September 30th, 1995

September 30th, 1995

Each year I celebrate three different Born Dates: January 6th, April 23rd and September 30th. I was physically incarnated on January 6th. On April 23rd I legally changed my name 16 years ago and have assisted dozens of people do the same via my book How To Change Your Name Without A Lawyer. I celebrate September 30th because on this day in 1995 I finished learning my lessons. In other words, as a Five Percenter I gained KOS [Knowledge Of Self]; I got all 120 lessons from my Enlightener, was tested on my recital and understanding of those lessons and became a qualified Enlightener myself. Since I am 40 years old, this also means that I've been living this way of life half of my life now. From this day forward each year will mean that I've had KOS more years than I haven't. Today I wanted to share some of my thoughts about my experience over the years, where I'm at right now and where I'm aspiring to go.

Like with learning anything new, I had some misconceptions and unreasonable expectations about what gaining KOS and being a Five Percenter was twenty years ago. One of the biggest misconceptions I had was that lessons were something on paper someone hands to you. Even to this day, people with the same misconception reach out to me from all over the world inquiring if I could email, postage mail, inbox and refer them to where they can purchase lessons. When I met my Enlightener and asked him can I get the lessons he didn't write anything down on paper. He developed a companionship with me, we walked together and he taught me the lessons, mathematics and alphabets word of mouth. I eventually wrote them down for myself. The lessons weren't something he handed to me and sent me on my way with. Another misconception I had was the idea that just because I saw the value in this kind of education and journey of KOS that everyone else would too. Not. Lol It took me time to understand and respect that everyone has a choice. I've always been the kind of person who would walk a mile in the snow on a Saturday morning to go to the library. I've also known people who have lived in a city for several years and didn't know for sure where their local library was. I used to judge that, harshly. As I got older and wiser I understood that just because something is meaningful to you it may not mean sh*t to someone else. If someone is interested and invested, they'll strive to do everything in their power to attain it. If not, anything can and will be used to stand in their way. At times I put my own intentions, work ethic and expectations on others. Yes I desired greatness for some and other times it was pure EGO. When it was I learned the hard way that EGO doesn't only Edge God Out of the equation, EGO ultimately Eliminates Great Opportunities to grow, develop and forge healthy relationships. It took me time to understand and respect that everyone doesn't have the same learning styles as well. Some people are visual learners while others are more auditory. Still others are kinesthetic and prefer a hands on approach in education. These were some of the things I didn't know when I first came into the realization of who I was and sought to help others become self actualized. 

Anytime we're purposely learning, dealing with and meeting challenges in a white supremacist and institutionalized racist society, it is an accomplishment. There are so many things that can get us caught up, sidetracked, hoodwinked or dead behind. People often compliment me on how graceful, easily understandable and down to earth I present Five Percenter culture. I'm always appreciative of that recognition yet I think it's equally important to recognize that it didn't happen over night. It took and is taking time, patience, sacrifice, studiousness and many other elements to stay the course. In addition to my channel A.S.I.A. TV, I encourage you to check out my show Atlantis Build Talk Radio to gain further insight about some of these elements, especially Episode 1 Knowledge of Self. In this episode I discuss in more detail my personal growth & development process, the journey of KOS in general and I highlight other significant moments of becoming more self actualized.

In closing, I just want to thank all of you for your continual support and feedback along my journey. Sometimes I look at the clock and wonder how in the world I have enough hours in a day to do the various things I do yet I find a way. My only aspiration is to continue finding ways to further maximize my time and space to do even more. Create more. Be more of an example of Peace. Share more contributions with this world so it's left a better place than when I physically arrived here. 

Peace,
Saladin