As Salaam Alaikum,
Imam Najee Ali
In your "Open Letter" to Minister Farrakhan, you wrote:
"Minister Farrakhan, in the spirit of brotherly love I am humbly suggesting that you consider postponing your current plans to hold a Millions More Movement March in Washington D.C. next month."
I humbly disagree with your suggestion.
Considering the fact that thousands and thousands of individuals have made travel arrangements not to mention the permits and logistics done by the organizers, I am sure you know (and knew before writing you "Open Letter") that the Million Man March Commemoration/launch of Millions More Movement on October 15th will not be postponed.
In the closing of your letter, you sought to trivialize the entire endeavor of the Millions More Movement by writing:
"I hope that you will realize that We need to all be in Louisiana Oct 16th helping to save lives and not in D.C. for speeches."
What is your intention? Is it to publicly discourage the Black community from supporting Minister Farrakhan’s and other Black leaders’ call for attending and/or supporting the Millions More Movement based your personal notion that its all about "speeches" and not lives?
Based on your trivialization of the endeavor as a futile exercise in speech giving rather than life-saving and changing, it is obvious that you felt this way before the hurricane struck. Are you now using these events as an opportunity to publicly promote your critical ideas about the March/Movement and its merits?
If you have access to communicate directly with Minister Farrakhan, have you attempted to share your ideas with him? If not, why not?
In closing, there are many people including many Black churches, mosques, national and local organizations that are diligently working to assist our brothers and sisters who are in need following the hurricane. This obviously includes many Black churches, mosques and organizations who support and/or are part of the Millions Man March/Millions More Movement endeavor. These brothers and sisters saw the desperate need of our people and without fanfare or public notice and open letters, sprang into action immediately after the hurricane struck.
I believe that the lack of organization and coordination of Black spiritual, political, social, business, local and national leadership on common causes that we all can agree on is what prevented us from collectively responding more effectively in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina in the midst of our government’s gross neglect.
This is my primary reason for saying that the agenda of collective unity or operational unity that is being called for is needed even more than ever to not only deal with the aftermath of hurricane Katrina but to effectively deal with the ongoing condition of our people.
In case you have not read the stated purposes of the Millions More Movement, I would suggest viewing the following documents that expound in much more detail on the points that I have raised in this letter:
1) An appeal to all those who would be a part of the Millions More Movement
http://www.millionsmoremovement.com/news/open_letter.htm
2) A Declaration for a Covenant with God, Leadership and our People
http://www.millionsmoremovement.com/declaration.htm
Respectfully,
Your Brother in faith,
Barnar C. Muhammad
Atlanta, Ga.