Are We Trolling OR Teaching?

     In my last article What Is A Poor Righteous Teacher? I shared some insight on the etymology of the word "poor", its use in the 1800s until now and how it has been misinterpreted by some Five Percenters as evidenced by their quality of life. There are many Five Percenters who understood and appreciated that article because they do not represent that segment of our population. They desire more for us as a Nation and that is also evidenced by their quality of life. However, there were those who felt that my article was inaccurate and an unfair assessment of the poverty mindset among some Five Percenters. From their perspective I painted the Five Percent with a broad brushstroke which contributes to the negative narratives about us. That does not accurately reflect the content of my article or any of my contributions to this society. While genuine peer review and accountability is always important with our work, it is also important to offer practical solutions to what we see as problematic. Sitting back talking or just repeating what someone else said is not enough. We must have something to share, something we built that actually works. So lets build about that work and what works.

     For two decades I have consistently worked to be one of the many positive representations of the Five Percent. This work, from my youth initiatives, articles, books and animation series to being a Humans Rights Commissioner and Educator in my city, has literally served as evidence to help win court cases for incarcerated Five Percenters fighting to prove our cultural legitimacy. I am very proud of this and the various other ways that people have benefitted from these contributions. Among the different niches that Five Percenters have, we are not all a-alike. While there are some Five Percenters who represent the best of what we teach, there are others who behave like they don't agree with Dumar Wa'de's statement that We Are Not A Gang. You can see by how they live and a simple glance at their social media will have you confused about what they actually represent. Their social media is usually a hodgepodge of vulgar memes, trolling, throwback pictures of Five Percenter pioneers, Henny toasts, wannabe IG model flicks wearing our Universal Flag and video clips of questionable Eighty-Fiver behavior. These are the same folks who long to be professionally recognized as a credible source of Five Percent culture. The irony is, I am actually one of the most qualified people to teach them yet they usually don't want to learn who is causing all of this to professionally happen... Most times I am outright embarrassed by what I see and often find myself in awkward positions striving to diplomatically explain to outside onlookers that, "all of us [Five Percenters] are at different stages in our growth and development. Regardless what knowledge you think we have, some of us are evolving as civilized people, some of us are not and will not evolve as civilized people. That choice is entirely up to us." I receive so many emails, inboxes and DMs from people inquiring about our culture via the out-of-pocket behavior they see that I actually saved a standard response for folks to save time responding. Yeah, it is that serious.

     See, when we gain knowledge of self it is not like we start off with a blank slate and everything we have thought, said or done prior to that simply disappears. It does not work that way. In this journey we are not simply learning things. We also unlearn things that are not good for our growth and development. Well, we are supposed to unlearn things. We all experience this, even if we claim to be born into the Five Percent Nation. Living within this wilderness of North America we are all exposed to what others think, say and do. Some of that exposure is corrupting and contradicts our culture. All of us have to deal with this reality and none of us are exempt from it. How committed and consistent we are to deal with that corruption and those contradictions is entirely up to us. It is apparent, at least to me, that some of us have a much harder time with civilization than others.

     Over the years of having knowledge of self, the biggest challenge that I see among many of my fellow Five Percenters is how to connect What We Teach TO What We Will Achieve. Now some Five Percenters would argue that "What We Teach and What We Will Achieve" is not an authentic plus degree. Regardless if we think this or not, it is not debatable that there is a huge disparity between what folks say they teach and what they are actually achieving. There is no shortage of content you can find on social media of people sharing longwinded posts about Today's Mathematics or pictures with captions pontificating about what we teach and how it should/shouldn't be taught. However, there is a severe lacking of the same content that practically shows what we are actually achieving with these teachings. There is "some" content yet not nearly as much content as adults taking group pictures and talking. When I started sharing YouTube videos well over a decade ago and writing articles, my consistent focus has always been to demonstrate how I am actually using what we teach to positively impact my family and community in a practical way. My social media presence is based upon the same premise and over the years that focus has expanded beyond my family and community to include my city, other cities, states and countries. This is the reason that the national and international press contact me in regards to content related to our Nation of the Five Percent, why I currently have five books in a Curatorial Activism archive at the British Library and how I've had the professional opportunities to work with actors such as Morgan Freeman, Samuel L. Jackson and others. I have done and do all of this as a proud, public Five Percenter who literally comes in the name of Saladin Allah. I am not a Five Percenter at a Parliament but Marco the security guard the rest of the month. For whatever reason, some folks just don't like that I am in this kind of public position. When they are not playing a lazy game of Poison The Well, they are clumsily trying to discredit anything that they see me do while deliberately ignoring the things that are clearly of credit even to their own families. 

"Own It" -Drake

     

     As a public Five Percenter, my experience is not all Sun, Moon and Stars. I deal with bullsh*t just like everybody else, sometimes more than you could imagine. I have experienced dudes calling my home hundreds of times in a day. Yeah, I said hundreds. I have received snapshots of dudes gossiping about me in sausage party group chats. I have gotten pop-up trolled by lurkers who never even liked a post about my children. Dudes have circulated sloppy snippets of my content offline to try and discredit me. I have also been publicly/privately threatened with violence online and etc. None of these experiences involved women. Not one. While I have had some limited experience with girls harassing me when I was a teenager, never in my life did I ever expect to experience this kind of behavior from 30-50 year old dudes. Never! Allah was in his mid thirties and early forties when he was teaching youth in the streets of Harlem and I could not imagine him behaving like this. That dysfunctional behavior has nothing to do with Five Percent culture or "building." It has everything to do with what I see as a mental health and/or a substance abuse problem or folks who have become institutionalized; something that I am very well acquainted with because my Ole Earth [Mother] was a social psychologist by profession. No healthy, heterosexual, working family man would be that fixated on another man and behave like this. 

     Some would probably ask, "Saladin why do you even care?" Well as I mentioned earlier, we are all exposed to what others think, say and do while living in this wilderness of North America. So it does affect us, even if it is just a distraction seeing or hearing about it. In order to maintain a positive mental health state and sense of homeostasis we have to develop effective ways to neutralize and manage this exposure. After words, sometimes that exposure has the exact opposite effect; like the time someone posted a screenshot of my Atlantis School For Gifted Youngsters Page to denigrate my work and I instantly received new followers, messages of support and donations to my Atlantis School Renovation Project.

     When it comes to our stability, it is important not to minimize or gloss over the impact this COVID-19 pandemic is actually having on our individual and collective mental health, including those who claim to be "woke" or have knowledge of self. In fact, it is my assessment that this pandemic will born a mental health epidemic that will undoubtedly impact our Five Percent Nation. As Five Percenters, attending virtual parliaments, posting videos about Supreme Mathematics and taking pictures wearing our Universal Flag is not an effective mental health plan. Based upon some of our behavior, some of us need serious professional help and there is nothing wrong with that. We all need help in some capacity. What IS wrong is using social media and/or substance abuse to try and self-medicate. 

     A decade ago, in 2011, I published the book Explorations of God/Earth Mental Health that offers insight on what we have begun to see, particularly among some Five Percenters, and how we can address this. Following the recent tragic deaths of my father and brother on the same day, hours apart, under two entirely different circumstances, I took the initiative to get therapy for the first time in my life. I never experienced anything tragic like this before in my life and I wanted to be proactive in putting resources in place that can support me through my grieving process. Access to a safe-space that enables me to unpack and process my thoughts and feelings about this tragedy and trauma with an objective black therapist, not just talking to my physical/universal family, has been very therapeutic for me. I would definitely encourage others to do the same to help unpack and process tragedy and trauma; especially those black/brown males who never talk about being molested as children and/or who have experienced sexual violence while they were incarcerated. I am fortunate to have never experienced this and can only imagine how difficult it must be for those who quietly carry around this question about their manhood and sexuality. I would also encourage Five Percenters to explore becoming a therapist if they are interested in that field. We need more of our own people creating these culturally competent safe-spaces to support our positive mental health. Lastly, we need more people showing evidence of our Five Percent teachings with actual achievements, not just being trolls. 

Peace,

Saladin

Battle Royal

 Battle Royal

When the media coverage of Meek Mill vs. Drake first went viral I excited me! Not as a fan of their work but as a lyricist, poet and outright music enthusiast. This moment put the focus back on lyrics. The last time the mainstream or general public were really interested and concerned about what someone had to actually say was that BET cipher verse by ‪‎Kendrick Lamar when he put the entire industry on notice. To this day NO ONE has reasonably responded to that. Do you know who truly listens, dissects and critically analyzes rhymes regardless to whom or what? Rap Enthusiasts  who genuinely appreciate lyrics, poets/spoken word artists, battle rappers and emcees/femcees. Last week 85% of the mainstream audience were just bobbin' they head to beats.

Another thing that I appreciate about this situation is it's potentiality to bring out the best lyrical content of artists. Busy Bee Starski vs. Kool Moe Dee, LL Cool J vs. Canibus, Jay-Z vs. Nas, KRS One vs. MC Shan, Ice Cube vs. Common and etc. are all instances where artists came with their best. As long as it doesn't go waaaaay left on some government co-opted Tupac/Biggie scenario it's a healthy landmark moment for ‪Hip Hop‬ in general and rap music specifically. Something else I've considered is its economic stimulus. The peripheral memes, videos, vintage tees, product placement and co-signs that not only generates web traffic but creates commerce is important. When Drake dropped his second Meek diss track Back To Back he used a picture of forgotten "World Series Hero" Joe Carter after hitting a three run homer to beat the Philadelphia Phillies. We would be naïve to believe that people didn't go out and buy Joe Carter paraphernalia that day? Brilliant! Drake also made good on his lyrics by sending ‪Charlemagne‬ 6 bottles of Dom P.. That was dope yet imagine if he would used his celebrity to get behind an up and coming entrepreneur and support their brand of alcohol by sending it to Charlemagne. What if Meek Mill responded by talking about charity work he's done for the Blackstone Foundation Library in Toronto? Personally I would love to see instances like this used to better empower everyday people and support local businesses.

After all of this Meek Mill finally came back with his response entitled Wanna Know which was wack from my perspective. His words weren't clear, Funk Flex added his theatrical explosions, there were samples and anything else you can imagine that distracts a listener. Although many people, including Philadelphians, expected more I still appreciate this moment in Hip Hop. Politically speaking it's no different than lobby groups putting the pressure on public officials to respond to a current situation. In rap music, people, not necessarily artists, oftentimes don't have this kind of pressure on them -especially when they're mainstream [Top 40]. Therefore, they say, do and sell whatever they want to the public. In this instance the lobby groups were everyday people using social media and hashtags to call for a response and we got one. Some may not realize this power to social economically engineer events and the growing political consciousness of the people but it's happening.

Almost three decades ago The Cosby Show highlighted an upper middle-class African-American family living in Brooklyn in the beginning of the golden era of ‪Hip Hop‬. Yet the first time the culture was explicitly addressed/introduced was on a Season 2 Episode when the children were in the studio with Stevie Wonder and he sampled their voices and produced a beat with a synclavier. This was 1986 when Run DMC, Just Ice, Salt and Pepa, Steady B, The Beastie Boys, Afrika Bambaataa, Doug E. Fresh, Whodini, Too Short and others were making their mark within the chronology of rap music. At this time rap was still mocked as "jungle music", marginally accepted and Stevie Wonder served as an ambassador for a sound, creative process and exposure to a culture that would ultimately reshape the world. We have come a long way from this mainstream moment of time. Now it's common to hear some element of Hip Hop culture in every facet of television and radio globally. It doesn't mean that it's accepted, it means that it and it's people are financially useful. We cannot overlook, minimize or trivialize that.

Some people have called this Meek Mill vs. Drake media coverage boring, overrated, wack, a distraction and etc. Yet the irony of this is the fact that they still found themselves commenting about it. That's like an Atheist talking about there is no God. At the end of the day, whether we like Drake, Meek Mill, Nicki Minaj's neutrality, this is a teachable/educational moment. If you're a Hip Hophistorian, use it as an opportunity teach others about the chronology of rap battles. Take a moment to educate yourself, and others, about "ghost writing" and one of the most prolific one's Smokey Robinson. Are you a rapper/emcee? Well make your own response to the situation or state of rap music. Do you make custom tees, a producer, graphic artist or etc.? Do something with Joe Carter or others such as Meek Mill's sister who has over 1 million youtube views in 48 hours. Find something of value in this that is inspiring, empowering and educational as opposed to just complaining. Add-on!

Peace,
Saladin

"It's not you, it's me"

For those of you who didn't know, I facilitate a youth mentor program called STYA which is an acronym for Successfully Transitioning Youth to Adolescence. My demographic are nine to twelve year old's and we do everything from critically analyze cartoons, arts & crafts, cooking classes and etc. to encourage them to expand their consciousness, build self esteem and discover their purpose in life as they transition into their teenage years. What I love most about working with youth, which I've done with various programs and initiatives for over a decade, is learning ideas, attitudes and behavior adults have in their infancy. In other words, I see nine year old girls learning to play the "make a boy jealous" game that eventually becomes a fully functioning operating system I see thirty something year old's use every day. Some things don't change, people just get older and continue doing the same thing. And the same way jealousy games may not change among females, some male's level of sophistication to appropriately respond to these games doesn't change either. I can't tell you how many times I've had to talk a ten year old boy down from an emotional ledge because some little girl was playing with his emotions. His reaction is no different than seeing emotionally unstable men committing social media seppuku because of what some female is, or isn't, posting on Facebook. Some of us simply never matured intellectually or emotionally; we're just older versions of the same child.

Because my Ole Earth was a Psychologist/Sociologist I've been orientated to analyze human behavior my entire life, literally. Normal family outings were going to places just to people watch; my Ole Earth would find a public place to sit with some of my siblings and I and we would discuss what we see in people's body language, style of dress and etc. One of the games she would also play with us was the book of questions -which I discovered later in life was a psychology book, not a game at all. This kind of investment into my growth and development as a child, coupled with the cultural contributions of my Ole Dad, has helped in my successful transition from boy to man. Some males never had a mother invested in them in this way nor did they have a father around to teach him what it means to be a man. Because of this, some of us have manufactured our idea of manhood 'a la carte' and the emotions and intellect surrounding this lacking remain raw, immature and underdeveloped. This is not an excuse, it's an assessment of what I've witnessed in its infancy and what it has the potential to become when it's not responsibly addressed as an adult. Ladies, young boys may destroy toys when they don't get their way. The same boy who doesn't get his way as a grown male, will destroy you. There's a lot of truth in what Drake says about these days.

Like with any group or society of people, some of its members are going to be emotionally and intellectual immature. One of the challenges I've dealt with over the years are these same boys/girls, not yet men/women, referring to themselves as Gods/Earths. Thankfully this doesn't reflect the overall consciousness of Five Percenters I know, yet there are some of us who are like that -sometimes for reasons only known to them. This is the reason I wrote the book Explorations of God/Earth Mental Health; to empower my peers to recognize and address it. Because one of our cultural motto's is "Peace" or Positive Education Always Corrects Errors, we've always encouraged each other to grow and develop beyond whatever circumstance we've come from or are presently in. For any of us who are sincerely striving to elevate their consciousness and condition, it's a journey that involves removing the negative residue that comes along with seeing and believing ourselves to be inferior. All of us who have taken this step to gain KOS [Knowledge of Self] started out emotionally and intellectually immature. On many levels we're rewiring ourselves emotionally and intellectually and that takes work, sometimes a lifetime. Nothing happens over night, except the night -especially not the growth and development process.

In closing, I want to reiterate the importance of us men getting ourselves together. This is not to minimize the responsibility of grown females who need to grow up either. There are women I know who are successfully speaking from this perspective. As men, we can start getting ourselves together by being more vulnerable with one another by speaking honestly about our upbringing and emotions. I'm not talking about ranting, posturing or posting inappropriate stuff on social media under the guise of "keeping sh#t real"; that's immature and messy. I'm talking about investing the time to really examine the who, what, when, where, how and why we think/behave the way we do with each other and the opposite sex. That is one of the most integral parts of KOS. Females share and are vulnerable with each other all the time. That female-to-female Educator and Student relationship directly, or indirectly, has remained pretty much intact since we've been in this country. Males are the one's usually holding stuff in and back from one another. Some of us males were grown up before we had an open conversation with men about hurt, lost, frustration, insecurities, inadequacies, embarrassing situations and etc. Even though some of us aren't sharing these things with each other in a healthy way, it always come out in the most unhealthy of ways -whether that's throwing tantrums or shade, being abusive, gossiping, broadcasting how great we are, taking serial selfies, being a whore or etc. Additionally, there are some things we've experienced as boys that we decided to take with us to our grave. Part of the emotional frustration or indifference you see us express is us trying to live with that lifelong decision. So ladies, when some grown males tell you, "It's not you, it's me", believe it! Also believe the likelihood that they haven't said or done anything about it for over twenty something years and don't plan on saying or doing anything about it after telling you that. We got work to do in order to help get our families/communities back in order and emotional instability and intellectual immaturity won't get us there. As civilized men who advocate righteousness, as Five Percenters and definitely as Gods, we must expect more from ourselves, and each other, to get that job done.  

Peace,
Saladin