Page:1965 FBI monograph on Nation of Islam.djvu/10

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Since a large share of the money raised by the individual temples is forwarded to the Chicago headquarters, Elijah Muhammad has amassed considerable wealth and property.

Recently, Elijah inaugurated two new programs to which he requests his followers and other "so-called Negroes" to make contributions. The first is a "3-Year Economic Plan" designed to collect money with which to set up a Muslim bank as soon as $1,000,000 has been contributed. His other program renews an earlier plan for an educational center to be built in Chicago. These new programs are given much attention in the cult newspaper, "Muhammad Speaks."

Elijah's teachings had been carried in other Negro papers which accordingly cult members had been required to sell; then, in the Fall of 1961, Elijah decided to start his own newspaper. "Muhammad Speaks" was a biweekly tabloid until February, 1965, when it became a weekly. Every issue contains by-line articles of Elijah and his featured columnists on certain phases of Elijah's teachings. Nearly everything printed in the paper tends to aggravate the soreness of race relations in the United States and throughout the world. Always, the white man is portrayed as the brutal oppressor and the black man, as the innocent victim.

Elijah recognizes the importance of publicity and uses it to aid recruitment. In NOI member Muhammad Ali—heavyweight boxing champion

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