NEW YORK (FinalCall.com) - Every approach to solving Black people’s problems have been exhausted, but now unity must be used to fix the problems that exist within the Black community, said the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, as he delivered the keynote address to a capacity-crowd at the Institute of the Black World 21st Century (IBW) State of the Black World Forum.



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The rich are troubled now that the poor are talking about mobilizing.

-Minister Farrakhan



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Held at the House of the Lord Church in Brooklyn, led by Reverend Herbert Daughtry, Minister Farrakhan punctuated his address with so much humor that he jokingly asked if something was dropped in his water.

Although humor was implemented to make certain points, Min. Farrakhan was very clear is his assessment of the conditions plaguing the Black community and used his time to promote the October commemoration of the 10th Anniversary of the Million Man March.

“The rich are troubled now that the poor are talking about mobilizing,” he said, referring to the May 2 press conference in Washington announcing the Millions More Movement. The gathering saw a broad coalition of major Black organizations show an unprecedented desire to put aside differences in order to work collectively.

Despite demands by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) for Black leaders to withdraw from the coalition, Min. Farrakhan sounded confident that a new page was turned on the struggle and that the powers-that-be are losing their influence over Black leadership.

“Whenever we raise to a certain level, they must knock it down,” he said. “Not this time. This is our last chance and we’re not going to blow it this time,” he exclaimed.

Those in attendance said they agreed that a new day was here in the centuries-old struggle for Black liberation.

“I think we are moving in the right direction, but this time I think it’s going to be a permanent movement,” said City Councilman Charles Barron, who has been active in various social organizations since the 1960s. “We’re getting to that point where we’re at rock bottom, that there is no other place to go but up,” he said. “All of us are lowering our egos so that we can raise up our people.”

While admitting that Min. Farrakhan delivered an excellent speech, City College professor Leonard Jeffries offered the Muslim minister some advice. “After you do the scriptures and after you let people know you’re a Muslim minister, but more than that, you’re a child of God, then the platform needs to be laid out,” he explained. The Black Studies professor said the 10-point agenda articulated by Min. Farrakhan during his pre-Kwanzaa address in Newark, N.J. last December needs to become a mantra. Though the Minister briefly touched on some of those issues, they need to be kept at the forefront, he pointed out.

Fifty-year-old Angel Rodriguez wept openly as he listened to the lecture. Mr. Rodriguez said he has been a nationalist since the age of 15 and, like Minister Farrakhan, he has been waiting for “the unity of all the poor people. We must come together; it’s the only way to beat the monster,” he said.

Min. Farrakhan said the struggle is not only here in the United States, but worldwide. He revealed his plans to visit the Caribbean and Africa, because “everybody must mobilize against imperialism and neocolonialism and racism.”

Reverend Leah Daughtry, daughter of Rev. Herbert Daughtry, agreed with Min. Farrakhan’s assessment. She said she was “heartened by a sense of unity by these organizations who have been at odds with each other, to come together to say we need to make changes in our community.” However, the reverend, who runs the House of the Lord Church in Washington, added, “I would like to offer them a challenge, because a lot of them are the old guard and we need to find some new blood, some young people to take up the struggle.”


Systems need to be put in place to allow a seamless transition when current leaders move on, she said.

IBW President Dr. Ron Daniels said the organization plans to hold monthly informational forums on the first Saturday of every month. Next month, Dr. Maulana Karenga, professor and chair of the Department of Black Studies at California State University, Long Beach and founder of Kwanzaa, is slated to deliver the keynote address.

Built on the principles of social justice, African humanism and self-determination, the IBW seeks to acquire and maintain power in order to build institutions, rebuild communities and foster unity amongst people of African descent. All done in the “vision of a new, non-exploitative order.”

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