Photo Credit: Harold Michael Harvey
ATLANTA, GA. (CASCADE PRESS) Nation of Islam leader, Minister Louis Farrakhan is calling for an economic boycott of Christmas as a response to the wholesale killing of black people in America. Farrakhan made the announcement during a speaking engagement in Atlanta, Georgia today. He was in town to drum up support for the 20th Anniversary Million Man March and spoke to a packed house at the West Hunter Street Baptist Church in Atlanta’s West End community.
The audience was made up mostly of members of the Nation of Islam community, but with a strong contingent of Christians. In a speech which lasted over two hours, Farrakhan preached Jesus to those assembled. He quoted more scripture than mega-church goers get from their prosperity pulpits in a month of Sundays.
“The Minister,” as he is called by his disciples, was introduced by Rev. Dr. Toussiant Hill, pastor of the church once lead by Rev. Ralph David Abernathy.
In his introduction, Hill said that black people have been wandering in the wilderness since the death of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He said that “the wilderness needs a voice and the Honorable Louis Farrakhan is a voice for the wilderness.”
“Our power,” Farrakhan began, “is in righteousness.”
He went on to say that black people wear a collar which says “made in America.”
“God made man but the Caucasian made Niggers. We are here to take you out of Niggerism and bring you back to yourself,” he said.
Farrakhan told the worshipers how the idea of the Million Man March came to him 20 years ago:
“I was sitting on a beach in Mexico, getting a tan… I thought about the Gospel of Luke where it said Jesus had to go to Jerusalem where he would be taken up, so I knew we had to go to Washington,” he said.
Then he chastised the black community, “How can we go to Washington and tell the white man we want justice when we are killing each other?”
“When we kill each other there is no protest, because we can not protest our own conduct,” he said.
The theme for the 20th Anniversary Million Man March is “JUSTICE OR ELSE.” It will take place on October 10.
Farrakhan said he was not calling men to Washington to confront tanks, but to tell the government that “enough is enough.”
Then, he reminded the audience that a few months after the anniversary march it will be the Christmas season. A season that corporate America depends upon to drive revenue into the coiffures; “that keeps them in the black all year long.”
“This year,” he said, “suppose we take our money back. If somebody falls out with you because you did not give them a cheap gift, they were not your friend anyway.”
Farrakhan read from Dr. King’s last speech, where King was calling for economic boycotts as a way to let the country and corporate America know that black people mean business.
Sadly Dr. King was killed the next day and was not able to wage this economic boycott.
Farrakhan acknowledged that he is a target because of the message that he has consistently preached in America. He asked his followers: “If they come to kill me, what is your response?”
“Kill them,” a resonating crescendo echoed throughout the sanctuary.
Harold Michael Harvey, is the author of the legal thriller “Paper Puzzle,” and “Justice in the Round: Essays on the American Jury System,” available at Amazon and at haroldmichaelharvey.com. He can be contacted at [email protected]