Farrakhan as David vs. Goliath Media
Farrakhan as David vs. Goliath Media:
A Man Without Letters but Learned
Brother Demetric Muhammad
The Bible and the Holy Qur’an agree that Jesus is the Messiah. Both books attest to the fact that Jesus was vehemently opposed. From the Biblical narrative, his enemies are categorized as being the Pharisees, Sadducees and the Scribes. According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word scribe is a verb that means “to write.” Its Latin root, scribere, means “to write.” In the Hebrew language, it is the word sopher that means “writer, scholar.” According to the Bible, the Scribes who opposed Jesus were the “professional interpreters of the Jewish Law.”
So the scribes of the Bible embodied the intersection of the fields of law, writing and the Jewish religion. This connection can be likened to today’s profession of journalism. In fact the basic training and education of lawyers and journalists are often identical. Both prelaw students and journalism majors are advised to choose courses that emphasize research, critical thinking, writing and close reading. The law profession is dominated by members of the Jewish community. In addition, the major media companies in America are headed by Jewish CEOs.
Minister Louis Farrakhan has been handled in the same way that the Scribes handled Jesus. In the Bible the Jewish leadership, called Sanhedrin, had a meeting that is recorded in St. John, chapter 11. The Bible quotes their fear of Jesus after he had raised Lazarus from death:
“What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man performing many miraculous signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” —St. John 11:47-48 (NIV)
The heading for these verses of scripture is “The Plot to Kill Jesus.” Jesus’ death was therefore planned in the aftermath of his demonstrated ability to give life to the dead. Because the Sanhedrin feared the popularity of Jesus’ message, they plotted Jesus’ crucifixion. Jesus pointed out the Jewish leaders’ wickedness and their misuse of the people. He condemned their evil monetary practices that had desecrated the holy temples of God. And the Sanhedrin saw in Jesus the end of their influence, control and power. So they sought to kill him.
Minister Louis Farrakhan has closely followed Jesus. He has demonstrated the Jesus Leadership Model. And as a result of his desire to follow the Jesus that both Bible and Holy Qur’an call the Messiah, he has acquired unique and extraordinary abilities. This is undeniable. No one enlightens and positively impacts the Black community like the ministry of Minister Louis Farrakhan. In fact, it is not an exaggeration to describe Minister Farrakhan’s ministry as indispensable to and vital for Black survival. Minister Farrakhan is to Black America what Islam was to Europe in the Dark Ages. He possesses the guidance, the programmatic thrust and the philosophy necessary to bring the Black community out of our slavery-induced darkness. The historic 1995 Million Man March is one of the many “miraculous signs” performed by the Minister that demonstrates this. For in one day the Minister increased voter registration and the adoption of Black children, helped reduce Black-on-Black crime and sparked an increase in Black men joining community-based organizations and houses of worship.
The plot to crucify Minister Farrakhan has always included the effort to destroy his strong appeal and attraction. The strongest and most powerful of journalists—the modern scribes—have often been used to try to destroy the magnetism of Minister Farrakhan that, like Jesus, if allowed to continue “everyone will believe in him.” These mighty journalists, who were trained in research, critical thinking, writing and close reading, were used in a critical aspect of Minister Farrakhan’s crucifixion. Their job was to mock him and caricature him. Their job was to denigrate his message and present his ideas as unsound and unpopular. But in each case they failed miserably.
None of the celebrated modern scribes was able to accomplish the goal of destroying Minister Farrakhan’s magnetism among his people. And what is fascinating and seldom considered is the high level of formal education attained by these celebrity journalists contrasted against the absence of any high-level educational degree held by Minister Farrakhan.
Tim Russert of NBC’s Meet The Press held a B.A. in Political Science and a Jurist Doctorate also. He was bestowed a total of 48 honorary degrees and was the recipient of the Edward R. Murrow award as well an Emmy award and numerous other awards in journalism.
Mike Wallace of CBS’s 60 Minutes held a B.A. from University of Michigan, where an investigative journalism fellowship bears his name. His biography says that he “earned 21 Emmy Awards, five DuPont-Columbia journalism awards, five Peabody awards and the Paul White Award, the most prestigious award given by the Radio and Television News Directors Association. He also won the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award grand prize and television first prize in 1996, and was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in June 1991.”
Sam Donaldson graduated from the Mexico Military Institute.
Ted Koppel of ABC’s Nightline holds a B.S. degree from Syracuse and an M.A. from Stanford University. A member of the Broadcasting Hall of Fame, Mr. Koppel has won every major broadcasting award, including 40 Emmy Awards, eight George Foster Peabody Awards, 10 DuPont-Columbia Awards, and two George Polk Awards. His 10 Overseas Press Club Awards make him the most honored journalist in the Club’s history. He has received more than 20 honorary degrees from universities in the United States.
David Broder’s bio: “He received his bachelor’s degree and an M.A. in political science from the University of Chicago. He was a fellow of the Institute of Politics of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and a fellow of the Institute of Policy Sciences and Public Affairs at Duke University. Broder was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in May 1973 for distinguished commentary. Broder has won numerous awards, including the White Burkett Miller Presidential Award in 1989 and the prestigious 4th Estate Award from the National Press Foundation in 1990, which also honored him with the Distinguished Contributions to Journalism Award in 1993.”
Phil Donahue holds a B.A. from University of Notre Dame. He won 9 Emmy Awards and is an inductee into the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame.
Barbara Walters graduated with an English degree from Sara Lawrence College and has won numerous awards.
Cokie Roberts holds a B.A. degree in political science from Wellesley College.
George F. Will: In 1986, the Wall Street Journal called him “perhaps the most powerful journalist in America.” His biography notes: “Will was educated at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, Oxford University and Princeton University, where he earned his Ph.D. He has taught political philosophy at Michigan State University, the University of Toronto and Harvard University. In 1977, he won a Pulitzer Prize for commentary for his newspaper columns.”
Richard Engel holds a B.A. from Stanford University in international relations. “He speaks and reads fluent Arabic, which he learned while living in Cairo. Engel has also traveled extensively in the Middle East and can comfortably transition between several Arabic dialects spoken across the Arab world. He is also fluent in Italian and Spanish.”
Minister Louis Farrakhan went to college but did not complete it. His teacher is the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, who only completed the third grade. But what Mr. Muhammad taught Minister Farrakhan has equipped him and prepared him in such a way that the sharpest and cleverest of journalists fail in their attempts to derail his powerful message. In fact, amidst his crucifixion at the hands of the modern scribes, Minister Farrakhan routinely enjoyed approval ratings that any politician would envy. Time magazine’s cover story in 1994, “Ministry of Rage,” featured an interview and survey of Minister Farrakhan’s appeal and attraction among American Blacks. The surveys found that nearly two-thirds of all Black people agree that Minister Farrakhan speaks the truth!
All that we have written must naturally produce in the minds of Minister Farrakhan’s opposers, the same question that the Biblical Jews asked about Jesus: “How has this man become learned, having never been educated?”—John 7:15 (NASB)