The Final Call is a weekly newspaper published by the Nation of Islam. As one might expect from an organization labeled a hate group by both the South Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League, there's some rather kooky stuff passed off as news in this publication. There's also a surprising amount of actual news, including stories that are often neglected or received limited coverage by the mainstream press. This issue included coverage of Jean-Claude Duvalier's return to Haiti, sentencing in the Jon Burge trial, Michael Steele's ouster as RNC chairman, and Charles Taylor's war crimes tribal before the ICC. In general, for a paper aimed at promoting a specific religious and political philosophy, targeted at an African American audience, it does a surprising good job at covering news at regional, national and international levels. But don't get me wrong, there's still a whole lot of crazy.
I picked up the February 1, 2011 edition from a vendor that distributes outside a McDonald's in downtown Seattle. Choosing this location is a political statement in itself, as the Nation of Islam warns against the evils of "white-flour cake meals" in addition to the more traditional Islamic practice of avoiding pork. The February 1 issue included a reprint from "How to Eat to Live," Elijah Muhammad's two volume treatise on dietary practices for the modern NOI member. In the reprint, he speaks of the dangers of the fluoride, chloride, sodium and DDT that contaminates the food supply. The Final Calls editors might want to take note that DDT was banned in 1972, and that chlorinated water is the single most effective method for preventing water born diseases, but one should not quibble over facts when receiving the wisdom of the prophet.
Here's another bit of wisdom on dangers of whitey and his white bread:
"Eat whole wheat, but not the whole grain, it is too much for the digestive system. Eat wheat, never white flour, which has been robbed of all its natural vitamins and proteins sold separately as cereals. You know, as well as I that the white race is a commercializing people and they do not worry about the lives they jeopardize so long as the dollar is safe. You might find yourself eating death, if you follow them."
Like other religions manufactured in recent history, the Nation of Islam is trying to sell you something. Like the Mormons and the Scientologists, they want you to make a financial contribution to their organization by either buying their publications or attending their events. In fact, the only advertisements that the paper carries are ads for Nation of Islam publications and DVDs. In the cover story, "Goin' Broke" there's a particular glaring example of news-as-product-placement. This report, discussing the financial crises faced by many state and city governments, non too subtly transitions into a plug for Louis Farrakhan's 1993 book "A Torchlight for America." Something tells me that Minister Farrakhan's master plan for the U.S. Economy might be a little out of date and not all that germane to the problems at hand.
The big push in this particular issue is the upcoming Savior's Day Convention, where the devoted can shell out up to $100 to hear the latest and greatest in antisemitism from Minister Farrakhan himself (full page ad here).
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