minister, Mr. Patterson warmly embraced Min. Farrakhan and presented the Minister with a painting of the Jamaica countryside as a gift. They then held a closed-door meeting for nearly an hour. The Minister was accompanied by Nation of Islam Supreme Captain Mustapha Farrakhan, Chief of Staff Leonard F. Muhammad, security chief Joshua Farrakhan and Mr. Lincoln, Regional Minister Rasul Muhammad and Min. Andrew Muhammad, the Nation of Islam representative in Kingston.

A motorcycle escort led the Minister and his entourage from meetings, to media interviews and important appointments.

Jamaican government security personnel traveled with Min. Farrakhan, held post alongside the Fruit of Islam from Jamaica outside his hotel room and sat up a base station in the hotel. A mini-hospital was set up next to the Minister�s quarters at the Hilton Hotel.

The room was manned 24-hours-a-day by a registered nurse and from morning to night by a health ministry medical officer. An ambulance sat in the hotel parking lot, in case it was needed, and followed the Minister to the National Arena.

While Min. Farrakhan made it clear his visit was devoid of support for any one political entity, he was welcomed by the ruling Peoples National Party, the opposition Jamaica Labour Party and the National Democratic Movement, a relatively new political entity.

"Jamaica today is badly in need of spiritual and moral leadership. We feel his visit here is a very timely one and one in which his message can be of great importance to Jamaica," said Edward Seaga, Jamaican Labour Party leader. Mr. Seaga met with Min. Farrakhan at the party�s headquarters.

"His message is a fundamental one; a fundamental one of a belief in humanity, a belief in justice and Jamaica very badly needs that message," he added.

Governor General Sir Howard Cooke met with Min. Farrakhan at his residence. "The visit of the Honorable Minister Farrakhan is very special one for me. No one can deny that he is unique and is able to translate into words what God has given to him. It�s my opinion, in having talked with him, I�m more convinced that he will be an instrument for God�s purpose and God�s peace," said Governor General Cooke.

There were significant breakthroughs on this trip, where the Minister spoke with business and economic leaders, worried about crime and its negative impact, and visited a Jewish synagogue for the first time.

"The Minister�s comments on the need to help this country to heal itself in a number of ways is something I certainly agree with totally," said Stephen Henriques, acting spiritual leader of the Shaare Shalom synagogue. The Jewish community has a 300-year history on the island.

Serious discussions and Min. Farrakhan�s sensitivity to concerns contributed to an understanding that the two parties were not too far apart, he explained. "Min. Farrakhan�s genuineness, �I�ve come to hear,� not to criticize or make a mockery, or anything like that, was very important to us," said Mr. Henriques.

Newspapers carried stories or photos about Min. Farrakhan�s visit every day of his visit, often on the front page. He also spoke to TV J�s "Smile Jamaica" program, radio station HOT 102�s "Breakfast Club," radio station Power 106, CVM-TV and held two press conferences.

"Min. Farrakhan brings to us hope," said Ruth Lawrence, a 36-year-old woman, who works in Kingston. "Hope for a future that will take away the blood, or take away the tears, and take away the death and destruction that drugs and guns, and the influence of certain superpowers�or that they call themselves superpowers�bring to us," Ms. Lawrence said.