STYA Program; Successfully Transitioning Youth to Adolescence

What We Teach

Before I get into today's article I want to first welcome all of you who are new readers to A.S.I.A. I also want to welcome back all of you who've been consistently reading my articles, and my guest columns from Life Justice, for years now. I really appreciate your time, and utilizing this medium as a source of inspiration, empowerment and education.

Following-up my Open Letter to the NY Post I published in response to the recent media frenzy that cited/quoted me about Jay Z [and Carmelo Anthony] wearing our Universal Flag, more people than usual have been reaching out to me for various reasons ranging from seeking to know more about our culture, to sharing advice with me about dealing with people and the global press. In general, its been excellent and much appreciated. For those of you in Canada, or who will be in Canada, I'll be speaking on the 5% Nation of Gods and Earths and the Jay Z controversy on Saturday May 31st at 1pm at the MANIFESTO in Toronto, Ontario Canada.

Today I wanted to take some time to share with you some of the core values of our culture. The reasoning for this is two-fold:

1.) To elaborate on the idea behind some of the positive works we do in our communities.

2.) To provide an example of a teaching model and general civilization tools for other Gods and Earths to use who are striving to reach people.

The first reason speaks for itself. I think in order for people to come together, regardless of their cultural, religious or secular worldview, it's important to identify a common cause. And one way of identifying a common cause is successfully communicating the idea(s)  we share. The second reason addresses something I often see amongst us, Gods and Earths, when we're dealing with the public. I'll add-on about that later.

What are some of the core values of the Five Percenters [Nation of Gods and Earths]?

We are pro-righteous and anti-devilishment, regardless of a person's skin color, ethnicity, religion or nationality. If any member of our human family has the willingness to learn to be righteous, we help provide them with the education and tools to do it. This does not mean that they need to become a Five Percenter. This means that if this person needs to be referred to a drug clinic or alcohol detox program, that's where we will refer them. If they need resources for parenting support or academic assistance, that's what we will connect them with. If they're striving to find employment to become more self sufficient, we assist them with that too. The bottom line is this: we utilize what we learn to be better and a positive resource to others. In turn, others can be empowered to assist others. This is all distilled into our simple phrase "Each one, Teach one." Some of us even carry this phrase further by saying "Each one, Teach nine."

The idea that [Father] God and the [Mother] Earth, is the apex of the original [first] man and woman, is a very ancient and indigenous concept corroborated by various anthropologists, archeologists, paleontologists, historians, biologists, and linguists the world over. This means that our cultural worldview, sense of diaspora, and chronology isn't predicated upon, or a visceral reaction to, the short period of two hundred and thirty seven years some of our ancestors were enslaved and segregated here in America. We have recognized our innate divinity, and practiced this as a natural way of life in various societies, around the planet earth, prior to any contact with people who classify themselves as white or Caucasian. Our culture is a unique, contemporary expression, of these classical concepts of divinity. This means that we live our lives according to the adage, "What would God [or the Earth] do in this situation?" Since there is no thing in life, that has withstood the test of time longer than God or the Earth [the creator and creation], they're effective references when it comes to preserving, protecting, and perpetuating life.

We teach and emphasize empowerment through education and freedom, justice and equality for all the human families of the planet earth to live in a world of peace. We view healthy, united families as the vital building block of strong communities, and any nation of people. We also view children as the ambassadors of our future who must be loved, protected, educated and encouraged. Therefore, we do not advocate ignorance, crime, addiction, sexism, racism, poverty, homelessness, hunger, or any thing that undermines our human family's ability to attain and live in peace with each other. As we know throughout history, there are some people whom there is no peace to live amongst, we also acknowledge that their lack of peace must never be because of our iniquity.

While I've only highlighted some of the core values that Five Percenters generally agree on, it's important to understand that all of us grow and develop at our own rate. We are all works in progress and embracing this way of life has given us access to a growth and development process. I am better and more resourceful to others now than I was five years ago, and I'm invested in being even more resourceful to others in the next five years. This doesn't mean that others aren't growing and developing simply because they haven't officially embraced our way of life. Regardless what cultural, religious or secular worldview a person embraces, it's incumbent upon them to find in it what core values will help them become better and more resourceful to others. There were many things I could have gone into, and have gone into in my videos, other articles and books I've published about who and what we teach. Today I wanted to share those things that people can generally understand, and often advocate on some levels, in their own lives. The goal is to learn to better appreciate the positive works we all do in our communities, and recognize the opportunities to work together and address the problems we face, especially our children, regardless to whom or what.

As I mentioned earlier, I also wanted to give other Five Percenters an example of a teaching model, and general civilization tools, that maximizes our ability to reach people, who want to be reached of course. Why? Because I think many of us are well intended and truly desire to see people become better, and make this world a better place. I also think that those of us who are well intended are always looking for opportunities to elevate what they do for others.

One of the things I've found to be most important for us, regardless of our religious, cultural or secular worldview, is to be better listeners. As a young Five Percenter I would talk [build] for hours. I still can, yet I find it more effective to listen for hours, especially to the people I'm striving to reach. Simply put, how can we do an effective needs assessment of someone if we don't know the ends and outs of who they are, or what they actually need? It reminds me of something my Ole Earth told me as a teenager about not taking girls to the movies to get to know them. She said, "That's two and half hours both of you are sitting there staring at a screen, and learning nothing about each other." As a Five Percenter, with all of this wealth of information we're just waiting to share with people, it's easy to become the talking screen someone is sitting there staring at for hours, and we're learning little to nothing about them or what they need. Some of the information I've once volunteered, and see and hear Five Percenters today volunteer about who and what we are, often creates more confusion than it does an understanding. Take for example someone asking the questions "What is a Five Percenter?" or "Are you in the Nation of Gods and Earths?" Some of us think that it's more important to just answer these questions than it is to find out the reasoning behind these questions being asked before, or if, we chose to even answer them. Imagine the potential or even further confusion we can create in the mind of someone, and whoever they go talk to afterwards, who asks us "Are you a member of The Five Percent?" and we just jump right into talking about Supreme Mathematics, The First 9 Born, Triple Stage Darkness, or etc. This person may have never heard this in their life, let alone how it works, where it comes from, or how it's even spelled! Imagine doing all of that, and when the person has a chance to speak they ask you when is your next concert; believing that you're a member of the music band The Five Percent. Yes, this situation and various other confusing scenarios are possible, and likely, whenever we don't ask questions and we assume where a person is coming from. So it's very important to first find out what a person knows, doesn't know, listen to them, and then share things with them they can actually relate to. In April when the global press about Jay Z wearing the Universal Flag started to trend, I saw different responses to the controversy by various Five Percenters that would have been a public relations nightmare, had it gone viral. I definitely appreciate the guidance from my benefactors Life Justice and I-Freedom Born for preparing me to address the press when I was approached. I also appreciate others for their positive advice when I was dealing with being bombarded by the global press for further comment, and some of my own people who were not as supportive during this time.

In closing, I want to thank those of you again for stopping by A.S.I.A. For further information you can also check out my videos on A.S.I.A. TV, and my literature at Quanaah Publishing. If you would like to reach out to me personally for advice, to schedule a speaking engagement, or etc., my direct email is atlantisbuild@gmail.com.

Peace,

Saladin