by Dr. Ridgely Abdul Mu’min Muhammad

Some of Georgia’s sweet watermelons will be coming off of Muhammad Farms starting June28th. In
the meantime the "Watermelon Capital Queen" was chosen on June 22nd in Cordele, Georgia,
the 19 year home of The Honorable Elijah Muhammad.

Now here is some irony for you. In the June 21st edition of the Cordele Dispatch pictures of the
74 contestants (all White) for Watermelon Capital Queen were displayed is section B, while the front
page ran an article entitled "Truck attack investigation continues". It seems that on the
previous Sunday two trucks carrying watermelons were attacked at the corner of Joe Wright Drive and
22nd Avenue in Cordele. According to the article people were drinking, dancing in the streets and
congregating up and down Joe Wright Drive when these two trucks passed through at about midnight.

During watermelon season it is quite common to see people walking up and down this same street
day and night as the watermelon trucks carry their loads from the farms up to the State Farmer’s
Market at the end of Joe Wright Drive. In the past money would be flowing in this predominantly
Black but poor neighborhood as local farm workers spent their watermelon harvesting wages. Many
"ladies of the night" could be seen walking up and down the streets provocatively attired
to attract the men who had just got paid for their labor or who had just sold a load of watermelons
in the "Watermelon Capital of the World", Cordele.

The Honorable Elijah Muhammad lived in Cordele for 19 years from the age of three years old. The
corner where this "attack" occurred was the former sight of the Holsey-Cobb Institute
where young Elijah attended school up until the third grade. This corner is now flanked by the
Sunset Homes Housing Project which looks more like a concentration camp because of the barbed wire
fence which partially surrounds it. But why attack watermelon trucks?

According to the World Book Encyclopedia, watermelons were first grown in Africa. Georgia is
famous for its sweet watermelons. In the past these melons were raised by many Black farmers whose
numbers have steadily declined due to collusion of racist whites and the USDA. As Black farmers were
moved off of their own land, many found employment on the large farms and plantations that grew on
top of the land that they once owned. "Massa" would allow his best workers to use corners
of his fields that were too small to be planted with his large agricultural equipment. Many of these
small plots were then used to grow watermelons.

So when the watermelon season arrived, these Black men had extra money, above their meager
plantation wages, which was indeed cause for celebration. But now mainline Cordele has its own
"Watermelon Festival", all White, while Black people are still relegated to the night. But
what is worse, Mexicans, run out of Mexico due to NAFTA, are bringing in watermelons from Florida to
predominate the Cordele State Farmer’s Market. Large white farmers are setting up their own
packing sheds so that the major watermelon buyers don’t even pass through the farmer’s market.
Mexicans are taking over the field work on the large farms while Black workers are being
"locked out" of the fields.

Today if you want to sling watermelons you must be hired by a "certified" field
foreman. Ostensibly this certification process and the issuance of a "badge" was to insure
that all the immigrant workers were "legal". However, what it has effectively done is to
eliminate yet another source of employment for the local Black and poor populations of Cordele.

So the Watermelon Queen is White. The watermelon producers are White. The watermelon pickers are
Mexicans and the Black people just sit and watch behind barbed wire fences. No wonder that
watermelon trucks were attacked.

All of this is happening right under our noses. Black people first lose the land, then lose the
farm jobs, get herded into the cities and put behind fences. For the few Black farmers that are
left, the "market" has told them to switch watermelon varieties from the traditional Black
Diamonds, Charleston Greys, Jubilees and Crimson Sweets to Sangria. Supposedly the
"Sangria" watermelons ship better and look pretty when sliced, always a deep red color
inside. However, these melons do not taste any sweeter but their hybridized seeds cost four times
what the traditional varieties cost.

I have seen Black farmers come in to the Cordele market with their Black Diamonds, Jubilees or
Crimson Sweets and just sit their while Mexicans with a load of Sangria grown in Florida sell out
and head back to Florida for another load. So now the Black farmers have to spend more money to
compete, while the larger white farmers still grow the older varieties, by-pass the Cordele farmer’s
market and ship directly to the large supermarket chains.

Muhammad Farms occupies the site where the Honorable Elijah Muhammad raised watermelons to ship
across the country in the Nation’s own fleet of trucks back in the late 60’s and early 70’s.
As a college student and young member of the Nation of Islam back in the 70’s, I would sell these
sweet Georgia melons door to door in Winston-Salem, N.C. Now I am the manager of Muhammad Farms and
we grow these same sweet Black Diamonds, Jubilees, All Sweets and Crimson Sweets so that you can
have a sample of what a "real" melon should taste like. I don’t mean to brag but we have
been told that our watermelons are sweet, real sweet. We even grew some Sangrias so that we could
make the taste comparison.

When you buy one of the watermelons from Muhammad Farms, we can guarantee that they will be
sweet, raised and harvested by Black hands and will not be filled with harmful chemicals. On the
other hand you can go to your local supermarket and take a chance on something that looks like a
watermelon. Have a nice summer.

If you want sweetness to go along with your summer, contact Muhammad Farms at (229)995-6619 or
visit our website at www.MuhammadFarms.com.

Peace, Doc