IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE BENEFICENT, THE MERCIFUL.

I and my Family, the Ministers, Laborers and Members of the Nation of Islam, mourn the loss of Mrs. Coretta Scott King. We send our deepest condolences to the King Family, all of her friends, and those who love her for her tireless effort in the area of Civil and Human Rights. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad spoke very highly of Mrs. King, and we who followed her life with her husband, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King are painfully aware of the many sacrifices that she and her children have made that we might have a better life in America through the hard-fought gains of the Civil Rights Movement.

Many great men and women have passed this way and have devoted their lives to the betterment of us as a people, America as a nation, and to the betterment of the world in which we live. There is a monument to Marcus Garvey in Jamaica, but many, many men and women who gave their lives for us have no monument to their greatness except that history records their efforts on our behalf. Since the passing of Dr. King, his wife Mrs. Coretta Scott King worked tirelessly to produce a monument to the memory of her husband and the struggle of the Civil Rights Movement to make us a better people and America a better nation.

From her efforts came the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Non-Violent Social Change. The family at this present time is in disagreement over whether the National Park Service should take over the expense of the maintenance of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center and whether it should be sold or maintained by the King family. Martin Luther King Jr. belonged to all of us. This is the only known monument to a leader who worked to create a better environment in which we could grow. So is it the responsibility of the King family, is it the responsibility of the National Park Service, or is it our responsibility to maintain that Center, pay for the upkeep of its grounds and its staff so that, in so doing, we would show the gratitude that we, as a people, have for the sacrifices that Dr. King, Mrs. King, their family and others have made to further Civil and Human Rights?

It would be a shame, not on the family, but on us, for us to be so ungrateful for the sacrifices that he and those in the Civil Rights Movement have made, which made it possible for us to do things in the United States that prior to the Civil Rights Struggle we were unable to do. We should hang our heads in shame if we do not rally behind the King family and make a solid commitment to maintain the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change.

Look at all the money that has come to Black artists, entertainers, sports figures and others because of the sacrifice of Martin Luther King Jr., Mrs. King, the King family, leaders, their families and followers in the Civil Rights Movement. Should we not, on the passing of Mrs. King, say with one voice to the King family that each of us who are blessed to make money out of this economy should give an annual donation to the King Center? If we did this, it would show the world that we are arising in the proper spirit of gratitude. Whether or not we agreed with his methodology and philosophy, we all benefited from his and their sacrifices.

So, it is my appeal to all of us, especially those in sports and entertainment, doctors, lawyers, teachers or whatever your field of endeavor, that out of what Allah (God) blesses us to gain we should contribute something to the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change on a yearly basis. This would be the proper response to the life and sacrifice of Mrs. Coretta Scott King and the King family. This would say thank you for the sacrifice that all in the Civil Rights Movement have made, from which we, as a people, have benefited.

May Allah (God) grant the members of the King family His Peace, and know that it is written in the Holy Qur’an: “Speak not of those who have died or are slain in the way of Allah (God) as dead. They are alive but you understand not.” Mrs. King and her husband yet live.

I Am Your Brother and Servant,