All praise to the Ancestors, those who are known and those who are unknown. Praise to the Elders, those who will read this, and those who will not. And praise to all the African Queens and Kings…yet to be born. ASE’
This is a “Love Letter” to the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. As I am writing this letter to our beloved Ancestor, I have propped a picture of him in front of me as I write, just to receive his essence as I write of him. Now this may seem a paradox for me to write about him in an honorable way, since I have a distaste for religion and religious leaders. This is true, I have a disdain for ALL religions and religious leaders, but THIS religious leader I am making an exception for the purpose of this blog but let me say this…NO Ancestor is above criticism or critical thought.
The reason I am making an exception for Elijah Muhammad, is the huge and dynamic impact he has made on African people in America, despite it being with religion. I am honest enough to give credit where credit is due, even if I disagree with the method of change.
Now, NO MAN has had a bigger impact on African people in relation to numbers than the Honorable Marcus Garvey, but NO MAN has had a bigger impact to the psyche of African people than the Honorable Elijah Muhammad!
The reason I say no one has had a bigger impact on the psyche of the African family here in North America, especially the Black man, is because if you look at the aftermath of Marcus Garvey’s movement, no one stands out as one of his followers that continued his work. But I want you to look at what Elijah produced with a goddamn 4th grade education! NO ONE since him has produced such giants from ONE teacher!
Now again, he had a 4th grade education and was able to produce giants among us that has never been done again. Now he said GOD himself taught him, now it is hard to defeat his claim, based on the goddamn results! I myself was in the Nation of Islam for 9 years, but it was not based on what I heard from him or his teachings, it was based on his students! But his students got it from the teacher! I now, am on a Kemetic spiritual journey and have no need of a God theory or even a leader, I lead the Self. I believe the teachings of Elijah Muhammad was pragmatic for the TIME we were in here in America. Racism was overt and black inferiority was at an all-time high, so we needed something that could combat both of these wicked ass mentalities, and Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam was a perfect remedy to break such wretched mentalities.
I am not here to disprove or prove his God theory, but what I will say is it was effective, and the MIND will make anything REAL! So, it all started with HIS teacher who was called Master Fard Muhammad. A half white and half black man, that they used the bible to legitimize why he had to be half white and black for black people to accept him, now the reason was bullshit, but again the MIND makes shit real, and I don’t have time to go into the biblical reason why he had to be near white for our acceptance.
Now despite the religious dogma of the N.O.I. let us look at the impact of the teachings of Elijah Muhammad and what he produced that changed the psyche of Black people, particularly here in America. Now he had numerous books, “How to eat to live 1and 2”, “The Fall of America”, and his most read book “Message to the Blackman”. Most of his teachings was based on the book “Message to the Blackman”. To combat overt racism in America and Black inferiority, he taught that the White man was the Devil, and the Black man was God! Now read that shit again, and just those TWO teachings changed the MINDS of Black people and dismantled the overt racism and black inferiority in one swoop! And to have the goddamn audacity to teach these teachings in 1934….1934! The shit was just unheard of. So, from those teachings came his first giant….Malcolm X. Now while Malcolm was in jail as a pimp, hustler, drug user and seller, Elijah wrote him and taught him. The church didn’t go get Malcolm, and the goddamn Arab who NOW wants to take credit for Malcolm’s development didn’t go into the prison to teach to Malcolm, it was Elijah who cleaned him up and gave him a platform to speak from. Malcolm did NOT get his wisdom from reading a goddamn dictionary, he was taught by a teacher!
Now let’s go to Elijah’s next giant, Muhammad Ali! Now of course Ali already had notoriety from his boxing pedigree, but Muhammad Ali’s notoriety skyrocketed when he joined the N.O.I. The fact that you know him as Muhammad Ali and NOT Cassius Clay tells you the impact Elijah had on Ali. Muhammad Ali is known MORE for his religious stance he took against the government of America, than his boxing prowess, but it was Elijah Muhammad that put that strength in him as a human, and not a boxer!
Let’s continue with The Honorable Elijah’s Muhammad’s influence on Black America! His next giant is Minister Louis Farrakhan. Now Louis Farrakhan was known as Louis Walcott before he joined the N.O.I., and he was a calypso singer who was already successful as that before he decided to leave and join the Nation of Islam. Malcolm invited him to come and listen to Elijah speak, and Louis Walcott and that time said, “This man speaks broken English”. Now when Louis said this he was way up in the rafters, but Elijah looked up and said, “Don’t worry HOW I say it, but you take my words and say it in the proper and beautiful way and teach our people”. That day Elijah met with Louis Walcott and asked him are you willing to give up your present way of life and follow me? THAT DAY he left calypso singing which was paying well at that time and became a Muslim in the Nation of Islam, and soon after that Elijah gave him the name Farrakhan! Now Farrakhan is the student, but name another leader who can call one million black men to a march and TWO million show up?
Next, let’s move to another giant amongst our people that is a student of Elijah Muhammad. His name is Khalid Muhammad. Now, Khalid heard Minister Farrakhan speak as a student in college, and after he heard him speak, he decided to become a member of the Nation of Islam. Now Dr. Khalid was uncompromising, unapologetic and fucking fearless when it came to defending black people. If you have never heard Dr. Khalid, go google the Donahue interview in the 90’s, and that one interview will give you the insight of this LION of a man! Dr. Khalid was OUR version of Malcolm. Articulate, bold, intelligent and fearless! Now go back and look at the men I have mentioned, and you can see that VAST power of the teachings of Elijah Muhammad that would produce such giants ALL from one MIND and affect multiple generations! So, the debate is if GOD taught him, who came in the person of Master Fard Muhammad? THAT will always be debatable, but all I can say is…somebody of high intelligence taught him in order to have such influence on Black America and the WORLD!
Lastly, this group was NOT students directly of Elijah Muhammad, but they were influenced by his student. The Black Panther Party of the 60’s were NOT students of the N.O.I. but they were heavily influenced by Malcolm X. The Nation of Islam had a 10-point program in the back of their newspaper, and the Panther Party also had a 10-point program in the back of their newspaper. They were NOT a religious party, but their audacity to speak against white racism and black inferiority was inspired by listening to the student of Elijah Muhammad who was Malcolm X.
So, this is my LOVE LETTER to our beloved Ancestor the Honorable Elijah Muhammad!!! Truly ONE of a kind, never to be duplicated. I LOVE you and honor you until breath leaves me and beyond!
ASE’
May WE as Individuals and as a People, overcome our 3 greatest impediments…FEAR, IGNORANCE AND POVERTY!
And may WE as Individuals and as a People embrace our 3 greatest strengths…Our AFRICAN CULTURE, NATIONALISM, and unwavering commitment to SELF PRESERVATION!
ASE’
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