by Demetric Muhammad
(Source: FinalCall.com) All throughout the history of the Black experience in America, various Black leaders have been dubbed or identified as “Black Moses.” Harriett Tubman and Marcus Garvey are just two who were considered to be “Black Moses.”
That a Black leader would be designated as Black Moses is significant. And it powerfully suggests that if the suffering of Black people in America gave birth to leaders who fit the description of Moses, one day our suffering would give birth to leaders who fit the description of Jesus.
From my study, both the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad and the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan fit the description of Jesus. One only need examine their teachings, their beneficial impact on Black people and their suffering as a result of the truth that they have taught to understand why I have drawn this conclusion.
Jesus’ love of God and righteousness made him bold and courageous. In Jesus’ life and work we see how “love removes fear.” And the New Testament records that his ministry became a problem for Jewish leaders whose corrupt practices enslaved the poor; Jesus challenged them and they opposed him.
So the Jesus Model of Leadership, among Black people in America, is recognized when we see Black leaders facing the powerful opposition of America’s Jewish leaders. The Jesus model is characterized in loving and kind leadership; the Jesus styled leader is gentle and merciful in his interactions with the poor; yet he is simultaneously a man known for a bold and courageous ministry that speaks truth to power. And these are characteristics of the life and work of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan.
| (L) Abraham Foxman Photo: AP Photo/David Karp (R) Jewish Defense League leader Mordechai Levy, forground, and members of the JDL protest outside Manhattan Community College in New York where Louis Farrakhan was speaking, May 26, 1988. Photo: AP Photo/Adam Stoltman |
For instance, as a beautiful photo of Minister Farrakhan and Sen. Barack Obama was made public for the first time in over 12 years, Jewish leaders like Alan Dershowitz and Jonathan Greenblatt have reacted negatively. Greenblatt, the current leader of the ADL (Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith) has called for former President Obama to repudiate Minister Farrakhan. In a Twitter post he wrote:
| Attorney Alan Dershowitz Photo: AP Photo/Frank Franklin II |
“In Israel catching up on news about 2005 photo of Obama & Farrakhan. Over his career, @barackobama has denounced the bigotry of Farrakhan. Time to do so again. Leaders always should make sure that there’s no doubt: America is no place for those who advocate #antisemitism or hate.”
Similarly an ADL memo from 1994 entitled the “Legitimation of Louis Farrakhan” wrote that:
“Minister Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam (NOI)… has recently attained a new level of acceptance among certain mainstream Black organizations and leaders. His ‘legitimation’ has been reflected most notably by his participation last summer in the Parliament of the World’s Religions, his obtaining federal funds for NOI’s anti-AIDS efforts and the security services it has been providing at several federal housing projects, and his warm reception at the annual legislative meeting of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) last fall.”
The memo’s author Steven Freeman declared:
“ADL is not going to make Farrakhan go away. What we can and should do is impose an obligation on those who deal with him, or, as in the case of universities, give him a platform.”
Freeman’s recommendation that the ADL “impose an obligation” on all who accept the Minister is like the coded language seen in movies like “The Godfather,” when the Godfather, portrayed by Marlon Brando, says, “make him an offer he can’t refuse.”
Freeman’s coded language of retaliation for those who refuse repudiation of the Minister is the modern equivalent of what we read of in the New Testament book of John. The book of John reveals to us that not only had the Jewish leaders planned to crucify Jesus; they had also planned to crucify Lazarus.
“When all the people heard of Jesus’ arrival, they flocked to see him and also to see Lazarus, the man Jesus had raised from the dead. Then the chief priests decided to kill Lazarus, too, for it was because of him that many of the people had deserted themand believed in Jesus.” –John 12: 9-11
From the perspective of the Jewish leaders who opposed Jesus, Lazarus had produced the “legitimation” of Jesus and was causing many others to believe in Jesus. In the modern era persons such as Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr.; actor Bruce Willis; Mayor Ed Rendell; Congressman Keith Ellison; Congressman John Conyers; and presidential candidate Barack H. Obama are just a few famous individuals who Jewish leaders have demanded that they repudiate Minister Farrakhan.
Another parallel from Jesus’ Jewish controversy to Minister Farrakhan’s Jewish controversy is to compare the scripture found in John 7:13 to the comments of journalist William Raspberry. From the Book of John, we read:
“But no one had the courage to speak favorably about him in public, for they were afraid of getting in trouble with the Jewish leaders.”
From Journalist William Raspberry,The Washington Post, March 2, 1990, we read:
“Farrakhan says what so many black people believe but have learned not to say in public: for instance, that Jews wield tremendous influence in the news and entertainment media. That doesn’t mean that most blacks accept Farrakhan’s notion of a small Jewish cabal that meets in Hollywood or in a Park Avenue apartment to decide which ideas and trends are to be foisted off on the public. But few of us doubt the disproportionate influence of Jews—for good or ill—on what we see on television or in the movies. Nor do blacks doubt the disproportionate influence of Jews on American foreign policy, particularly with regard to political and economic support of Israel. But we also know that to say these things is to be accused of antisemitism. That’s why blacks can cheer when Farrakhan says them, even in gross overstatement.”
Another parallel is found in John 7:1 wherein we find the following:
“After this, Jesus traveled throughout Galilee. He did not want to travel in Judea, because the Jews there were trying to kill Him.”
Compare this to Professor Mattias Gardell, in his book“In The Name of Elijah Muhammad Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam,” who wrote of Jewish efforts to kill Minister Farrakhan:
“Pickets with Jews shouting ‘Who do we want? Farrakhan! How do we want him? Dead!’ are far from unusual and the Jewish Defense Organization had Farrakhan on top of the death list found by police investigating a bombing of Arab-American facilities. The Jewish Defense League has staged at least one ‘Death to Farrakhan’ march, on Saviours’ Day, October 7, 1985.”
In another place in the book of John we read:
“Nevertheless, many of the leaders believed in Him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue.” (John 12:42)
Compare this to the history of Minister Farrakhan being loved and lauded by many leaders in various fields; yet many of these leaders become quiet when the Minister is condemned by Jewish leaders. Rapper Nas, in an interview with The Final Call newspaper, spoke on this phenomenon when he said:
“It’s like everybody’s scared to speak out about what’s in their heart, just because they’re scared of who is going to come down on them. They’re scared they’re going to get ‘blacklisted.’ They’re going to get all their endorsements taken away from them. They’re scared that they can’t feed their families.”
Yet despite all of this opposition and harassment of his supporters and admirers the Minister continues to be strong, courageous and mighty! As former ADL director Abraham Foxman,in April 2013 issue of Ha’aertz magazine, said of the Minister, he really is the last man standing. Foxman noted:
“The only leadership that now exists in that community—the African American community—is Louis Farrakhan. Farrakhan can assemble 20,000 people several times a year…”
The Minister’s strength and widespread appeal is the result of his anointing. So just as the Jewish leaders in the New Testament falsely attributed Jesus’ fame to Lazarus; the modern Jewish leaders falsely attribute Minister Farrakhan’s “legitimation” to Black celebrities and politicians. Truth be told, it is not Minister Farrakhan who is the net beneficiary of his interaction with famous folk. It is quite the opposite.
Yes, we have had “Black Moses,” but we now in the life, work and ministry of Minister Farrakhan we can behold “Black Jesus.” The dilemma now before Black America is a question of whether or not we are going to stand by and allow the modern Jewish leaders to crucify a man who has always defended the Black community, even when it has been unpopular? Theology Professor Andre C. Willis is spot on when he says of the Minister:
“There is simply no Black person in the world that has—over so many years—been as consistent, as unrestricted, and as forthright in defending the humanity of Black people throughout the world against its attackers.”
Who then among us will defend Minister Farrakhan? Or will we once again allow a good man to be crucified?
Read more from Demetric Muhammad at www.researchminister.com. Follow @brotherdemetric on Twitter.
Brother Ben X became a registered member of the Nation of Islam in 2014. While attending Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas, Brother Ben X lost his basketball scholarship. He dropped out of college in his junior year after realizing that he was not learning what he wanted to learn, and hearing Min. Farrakhan say that debt is slavery. After working at about three different jobs, Brother Ben decided give YouTube his all. Many of his clips have been viewed hundreds of thousands of times.
I bear witness that the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan has poured his life into the upliftment of the Blackman and woman of America in particular and to the human family in general. He has been on this journey for 62 years of his life and has given his all. I bear witness that Minister Farrakhan does not concern himself with the cost of building human lives. He knows that it is not necessarily the cost that goes in but the product that is produced from that cost, financially and non-financially. Have we internalized the idea contained in the mind of my father, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan that stems from the mind of his father the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad that stems from the mind of his Teacher and Savior, The Great Mahdi, Master Fard Muhammad?
