Farrakhan urges the end of partisan politics

A prominent African-American leader, who is visiting Grenada, has called for deeper political unity among countries of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

Louis Farrakhan, who heads the Nation of Islam (NOI), made the appeal in an interview ahead of a public lecture Saturday evening at the Grenada Trade Centre in St. George’s.

“Grenada cannot exist independent of other Caribbean islands. So, the future of the West Indies must just not just stop with CARICOM, but there must be a political union of the whole of the Caribbean,’’ said Farrakhan who was born in the United States to Caribbean parents.

His father was Jamaican and his mother from St. Kitts.

Grenada is the first stop of a Caribbean tour for Farrakhan, who described the NOI as “a group of men, women and children who have dedicated our lives to the principle of obedience to the will of God’’.

He expressed love for the Caribbean which, he said, “nurtured’’ him.

The NOI leader also paid special tribute to assassinated former Grenada Prime Minister Maurice Bishop and to Malcolm X.

Born in Nebraska to Grenadian Louis Norton Little, Malcolm X was a well-known human rights activist and former NOI member who was killed in 1965. Like Bishop, Malcolm X was 39 at his death.

 “Grenada gave us Malcolm; Grenada gave us Mr Bishop,’’ Farrakhan said.

“All of us in America who are nationalistic in our thinking, we loved Bishop. We saw him as a very progressive mind.’’

Farrakhan, 79, said there is a need for all countries – including the U.S. and Grenada – to end the practice of partisan party politics, which is hampering national development.

“We need to think more of Grenada and the Caribbean rather than our party,’’ he said. “Our party is important; but our party is not more important than the nation that these parties are to serve.’’

Farrakhan welcomed the November 6 reelection in the U.S. of Barack Obama, the first black president of the United States.

He said, however, that even with Obama’s presidency, work remains to eradicating racism and other social ills plaguing African-Americans.

“Black people in America,’’ according to Farrakhan, “are still the highest in unemployment; the highest in incarceration rates; the highest in murder and violence; and the highest in sickness and disease.’’

African-Americans, Farrakhan argued, “have a lot of work to do. But, it should not be on the shoulders of President Obama to do it. He can create the atmosphere but the work has to be done by us. His reelection has manifested the deep-seated racism that still exists in America, in spite of the fact that we have a black president.’’

Portland business destroyed;possible hate crime

November 21, 2012 

Police are  Investigating Early Morning Fire at Mack &Dub’s Excellent Chicken &Waffles

Preliminary investigation shows business was burglarized and set on fire; officers also found racist graffiti.

Portland Fire & Rescue responded to a call to put out a fire at Mack &Dub's Excellent Chicken & Waffles restaurant early Wednesday morning. The Portland Police Bureau (PPB) is investigating the incident as an arson, burglary and possible hate crime.

According to a press release, an officer was patrolling the Boise neighborhood at 5:47 a.m. when he smelled smoke coming from Mack & Dub’s, which is located on 3601 Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

Upon seeing the fire, he contacted Portland Fire & Rescue to put it out.

During the investigation, officers came across racist graffiti.

According to Sgt. Pete Simpson of the PPB, “The question at this point for investigators is whether the graffiti was already there prior to this whole incident and is it older graffiti that just hasn’t been cleaned or is it new and is there any connection to the fire and burglary? At this point we don’t know enough to say for sure but it’s one factor in the investigation and that’s why we’re looking at it as a possible hate crime.”

As of press time, investigators haven’t released any specifics on what the graffiti said.

Earlier this year, the Sons of Haiti Masonic Lodge was hit with racist graffiti but some questioned whether the source was necessarily a hate group, pointing to backwards swastikas as evidence.

SO THEY DONT WANT ANY BLACK BUSINESSES IN NORTHEAST PORTLAND , OREGON ANYMORE?

Farrakhan takes on the Caribbean Islands

Leader of the Nation of Islam The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan will be arriving in Barbados on Sunday 11/25/2012 for a week’s visit as part of the second phase of a Caribbean tour.

The outspoken religious and social leader will be having a number of meetings with various sectors including business, students and the general public.

The announcement of his visit was made today at the Clement Payne Centre by the local organising committee headed by President of the Clement Payne Movement, David Comissiong, leading officer Thelma Gill-Barnett and Leader of the Nation of Islam study group in Barbados, Miles Muhammad.

Comissiong said Farrakhan, 80, was on a five nation Caribbean tour which began today in Grenada and will include Barbados, Dominica, the U.S Virgin Islands, Belize and Bahamas.

“This is a historic tour that holds special significance for Barbados and the Caribbean. It comes at a time when the world is enmeshed in a civilisation crisis...That crisis has impacted very severely on Caribbean nations and people and therefore this is a time when we especially need the motivational message of Minister Farrakhan”, said Comissiong. 

Once you vote Black you can never go back

Religion Plays Role In 2012 Election As Voters Reelect Barack Obama President

Despite strong assaults about everything from what opponents have called a "war on religion" for his healthcare reform policy's provisions on contraception coverage and pastors' protests against his support of same-sex marriage to questions over the his support of Israel and his relationship with Jewish voters, President Barack Obama was reelected to a second term Tuesday night with support from religious and especially nonreligious voters.

Obama carried Electoral College votes in several battleground states where religious voters were key parts of the electorate, including Catholic-heavy Ohio, evangelical-heavy Iowa, and Virignia. Another swing stage with a large population of religious voters, Florida, was too close to call by early Wednesday morning.

In his concession speech from Boston, Republican challenger and former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney congratulated Obama, saying it was a time of "great challenges" in America and that "I pray the president will be successful in guiding our nation." He thanked supporters for their prayers and said Americans will "look to our pastors and priest and rabbis and counselors of all kinds" as the nation moves on from the election. "Ann I join you to earnestly pray for him and for this great nation," he said, asking God to "bless America."

Speaking at his victory speech in Chicago, Obama thanked supporters and "every American who participated in this election," saying that voters "reaffirmed the spirit that triumphs." Returning to his motivational, pastor-like tone that was common in his first campaign, Obama referenced the American "belief that our destiny is shared" and said a sense of "love, charity, duty and patriotism" is the hallmark of the nation's culture.

"Together, with your help and God's grace we will continue our journey forward and remind the world just why it is that we live in the greatest nation on Earth. God bless you. God bless these United States," Obama said.

Initial exit polls -- which are expected to change through Wednesday as more results come in -- showed a mix bag of support for Obama and Romney among religious voters. Among people who said they attend religious services weekly, for example, exit polls indicated Romney took a significant lead. But among voters who said they attend services "occasionally" or "never," Obama had large leads.

Early exit poll results also showed Obama losing the overall white evangelical vote to Romney, but winning the overall Catholic vote by just a few points. Among Jewish voters, initial exit polls showed Obama having an overwhelming lead over Romney, but preliminary results also showed him winning a smaller percentage of the Jewish vote than he did four years ago.

Around the nation, other results in elections with large faith-related components also were announced or being tallied. In Indiana, Democratic Rep. Joe Donnelly defeated Republican Senate candidate Richard Mourdock, whose popularity dived after he controversially said pregnancy from rape is "something God intended to happen." In Hawaii, Democrat Mazie Hirono won over Republican contender former Gov. Linda Lingle. Hirono's win makes her the first Buddhist in the Senate. In Hawaii's 2nd congressional district, where Democrat Tulsi Gabbard won over Republican opponent Kawika Crowley, Gabbard will become the first Hindu in Congress.

In Wisconsin, Rep. Tammy Baldwin beat Republican Tommy Thompson for Wisconsin's open U.S. Senate seat to become the nation's first openly gay senator. And in Maryland and Maine, early reports indicated that ballot iniatives that would legalize same-sex marriage -- efforts that were strongly opposed by conservative pastors -- would pass.

PRESIDENT OBAMA VICTORY SPEECH