Purpose: To present BlackEconomics.org correspondence (an email message and a memorandum) that was transmitted to selected Black American (Afrodescendant) religious organizations concerning the subject topic. This correspondence was, and is, intended to stimulate comments and discussion concerning methods for building trust and unity among Black Americans beginning with our religious organizations and institutions. This effort is linked to ongoing efforts by the Long-Term Strategic Plan for Black America’s (LTSPFBA’s) Implementation Team.
BlackEconomics.org®, LLC
December 5, 2025
Dear Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad-Led Nation of Islam Surviving Remnants:
Blackeconomics.org is an over 20-year-old Internet website that features “vigorous analyses of Black economic concepts, issues, policies, and plans.” This message is to transmit a memorandum with subject: An Inquiry Concerning a Black American (Afrodescendant) Religion. To clarify the relevance of religion to economics, economists have long-held that culture—including religion—influences economic outcomes in significant ways. The so-called “father of economics,” Adam Smith, prepared a very well-received work entitled, The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759), long before he penned his seminal work on economics, The Wealth of Nations (1776).
We request that your religious organizations review the memorandum and provide responding comments about the memorandum at your earliest convenience. Please respond by C.O.B December 19, 2025.
Ideally, Black American religious organizations would be willing to pause at this juncture to reconsider their goals and missions in the context of an already changed world that is chock full of new technologies, insights, and interpretations of holy scriptures. What is transparent is that organizations (commercial, religious, and otherwise) typically do not stand the ultimate test of time unless they evolve and adapt to an ever-changing world.
From an economic perspective, a potentially very favorable outcome for Black Americans (Afrodescendants) would be for a new combined arrangement of all Black American religious organizations under a unified framework that could feature an expanded hierarchy above the level of Bishop, with highly coordinated goals and missions, and with an emphasis on “‘Group Economics’ for Black Americans (Afrodescendants)” (Robinson 2025, https://www.blackeconomics.org/BELit/gefbaa112924.pdf, (386 KB)).
As examples, think of nations that boast one dominant religious organization: e.g., selected European nations, Russia, and Middle Eastern (Arab) nations that practice mainly one religion. We urge that this approach be considered while we have time to make a choice and transition to this type of religious and cultural arrangement—if desired. Tomorrow may be too late.
Thank you very much for your consideration and cooperation.
Sincerely,
Brooks Robinson, Ph.D.
Founder and Chief Contributor
BlackEconomics.org®, LLC
www.BlackEconomics.org
P. O. Box 8848
Honolulu, HI 96830-8848
BlackEconomics@BlackEconomics.org
BlackEconomics.bbr@gmail.com
Long-Term Strategic Plan for Black America Implementation Team, Rapporteur
An important starting point for Black American liberty is the Long-Term Strategic Plan for Black America. ♫“Drunk with the wine of the world we forget Thee”♫ [Our Creator, Ancestors, and the “Least of These.”] “However, the spirit of truth has arrived…”
BlackEconomics.org®, LLC
December 5, 2025
Memorandum For: The Most Honorable (TMH) Elijah Muhammad-Led Nation of Islam Surviving Remnants: (1) The Lost Found Nation of Islam (TMH Silis Muhammad); and (2) The Nation of Islam (TMH Minister Louis Farrakhan)
From: BlackEconomics.org®, LLC
Subject: An Inquiry Concerning a Black American (Afrodescendant) Religion
Greetings from BlackEconomics.org, which is a 20-plus-year-old Internet website that provides “vigorous analysis of Black American (Afrodescendant) economic concepts, issues, policies and plans.” This memorandum concerns an inquiry concerning a Black American (Afrodescendant) Religion. To clarify the relationship between economics and religion, it is common knowledge among economists that culture (including religion) influences economic outcomes in significant ways.
To clarify the nature of this inquiry, please consider the following:
- The Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad (PABOABUH) has many publications to his credit, including what we believe is the most important book for Black Americans (Afrodescendants) during the 20th Century: Message to the BlackMan. We make no attempt to list all his remaining publications that range from Muslim Daily Prayers (1957) to History of the Nation of Islam (2008).
- History informs us that the total import of historical personalities may not be fully realized until hundreds, if not thousands, of years after their departure (transition) from the Earth. Here we speak of the great prophets of the Islamic-Judeo-Christian religious traditions.
- History also informs us that the existing Biblical canon was completed over many centuries.
- As a newly created People, who have endured untold physical and mental abuse and suffering, we believe that Black Americans’ (Afrodescendants’) complete healing can only occur after we develop a religion that enables worship of a God, who is “our God” and who is independent of any status assignments given by other racial or ethnic groups.
- We view the just-described religion, at least for now, as having its initial birth with specific religious experiences in the U.S. that were largely engendered and controlled by Black Americans. We believe that there are only two such experiences: The 1906 “Azusa Street Revival” that marked the onset and expansion of Pentecostalism (a reform of existing Christian religious/denominations) in America; and The Nation of Islam Movement that commenced in 1930 with Master W. D. Fard Muhammad and the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad (PABOABUH). Notably, Prof. Maulana Karenga’s creation of the Kwanzaa holiday during the 1960s is also an important historical event because some Black Americans view Kwanzaa and its Nguzo Saba as embodying valuable religious principles.
P. O. Box 8848, Honolulu, HI 96830-8848;
https://www.BlackEconomics.org, BlackEconomics@BlackEconomics.org
Given the foregoing, important questions that follow are: (1) Which of the two religious movements—or some combination thereof—should Black Americans (Afrodescendants) accept/adopt as our primary religious cultural expression; and (2) how do we proceed with evolving a religious literary canon that will endure for ages and fulfill religious requirements that may arise?i
The latter two questions have plagued us for some time. Should Black Americans (Afrodescendants) follow traditional patterns of religious development by evolving and canonizing primary and/or secondary religious texts and related historical, analytical, exegetical, and/or reference works?
Do we adopt a uniquely “Afrikan” strategy and forecast (write) our “history” in advance, call it our religious text, and act religiously to ensure the accuracy of that history. What are the best methods for “planning” the evolution of a “new religion” that is to remain alive for thousands of years? What is the most favorable timing for executing each of these methods?
What we know about the now very formidable (given their population size) Jewish (Hebrew) People is that they did not leave their destiny to chance. Also, Christian Gentiles did not leave their destiny in others’ hands. Rather, both groups devoted the time and necessary resources to unearth what they considered to be the most efficacious of writings about their faiths that were consistent with their intended purposes and goals. Then they canonized a body of literature that yet stands today.
What about the essence of Black American (Afrodescendant) religious sentiments, theologies, textual and musical liturgical traditions, and so on—that is, our religion? What is our religion’s role in our future? What do we want it to be? “If we do not attempt to shape our future, then we will likely fail to produce a favorable future.” However, if we “believe” in our “God” and our “religion” as fundamental to our existence, then we will find life meeting us at every turn in very favorable ways. It is up to us to enjoy that favor and ensure its continued existence for our posterity. We can achieve this outcome by developing a framework that extends proper recognition to required aspects of our religious tradition that are embodied in our extant literary, music, and other cultural traditions.
Let those who have the knowledges, resources, powers, and inclination to initiate, plan, and operationalize a plan to bring a uniquely perceived and conceived Black American (Afrodescendant) religion into being now. If we do not accept this challenge today, then future generations may curse us for our failure to act on this life-giving requirement. Tomorrow may be too late. “Don’t let it be said….”
cc:
Prof. Daniel Black, Clark-Atlanta University, African American Studies Department
Dr. Jacqui Burton, President of the Conference of National Black Churches
Prof. Iva Caruthers, General Secretary of the Samuel Dewitt Proctor Conference
Rev. Damien Durr, Chief Operating Officer of the Samuel Dewitte Proctor Conference
Prof. Kenyatta Gilbert, Dean of Howard University’s School of Divinity
Prof. Eddie Glaude, Jr., Princeton’s Departments of African American Studies and Religion
Prof. Maulana Karenga, Creator of the Kwanzaa Holiday and Former Chair of California State University at Long Beach’s Africana Studies Department
Asinia Lukata Chikuyu, Acting Convener of the Long-Term Strategic Plan for Black America Implementation Team
Endnote
i While these questions may appear discontiguous, we believe that in depth and joint research and analysis of the Pentecostal and Islamic Traditions will reveal transparently very important parallels and commonalities between them.