An
appeal to all those who would be aIN THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE BENEFICENT, THE MERCIFUL.
For
years, decades and centuries, leaders have arisen among us who
have fought, bled and died to see us united as a people.
Willie Lynch, a Caribbean plantation owner, developed a set of protocols that would ensure, if followed, that Black people—wherever we were found on the planet—would never be able to unite. (See Willie Lynch Letter)
So, these seeds of dissention and division have worked 100 percent to keep the former colonial and slave-master’s children in power over us. All that Willie Lynch advocated in 1712 continues until this very day.
Those who wish to maintain power and control over us are fearful of anything or anyone who might bring unity to a fragmented people. So every leader who showed such ability or skill was castigated, evil spoken of, falsely accused, imprisoned, beaten or killed, only for us to later learn how valuable they were, male and female, to our advancement as a people.
From the time that I was a little boy, I hungered to see us as a united people. When I heard the voice of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad and Malcolm X, I believed that the Teachings that they presented would be a unifying force for all of our people. However, in our lack of understanding of the universal nature of His Message, we were not permitted with our limited understanding to unite the whole of our people, but we were successful in uniting a segment of our people, to produce the Nation of Islam as an example of what a united people could produce in the way of providing for our necessities of life.
The Honorable Elijah Muhammad called for a united front of Black leaders and organizations to plan the uplift of all of our fallen people. Kwame Ture, also known as Stokley Carmichael, carried the theme of a United African Front and worked to produce this to the end of his days.
I am so thankful to Almighty Allah (God) for the words that He caused me to write and say that have become the basis for the call of the 10th Anniversary of the Million Man March and the creation of the Millions More Movement.
For the first time in our history, those of us of different ideologies, philosophies, methodologies, denominations, sects and religions, political and fraternal affiliations have come together to create the Millions More Movement. Each of us, who have agreed to work together for the benefit of the whole of our people, have said from our particular platforms, based on our beliefs and understanding or the lack thereof, words that have offended members of our own people and others; and our ideology, philosophy, religion and pronouncements may have hurt the ears and sentiments of others outside of our community. Therefore, this has kept us working inside of our own circles with those who think as we think or believe as we believe. As a result, some of us would never appear on the same stage with one another, for fear of being hurt by association with those with whom we have serious disagreements.
The Millions More Movement is challenging all of us to rise above the things that have kept us divided in the past, by focusing us on the agenda of the Millions More Movement to see how all of us, with all of our varied differences, can come together and direct our energy, not at each other, but at the condition of the reality of the suffering of our people, that we might use all of our skills, gifts and talents to create a better world for ourselves, our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.
I cannot fault a Christian pastor for standing on his platform to preach what he believes, nor a Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu or a member of any religious or political party. All of us must be true to what we earnestly believe. I cannot fault a gay or lesbian person who stands on their platform to preach what they believe of self and how the world should view them. Although what we say on our platform may, in some way, be offensive to others, we must not allow painful utterances of the past or present, based on sincere belief, or based on our ignorance, or based on our ideology or philosophy to cripple a movement that deserves and needs all of us—and, when I say all, I mean all of us. We must begin to work together to lift our people out of the miserable and wretched condition in which we find ourselves.
Let us remember in this process that not one of us is qualified to judge the other, for none of us fully understands the circumstances, conditions and realities of each other’s lives that make us to think and act as we think. Therefore, Allah (God) alone is our judge.
It is written in the scripture, “Judge not, that ye be not judged.” (Matthew 7:1) Jesus again instructed us, “How canst thou say to thy brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother’s eye.” (Luke 6:42)
These principles, if followed, will allow us to come into a common room with a purpose bigger than self and, in the process, create lawful dialogue to help us understand each other, that we may be shaped and molded, or reshaped and remolded, by our association with each other.
The Millions More Movement, in causing all of us to be together for a common cause, allows the process of lawful dialogue to begin to help us in our exchange with one another in the best way. For the Civil Rights Advocates, Nationalists, Pan-Africanists, Christians of every denomination, Muslims of every sect, students of every fraternity, Masons, Shriners and Elks to come into the same room and begin the process of lawful dialogue; by our being able to exchange with one another in the best, most peaceful and loving manner, we can help to shape and reshape each other’s thinking. We are allowed to challenge each other’s thinking if we disagree with each other in the spirit of love. Based upon truth and rational thinking, we come to an equitable agreement. When we do this, we can begin to make ourselves into a mighty and powerful force for change.
Unity, love of self and love for one another have always been my desire. We stand on the threshold of the realization of our potential unity and the potential power that our unity can unleash to bring about a positive change today because of the Millions More Movement.
I am hoping that each of us will rise above our personal pain, hurt or anger at one another for what we have said or done in the past or present to offend each other, that we might strive for reconciliation, understanding and agreement. Our very lives and the future of our people depend upon this; and this is why we say, “Long Live the Spirit of the Million Man March.”
Let that spirit be the spirit of the Millions More Movement, and together we will achieve for our people and others in 10 years what we have not been able to achieve in the 450 years of our sojourn in this hemisphere.
It is written in the scriptures of the Bible: “Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit saith the Lord.” (Zachariah 4:6)
It is written in the Holy Qur’an: “And hold fast by the covenant of Allah (God) altogether and be not disunited. And remember Allah’s (God’s) favour to you when you were enemies, then He united your hearts so by His favour you became brethren. And you were on the brink of a pit of fire, then He saved you from it. Thus Allah (God) makes clear to you His messages that you may be guided.” (Surah 3, verse 102)
Thank you all for reading and striving to adhere to these words.
—The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan