Family Dynamics and our CQ [Cultural Quotient]?

Prom Night, 1993

 

     Anyone who has read my writings, listened to my interviews or personally interacted with me knows that I often talk about my upbringing. More specifically, I talk about my Ole Earth [Mother] being a Social Psychologist and how that experience helped shape part of my identity. The older I became the more I realized how uncommon it was to hear, "study their family dynamics" as a teenager when I shared with her my interest in a girl. I was a teenager and had no idea what studying family dynamics meant or how it was done. There wasn't a road map. It took years of experience, and the development of my executive brain function, to begin understanding this. Prior to this, I looked at a girl as an individual without studying how her ideas, interactions, behaviors, influences and relationships with her family helped shape her identity. Yes, I would casually recognize when she didn't have a relationship with her father, the kind of diet she had, what her family's social economic status was, what her interests were, and her comfort level with intimacy. I didn't try to unpack all of that and took it on face value. I remember my parents prompting me to 'think deeper' about the girls that I was interested in by sharing commentary about their family, asking questions that revealed their family dynamics, and directly engaging them when they visited our home. I wasn't really interested in that. Like with my own upbringing, I simply took her upbringing for granted and didn't look too far beyond her as an individual. As I grew beyond my teenage years and entered college, I really began to recognize the impact of our family dynamics. 

    I am a middle child of seven children. My home environment was a hodge podge of social commentary, musical instruments, board games, family meals, outings, sports, community engagement, and a Pan-African flag. I grew up around African artifacts, books like a DSM-III-R [Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders], Baldwin's The Fire Next Time, and Khalil Gibran's Spirits Rebellious. We watched films like Dolemite, Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, Shaka Zulu, The Spook Who Sat by The Door and had family discussions afterwards. My family used The Book of Questions like a party game, which enabled my parents to see and respond to ideas that my siblings and I were entertaining and bringing into our household. My Ole Earth would literally take those of us who were closest in age "people watching", where we go to a public space such as a mall or a park just to observe, analyze, and comment on people. She was sharping our critical observation and deductive reason skills. Looking back, it feels like I grew up in a kind of laboratory. However, it wasn't some sterile, cold, all-white LED lit environment. It was a culturally rich courageous space where ideas about our identity and the world were constantly examined, tested and studied. It was not perfect, it was productive. These were just some of the influences within my immediate home environment that I am still learning to process and unpack. As I began to study my genealogy, other layers of my family dynamics began to reveal themselves, giving me an even deeper understanding of who I am. In this process, I've also come to realize that many people are not intentional about studying family dynamics. I wasn't intentional like that, even though I had all kinds of resources available to me. 

"Without knowing how some of our life experiences anchor our identity, it is difficult to understand their psychological, social, physical, and financial impact     in, on, and around our lives."   

   Our family dynamics help shape who we are, for better or for worst. It's the forces that define our family. These forces are the role that we play in our family, the rules that we learn to live by, our boundaries, how we communicate, and the way that power is defined and distributed. I've met dark-skinned Black men who truly believe that they don't see color, yet they only date Caucasian women with blond hair and blue eyes. What in their family dynamics and their experiences helped inform that decision? I've also known women who held their happiness hostage because they struggled with the Intimacy vs Isolation idea of "Will I be loved, or will I be alone?" What in their family dynamics and their experiences helped inform that decision?

     One of my biggest challenges has been in the area of EQ or Emotional Intelligence. Many years into adulthood I realized that I never learned how to use words to identify and communicate my emotions. Sounds wild huh? Well, many males don't. Why else do you think women share the same story that, "He shuts me out and doesn't talk to me." Many of us never learned how. Literally! We never learned to recognize and express what we are feeling is called disappointment and not anger, anxious and not fear, frustration and not rage. All we really learn is happy and mad, and as males we are not allowed to be sad... or too happy. Even in the household where I grew up in with an emotionally intelligent Ole Dad who never apologized or hide his face when he cried, I still never learned how to identify and communicate with words how I feel. Whenever he and my Ole Earth had a conflict, he would simply turn around and walk out. Not out of our family's life, out of the house. Once he calmed down, he would return later on. He would not stand there and communicate how he felt, especially to a woman who had the wisdom of The Oracle from The Matrix and a Richard Pryor sense of humor. When my Ole Dad would return after cooling off, and if my Ole Earth was in the wrong, she would never apologize or acknowledge that in front of the family. She would simply show him she was apologetic by offering him a casual hug, a light-hearted kiss, and joking conversation. My Ole Dad never immediately engaged or embraced this and it always took him time to recalibrate his system and get back to a sense of peace. That's what I learned. Because I've never been married, when I walked off, a woman may never have a conversation with me again if I felt that strongly about the conflict. Sometimes this was appropriate and saved me a life of misery. Most of the time my reaction was bullsh*t. It was my inability to communicate how I felt and not having a deeper commitment to working things out. My inability to communicate was expressed as indifference and an unwillingness to further engage. Some males express this inability to communicate in different ways, and it's usually expressed through sex and/or violence; with their d*cks and/or fists. Me saying, "f*ck it" by walking off is a variation of males saying "I'mma f*ck you/f*ck somebody else" and/or "I'mma f*ck you/f*ck somebody else up." All of these expressions are rooted in not identifying what we are feeling, learning the words to communicate this, and being positively received when we actually do. 

   When I realized this and began doing the work to learn how to effectively communicate, I also began to see that some women have never been with men like this. I've been in relationships with women who I did not know how to effectively communicate with. I've also been in relationships with women who simply did not know how to effectively communicate with me. One time it took me three days to write and send a text message to a woman expressing how I felt about a conflict that we had. In the past, I would have been a ghost; leaving her with our memories as context clues to figure out what happened between us. This was different and I was in a different space. I was intentional about communicating and vulnerable enough to trust her with my feelings. I proudly sent that text message only to receive an almost auto-reply text that felt like I was Frankie Williams in Piper's Pit. For some dudes, they would have used that experience as an excuse to never be vulnerable again. Not me. I looked at it for what it was, that love is an inner and outer journey that can be painful, also promising, and always insightful. While that experience hurt, it did not discourage me to give up on love. In fact, I got engaged sometime after that to the love of my life. 

   Most of us are familiar with IQ which represents our Intelligence Quotient. It is a standardized test that measures our cognitive abilities or how smart we are. EQ is our Emotional Quotient, which measures how we understand and manage our emotions. CQ is our Cultural Quotient. CQ is our ability to understand and navigate diverse cultural environments and interact with people from various cultural backgrounds. It is an intelligence that is cognitive and emotional. While our CQ can be measured using standard questionnaires, the real test of our cultural intelligence is evident in our life. When we look at the results of how we live, that is how we are graded. Every day you can see social media content of someone doing something that shows that they don't have a clue how to navigate diverse cultural environments and interact with people from various cultural backgrounds. Whether that is a Facebook post from someone denigrating people that they want financial support from or a video of a racist being chased off for showing up at a Black Awards Show with a sign saying, "Black Parents Are Failures." Studying our family dynamics and the family dynamics of others helps improve our CQ. It enables us to better understand ourselves, the culture we were raised in, how to navigate diverse cultural environments and interact with people from various cultural backgrounds. 

    Without question, there existed a culture in our household. Regardless of what we choose to call ourselves, be it Christian, Muslim, Moor, Five Percenters, Black, etc., there were cultural influences that defined our family and how we view family today. Those influences were/are the role that we play in our family, the rules that we learned to live by, our boundaries, how we communicate, and the way that power was/is defined and distributed in those relationships. When we lack CQ, this cultural tone-deafness or lack of awareness is evident in our people activities, especially in our relationships. That includes those of us who live the culture of the Five Percent and how we relate to one another. As men within the Five Percent, it's important to ask ourselves how do we 'cee' the Moon in our Universal Flag that the number 7 is superimposed over. In what ways can superimposition obstruct one's view? What wisdom does this Moon symbolize, as it relates to the life of a woman without children? What role does our EQ play in processing and unpacking questions like this? Simply looking at our 'universal flag' has implications for our how we view our 'universal family'. There is a psychological, social, and financial impact of not realizing that we are looking at these celestial bodies, the Sun, Moon and the Stars, from the vantage point of our terrestrial home; the Earth. Because we are clearly witnessing these objects and their relationships from our planet, how does this inform and define the family dynamics in our home? What role does our IQ play in all of this? When we learn that "the Earth belongs to the Original Man?" in the first lesson in our 1-14, does 'belong' mean ownership (The Earth is the possession of the Original Man), membership (The Earth is a part of the Original Man), or both? How are these perspectives demonstrated within our language, our lessons, and our customs? In what ways can these perspectives positively or negatively influence the gender roles that we play, the rules that we live by, our boundaries, how we communicate, and the way that power [control] is defined and distributed in our relationships? How do these and other questions ultimately affect our Five Percenter CQ? 

     It's important to understand that the family we were born into is a training ground for our relationships and the family that we choose or don't choose to create. This foundational experience that we were born into informs and influences the experiences that we choose or don't choose to have today. We may be aware of some of those experiences and how they affect(ed) us. There are other experiences that we've had, and we don't know how they affect(ed) us. Sometimes we may need a therapist to help recall, process, and unpack these experiences. All of the time it's up to us to do something about it to improve our personal quality of life, and the quality of our relationships. This also requires a level of courage, to be vulnerable enough, to grow.

Peace,

Saladin, #AtlantisBuild

NEW BOOK RELEASE: The Map IS NOT The Terrain

Purchase HERE

     My twentieth book, "The Map IS NOT The Terrain" describes the relationship between Five Percenter culture as an object and a representation of that object as the culture. 

   In a series of insightful essays, this book explores Five Percent principles, values and customs as a conceptual territory [a map] and their practical application in every day life [the terrain].

     "The Map IS NOT The Terrain" and my other nineteen titles directly support the Atlantis School Renovation Project and can be purchased at Quanaah Publishing. I appreciate your support!

Peace,

Saladin

Animation Series: Love, Hell or Right

 In this Atlantis School For Gifted Youngsters Episode we discuss "Love, Hell or Right."

"Love transcends emotions; it is the highest degree of Understanding between two people. Hell is the tempering fire of experience all relationships go through; in order to remove its impurities and unveil the substance of our bond. Then and only then will we reveal what's Right!" -Love, Hell or Right (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Amazon Kindle) 

 

Peace,

Saladin

 

In Celebration Of Us!

   A God Brother of mine recently got married and he is one of a number of people around the world who have utilized a non-religious Divine Union Rite I created to celebrate this bond. Most recently with the incarnation of my new Queen Anusha I held a private Naming Ceremony to announce her arrival. The Divine Union Rite was created over a decade ago when considering how I could help develop customs to ‘demarcate’ Five Percenter life cycle celebrations that express important transitions in our life. Thus was born a very intricate document that articulated everything from the seasonal symbolism, colors, regalia, structure, officiate dialogue and vows of a Divine Union. Although it was created to express and celebrate core principles and values of the Five Percent I crafted it as a universal template for any couple to use who desired a culturally based non-religious ceremony. The Naming Ceremony was done with the same intention and emphasized our notion that "the babies are the greatest."

   When I came into Knowledge Of Self [KOS] one of the main things I became aware of is what Life Justice calls "the clash of culture." All of us who come into KOS experience this. It is challenging because we have been indoctrinated into Western society and its traditions. This requires us to invest every waking hour of our lives striving to differentiate between what is culturally acceptable or in line with what we call Allah World Manifest [AWM] from what is unacceptable or a part of Yacub's Society [the devil's civilization]. This does not mean that everything about Western Society is wrong; indoctrinated people have a hard time even knowing the difference. When an indoctrinated person descends from an enslaved or colonized people, they are born immersed in the enslavers or colonizers point of view. This is all that they know, and learn to believe, until they learn something different from an outside perspective. An outside perspective is not primarily taught in school or throughout the media because it does not represent the cultural norm or status quo. Even if it appears  to be taught, you often discover that even that perspective is the enslavers and colonizers narrative. This creates a dilemma because KOS exposes you to many irreconcilable differences. Some things, such as dietary habits may be fairly easy to discontinue. Other things, such as practicing certain Western traditions or breaking certain habits may be difficult to break. 

   A custom is a tradition, procedure or form that is specific to a society or group or people. Its goal is the reinforce and perpetuate principles and values for the present and future generations. While some people might believe that certain traditional foods are simply passed on from one generation to the next because of its flavor, a close examination of that dish, its ingredients, its preparation, the time it was shared and under what conditions will reveal something much deeper than tantalizing taste buds. This is custom, and a custom demarcates or distinguishes important events along the life cycle of a people. All people possess them and this is the purpose of celebrations like Passover, National Days for Countries, St. Patrick's Day and others. Even so-called primitive tribes had customs to demarcate or distinguish important events along the life cycle of a people, especially in relation to changes in the natural environment and in sync with celestial events. These events of significance, sometimes shrouded in legends or myths, serve as psychological and social landmarks along a people's cultural landscape. Why? To insure that a people do not lose their way in order to stay the course of reinforcing and perpetuating principles and values for the present and future generations. In one of our lessons about 85% of the population, we learn that they "do not know their origin in this world and worship what they know not" and are "easily led in the wrong direction but hard to be led in the right direction." When a person does not know their origin or place where their people began, it creates a sense of cultural disorientation; having no sense of direction. When a person or people have no sense of direction they become easily led.

   Customs is also the place at a port, boarder or airport where a person and their luggage is checked for taxable goods coming in and out of different territories. As an official department, Customs governs and levies traffic. Consider for a moment how cultural customs serve the purpose of supporting the institutions, resources and economy where people live. Consider when people practice cultural customs that are not theirs, yet still support the institutions, resources and economy where they live but do not control. Also consider when a people do have their customs; they operate like Customs and effectively tax anyone coming into their territory. When you look at many black communities around the United States you are looking at territories without cultural customs or Customs, saturated with foreign and religious trading posts.

   Gaining KOS is not the same as being WOKE. WOKE folks are just walking up, are usually still immersed in Western tradition and typically trade customary insults for injury. In other words, they may not practice Christmas anymore but they will buy everything they need for Kwanzaa from Family Dollar and practice that. While the thought of giving credit to a fat white man coming down a chimney they don't have is insulting, the real injury is the black dollar is still not circulating once in their community. 

   When a person comes into KOS and starts to differentiate between what is culturally acceptable and what is not, we learn that there are certain Western customs that we must no longer participate in. Some of us struggle with this because these customs may be more than just a habit; they may be intimately tied to our family tradition, work culture or our relationships. Our non participation is a break from practicing certain social norms that we no longer agree with. And as a person who no longer participates in certain dietary choices, holidays or other people activities it leaves a void. A void that some of us have tried to replace by "not really" participating in dietary choices, holidays or other people activities or trying to substitute them with a watered down version of the same Westernization. Seeing this void, where people gaining KOS went from having their life structured and defined by Western landmarks, we now are faced with the challenge of restructuring systems with psychological and social landmarks along a newly defined cultural landscape. Customs, as a traditions, are a part of this. This is the reason I saw the importance of crafting a Divine Union Rite and Naming Ceremony. Celebrating the unity of our family, the arrival of our children, and etc. are important. In Western society people typically acknowledge points along one's life cycle based upon driving age, the age of consent, drinking age, the age one can join the military and other arbitrary things. 

   I had private Naming Ceremony for my youngest Queen Anusha on the Winter Solstice which I briefly explain the significance of in the video above. She was born at home with a Midwife, my God Brother Divine's Earth was her Doula and she is not vaccinated. Her full name is Anusha Adjua Quanaah meaning "a bright and morning star of peace and great vision." I did not want to bring her into this world in foreign hands, in a foreign environment or sharing pictures to memorialize that foreign moment like I see so many of my people do, including those of us with KOS. If we don't have customs to define significant events along our life cycle, what are we using, whose interest will that serve and where does that leave our cultural legacy?

Peace,
Saladin

The Family in Crisis

By Allah Universal Lord Life Justice Shabazz

     I would like to share with my family, an observation I've been watching develop for some time now. It's the kind of thing that requires immediate attention, but I also recognize, given the impact of Western individualism upon non-Western derivative blacks, that this issue may go by relatively unnoticed by most of us.

     Let us make it as plain as I possibly can: "Families are in trouble in this country!" That (in and of itself) is cause for great concern, in this country. However, the situation becomes more exacerbated when you consider that bonds, such as marriages and other like relationships, which are the first social sign of cooperation and civilization between man and woman. is greatly being compromised through out America and most of Europe.
    Recently, when I went to my daughter's PTA (Parent/Teacher Association) meeting in a community near Power Hill (Philadelphia), I couldn't help but notice the sheer number of single parents in attendance. Presuming this phenomena represents normalcy these days, it would make it seem as though, 1.) Birth could occur between one parent instead of two, or 2.) Relationships today are in crisis mode. If this is the case, it would mean the heterosexual community within America is having issues with reconciling its differences between the male and female of our species, and of this area, The NGE is certainly not exempt.
   Now there are several reasons for this, and I'm sure some of it is bound to involve finger pointing, but we must keep our composure. The answer to these things are usually very complex and often involve several factors. We cannot allow ourselves to be rash or sentimental, nor should we allow the forces that be to blame it on the proverbial "straw man" (i.e. "dead beat fathers are the cause of this") because only lousy women and enemies of Black solidarity would do such a thing. For any body with any wisdom knows, in this life, people gravitate to that which they secretly love most. So if you are in love or open, you are the one with the issue that must be remedied -because it's either about vulnerability or obstinacy . . .
     As for the black man and women in America, our existence within the wilderness of North America has been a very precarious situation. At the very least, it has certainly not come without a steep price being attached to it.
   Some of our Ancestors were initially brought over here to America to be servants, but we became reduced to the level of slavery according to color. And this was done by another race who were born of a different social, genetic, and ethnic class; simply because they could. Some of these European colonialists were driven by ill-conceived contempt; Imps and what have you, in control of our future as a people.
     This particular brand of slavery practiced in America, stripped us of our language and rich traditions (4/1-36). Through this continued process it removed us of our original culture as well; obliterating our morals, values, standards, cosmology and/or religion.  In fact, everything special and sacred about us, as indigenous people or tribes, got chewed up in the process of this thing called American slavery.
     While we are on the subject of precariousness, social and cultural demise, we cannot allow things like the invention of the word, "Ms.", the "burning of the bra", or the refusal of some women to carry-on with "their mother's ways maintaining the household" (acts now seen as culturally resistant and non-feminine) to go by unscathed either. For these things also played a part in the current day cultural unraveling of the family. Besides, the women who sphere-headed such political organizations, or became its organizational leaders were not hardly the women WE thought they were; no more than than Elton John, David Bowie, Boy George, or George Michaels were the MEN as promised.
     Obviously Europe has had thousands of years of dealing with the so-called "alternative lifestyles phenomena" (evidently it has been en vogue since the viking and tribal eras), but for us relatively culture-less blacks in America, we had not had that type of exposure or resolution, until we were exposed to Western culture's ideologies. Surely the flaw here, in terms of feminism, was to allow alternative women oversee the total women's liberation movement; since a heterosexual compromise between men and woman, or the maintaining of nuclear families,  would not be the aim of such women. Their solution to gender differences is to be with another of the same kind; not to complement a man in any sort of way. We of the "same mind" should know that black people were brought over here for another purpose, and that was to be used as a tool and also a slave (6/1-14), never to be made literate about this dominant culture or our cultural differences. And when the constitution was written, it, nor its founders, did not have us in mind. Its manufacturers labeled us "3/5's of a man", and I wouldn't exactly call that equal footing or proper consideration for us. It just shows me, that "this" is his society that was shaped according to his lifestyle, and if we are not on the same page, we are not fitting. Besides, eventhough this is a pluralistic society, it is controlled by majority rule, and that places the founding fathers or the colonists in control. This is the same as saying, "It is my decisions, my game my rules!"
     The peddlers of human flesh (colonists) have their own traditions, ancestry, and culture which is different from those who were taken from home 379 [458] years ago. We also had our own but weren't allowed to practice it openly! The 38th degree in the 1-40, makes it very plain: "to destroy the. . . in one day without falling victim to the devil's civilization,"  a.k.a., there's no looking back! The slave master's tradition of isolating various members from the same tribe, whether on the slave ships or plantations, put the finishing touches of fear and isolation in captured black people. This sort of treatment lowered our self-esteem; making us--truly men out of time, and men gripped in fear (8/1-36). This made us a people without culture or a home (not so much the first ones, but the ones who were born from these). Right then and there was the inception of the black individual in America.

On Individuality

     Now many of you are under the impression that individualism is a good thing. That's probably because in Western culture, individualism is embraced by many of its societies. It endorses a strong swagger to look out for number one. To be that only one who ever did it. The strongest one. The smartest one. The richest one. The "Highlander." The one who never waits on or for others; nor do they require much outside thinking. They embrace the idea to be, and look out for, numero uno. 
     American spouts of independence and individualism. It embraces many of the rights and needs of the individual, to surmount and overcome all others. America is also the birthplace of Capitalism: Now what could be wrong with that?
     Well, first of all, we represent the "others," mentioned in the previous paragraph. I guess there's nothing wrong with Capitalism, as long as you are the one who's capitalizing. Life is great for the one who is maximizing on the opportunity, but how about the poor sap that's being taken advantage of? In this American game, somebody wins and somebody loses, but to be a Capitalist, you must have something to capitalize OFF OF. . .
     Now with the so-called individual, you are capitalizing, or taking advantage of, the group organization: You are that so-called "selfish kid." Parents sacrifice for you, send you off to college, and when they get older, you leave them in an old folk's home with a bunch of old folks they don't know about, and a bunch of caretakers who steal their stuff. Individualism is an "opportunism" with a "me against them" mentality. It's a looking out for number one or "dog eat dog" mentality. I guess its alright, as long as you're not "the other", "the them, or the "Buster."
     Black people in America are liken to a kid in a candy shop with no money. Black people want to be the smart shopper sooooo bad. Any one who has ever heard Johnny Cash's Folsom Prison is familiar the all the sentiments: Someone who has something that you can't possibly have; no matter how many times you fry or dye your hair--or date their daughters. We watched THEIR society from barn doors, plantations, and shackles of America, not having a society of our own to operate from. Many of us went from plantation to incarceration without missing a beat, trying to get what they got). Many blacks aspire to have what affluent whites have, so we take on their ways, without comtemplating the consequences.
     Once slavery happened to us, as a government sanctioned institution in America, we became men and women within and without any tribal or cultural ties. We were forced into environments and habitats treated a little above intelligent animals, and capable of servitude to "a master race" (another group of people who claimed they owned us). This posture must have been believed, if not well thought out by the majority of their people because they consistently maintained this institution for 310 years. These ideas have their parallels with Munich and Apartheid. We hodge-podged a few things from their society, in an attempt to make up for the cultural void (some good/some bad), striving to forge some semblance of a nation, but with differences. Up until the 1950's and 60's, we maintained a sense of "difference" about ourselves, even though it was still Westernized. Marcus Garvey and Booker T. Washington knew of each other, for example. Our persistence succeeded only because the American/European/Western culture allowed it, or didn't recognize it was happening! Christianity served as one of those "pieced together remedies" we used, to make up for the moral poverty we were subject to, due to the destruction of our black civilization. Mind you, the inception of the Bible, from out of the Hebrew Talmud, is purely a Western invention. Yet at the same time, the white man of that day had no idea of the significance of these events, to the events surrounding the date of October 10th, 1964. . . Yet the overall effect had many of us holding ideas that the "youngest people on the planet" have; although never tested over the course of time. That, for my people, is a travesty for us; being the oldest people on this planet. For within the culture of I-God is a promise for a greater future for humanity and civilization. For us who know, we are the way, the truth, and the light, but we must pull away from these Westernized cultural ways that were created under Ni·hil·is·tic tendencies!
     Take my precious jewel for example: her mom and I never lived together. There were plenty of people at that PTA meeting, with similar (or the same) situations. That is to say that my situation is in no way unusual. During the time before her inception, I was seeing her mother, and we were supposed to be working on a more serious relationship -at least I thought we were. This was one of the main problems: a group oriented person and an individualistic person trying to be a couple.  Obviously, she had her ideas, and I had mine, but she had no respect for my leadership ability, although she tried to conceal it, and yet, we were trying to grow together -at least that's what I thought. We were not on the same page. There was an attraction: in most cases, like bait and tackle or a moth to flame, but there was not mutual respect. She viewed herself as sexy and thought this to be a cover-up for her inadequacies and a tool for manipulation and persuasion. I enjoyed her mentally and physically, but as far as family, cultural, and nationalistic goals go, she was not a match! Yet her goals were to lower my standards and bond me to her agenda. How myopic, deceptive, disrespectful and egotistical is that thinking? Why even waste my time.
     As far as societies go, the individual is of little use to the culture that produces it. Their motives are so ego centered, despite the fact that they may come from a stable environment. They take from the society and give little back. These are the people who don't want children and have to get their's first. They are the ones you know what they are thinking, but they're always in a contemplative mode. Now how much trust and care can you get out of that? Much less talk about love! These people benefit from the contributing society oriented people, but they are anything but. They are opportunistic, single-minded, cynical but possess a great smile and wit. They're gonna get theirs, but at what expense? There's a whole generation out there who never saw their parents together. This means that this group never learned first hand how to have a relationship or a family. The father tells them one thing, and the mother tells them something else. The child has to judge for themselves, because the parents can't even come together for the child's benefit. So how's the future looking? "Mommy, what's a marriage?"
     Many of our parents made sacrifices to get us a decent meal, a healthy safe environment, and clothes to wear on our backs. Some even tried to serve as role models to for their ideals, and we were highly critical of them. They were carrying out tradition and we were deciding what we will and will never do. Now our children are coming up short, lame, and handicap because of our egos. Some of them will never know first hand, what family means. And half of what I'm saying is meaningless to some of us because we never knew what we're missing. We were never raised in a family that way, and is difficult to think about doing things for the future of our people. Selfishness has gotten the better of us, and we can't sense what others are feeling -because we are too busy avoiding pain ourselves. We can't tell when we are hurting others or damaging our chances -because we have bought into Western individualism. This segment of our people weren't raised properly, so why should you expect more from their children and their values?
     America's rugged individuals are producing an inferior cultural product, and the consumer must be aware that the standards are dropping quick. The average black family today doesn't represent a relationship or family. It's more like settlements and bargaining agreements, more than deliberate construction. We're settling for the worst part and salvaging children from the wreckage. If families go, then nation building is impossible. We can do better than following the practice of ignorance. Everyone keeps talking about "It's my turn", but "When is it the children's turn?" is my concern. And as I said earlier, The NGE is not exempt.
     We need to focus on our children and a better sense of family and values. Soon our future will be in their hands, and they won't know how to uphold our standards. Some things are more important than being selfish. Cooperating and getting along, for the sake of solidifying family values within the children, is one of them. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of a few, and our children's sense of family is at stake here. The group needs are always more important than the people that make it up. Besides, if we don't take care of it NOW, THEN it will be too late to try to give our offspring values we never showed them through working together.

Peace,

Allah Universal Lord Life Justice Shabazz

"If we're not driving, we're being driven." -Saladin 

One thing I encourage anyone to do, whose seeking advice about personal empowerment, and maintaining a consistent path, is to master their physical/sexual appetite. It's because of some of our diets, the frequency of our meals, food combination choices, sexual patterns, and lack of activity that most of our energy (life force) is allocated towards our digestive/reproductive systems; the central part of our physical body, and our center of gravity. Our center of gravity is the point of greatest importance, interest, or activity. This is the focal point of our stability, balance, sense of equilibrium, and causation (creation). When we don't possess control of this central part of our being, somebody else will -through appealing to our physical/sexual appetite. When most of our energy is allocated towards our digestive/reproductive systems, other systems in our life get neglected: spiritual systems, economic systems, social systems, educational systems, and etc.. They get neglected because we simply don't have the energy to invest in them.

 

Fasting and How It Benefits The Human Body

One of the best ways to start gaining control over our physical/sexual appetite is learning how to "fast" (abstain). Fasting helps us master our center of gravity, and gives us an opportunity to redistribute our digestive/reproductive energy to other areas (systems) in our life. Some of the meals we eat, especially 3 in a day, is equivalent to making our digestive system work a 24hr shift. Some of our lives revolve around sex. In conclusion, keep in mind that it's nearly impossible to be personally empowered, and maintain a consistent path in life, when our appetite is driving us. Especially in a society where our appetite is being constantly bombarded with billions of dollars of advertisements of people, places, and things that are designed to appeal to, and control, our life (force). This is not an appeal to become a monk/nun. This is about the benefits of fasting. If we're not driving, we're being driven.

Peace,

Saladin



Local Politics and Lobby Groups

 

This video is about Local Politics, Lobbying Groups, and the importance of getting involved in our local political scene because it offers a greater degree of Accountability, Accessibility, and Transparency you don't see on a regional or national level.

 

To stay informed/connected to our campaign for Niagara County Legislature, "LIKE/SHARE" our Facebook Page
Saladin Q. Allah for Niagara County Legislature!

#NiagaraYouthParty #Saladin2013

We Are On The Ballot!!

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: We are Officially in the Primary Election (September 10th) to win the Democratic and Working Families Party endorsement, and we are on the ballot for the General Election (November 5th) in our run for Niagara County Legislature!! I want to THANK our Campaign Team for their hard work, sacrifice, and commitment to making sure I got on the ballot, and their confidence in me to represent the VISION, and PLAN for our community!! ‪#‎NiagaraYouthParty‬ ‪#‎Saladin2013

If you would like to help us purchase lawn signs, you can donate at this link: Lawn Sign Fund

The Challenger Newspaper (Buffalo, NY) July 24th, 2013

 

Thank You in advance for all of your support in helping make this a successful campaign!

Peace,

Saladin‬

Saladin Q. Allah for Niagara County Legislature

Twitter: @Saladin_2013

 

 Saladin Q. Allah
for
Niagara County Legislature

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

July  8th, 2013

 
Youth Mentor, Published Author, and Community Activist Saladin Q. Allah has announced his candidacy for the Fourth District Niagara County Legislature seat in the City of Niagara Falls, New York

Niagara Falls, New York -- Saladin Q. Allah said that he is seeking the seat of Fourth District County Legislator because he believes that his vision to expand youth outreach, increase community alliances and initiatives, promote neighborhood safety and crime prevention, and to develop a local living economy is what his district both wants and needs.

 
“I was born in the City of Niagara Falls into a family of seven,” he said. “My parents, Lois and Philip Frank, were pillars within the same Community that I was raised in, and that I am seeking to represent as our next Niagara County Legislator.”

 
Allah said that he knows what it is to both struggle and serve; and he believes that his parents set a great example for him in that his mother, Lois Frank, received her Bachelor’s of Arts Degree from Niagara University at the age of forty-two, majoring in psychology and a minoring in sociology. She had seven children at that time and she went on to become a case manager for both Community Missions and for Family and Children's Services. She later served as a Director of the Niagara Community Center.

 
Allah’s father, Philip Frank, served as a member of the National Guard and completed a machinist apprenticeship program during his twelve-years working at Carborundum. Philip later became a member of the Painters Union Local for another twelve years.

Just as Allah is proud of the example that his parents set, he is just as proud as the one Josiah Henson, his great-great-great grandfather, set was a forerunner of the Underground Railroad. Harriet Beecher Stowe merged elements of Henson’s life into her popular anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom's Cabin, which inspired the abolitionist of President Lincoln’s day to rail against slavery, setting into motion the end of that kind of America. Henson later established a community for fugitive slaves called the Dawn Settlement, and he founded the British-American Institute in Dresden, ON.

 
Allah said that it is through those members of his family that he learned the value of education, a strong work ethic, sacrifice, and teamwork. He believes those to be the same vital building blocks of any successful community.

 
“I attended Central State University in Wilberforce OH,” Allah said, “as a therapeutic recreation major, and since returning to WNY, I've been invested in our community from the grassroots level, working particularly with our youth.

 
Allah said that he has been doing youth outreach by creating successful mentorship programs and assisting with other community youth projects for over fifteen years.

 
“I've shown my commitment to our youth and my confidences are in their ability to one day lead our communities when given the continual support and guidance they need.” That’s why he said that he is a strong advocated for the reopening of the Niagara Community Center in the city’s north end and instituting anti-bullying campaigns.

 
Allah, a published author, added, “Professionally, I've self-published ten books that explores various social issues, and have worked as a program consultant for an episode on the History Channel’s show, Gangland.

 
But it was not enough that he is published, he sponsors young writers programs to help others to do so, too. Some people, he said, may know him from his National Prison Correspondence and Book Donation Program, or have heard him as a guest speaker at several national colleges.

 

As his forbearers have instilled values in him, he has likewise instilled similar values in his two daughters. One is a recent high school graduate who has earned a lacrosse scholarship to Howard University; and the other is an eleventh grade honor student, whose goal is to become a local business owner.

 
Allah believes that as the next Fourth District County Legislator that he will have a larger platform to better serve our community. “We need leadership that understands that a seat and a voice is still not enough at the table. We need leadership with an activist spirit, someone with an actual agenda and work ethic to help transform our collective quality of life. Together, the community and I, are that kind of leadership.”

 
Allah further said that crime prevention starts with us. He said that, “The crimes in our neighborhoods are primarily committed by relatives or people we know, not people who are unknown. We need members who are willing to protect our most vulnerable members: children, women, seniors, and the handicapped.”

Allah concluded, “As our next county legislator I will remain transparent, accessible, and responsive to our district, because I am for the people. You will still see me utilizing our resources at our local public library, playing basketball with our youth at Legends Park, and proactively involved in community functions. I will also hold local community circles; forums designed to keep people informed about community and legislative issues, and I will seek input on issues related to our city and county. For the future of our youth, community, and the City of Niagara Falls, I look forward to speaking with you in the coming months, and I will fully earn your vote of conscience, and confidence.

Saladin Q. Allah
Email: Saladin2013@yahoo.com

Twitter: @Saladin_2013
Facebook: Saladin for Niagara County Legislature

Campaign Fund: Saladin 2013 Campaign Fund



The Babies Are The Greatest!

If I'm a Parent, teaching my own children is expected, not something I should be looking to get credit for as an accomplishment. In my experience, I've ceen the phrase, "I'm teaching my children" expressed by people for a few basic reasons:

 

1.) They're new Parents experiencing a Parental role for the first time, so they're proudly sharing what they do.

 

2.) They're people who've had some Parenting issues in the past, for whatever reason, so they're seeking validation.

 

3.) They're people trying to use what they're doing for their children as an excuse (shield) to not do anything for others.
 

Regardless of these or other reasons, saying "I teach my children" is no different than saying, "I feed my children." As their Parent, we're supposed to do that, b.u.t. it does take our collective Parental efforts to teach, and feed, our children consistently. This requires love and consideration beyond our personal household.

Gaining Knowledge of Self naturally expands our perspective of Civilization and our Duty as Civilized People. As this expansion of consciousness happens with us as Parents, we begin to look beyond the creature comforts of our own front door, our personal household, and the limitations of a "Me and Mines" Philosophy; a Philosophy that cannot address the greater needs we're now aware of amongst our children's peers and within our neighborhood/Community. So we start moving away from exclusively saying "My child(ren)" to now inclusively saying "Our children." We begin to recognize that "The babies" are the greatest, not just our own child(ren). We transition from simply being a Father or Mother to our own children to being a Father to the Fatherless, and Mother to the Motherless.

This expansion of consciousness is an important part of our growth and development process and evolution as Parents; it represents the "It takes a village" mentality/approach we need to continually inspire, empower, and educate our children to build a more sustainable future. All of us have benefitted from this mentality/approach in some way, and our children are the beneficiaries, in need of this today.

 

Peace!

Saladin

 

Silhouettes of the Soul

A Book of Poetry and Prose by Roger A. Talley

 

Silhouettes of the Soul is the second book published through my company Quanaah Publishing and this has been a very inspiring journey reading and editing Roger A. Talley's writings. As a Poet myself, who hadn't written in this style in quite some time, Roger reawakened in me feelings that I hadn't poetically articulated in a while. Silhouettes is his personal testimony of being embraced by love, strengthening his spirit, and learning to live a full life; a poetic commentary about his quest to gain understanding and increase the value of family, friendship, and faith in his own abilities.

The Author, Roger A. Talley, was born and raised in Los Angeles, California until moving to Detroit, Michigan in his late teens. At 21 he joined the U.S. Army and dedicated eight years of service to the military.

A career in Law Enforcement soon followed until a tragic accident ended his career and the new millennium brought new career opportunities. Roger found himself pursuing a career in the Casino Industry, and currently holds a position in Management at Seneca Niagara Casino in Niagara Falls, New York with the vision and intent to achieve a top level management position. He is currently in pursuit of his Master's degree in Business Management at Empire State College to attain his goal. His leadership and intellectual abilities have been augmented by his love of life, willingness to learn and new found opportunities for growth. Roger has an uncanny ability to navigate through the negative inevitabilities of life always effectuating a positive end. He strives to keep his public and private life aligned, always keeping his eyes on the prize.      

I want to thank Roger for sharing his intimate experiences and illustrations about love in a way that reminds me of what I've once shared and strive to share once again. His book, and a Woman very close to me, were the inspiration behind various poems I've written recently and my musical piece My Tapestry of Love.

 



My Tapestry of Love...

I want to thank Author Asia M. Jackson (Rarity of Beauty and The Rose Thorn's Purpose) who helped in the editing and artistic development of Silhouettes of the Soul and Author D. Scott (Stay in Your Lane) for her consulting and business acumen.   

If you would like to purchase a copy, Silhouettes of the Soul is now available directly through our E-Store, Quanaah Publishing, Amazon, and can be ordered through any bookstore or store that sells books Globally.

 

Peace,

Saladin


Community Circles
-How The Mighty Have Fallen-

 

Our Communities are not destroyed for lack of knowledge. People know what's wrong, especially those of us who live within the Community, that confront these problems each and every day. Our Communities are apathetically destroyed for lack of sacrifice. Many of us are simply unwilling to look out for one another, even our own children, in order to secure personal possessions and creature comforts for ourselves.

My father, Philip Frank, is a Painter by trade and an Artist/Musician at heart. As a teenager he played the bass in a group called The El Moroccos. It was my father’s influence where I developed a great love for music, nature, and culture. In second grade when I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up I told my teacher Mrs. Smith, “A Zoologist!” My favorite animal was a ‘jaguarundi’ and my father, my twin brothers, and myself would watch animal/nature programs religiously. Whether it was National Geographic, Wild America, Nova, Wild Wild World of Animals, and etc., if it was on, we saw it. My father also collected African art and taught us about our classical civilizations and cultural traditions prior to slavery. Recognizing the Dinka tribe from the Masai tribe, learning the story of General Hannibal, and understanding our story in America was common knowledge in our household. I also learned that I am the great-great-great grandson of Josiah Henson; forerunner of the Underground Railroad, founder of a Community of fugitive slaves in Dresden, Ontario Canada and the British-American Vocational Institute. It was through my father that I gained my cultural consciousness and developed my interpersonal relationship with the Planet.

My mother, Lois Frank, was a Psychologist/Sociologist by trade. One of my earliest memories of her is being gathering up on rainy days with a few of my siblings and put into our Pontiac Grand Safari to go look for "our buddies". She'd drive us around the city until we found our buddies and once we saw them she would tell us to wave, and we would return home. Our buddies were a group of four homeless people who sought shelter from the rain underneath an overpass. Over time, my siblings and I began to initiate these outings by asking our mother could we go look for our buddies when it rained. With that simple gesture, our mother successfully taught us to identify with others and a social condition synonymous with rain. Years later I would implement the same Parenting techniques by taking my school age daughters to "the lunch place". Nine years later my eldest daughter, Asiyah, would write about these experiences, the people she met, and how this positively shaped her life on College entry essays. All this time she never knew that the lunch place was the Community Soup Kitchen. Asiyah is now graduating High School and will be pursuing a career in Forensic Psychology at Howard University in our Nation's Capitol. It was through my mother that I gained my social consciousness and developed my interpersonal relationship to the World.

Along my journey there are many who have added onto and reinforced the foundation my parents have laid. Those people who have played and often still play the most significant roles in my growth and development have been people who understood the meaning of sacrifice. From my eldest sibling Brad Frank who would invest his own money and get resources to train my peers and I in the summer for the upcoming football season, to Rev. Kenneth James who kept his office, church, and home open to us who were seeking guidance and support in becoming boys to men. There were business owners like Carmen Jones, Mr. Brown, Beechie, Mr. Williamson, Arthur Ray, Howard, Ms. Theresa, Ms. Price, and etc., Youth Advocates like Knuckles, Virgil, Greg Lewis, Reggie McCreary, Hamp, Garth and various others too numerous to mention who took ownership of our neighborhoods and sacrificed their personal time and finances to insure that my present generation would be here today. It was through their collective work, responsibility, and examples that I understand what Community is about, and I actively build upon this legacy with the things that I do.

One thing that I've found in common with all of the people that I mentioned above was their sense of sacrifice. As Business Owners it was never about making themselves rich off of the support from the Community. It was about providing a service and  reciprocating the money the Community paid for these services by supporting other Businesses, Organizations, and Institutions within our Community; Beechy would buy groceries at Mr. Brown's store down the block, and Mr. Brown would get his hair cut at Beechie's Barbershop. Our dollar circulated a few times before leaving our Community and this type of support for one another strengthened the socioeconomic integrity of our families and thus our Community as a whole. We sacrificed personal gains to ensure that we collectively prospered.

I was  recently asked, "What type of vision do I have for our Community?" My answer is that is, I have the same vision as those who came before me. The same vision I benefited from that I share with my own children and our present generation: our greatest natural resource and Ambassadors of the future. I see people taking more pride in our Community because they're home owners. I see people who were once discriminated against because of a non-violent offense they committed fifteen years ago being business owners, employed, and providing a service to a neighborhood they once took from. I see Sunday no longer being the most segregated day of the week because our Religious Community is now working as a Community; collectively supporting, protecting, and providing programs and activities for the most vulnerable elements of our Society: women, children, seniors, the poor/unemployed, and the handicapped. I see our Community no longer relying on an underfunded, understaffed police force to resolve all our problems and keep our neighborhoods safe from ourselves. I see us policing ourselves, as guardian angels, who have taken an active stance against crime, juvenile delinquency, and family dysfunction. I see our Community investing in our youth by supporting the cultural arts, recreation centers, entertainment, and educational opportunities that encourage their positive growth & development. Lastly and most importantly, I see our Community as ours; a place our ancestors migrated to with goals of building, supporting, and perpetuating a better life for each other.

The decline of any Community is marked by its members unwillingness and inability to protect and provide for its most vulnerable elements: women, children, seniors, the poor/unemployed, and the handicapped. Establishing resources to protect and provide for these family elements builds the compound called a Community. In order to restore this place, we must be willing and able to sacrifice the "I" for "We", the "Mine" for "Ours", and the "Me & You" for "Us". If we all do a little, no one needs to do a lot. In the rebuilding process one of our greatest enemies is apathy; the lack of interest, enthusiasm, or concern for each other and rebuilding our Community. Many of our Politicians, Religious Leaders, Parents, Businesses, and Organizations are apathetic. It's impossible for a Community to deteriorate, on the watch of those who care. When we care we're concerned. Concern means we're able to relate and when we're able to relate we can establish relationships; the intimate glue that holds our families, neighborhoods, and Communities together. This is a rebuilding process that doesn't happen over night. It's a long term investment in each other, and more specifically our children. It's the type of posture that inspires, empowers, and educates our children to develop a relationship with our Community. It's also the type of posture that encourages our children to take ownership of our Community when we are no longer here. I am the result of this posture and learned, through the sacrifice of others, my role, relationship and responsibility to our Community. After studying Therapeutic/Recreation at Central State University in Wilberforce, OH, I returned to WNY and have diligently worked as a Youth Mentor for over a decade. I have authored/published several books on the subject of Social Commentary, worked as a Program Consultant for an episode of the History Channel Series 'Gangland', started a Prison Correspondence Project, created/financed various other Community Initiatives/Youth Programs, and have partnered with many Institutions that advocate for the same common Community causes. While many have praised me for these efforts I constantly remind them that I am because we are. I am the result of many others, known and unknown, who have sacrificed their time, finances, and lives to pave the way for me to have these opportunities to contribute to a rich ancestral legacy. I am not apathetic because I saw many who cared and demonstrated their love for one another.

When a Community doesn't function as a circle-like Ecosystem of positive human resources, it simply becomes a negative, vicious, parasitic cycle amongst its members. If we, as members of our Community, are apathetic about the process of building it, we are the very elements that bring about its destruction. In conclusion, I leave you all with this question: What type of vision do you have for our Community, and what sacrifices are you willing/able to make to help bring this vision to life?

Peace,
Saladin