Farrakhans challenge to Black students: Break the chains of mental slavery LINCOLN UNIVERSITY—Expressing his gratitude to the organizers for the invitation, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan March 18 addressed the 2000 International African Youth Leadership Summit on the campus of Lincoln University. One thousand students and educators repeatedly rose to their feet as Min. Farrakhan described the need for them to break free of status quo control. I want the students to know how much an honor I feel it is to have this opportunity just to talk to you, Min. Farrakhan said. As I look out at you I see the future of our people, and no man getting older … wiser would want to pass up an opportunity to share wisdom with the young, strong, giants—male and female—who will lead our people in their continuous struggle for freedom, justice and equality in this new century and starting this new millennium. Min. Farrakhan skillfully used the conference theme, Evolutionary Progress through Revolutionary Awareness, and merged it with his own concerns for struggle and higher education. I am concerned (about the colleges) because I understand that these institutions were never established to facilitate our liberation, Min. Farrakhan noted. They were to train us so that we might fit into a socio-economic, political order that we would never control. Any awareness on our part to break free from the controllers would be met with great evil because they do not want Blacks to escape the sphere of their influence, the Minister said. He addressed the need for educators to free students to soar beyond their own knowledge and suggested that students put Allah (God) prominently in their programs and be thinkers and analysts as opposed to just quoting other scholars. Are we really free? he asked. We are allowed to go as high as they decide. We are allowed to get as much economic development as they decide and we have given them greater power over us by our continued obeisance to them, not understanding that we can break free of any imposition of anybody else’s authority or will. The only will we cannot break is the Will of God, and if we surrender to the Will of God we can break the hold of any slave master, any oppressor, any one who would deny us freedom, justice and equality, he said. Min. Farrakhan was joined on stage by his wife Khadijah; daughter and nurse Fatima; International Representative Abdul Akbar Muhammad; National Director for the Million Family March Benjamin F. Muhammad; Philadelphia Minister Rodney Muhammad; Lincoln University President Dr. Ivory Nelson and Dr. Abdul Alim Shabazz, a conference participant and Lincoln University mathematician professor. He received a rousing introduction from National Black Student Government Assn. President Lewis Thomas III, whose recital of Claude McKay’s poem, If We Must Die, brought the audience to its feet. To the delight of the Minister and the audience alike, violinist and triple academic major Jack Drummond played an original composition he allowed the audience to title Minister Farrakhan, on the condition that they liked what they heard. He received a standing ovation for his performance. Evolutionary progress, the Minister said, suggests that there is a predetermined goal, objective, and that in evolution you will attain stage after stage toward your goal. However, if we are not conscious or aware, we leave ourselves vulnerable to the impediment of the danger between your start and the finish. You must be revolutionary in your consciousness, he said. Revolution suggests complete change, he said. But some are satisfied with the way things are. You’ve got to be cautious with those kind of people, he warned. Because if the way things are is not the way God wants things to be, then how could anybody be satisfied with the way things are? Min. Farrakhan warned students that if their definition of liberation is to be liberated from Caucasian dominance, that is a cheap goal. You think that’s hard, You can come out of their domination almost overnight with a little knowledge of God and a little knowledge of yourself. The Minister urged the audience to recognize that although America is a super power and lives the illusion of being secure, it has not stopped God’s judgment against her. That’s not going to stop the judgment of God against this country. That has not stopped the tornadoes, the floods, the hailstorms, the winds, the rain, he warned. He urged the students to define the real goal and let no one interfere with their attainment of it.
Posted on: Mon, 22 Sep 2014 02:11:46 +0000