Thug Life Army

The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan spoke Saturday night and many who were not even present to hear the speech have taken notice of the Ministers words. Among the themes he repeatedly revisited were the mind-numbing impact of drugs, the influence of gangsta rap, the destruction of black families and black-on-black violence. The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan has always been there for the hip-hop and rap community with his support, unique understanding and guidance. Now again we find ourselves listening, but will we learn and heed his words.

Farrakhan: blacks should look inward for solutions by Larry Peterson

Black people must count on their own efforts and cannot rely on help from whites to solve their problems, Minister Louis Farrakhan said Saturday.

The head of the Nation of Islam spoke for two and a half hours before a rapt audience of more than 350 people at Savannah State University.

Wearing a crisp gray suit, Farrakhan issued a challenge to the sponsor of his address, the Georgia Association of Black Elected Officials.

"What are you doing ... to help your people be better than they are?" he asked at the 800-member-plus group's annual convention. "... How can you feel good about having power when you''re not using your power to empower your people?"

He also admonished the broader black community.

"You are becoming a burden by refusing to do something for yourselves," Farrakhan said, "and you are laying on them (white people) and they don''t have more jobs for their own people, let alone ours."

Dabbing his sweating forehead often with a handkerchief, the 72-year-old black Muslim leader was alternately angry, imploring, preachy and sometimes funny.

He used highbrow and lowbrow accents to mimic whites and blacks, including some of his own critics. He shadowboxed. He danced.

At one point he had his mostly black audience laughing when he mockingly shuffled, imitating the servility once typified by the stooping comedian Steppin'' Fetchit.

A few seconds later, he triggered a standing ovation when he stood erect and loudly demanded, "God damn it, stand up like a man! Don''t bend your back no more ... Stop it, God damn it, stop it!"

His voice rising and sometimes dropping to barely a whisper, Farrakhan let his rhetoric spiral, touching on a topic, then another and still another, but often returning to key themes and ideas.

Among them was a new Million Man March he's planning for Washington D.C. in October, a decade after a similar event where black men pledged to improve their lives and those of their families.

Other themes he repeatedly revisited were the mind-numbing impact of drugs, the influence of gangsta rap, the destruction of black families and black-on-black violence.

"And the madness continues," Farrakhan said. "And mothers (are) bringing their babies to their final resting places."

Turning to an even more ominous theme, he said gang violence plays into the hands of the CIA and other government agencies that fear minorities will eventually become the majority and "take over."

Farrakhan said such agencies are using drugs, guns and gangsta rap to induce black young males to kill each other and to fight Hispanic youths.

"I call it social engineering," he said.

He said there is a plan to round up all the "gang bangers" and lock them up in detention camps.

"In every major city," Farrakhan added, "there has been highway construction going on so tanks can roll on what are called ''defense highways'' and come into the inner cities ... You are no match for the arms you are going to face."

Before Farrakhan spoke, members of the audience were patted down for weapons. During his speech, dozens of guards, many wearing tuxedos and bow ties, stood stiffly near him and at each side of the auditorium.

Reaction to the speech was overwhelmingly upbeat.

"He was right on target," said state Sen. Regina Thomas, D-Savannah. "He was saying that we don''t have time for excuses. We have to take responsibility; we have to be pro-active."

Similarly, Savannah Mayor Otis Johnson, said Farrakhan "spoke the truth" and State Rep. Bob Bryant, D-Garden City, said the speaker offered "a good positive message."

Likewise, former state Rep. Mickey Stephens said Farrakhan "was telling it like it is."

Even Farrakhan's talk of "social engineering" rang true with many listeners.

"I''ve always believed in a conspiracy," Thomas said. "If you look at how things work in the legislature, everything is planned in advance."

State Rep. Tyrone Brooks, president of Georgia Association of Black Elected Officials, said many civil rights leaders think law enforcement agencies have used drugs and guns to stir up trouble among young black males.

"Some white people are fearful that the minorities will eventually become majorities," he said.

"Let's put it this way," said Johnson. "In the black communities, we don''t have any gun factories. We don''t have any drug factories."

Of those interviewed, Bryant came closest to expressing skepticism.

"I don''t tend to think that drastically about it," he said. "I don''t really have an opinion."