Monthly Archives: October 2009

Farrakhan in Memphis

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MEMPHIS–Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan issued blunt warnings in this Southwestern Tennessee city Oct. 18–commemorating the 14th anniversary of the Million Man March which took place in Washington, DC.

Another Memphis was the ancient capital of the first nome of Lower Egypt, and of the Old Kingdom of Egypt from its foundation until around 2200 BC and later for shorter periods during the New Kingdom, and an administrative centre throughout ancient history.

Washington, DC, the site of the Historic Million Man March and Holy Day of Atonement is the seat of the United States government, and it is designed and constructed, many scholars insist, on an ancient Egyptian axis as well.

Min. Farrakhan’s warning was directed at the U.S. government, the Black community at large, and to Black clergy and other leaders, that conditions today in this country are as bad as they were before the historic march, except that now there is not enough time before a catastrophe that is looming, to stage another march to save Black people and the country. Continue reading →

Long Live the Spirit of the Million Man March

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The Million Man March at Noon: Oct. 16, 1995The headline on this photograph was inspired by the poignant Wesley Snipes/Woody Harrelson film “White Men Can’t Jump.” The photograph and headline appeared on the front page of the News Dimensions newspaper (Oct. 19, 1995 issue) edited by the late Barry Murray, who originated the headline to accompany the picture and a feature article. At the time, the U.S. Park Police had estimated the crowd size of the Million Man March to be a mere 400,000. That figure was challenged and disproven by several professional analysts, including the highest Metro Subway usage to date (at that time), and it led to the Park Service declining to do any further crowd estimates.

This photograph was taken at Mid Day. Notice the shadows in the foreground of the men standing on the West Steps of the U.S. Capitol. Their shadows are perpendicular to the National Mall, cast by the Sun overhead in the South. The Sun is in this position, shortly after Noon at this time of year, proof positive that the National Mall was full and filling with many, many, many hundreds and hundreds of thousands of men, as many as 2 million in all.

Notice also the men on the side streets, as well as men on the Mall all the way back to the Washington Monument at 16th Street. This photo was taken several hours before The Hon. Min. Louis Farrakhan spoke at approximately 6:00 p.m. The picture was taken when tens of thousands of men were still arriving at the Mall.

Long Live the Spirit of the Million Man March!

John Brown’s Body

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If I had lived in the time of John Brown, I wonder what I would have done.

On Oct. 16, 1859 “Captain” John Brown, led a small column of men consisting of 16 Whites, three free Blacks, one freed slave and one fugitive slave on what was tactically an unsuccessful attack, but which hastened the onset of the Civil War, and the end of what was delicately referred to as America’s “Peculiar Institution.”

John Brown was a bold captain, a role model for Brother Malcolm X and militant North Carolina NAACP leader Robert Williams (author of Negroes With Guns, published in 1962), among others.

Just about 100 years before Bob Williams and Brother Malcolm first saw the light and struck out on their own courses to bring liberation to Black people in America, Capt. Brown led small groups of volunteers during the Bloody Kansas border war in 1856.

John Brown called for violent action in response to Southern, slaveholder aggression against the abolition movement. “These men are all talk,” Brown reportedly said of his contemporaries. “What we need is action – action!” He was no pacifist. Continue reading →

White Americans: What is your “Cause?”

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Front Page Headline: “Almost a lost Cause”

An Army officer, now deceased complained about the futility of his platoon’s assignment in Afghanistan, months before he led his men on a mission which cost his life and the lives of several others, fighting to defend a position which U.S. commanders eventually abandoned. Futility indeed.

So, as I read on about this un-winnable battle in this un-winnable war, I wondered,, and I wished I could dialogue with White people: “Why are all your sons fighting and dying on mountaintops in Afghanistan?”

“What is the ‘Cause’ for which your blood and treasure is being spent?” Continue reading →