The Nation of Islam Calls for Million Man March to Demand Justice or Else

The National Representative of the Nation of Islam, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, has called on African American, Latino/ a Native American, and Caucasian peoples to attend the coming October 10th gathering of the 20th Anniversary of the Million Man March (MMM) to demand “Justice…Or Else!”

The October 10, 2015 MMM gathering, to be held in Washington, D.C., is being called in response to African Americans’ nationwide righteous anger and protest over a national crisis of racial injustice and police killings of Black people. The planned MMM gathering’s theme is “Justice…Or Else !”

There are other slogans being used by Black people throughout America in regards to police killings of Black people, but we cannot build a mass militant movement based on slogans that embodies no substantial political content or direction. Slogans like “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” and “Black Lives Matter”, although useful for exposing Michael Brown’s death and the other as a useful catch-all for a broad range of racial justice issues of Black protest, those slogans are widely considered too passive and limited only to expressions of general sentiment. Such slogans can hardly be used by Black people to build a mass militant movement in America to advance its agenda.

So what about the nation of Islam’s slogan of “Justice…or Else!” does it embody substantial political content and direction? Will it spur Black people on to build a mass militant civil disobedience movement that would ultimately change the American government’s policy of racist mistreatment of Black people? Quite possibly.

In the slogan “Justice…Or Else!” the first part of ‘justice’ does provide Black people in America with some substantial political content going forward. And the second part of ‘…or else, although ambiguous and undefined, it does provide some political direction to build a mass militant movement.

In discussing the October 10th MMM gathering’s theme of ”Justice…Or Else!” Minister Louis Farrakhan invoked the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. stating that “Reverend King said we can redistribute the pain by economic withdrawal”.

Minister Farrakhan explained that the “…Or Else!” part of the slogan means that African Americans will economic boycott Black Friday and the Christmas holiday if justice is not immediately given.

Although “Justice…Or Else!” is a slogan in the right direction, saying that the “…Or Else!” will be an economic boycotting Black Friday and the Christmas holiday, is insufficient alone to break the back of the American government’s policy of institutional white supremacy over Black people.

Reverend Dr. King’s philosophy of “economic withdrawal” was meant to be accompanied by his philosophy of “militant civil disobedience”—excluding his personal prohibition against violence—for the two tactics go hand-in-hand.

Black people’s struggle for justice in America also must invoke Minister Malcolm X’s philosophy of “By any means necessary” and take the political position that Black people will inflict massive civil and economic disruption and economic crisis on America and its global partners’ economies as long as the American government continue to inflict racial injustice against Black people.

In street parlance this means that if Black people are forced to live under tyranny and in hell in America, then all of America will be forced to live the same.

From the Belly of the Beast, this is Shakaboona.

Thank you for listening.