I went online today to listen to what was heralded as an revelation of the truth about the late Michael Jackson. The message lived up to the billing as The Hon. Louis Farrakhan delivered a wide-ranging message on topics of theology, black history, scripture, and of course the life and death of Michael Jackson.

I couldn’t make it to my regular Sunday meeting at the Pensacola Muhammad Study Group, which is the local branch of The Nation of Islam. Therefore, I was able to use modern technology to bring Minister Farrakhan’s message home on my MacBook via webcast. My guests and I tuned in at 10 pm to hear this powerful rendering of truth from The Minister.

The Minister invited the press to listen to this opportune message, because as one of the presenters jokingly said,“They always get the story right.”

Before Minister Farrakhan took the rostrum, there was a beautiful mix of Michael Jackson’s best songs by the Muslim sisters of Mosque Maryam, the flagship mosque of the Nation of Islam.

The Minister began with an exegesis of theology as it relates to blacks. He revealed that we (blacks) are the particular people whom God came to save, who in turn would become saviors of the world. He reminded us that just as Jesus began his message narrowly to just “The Lost Sheep in the House of Israel,” so The Nation of Islam focused solely on a message for the black man. However, at this time we must grow towards greater awareness, because the Most Hon. Elijah Muhammad, his teacher, told him: “Black is not national, but it is universal.”

 

He then went on to history of government action against black men and black movements that they saw as threats to their interest in keeping blacks in a subjugated state. In particular, he mentioned the trials of Nat Turner, Mrcus Garvey, WEB Dubois, Paul Robeson, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, and The Most Hon. Elijah Muhammad, leader of the Nation of Islam. He mentioned all of these things to set a context in which to discuss the life and death of Michael Jackson.

In his powerful conclusion, he spoke of various memories of being with Michael Jackson. He revealed that Michael Jackson wanted to sing his hit song “Man in the mirror” at the Million Man March, but someone talked him out of it. However, Michael Jackson donated $100,000 to the Million Man March, the minister said. He further said that even though Michael Jackson on the outside went from black skin to white skin; he internally he was traveling from a white consciousness to a black consciousness, which made him want to do it for his people. He then spoke of the universal appeal of Michael Jackson and Barack Obama to appeal to all races, colors and peoples of the world as a sign of our ultimate mission.

One of the most powerful moments for me came when the minister quoted Michael Jackson’s words in his song “They don’t care about us,” which showed the musician’s growing awareness. He also quoted the words of Michael’s Oxford speech, which dispelled the repeated media story that Michael Jackson hated his father, Joe Jackson.

The Minister covered all of the above and more in his longest 3-hour speech that was broadcast live to the United States and the world via webcast.

Thank you for reading these few words.