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The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan said, “Ten-thousand fearless, well-trained men and women are needed to go into Black neighborhoods and stand between Black people aiming guns at other Black people. We got to stop the killing, we can’t talk about it, we got to do it.”
On October 10, 2015, Minister Farrakhan called for the 20th Anniversary of the Million Man March, the Theme: Justice or Else. The March was held on the National Mall in Washington D.C. and brought over a million people crossing various racial, gender and ethnic lines in support of a universal justice for all people. During this monumental gathering the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan called for 10,000 Fearless Men & Women to go into our communities and stop the violence, as well as, create peace and help transforms lives. Some may have wondered, what’s next?
In Atlanta, GA under the leadership of Student Minister Abdul Sharrieff Muhammad, The Southern Regional Representative of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan and Reverend Timothy McDonald, Pastor of First Iconium Baptist Church, the two have partnered as Chair and Co-Chair of the Atlanta LOC of the 20th Anniversary of the Million Man March. In 1995, Chair, Reverend McDonald served then as the Atlanta LOC head and he continued in 2015 for the 10.10.15 march. After the march, Reverend McDonald and Student Minister Sharrieff followed the instructions of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan and established the 10,000 Fearless Men & Women Headquarters of the South.
The Headquarters is located at 801 Joseph E. Boone Blvd Atlanta, GA 30314 and is missioned by the words of Minister Farrakhan where he delivered the following call to action: “What the black community needs is true faith in God, not guns, and men who love God! When you are unafraid of man and you love God in man, you can go in the hood like we do and stand in the gap between the guns. That’s what the 10,000 Fearless Men & Women can do in our community.”
The Atlanta LOC, under the leadership of Student Minister Sharrieff and Reverend McDonald, moved quickly to answer the call to go after the 10,000 Fearless Men & Women in Atlanta, GA. The Headquarters of the South is established in the highest crime ridden community in the state of Georgia known as “The Bluff”. On the front of the house there is a sign that reads, “God is in the Bluff”, a phrase that has been coined by the 10,000 Fearless Headquarters, as many people walk by the house and stop to read. The 10,000 Fearless Headquarters is a free 24-hour center founded in the spirit of Love & Unity to provide resources and training that empowers families spiritually, physically and economically that promotes peace and ultimately transforms communities. The headquarters offers resources such as community patrol, counseling, food pantry, conflict resolution, youth programs, culinary arts and other training programs.
Maynard Eaton, SCLC, National Communication Director, stated, “This sort of community policing is not new to Minister Abdul Sharrieff Muhammad. Eleven years ago as Supreme Captain of the Nation of Islam’s security force known as the Fruit of Islam’s security force known as the Fruit of Islam, Sharrieff Muhammad shut down the notorious drug trade in a community fiercely controlled by Rayful Edmonds, once known as Washington D.C.’s “drug tycoon.” He then went on to ask Brother Sharrieff if he thought hardened criminals, drug dealers and gang members in “The Bluff” would listen and curtail their activities. He replied, “You think those same gang leaders don’t listen to the Honorable Louis Farrakhan. They went all the way to Washington D.C. to listen to Minister Farrakhan at the “Justice or Else” rally, and when he came here to the city they came out and packed the church with so-called gang bangers and rappers to listen to the Honorable Louis Farrakhan. He is the real spiritual leader of the people, they want to hear an uncompromising voice, an unafraid voice. They are getting ready to see something happen in The Bluff that has never happened before.”
So far, the 10,000 fearless have hit the ground strong with a weekly food pantry, feeding over 200 people per week. The “Occupy the Corner” initiative that was recently highlighted in the Final Call was adapted by the 10,000 Fearless of the South and led into the community patrol unit that they are forming through the 10,000 Fearless Training Class that they host every Wednesday at 6pm. In fact Student Minister Abdul Sharrieff Muhammad named the training suite inside the 10,000 Fearless Headquarters after Student Minister Abdul Rahman Muhammad, Pioneer of The Nation of Islam. There is also a conflict resolution center in the house that has been used to resolve beefs and other issues in the community. There have been local residents that have come into the headquarters that battle issues that are making them consider suicide and through the expertise of the conflict resolution personnel, they have been able to save lives.
The 10,000 Fearless of the South also has started to paint all the houses in close proximity to the headquarters as an example to the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad words, “Make your own neighborhood a decent place to live.” In doing so, residents has come by just to assist and to even give donations, most recently someone came and donate a bus to the headquarters to help in the efforts to reach the people in the community.
The word is traveling fast and the excitement is growing as over dozens are joining the training sessions. Local churches and organizations have started to come by the headquarters and join in the efforts because they received letters that was sent out by Student Minister Sharrieff to all churches in the surrounding area asking them to unite, including Reverend Anthony Motley, Pastor of Lindsey Street Baptist Church for 35 years.
Reverend Motley stated, “Islam is a religion of peace and it has been demonized by the likes of Donald Trump and others who play on the xenophobic paranoia of our white brothers and sisters,” he says. “We welcome the Nation of Islam into the English Avenue community. The Nation of Islam has an excellent track record for taking Black males and ministering to them and giving them a sense of hope and discipline and dignity and introducing them to God through the Muslim faith, and we applaud that.”
This is just the continuation of a great movement that will work to help improve our local communities in the spirit of Love & Unity. We must learn to do as the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan has asked, “We must love our people more than they hate themselves.”
(Written by Kenetta Muhammad. Photos by Rashaad Muhammad.)