standing in front of the spot where new york's world trade center once stood evokes memories of september eleventh two thousand and one thousands of lives lost countless others changed and often where as construction workers pour their heart and soul into the reconstruction of an american monument questions still linger about who are muslims what do they believe perhaps more intriguing is islam really religion of peace but here in the united states there exists a community of approximately two million african american muslims and they have their own unique journey to  overflowing with those who might have been touched by his message for forty three straight years i had been the leader of a movement that demanded a race of people reclaim their last night and did so false prophet and in the nation of islam as a cult it might have been some of those things when you define those things but at the same time it was an operation taking place on a people who needed some  we were and brought them to where we are and uncompromising movement led by an uncompromising man refusing to retreat in a quest for independence through absolute separation son in exile for his unwillingness to concede to his father's ideas and who sought to bring it one separatist movement into the heart of the american mainstream and the government prime in itself perceived threat to its national security and american story of a people struggling for a purpose and identity reclaiming the last dignity and marching on the shoulders of a man whom they called the most honorable black americans migrated north from the southern states seeking inclusion and searching for an identity having long been straddled with the burden of the blackness the unforgiving rush northward brought the realization that they were hopelessly worlds the design of jim crow and the emotional destruction it would cause when far beyond the boundaries of separation and etched itself within the hearts and minds of the segregated class on july fourth one nine hundred thirty a man with a skin complexion of the privileged class walk the streets of detroit armed with in a ray of colorful exotic silks for sale he caught the attention of the people but more become part of your your whole belief system without any doubt in it you believe in a thing that emanates from that and it taught you to be respectful to clean yourself up with if you could if you could if you could believe that then you would also believe that the black man was the first man on earth and that the colored man would be the man the grafted from him with his white man  and when you know about slavery promoted elijah to supreme minister circumstances fully unknown and under pressure from law enforcement officials rod muhammad was boarded to lead the city of detroit in that same year clara became pregnant with her seventh child but rod designated this child to be a special one and as legend would have it told the expectant parents that this child but when they helped his father in a special way soon after the rise departure the organization he founded fell into turmoil some of the people who objected to elijah's rise to leadership matters were further exacerbated by the idea that for ron had been elevated to the level of getting academic us instructions that was there was equipping us above everybody else about we also were looking at public schools as being a creation or establishment of the devil much to the surprise of many in chicago elijah insisted that arabic become a part of a school curriculum among those early arabic students was his son wallace the mohammad the job of teaching arabic we go to  palestinian living in the united states they are allowed to mohammad hired him upon his release from prison malcolm little now known as malcolm x took to the streets to spread the teachings of the honorable elijah muhammad so my mother sister that i mean that all we you know trying to get make the right man we did never go out men and try to intimidate nobody therefore i would not aggressive they were defensive we were not to be disrespected we were not to be intimidated really they were dealt with and examples were made and those examples were respected and remember to we had to protect how do you do other organisation thought about challenge you do have one also it was a unit designed for discipline as self control taught you to be respectful to clean yourself up now what you without self control we were just a mob of people yes in an environment of just taking up space and really add it could be given to somebody else  the name of the group was in g t t c c muslim girls training in general civilization class and this was an organization where in the women were taught  how to be women how to be was how really to serve the community that was the idea when i first saw the women who are already at temple when i started going i was amazed first of all they were also beautiful beautiful skiing beautiful hair beautiful clothing we were responsible for welcoming the new converts to the community and caring very demanding in your face paper it was the most important organ there we head it was good man to stabilize our schools our businesses before anything was built yet muhammad speaks people to the mosque a week you had an opportunity to sail through the four thousand pounds of is a week to three hundred people  basically what's your word among black people hispanics we don't so much look at each other different ethnic but we realize that we have a similar problem wallace had been locked in a legal battle with the united states government over his father's insistence that he not registered with the draft board he would eventually be charged with the decision and sentenced to three years in federal prison give me your problem he's talking to the u s government give me your problem which is this an african american estimate you don't know what to do with them just given to me give me six states to put them on six for interstates and i'll take care of your black ma department was closely monitoring the activities of elijah muhammad and the nation of islam it was local law enforcement that took a much different approach as was the case with secretary ronald still in los angeles california it there was something that took place prior to running stokes's murder in los angeles in one nine hundred sixty two and that was that mr muhammad made a statement in washington d c land every month there would be the meetings of the ministers from around the country and he said when he saw them they were dressed in furs long furs and they were dripping in some of the problems in the nation and how some of the people were becoming a little veering off from what the moral track muhammad had community on wallace openly refused to accept the idea that the right muhammad was god due to his rebellion elijah muhammad suspended his son from the nation of islam thus preventing him from having any contact with members of the nation of islam and he said to days he was silence but he thought he was only silenced from speaking publicly he thought he could officiate at last number seven but i was on a rostrum when he came in that would