I'm on Lenora Fulani's e-mail list. (Don't ask) Here is the latest one.
HAPPY ANNIVERSARIES, MINISTER FARRAKHAN
By Dr. Lenora Fulani
Next week Minister Louis Farrakhan's Million Family March will take place
in Washington, D.C. In describing the political purpose of the march,
Minister Farrakhan said, "We must produce a popular force that is spiritual,
that is moral, that is politically mature, and economically mature, so that
it can become a tangible factor of power than can no longer be denied by
those who manipulate power."
The Minister strongly emphasizes the danger of that political manipulation.
"Because the real power is not with the people we vote in. The real power is
those that manipulate the people that we vote in. Unless we can deal with the
manipulators in this country we can forget about justice rolling down like a
mighty stream and all that kind of talk … We can proclaim liberty, but it
has
to come from a force coming up from the people who are wise, who are
mobilized, who are organized, who are politicized."
Farrakhan identifies a severe crisis in American democracy. "It is clear
from watching the political debate that has been going on in the country for
the last several years," he says, "that there has been a steady erosion of
the principles of democracy." The Minister points to policy manipulation by
corporate special interests, to "a tremendous degree of dissatisfaction" with
government, and to a "continuous decline in voter turnout and participation
in the last few presidential elections."
With these words Minister Farrakhan is inspiring hundreds of thousands of
African Americans, together with Latinos, Asians -- and whites, who are
explicitly invited to participate -- to make a broad political statement
about grassroots activism, democracy and coalition building. This year's
event marks five years since the Nation of Islam's Million Man March on
Washington, a moving spectacle of political and personal responsibility which
thrust Minister Farrakhan - however momentarily - into the national
political spotlight.
Next week also marks another significant, though far less noticed,
anniversary in the Minister's political life. On October 17, 1990 -just 10
years ago - Minister Farrakhan traveled to New York to announce his
endorsement of my independent run for Governor of New York State, a campaign
that was designed to win ballot status - a permanent slot on the ballot --
for the independent New Alliance Party and to create an alternative to the
Democratic Party for Black New Yorkers. (Fifty thousand votes for a
gubernatorial candidate creates a party, under New York law.)
On that day, Minister Farrakhan, together with the Rev. Al Sharpton my
longtime friend and colleague, endorsed my candidacy and called for the
creation of new options in Black politics.
Minister Farrkhan's visit to New York grew out of a several-year process
in which he and I dialogued intently on the question of Black electoral
participation. In my first "ballot status" run in 1986, I came under heavy
attack by the New York media for being a "friend of Farrakhan" though
interestingly at the time he and I had never met. But after that media
circus, he and I did come to know one another.
During the buildup for the 1988 presidential race - in which Jesse Jackson
was making his second run for the Democratic nomination for the presidency
and I was running for the presidency for the first time - I worked hard to
share my views with the Minister about the importance of independent politics
and what I believed was the imminent failure of the Democratic Party to
prioritize the Black Agenda.
The Minister and I met for hours at a time in Baltimore and Philadelphia,
discussing the notion that Black leadership needed to build new alliances and
a new political approach for our people. During the 1988 Democratic National
Convention in Atlanta, while Rev. Jesse Jackson - who had beaten Al Gore in
the primaries - was roundly disrespected by the Democratic hierarchs,
Minister Farrakhan convened a meeting of 3,000 African Americans at the Wheat
Street Baptist Church. He and I addressed the crowd about the black community
having come to a crossroads. He challenged Rev. Jackson to go beyond the
confines of Democratic Party racism, and I urged Black America to use my
independent presidential candidacy - on the ballot in all 50 states that year
- to make a statement that the era of blank checks to the Democratic Party
was over.
During the next several years, Minister Farrakhan and I remained in touch
though he pulled back from the national political stage and electoral
politics in general. When I ran for Governor in 1990, he reemerged briefly in
an effort to help me create a black-led political alternative, but vanished
again. He became embroiled in internal Nation of Islam politics and his own
efforts to withstand the constant barrage of attacks on him from the
political establishment and the media.
In 1995 he resurfaced with the Million Man March, which is credited with
having produced a million new black male voters in the 1996 presidential
elections. But the question of independent politics remains, at least for
now, unspoken by the Minister. Joseph Lieberman's "overture" for a meeting
with Minister Farrakhan and the Congressional Black Caucus' ardent support
for this year's march are indicators that however much the Democratic Party
may have and will continue to repudiate Farrakhan, there is a recognition of
the growing levels of dissatisfaction among Black Americans with the two
parties. The Minister, given his history with me and the independent
political movement, could uncork that dissatisfaction - something the
Democratic leadership deeply fears.
For years I have worked hard to bring the growing power of independent
politics to the Black community. In the last several years we've made
tremendous headway. New York's Independence Party, one of the two most
significant state parties in the independent movement (the other being Gov.
Jesse Ventura's Minnesota Independence Party) has more than 15,000 Black
registrants. An empowerment coalition that now governs Independence elected
Dr. Jessie Fields the prominent African American physician to its Executive
Committee. The State Committee is 25% people of color. Poll after poll show
that 35-45% of Black Americans - particularly young people - consider
themselves independents and want to align with a new political party. My
continuing effort is to create such a party.
My best wishes to Minister Louis Farrakhan and to the many thousands -
perhaps even millions - who will mark this anniversary with him. I salute all
of you. I'll be marking the 10-year anniversary as well - the one where
Minister Farrakhan proclaimed his support for Black political independence.
Ultimately, that is the road to creating "power than can no longer be denied
by those who manipulate power." |
