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Today during the debate Barack Obama tuned his back on the endorsement of a senior black leader – Louis Farrakhan – and he did not have the guts to acknowledge and thank Louis Farrakhan for the political endorsement.
Then I saw this diary at the Daily Kos that called my attention:
Tim Russert, you horrible divisive sickening scumbag
By: Volvo Liberal - Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 09:12:34 PM
http://www.dailykos.com/...
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When I saw this diary I realized the diary is completely out of line in every sense of the word, and here is why:
Tim Russert asked Barack Obama a very valid and relevant question that Barack Obama answered by turning his back and rejecting one of the major black leaders in the US in the last 50 years.
If you ask most Americans to make a list of the 10 most influential black leaders in the United States in the last 50 years – Louis Farrakhan’s name would be in that list with Martin Luther King, Malcom X, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and Colin Powell.
For all practical purposes Louis Farrakhan is recognized to be one of the major black American leaders in the last half century.
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For all practical purposes Louis Farrakhan is recognized to be one of the major black American leaders in the last half century. And that major leader of the black population in the United States – today one of its senior leaders – endorsed Barack Obama because he was proud that a black man like himself might be the Democratic Party nominee for a presidential election.
And Barack Obama did not have the guts to say to Tim Russert and to the American people – that he accepted the endorsement of Louis Farrakhan – a man who was able to bring almost one million black supporters to Washington D.C. and had people like Jesse Jackson, and Al Sharpton at his side to put the spotlight on the problems affecting black people in the United States.
For Barack Obama to denounce and reject the endorsement of Louis Farrakhan during today’s debate it looked to me that he was turning his back on a senior leader of his own kind – another black man.
If Barack Obama had any guts he would have answered Tim Russert by saying that he welcomed Louis Farrakhan’s endorsement, because he recognized that Farrakhan had been a black leader for a long time – and he could then explain some of philosophical differences between himself and Louis Farrakhan.
If Barack Obama is turning his back on senior black leaders today, and giving a display of lack of balls – what can the American people expect from him when he must have to make the real hard choices.
On the other hand, Louis Farrakhan must be feeling very disappointed of Barack Obama and he did show he is just a rookie, and a rookie with no BALLS.
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Louis Farrakhan
Louis Farrakhan (born Louis Eugene Walcott, May 11, 1933), is the acting head of the Nation of Islam (NOI) as the National Representative of Elijah Muhammad. He is also well-known as an advocate for African American interests and a critic of American society.
He had been inspired by Malcolm X and he had accepted a friend's invitation to attend the Nation of Islam's annual Saviours' Day address by Elijah Muhammad. Walcott accepted Elijah Muhammad's teachings that day and was renamed "Louis X."
Adoption of the "X" surname is a tradition within the Nation of Islam. In mathematics, "X" represents an unknown variable. In the purview of the Nation of Islam, followers accept the "X" surname as the rejection of their "slave name". Eventually, the "X" name is replaced by a proper Muslim name more descriptive of the individual's personality and character.
After joining the Nation of Islam, Farrakhan quickly rose through the ranks to become Minister of the Nation of Islam's Boston Mosque. He was appointed Minister of the influential Harlem Mosque and served in that capacity from 1965 to 1975.
Leadership
In 1977, after wrestling with the changes and consequent dismantling of the NOI structure by Warith Deen Muhammad, Farrakhan walked away from the movement. In a 1990 interview with Emerge magazine, he expressed his disillusionment with the changes and said he decided to "quietly walk away" from the organization rather than cause a schism among the membership. In 1978 with no public notice, Farrakhan and a small number of supporters privately decided to rebuild the original Nation of Islam upon the foundation established by Wallace Fard Muhammad and Elijah Muhammad.
In 1979, the Nation of Islam's newspaper, Muhammad Speaks was reestablished by Farrakhan under the name The Final Call. In 1981, Farrakhan and supporters held the first annual Nation of Islam Saviors' Day convention in Chicago since 1975. At the convention's keynote address, Farrakhan made his first public announcement of the restoration of the Nation of Islam under Elijah Muhammad's teachings.
On October 16, 1995 Farrakhan convened a broad coalition of several hundred thousand black men in the Million Man March. Farrakhan, along with New Black Panther Party leader Malik Zulu Shabazz, Al Sharpton, Senator and other prominent black Americans marked the 10th anniversary of the Million Man March by holding a second march, the Millions More Movement on October 14, 2005 through October 17, 2005, in Washington.
Though controversial, Farrakhan is widely recognized as electrifying speaker with a powerful allure. In his prime, crowds all around the United States would throng to his speeches for moral uplift and entertainment.
His orations typically last up to three hours. His charisma played a significant role in drawing an estimated 837,000 people to the Million Man March.
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