Divine retribution in Texas?

"Shaka Sankofa�s life will be avenged. His blood, like the blood of those before him, cries out from the earth for justice. The God of Justice will answer. Watch the forces of nature and what they bring to Texas and to the United States of America. ... ." �the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan

The leader of the Nation of Islam made that prophetic statement just after the June 22 execution of Shaka Sankofa, a Texas death row inmate who was formerly known as Gary Graham. With his conviction based on a single eyewitness, no physical evidence tying him to the crime, an incompetent lawyer, and instances where wrongfully convicted people were found on death row across the U.S., there was hope that Gov. George W. Bush and the Texas board of pardons would spare Mr. Sankofa�s life.

Those hopes were dashed when the 37-year-old Black man, convicted of killing a white man at age 17, was injected with a lethal drug cocktail in a Texas death chamber. He maintained his innocence and the need for Black people to fight for their liberation until his last breath.

Since that time, we�ve been watching parts of Texas suffering from a killer drought, with a record 59 days without rain set Aug. 28 in some places. The drought is the worst since that Great Depression but experts say there�s not need to panic.

There is a need to take notice: Texas farmers and ranchers have lost $595 million in production this year because of a scorching summer in most of the state.

Weather forecasts were predicting more 100 degree days, with no relief in sight and the possibility of 70 days without rain in Dallas.

In Central Texas, water supplies for San Antonio have fallen to worrisome levels with low water levels at an underground reservoir. Near Houston, many ponds and lakes are low or have dried up completely.

Fish aren�t jumping in rivers in many places and wildlife is straying into populated areas wanting water.

There are fears of grass fires, warnings that tree roots could creep under the foundations of homes seeking water.

For the Lone Star state, which leads the nation in executions, this is the fourth year in the last five where nature has wrecked havoc. Too much heat and too little rain has cost the state�s economy: Losses were more than $2 billion in 1996 and 1998.

The Texas Agricultural Extension Service estimates losses at $285 million for cotton, $125 million for wheat and $62 million in losses for ranchers.

In addition, the Federal Emergency Management Agency is paying 70 percent of the costs for fighting wildfires that threaten 245 homes in Hill County, Texas, which go above $355,000.

As of Aug. 26, the fire had destroyed 100 acres of land, according to FEMA officials.

The blazes were also less than a mile from populated areas, the officials noted. FEMA has already provided federal funds for fires in Nacogdoches County, Bastrop County, Comal County and Wise County.

When Moses and Aaron were sent to pharaoh by Jehovah to declare the children of Israel should be free, acts of God backed up that demand.

Scripture is prophecy, not history and America�the modern pharaoh�would do well to study lessons found in the Bible and Qur�an. She is under God�s judgement and divine chastisement. It is time for the children of her slaves to receive true and complete freedom and nothing can avert it.