As a follow-up to my popular Five Percenter Table Talks Interview with Paul L. Guthrie I recently had a build with him regarding language and other topics. You can listen to it HERE. During that build we discussed 120 Lessons, the Supreme Wisdom book and I wanted to take a moment to expound upon that, particularly a part of 120 Lessons known as the 1-36.
Along with the chronology highlighting the English involvement in the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, the segment of 120 Lessons known as the 1-36 [English Lesson No. C1/English C Lesson] exposes us to what is known as an Advanced English or a C1 Competency Level. According to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFRL) that defines and explains the different competency levels of oral and written expression and comprehension, a person with a C1 Competency Level is able to:
*Understand a wide range of more demanding, longer texts, and recognize implicit meaning in them.
*Express themselves fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for the right expression.
*Use language flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes.
In considering the information contained within the 1-36, this was the first time many black people learned about this part of our chronology in North America, its implications and how to effectively express it in different social, academic and professional arenas. Developing this cultural competency and insight into the power dynamics in North America, this is one of the reasons COPYING/RECITING THE LESSONS, READING, SPELLING and SPEAKING THE LANGUAGE was emphasized in The Instructions Given To The Laborers within the Supreme Wisdom Book compiled by W.D. Fard and Elijah Muhammad. Problem No. 13 in this book also states, "There are twenty-six letters in the Language and if a Student learns one letter per day, then how long will it take him to learn the twenty-six letters? There are ten numbers in the Mathematical Language. Then how long will it take a Student to learn the whole ten numbers (at the above rate)? The average man speaks four hundred words - considered well." We also learn in one of our lessons in the 1-14 that the devil teaches and keeps our people illiterate [ignorant]. Why? To keep us blind to ourselves, mastered and used as a tool and also as a slave. There is a relationship between this conversation called the 1-36 and cultural competency.
When it comes to a competent vocabulary and literacy, did you know that children 6 years old and under from impoverished communities may hear up to 30 million fewer words than their privileged counterparts? Did you also know that this vocabulary gap sets a cognitive, social emotional and economic trajectory that widens between impoverished and privileged children as they grow? Scientists in the area of Neurocognition, Psychology, Neonatology, Biostatistics and others have only recently concluded in their research that there is a direct link between potential mental and physical health outcomes and a child's language development, including disparities between communities and their access to resources. Research such as this informs us that a preschoolers vocabulary predicts 3rd grade language and reading skills. Thus these reading scores at the ages 9-10 are strong predictors of high school graduation rates, soft skills, employability, future earning potential, susceptibility to crime and other indicators. So by speaking to our children and introducing them to words that expand their vocabulary we also change the above trajectory. Through a data driven study that determines the size of Rap artists vocabulary the Wu-Tang Clan and Wu-Affiliate Killah Priest were at the top of the class. Ironically, some people thought Ol Dirty Bastard of the Wu-Tang Clan was crazy for interrupting the 1998 Grammys and announcing, "I don't know how ya'll see it but when it comes to the children, Wu-Tang is for the children. We teach the children, know what I mean? Puffy is good, but Wu-Tang is the best. O.K.? I want ya'll to know that this is O.D.B. and I love you all. Peace!" after losing in the Best Rap album category to Puff Daddy & The Family. As we recently celebrated the 25th Anniversary of the Wu-Tang Clan's classic album Enter The Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers, we also celebrated Ol Dirty Bastard who released Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version and returned [died] at 36 years of age, as Clan member Ghostface Killah reminded us in their new documentary For The Children: 25 Years of Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). In our language of Allah's Five Percent, the segment of 120 Lessons known as the 1-36 or English Lesson No. C1 means, "our knowledge (1) to understanding (3) equality (6)" according to our Supreme Mathematics. Thirty six (36) is understanding equality and that equals the #9 which means born or completion. The 9th letter in our Supreme Alphabet corresponds to the letter "I" which means "I Self Lord And Master" and "In Self Lay All Mathematics." Is all of this coincidental and was O.D.B. just crazy or did he and other perceptive people intimately understand what these Scientists and Rap Reporters had to verify about lyricism, access to vocabulary and trajectories related to Advanced English or a C1 Competency Level? Are the Five Percenter's Supreme Mathematics, Supreme Alphabet and 120 Lessons of the Five Percent a true manifestation of the Mathematical Language that is mentioned in Problem No. 13?
The 1-36 reads like a conversation between W.D. Fard and his student Elijah Muhammad. Conversations are a part of serve and return social transactions that support cognitive and social emotional development, especially for children. As a C1 Competency Level it means a person is a proficient user of "the language" and is able to take part in lengthy conversations. Although the 1-36 and our other Lessons are written in English, "the language" being communicated consists of words and expressions used and understood by a specific group of people with a similar experience in North America as Elijah Muhammad; descendants of people who were enslaved. This does not mean that others cannot learn or relate. It means that the 1-36 is a unique narrative that references us, black people in North America, as W.D. Fard's uncle; his father's brother. It is from that vantage point of view that we learn more about W.D. Fard's purpose, the backstory of how some of our people arrived here in North America and how this impacted our growth and development. Anyone who does not share this unique experience must ask themselves, "What would be my 1-36? and "Is it also an English lesson or is it Spanish, Portuguese, Belgium or etc.?" As I have mentioned, the 1-36 is the knowledge to understanding equality and a partial means to change our cognitive, social emotional and economic trajectory as a people.
Interview with Paul L. Guthrie discussing Language
There has often been a debate on the order of 120 Lessons. Some Five Percenters received their 1-36 first and then their 1-14 while others received their 1-14 first and then their 1-36. The order I received 120 Lessons is as follows: 1-10, 1-14, 1-36, 1-40, Actual Facts, Solar Facts and I was also given the Twelve Jewels. Because the 1-40 was given to Elijah Muhammad on February 20th, 1934, this along with the text within our Lessons are chronological markers that inform us about what year each segment of our Lessons were written and in what order. Here are some of those markers and their corresponding Asiatic and Gregorian Calendar Years that explains their order:
Lessons 1-10
Asiatic 15,019 --- Gregorian 1933
"Christianity 551 years old" (10/1-10)
1933 - 551 = 1382: John Wycliffe "Earthquake of Synod"
Lessons 1-14
Asiatic 15,019 --- Gregorian 1933
"It was 6,019 years ago" (4/1-14)
"In the year 1, 15,019 years ago" (4/1-14)
15,019 - 6,019 = 9,000 (Yacub was said to born in the year 8,400 and it took 600 years to make a devil)
"We took this city from the devil about 750 years ago"
1933 - 750 = 1,183. Jerusalem was taken by Saladin on 1187, 754 years from 1933
Lessons 1-36
Asiatic 15,020 --- Gregorian 1934
"My uncle was brought over here by the Trader 379 years ago" (3/1-36)
25,000 - 379 = 14,641 (1555 is said to be the year the Transatlantic Slave Trade began, not 1619)
Lessons 1-40
Asiatic 15,020 --- Gregorian 1934
"Koran will expire in the year 25,000, 9,980 years from the date of this writing" (1/1-40)
25,000 - 9,980 = 15,020 (1934)
I don't debate the order that Five Percenters received 120 Lessons. My interest is our cultural competence; how well we know and understand the principles and values that defines our way of life. Are we proficient users of the language that supports these principles and values or are we using? Regardless of the order, are we utilizing these Lessons and language to order righteous steps? Are the 1-36 like conversations we have, especially with our youth, an investment in becoming more culturally competent?
Peace,
Saladin
