In the wee hours of this morning, I posted a response to a post (that was about a week or two old) concerning Minister Louis Farrakhan's State of the Black World speech. At approximately 3:30 AM ET, I posted the following comment on the Final Call website:
Email Form Submitted on Dec 14, 2008 at 03:37:37AM EST
Name: Howard Barrett
Location: College Park, Georgia - United States
Email: xxxxxxxx@yahoo.com
Phone: 678-701-xxxx
Article: Minister's Speech @ State of Black World
Comments: I have actually wanted to view the minister's State of the Black World speech for some time. I have the Final Call's site bookmarked so that isn't the problem The problem is that I don't have the $3.95 needed to view it. My pre-paid Visa card's balance is MINUS $12.00! That means that I have to put that amount on it BEFORE I can load it and I have been unemployed for a couple of months. Without family, I'd be homeless. That's why I can truly relate to those who are suffering today. There but for the grace of God -- and my brother from the SAME mother -- go I. But, just like others, I don't MIND giving -- I just don't have it to give. I just wish that the NOI understood that in these economic times, many CAN'T give, don't want to call attention to their state, but still wish to hear the words of the minister. The way it stands now, it's as if those without the ends are unworthy of sharing the message. Many times I've heard the term "Bible pimp" -- i.e. those who sell god's message for a fee when the poor still need to hear the message. Are we now talking about "Qur'an pimps", too? P.S. By the way, my MySpace page lists the minister as the person I'd most like to talk to. That statement remains true as I have always found his communicative skills and breadth of knowledge to be nothing short of astounding. As a matter of fact, I have an online pluralistic ministry that I'd like to invite him to partake in. Participation is done via the phone so, should he accept my offer, he needn't leave the confines of his home. The link:
www.blogtalkradio.com/pcgl Peace and Blessings!
Well at 11:54 AM ET I received the following response:
Greetings,
Minister Farrakhan's State of the Black World speech was shown throughout America and abroad via webcast and in Nation of Islam Mosques and Study Group locations free of charge and in addition, each Sunday morning (11am Eastern Time), the Nation of Islam's Online Ministry via live webcast is also available free of charge. This includes Minister Farrakhan's speeches such as last week's live address from Chicago.
Although we request for donations, as you may or may not know, donations are not yet enough to cover all of the costs for hardware, software and network services as well as the charity to support the many brothers and sisters who work many hours per day to support our efforts.
By the Grace of God, due to the many generous donations, we are able to provide many of the messages free of charge and with optional donations.
The following are some examples:
The Nation of Islam and and Final Call News sites are free of charge:
http://www.noi.org and
http://www.finalcall.com Minister Farrakhan's weekly messages are available free here:
http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/ca... Minister Farrakhan radio/tv messages are available free:
Listing are here:
http://www.noi.org/radio_tv.htm If you still desire to view the State of the Black World address but your current situation will cause a strain, please advise and someone will provide you with a complimentary coupon to view the speech without the donation.
Thank you,
FinalCall.com Staff
And since I was impressed with their response, I sent this reply back:
I definitely appreciate the offer and will take you up on it. I have listened intently over the years to Minister Farrakhan's words and would just love to hear this speech. I am encouraged by the knowledge that -- despite the need to raise funds for your many endeavors -- you still provide the means for those of us experiencing financial difficulty to view uplifting messages. So, I'm not sorry that I posed a difficult question. For how else could I share with the world the ANSWER to that question. Thus, just as the same question that I posed on a "Black In America" blog I decided to then pose to you, I will share the answer with them as well. Peace and Blessings!
Posted By: Howard Barrett
Sunday, December 14th 2008 at 3:23PM
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