“We felt it was important to respond to these mischaracterizations, wicked, vicious and well-dressed lies against the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan,” he said.
“Here are the real facts,” said Atty. Arif Muhammad. “Contrary to what is implied in the headline and the errant article, Minister Farrakhan has not received any government funding, farm subsidies or otherwise. The funding went to a full-time Nation of Islam farming operation in Georgia. No funds were ever sent to Chicago. Any actual subsidies received went directly to the farm in Georgia, and not to Minister Farrakhan in Chicago.
“The Three Year Economic Plan was technically, ‘not in good standing’ at one point with the State of Illinois. That status was the result of an oversight to file a single annual report form. This very typical occurrence and oversight has since been corrected with the Illinois Secretary of State and all legal requirements have been met with the Illinois Secretary of State,” continued Atty. Muhammad.
Muhammad Farms, a 1,600 acre full-time entity, operates as any of the other 800,000 small farms in the United States.
“The farm made application for appropriate farm subsidies through a Georgia Branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. These are lawful subsidies for various farm related activities that any Georgia farm is entitled to obtain,” observed Dr. Ridgely Mu’min Muhammad, Nation of Islam farm manager.
“In an article published in The Final Call newspaper December 19, 2013 we noted that U.S. farming subsidies received by all farms in Terrell County, Ga., from 1995 to 2012, totaled $89,499,000. The Nation of Islam farm I run on a daily basis received a tiny fraction of that amount and was actually 146th on the list of farms who received funds during this time period,” said Dr. Mu’min Muhammad.
“Those farm subsidies (grants) were given and issued directly to the farm in Georgia. Not one disbursement was sent to Chicago, or to Minister Farrakhan. Moreover, the farm in Georgia has not received any government subsidies since 2011,” said Dr. Mu’min Muhammad.
“Additionally, the U.S. Department of Agriculture changed its rules and procedures, and imposed retroactive restrictions, for the years 2009-2011. These retroactive requirements were unacceptable to us, and consequently, that which was given, was returned back to the government.”
Dr. Mu’min Muhammad added, “Make no mistake about it, this is a working farm with real produce for the people it serves. When it was purchased in 1991 it became the largest Black-owned and -operated farm in South Georgia. We transformed worn out, weed-infested, hard rock clay land into arable land and workable soil and brought back many of the birds and wildlife.
“We have purchased over $250,000 worth of farm equipment and trucks. We have our own flour mill and commercial sifter, which can produce 800 lbs of flour in an 8-hour day. And that farm produces the best-tasting watermelons in the country,” he said.
According to the Nation’s farm manager, the operation annually produces 8,000 lbs. of flour, 400,000 lbs. of watermelons, 12,000 lbs. of different vegetables, 100,000 lbs. of wheat, 100,000 lbs. of field corn and 200,000 lbs. of peanuts.
“We deliver produce to 8 states, and whole wheat flour and other goods to 35 cities and we have provided jobs in Georgia,” said Dr. Mu’min Muhammad.
“Minister Farrakhan is not a man who can be bought off for any price. He said during a February 23, 2014 Saviours’ Day message in Detroit, that there is not enough money in Fort Knox, or that the Federal Reserve can print, that could buy him, and make him sell out the mission of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad and the aspirations of a people who yearn to be free, justified and equal,” said Atty. Abdul Arif Muhammad.
Minister Farrakhan’s and the Nation of Islam’s commitment to independence and farming were reiterated throughout a 58-week series of webcasts at www.noi.org
