Master Fard Muhammad, Busta Rhyme's E.L.E. 2 and Generation X Nostalgia

   

   One of my football teammates at Central State University was a Muslim from Detroit named Brother Jackie. Brother Jackie was a stand-up dude and never dabbled in any un-Islamic activities while many of our teammates were doing everything from running trains on girls, selling weed and getting popped. He was clean, yet he had some spooky ideas about the Nation of Islam, Master Fard Muhammad and their teachings that I couldn't rock with. I remember one autumn afternoon we got into a debate about the divinity of Master Fard Muhammad and I asked Brother Jackie, "Would Fard beat Michael Jordan in a one-on-one game of basketball?" arguing that Jordan was Lord of 'that' World. Brother Jackie looked me square in eye with one of the most sincerest expressions and said, "Yes Brother, I believe that he can." I was done. I was done discussing things like that with Brother Jackie or any adult who shared these kinds of delusional sentiments. I realized that no matter how good some of our people can be about aspects of life, religion was a helluva drug and made some of us blind junkies and even hypocrites. That is dangerous. The seemingly harmless belief that Fard would beat Jordan in a one-on-one game of basketball today can easily become the dangerous belief in a People's Temple leader tomorrow.

   With the 2020 release of Busta Rhymes E.L.E. 2: The Wrath of God, the twenty-two year old follow up of E.L.E [Extinction Level Event], I felt like it brought me right back to that college conversation about Fard with Brother Jackie. Never to disappoint, this highly anticipated  Busta Rhymes project came with its share of high accolades and criticism. One such criticism is the record Master Fard Muhammad, named after the Savior of the Nation of Islam, which features Rick Ross. In Master Fard Muhammad Ross raps:

"Road to riches, fuckin' bitches in my favorite shoes
She thought I had a seizurе, told her April Fools
Fuck a lawsuit, bitch I'm tryna make the nеws
Master Muhammed sold silks goin' door to door
Givin' knowledge to the brothers fed who wanted more" -Rick Ross [Ricky Rozay]

   Hearing this song and watching the video I thought for sure I would hear a strong rebuke of Rick Ross from Nation of Islam believers for using their Savior's name in vulgar laced lyrics debasing black women. I was sure because just weeks earlier the same believers mounted an exhausting social media campaign against DJ Vlad for simply misquoting Minister Farrakhan, correcting it and not publicly apologizing. The rebuke of this record didn't happen. In fact, the total opposite happened. 

   In a LIVE Streamed Final Call Conversation with Starla Muhammad, Managing Editor of The Final Call Newspaper and Dr. Wesley Muhammad, they invited Busta Rhymes to discuss his E.L.E. 2 project. In that discussion Busta Rhymes acknowledged that he received a blessing from Minister Farrakhan to use a snippet of his lecture for his song The Wrath of God and at about 1 hour 15 minutes into the discussion they delve into to the song Master Fard Muhammad. Disappointingly, Rick Ross' controversial lyrics are never discussed. "Shout out to Ricky Rozay, ya'll repped The God [Fard] in boss way" is all that was said about Fard's representation by Wesley Muhammad. I feel that this interview was a failed opportunity for the hosts to have a substantive discussion with Busta Rhymes about his perspective on lyrical accountability, social influence and representation of our cultural icons. I don't think that a song called Minister Louis Farrakhan featuring a vulgar artist debasing black women would be acceptable for Muslims. So why would a song like that, named after Minister Louis Farrakhan's God [Fard], be acceptable? Instead of asking those difficult yet important questions the Final Call hosts sat there; fawning over the chance to be in the same virtual room with a forty-eight-year-old dungeon dragon. I did not expect them to attack the brother, yet I did anticipate something more in-depth. Given the opportunity, that is exactly what my audience would get from me or any of my Five Percenter colleagues; including questions for Busta Rhymes concerning our Five Percent degrees, Supreme Mathematics and our Nation history to clarify some confusing Five Percenterish Muslim rhetoric scattered throughout E.L.E. 2. 

   Some may wonder, "What does any of this have to do with you? You are not Muslim so why do you even care?" Welp, it is personal. First and foremost I respect Fard and his contribution to black people here in North America. It was he and the Honorable Elijah Muhammad who authored the Supreme Wisdom book which contains a slight variation of the 120 lessons we use within our Five Percent culture. To trivialize, minimize or disrespect that contribution dishonors that legacy. Ironically, when I released the above Atlantis School For Gifted Youngsters animation episode teaching the history of Fard and the Nation of Islam [NOI] I was criticized and even publicly/privately threatened by some registered members of the NOI. It was said that I was disrespectful and misrepresenting "The Savior." Being the first person to ever animate the history of Fard and the NOI, I worked very hard to create this family friendly animation for people to learn this important part of our history. While that negative response from some people was hurtful, it did not discourage me from continuing to create animations that inspire, empower and educate families. In fact, my animation series is now globally available on Roku via the first Five Percenter based streaming platform Seven On Demand. 

   To see the same NOI Muslims praising a song called Master Fard Muhammad featuring an artist name dropping Fard among vulgar lyrics debasing black women infuriated me. I simply did not think the song content and video reflected the actual title. This eclectic process of uniquely naming song titles is part of the Buffalo-bred GXFR [Griselda] brand. Since their ascendancy within Hip Hop there have been numerous artists using elements of their style. From song title selection, music production, rap flow, album artwork, marketing and promotion, merchandising and etc., I can see their influence in this E.L.E. 2 project. This is not a secret, as Busta Rhymes has been featured on a Griselda project and publicly shared his respect for their creative influence in Hip-Hop when he pulled up on their Almighty Tour. 

   

   Over the years many of our people have become very casual about people, places and things that we have traditionally held sacred. The exponential growth of technology and secularization of sacred traditions has contributed to this cavalier attitude. In my article Is Social Media The Digital Turn on, Tune in, Drop out? I discuss how social media and the internet is reshaping our brain architecture, our ability to form meaningful connections and how we explore and attend the real world. Yet even in the midst of this, there are those artists who have remained consistent in treating people, places and things with honor and respect. It brings to mind the record I'm Back by AZ where he also cites Fard among other notables in his opening verse:

"Spirit of Marcus Garvey, Farad Muhammad,
Medgar Evars and Bob Marley, I'm God-Body
The scripture says Allah's inside me, show love
I was hugged by the arms of Gandhi, gave me my strength
You could tell somebody raised me with sense

We all need somethin' to help us through our daily events" -AZ

  While I think the concept, record and video for Master Fard Muhammad could have been more respectfully presented to mainstream audiences, there are records on the E.L.E. 2  project that I definitely enjoyed such as the E.L.E. 2 Intro feat. Rakim, Don't Go feat. Q-Tip and Slow Flow feat. O.D.B.. Sonically, it is not a heavy rotation project. 

 Some have argued, including Busta Rhymes, that simply mentioning Master Fard Muhammad's name is an opportunity to bring many to Islam. My question is, "What 'many' are people talking about, what does that demographic look like?" Rick Ross was added to this song for pop appeal and primarily targets Generation X, my generation. Millennials and Generation Z are not Rick Ross' primary listening audience and they often have no clue who Busta Rhymes is or his discography. The shares, likes and commentary we see about E.L.E. 2 and the features on this project are primarily from Generation X. My generation was heavily exposed to Islam for over a decade during the Golden Era of Hip-Hop and most of us are age 40 and over today. If folks from my generation didn't get this consistent message over twenty years ago, I highly doubt that our folks, en masse, and on the cusp of middle age, are now going to change our trajectory of consciousness because of E.L.E. 2. It is unrealistic at best and delusional at worst. As for Millennials and Generation Z, en masse, combing the internet, buying books about Master Fard Muhammad and joining the NOI in droves? That is also unrealistic at best and delusional at worst. With any trending topic on social media, there will be curiosity on the part of some folks from my generation, Millennials and Generation Z to know what is going on. 

   There were many Hip-Hop projects released in 2020 that are far more impactful than E.L.E. 2. Regardless of that impact, most of these projects are not even trending right now. Even with the inclusion of a Farrakhan soundbite, a Rick Ross featured record named Master Fard Muhammad and free NOI social media hype from attention-seeking Muslims, E.L.E. 2 still falls short of that impact. By December MOST OF THE PEOPLE WHO WERE TYPING IN ALL CAPS ABOUT HOW CLASSIC THIS E.L.E. 2 PROJECT IS will not even be mentioning it... For Generation X, E.L.E. 2 is nostalgia. It is a project of records that DJ's used to be spin in clubs that existed twenty something years ago. Clubs that folks on the cusp of middle age with families rarely go to anymore, with their twenty something year old children.

Peace,

Saladin

Animation Series: Who is that Mystery God?

In the Atlantis School For Gifted Youngsters animation episode we discuss "Who is that Mystery God?" and explore the journey of Knowledge of Self.

***VIEW BELOW***

Five Percenter Table Talks Featuring: Courtney Sullivan

   Courtney Sullivan is a follower of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, homeopathy study group leader and student. She is also a Do For Self health coach who encourages people to learn how to use herbs, essential oils and homeopathy to take charge of their life! In this Five Percenter Table Talks interview Courtney discusses her journey as a Caucasian woman ally with oppressed people, her challenges finding and aligning with other Caucasians, her experience farming and passion for homeopathy and how her journey of self-knowledge began when she was exposed to and welcomed to be among some Five Percenters. You can connect with Courtney via Instagram: HERE

**LISTEN/DOWNLOAD**
Atlantis Build Talk Radio

Final Call Newspaper Mischaracterizes "Allah", Founder of the Five Percenters

   In what I consider to be a genuine effort to highlight our community, the Final Call , a Nation of Islam Newspaper, recently published an article entitled 'Five Percenters unveil Allah and Justice Square in Harlem.' Its writer Clarke Immatical did a good job directly quoting some of the attendant speakers and articulating the process Mal’akiy 17 Allah experienced in making this vision a reality, yet the writer mischaracterizes Five Percent Nation founder Allah, and our teachings, on more than one occasion. Anticipating outsiders interpretation of our community and this commemorative street naming I published the article "Setting The Record Strait: Allah & Justice, Five Percenters Square!!" on March 31st, 2019 to clarify common misconceptions that people have. Here are a few of those mischaracterizations in that Final Call article and the appropriate corrections:

"Clarence 13X, founder of the Five Percenters, left the Nation of Islam in 1963 and continued to teach what his teacher the Honorable Elijah Muhammad taught him which is that God is a man."

CORRECTION: Allah was his name, as our Commemorative Street Sign 'Allah & Justice, Five Percenters Square' clearly indicates. Allah's name was not Clarence 13X when he founded the Five Percenters. When he left the Nation of Islam he left the religion, he no longer self identified as a Muslim and he ceased using the name Clarence 13X. As mentioned in my article Setting The Record Strait: Allah & Justice, Five Percenters Square!!, "During one of the Community Board Presentations for the street naming Mal'akiy 17 Allah was asked by a Community Board Member, "Why not name it Clarence 13X Way?" to which he responded, "Clarence 13X was the level of understanding he [Allah, The Father] had when he was in the mosque. As his understanding grew he took on the name Allah. We honor Allah as the man who founded the Five Percenters, not Clarence 13X who was a Muslim at that time." The Five Percent Nation does not teach that God is "A" man. This implies that an individual, such as W.D. Fard, whom Nation of Islam followers believe, is that God. The Five Percent Nation teaches that the Original Asiatic Blackman is "The God" [Allah], not a god. This is one of the reasons some Muslims deliberately refer to Allah as Clarence 13X and not Allah; they do not acknowledge him nor Five Percenters as equal to W.D. Fard.

"Clarence 13X Allah hit the streets of Harlem with The Supreme Wisdom. He delivered this information to the streets when Harlem was experiencing tremendous police brutality and in need of spiritual direction."

CORRECTION: Again, his name was not "Clarence 13X Allah." Allah primarily taught the principles and values expressed in a unique system and indigenous language he developed known as the Supreme Mathematics and the Supreme Alphabet. His Supreme Mathematics and Supreme Alphabet serves as a key to unlock our relationship to the universe and what came to be known as 120 degrees [lessons]; a series of catechisms that were contained within the Supreme Wisdom book. Allah rejected other elements of the Supreme Wisdom book such as the Instructions Given To The Laborers [Muslim Believers] and the Problem Book.

"The street sign is not an ending, but a continuation of work that these poor righteous teachers have, a work that was expressed by The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan himself in a past speech, when he said, “Here is a small percentage of people who know God; and when they know God, they have a duty, and that duty is, to teach what you know to those who do not know."

CORRECTION: The above Minister Louis Farrakhan quote is from a portion of a speech that was sampled as an interlude on Brand Nubian's In God We Trust album that was released in 1992. That speech and the above comment is not in reference to the Five Percent Nation as a cultural community that Allah, Justice and others belonged to and still belong to. That speech and the above comment is a general explanation of one of the degrees which references The Five Percent on this Poor Part of the Planet Earth. The Nation of Islam as led by Minister Farrakhan has no official partnership with the Five Percent Nation community. 

The Five Percent Nation is not inextricably linked to the Muslim religion. In a 1967 interview at the Otisville Reformatory School For Boys Allah shared the following non-Muslim points in regards to religion and the human family,

“… black and white, must unite together...now many of my people are against me, such as the Muslim...they are against me!  This is why I don't believe in religion...because religious peoples do not have no understanding.” 

“Five Percenters, I'm teaching them that they can't go on under religion because religion has never did anything for them.” 

“The people been taking advantage of me ever since I said I was Allah. And I know when I said I was Allah, the Muslim whole world was what? Against me.  I don't care. And now they really against me because I'm not anti-white nor pro-black.  They really against me because everybody is, is against the white. Well let me show you something. Who is man if he ain't man? Tell me!”

Misinformation, left unchecked, sets a trajectory that leads to misconceptions, prejudice, discrimination, loss of property and potentially death. Some of us believe these things to be trivial... This is not. Consider two airplanes leave an airport on a thousand mile journey set on courses that are only 1 degree apart. Seemingly close, these planes are not inexplicably linked and will arrive at two different destinations that are worlds apart. Some may believe that 1 degree is insignificant. It is not. In correctional facilities around the country right now many Five Percenters are denied the right to practice our culture because of a STG [Security Threat Group] label. This permanent landmark, Allah & Justice, Five Percenters Square, was established to honor our cultural heritage, preserve and perpetuate our legacy. It is also a means to help legitimize our identity within these facilities and lift this label. There are also some serious socioeconomic repercussions that can occur when misinformation is distributed, especially when you don't control that narrative. Acres of land have been taken from families, insurance policies denied, contracts not honored, crippling debts levied against people, history rewritten, media content flawed and intellectual property has been stolen all because of inaccurate or incorrect information. Since the global popularization and expansion of Hip Hop, particularly during its Golden Era that was immersed in Five Percenter influences, some non-Five Percenters have tried to claim credit for our contributions and "visually annex" themselves to our community. This has undoubtedly been the intention of some Muslims while constantly refusing to acknowledge the Five Percent Nation as a uniquely distinct non-religious community and our founder, Allah, as the non-Muslim youth advocate and community builder that he was and died as. However, his legacy, our legacy, lives on.

Peace,
Saladin

Misapplying 120 and Five Suspenders...

     

     Some years back I remember building with a brother who was beating himself up about his challenges teaching a woman about our culture. He was a good brother yet he didn't always make the best choices when it came to relationships. In 120 we have this phrase that is derived from our 22nd degree which talks about magnetism; attracting power. In part, that degree says, "one piece had magnetic in it and one piece did not. The piece with the magnetic in it attracted the piece without." I mention this part of the degree because this brother mentioned it, a lot. A whole lot. He spoke about it in the context of him being that piece with the magnetic and the woman who obviously wasn't feeling him being the piece without. According to him, because she was supposedly the piece without magnetic she should have been attracted to him because he was the true and living God. In all of his mathematical ramblings, it did not change the reality of the situation that this woman simply didn't like him. Never did it occur to him that this situation had nothing to do with him being the piece with the magnetic and everything to do with her free will to choose. Striving to force his square peg perspective into a circle hole was his EGO talking and he just couldn't accept the fact that this woman just wasn't interested in him. It would take a while before he actually understood what I tried [yes "tried"] to communicate to him; this not about magnetic. It even took him longer to understand that a woman not being interested in him did not diminish who he was as a true and living God. This kind of perspective is not uncommon to hear from newborns or even those who have been living this culture for years. It is a learning process and sometimes we misapply these principles or values along the way. 

   My first Earth was my Queens' mother. When I introduced her to the 17th letter in the Supreme Alphabet, "Q" for Queen, my emphasis was on Knowledge God [17]. In my mind she needed to be aware of who I was and her identity as the Queen was an afterthought. I was young, insecure, developing my self confidence and striving to gain a solid footing in this culture. So naturally it was all about me. As I matured in this culture I no longer took that approach. My emphasis became a woman learning about her identity and responsibility as a Queen. In the process she obviously learned about me, thus gaining a greater Knowledge [1] of the true and living God [7] and the meaning of civilization.

   You know, one of the reasons I think folks misapply 120 is because their foundation wasn't solid to begin with. When I say a solid foundation I am not just talking about knowledge or what a person knows. I am talking about a sense of surety concerning a person's ethics, integrity and constitution. In other words, how this person is built! I am not a Five Percenter who thinks that I am convincing 85ers and the 10% to come on over to the so-called light side. In my experience, if a person takes on this culture it is because certain principles and values were already present within them. Education comes from the Latin root 'educare' which means to "lead/draw out." I have also learned that there are some people who are uneducable or incorrigible. Why? Because there was not anything there to draw out of them from the beginning. One of the most disappointing experiences I've had was learning that some of these uneducable or incorrigible people claimed to be Five Percenters, and it was always obvious in their misapplication of 120.

   Now, some of you may be asking yourselves, "Why is he only talking about the misapplication of 120 and not Supreme Mathematics and the Supreme Alphabet?" Well, the Supreme Mathematics and the Supreme Alphabet is much more flexible and gives people more wiggle room to potentially razzle and dazzle folks. The Supreme Mathematics and the Supreme Alphabet don't have fixed answers such as 120. This creates an opportunity for math and alphabet to be broadly expounded upon when a person expresses their understanding of them. For example, if I were to ask a Five Percenter about Knowledge, that person could strictly talk about Knowledge as information while someone else talks about it as Consciousness/Awareness. Another person could talk about it as Man being the foundation of the family and someone else could talk about it as knowing the ledge. All of these responses are correct. In regards to 120, if I were to ask a Five Percenter "Who is the Original Man?", there is only one correct answer to this question that a person can then expound upon. If I were ask a Five Percenter "What is the name of the place where the Devil was manufactured?", there is only one correct location that they can then expound upon. These are just a couple of examples throughout 120. 

     If a person does not know 120 then they cannot apply it to their life. It reminds me of a woman I knew that claimed to be a Five Percenter; she had a relationship with a ex-Freemason whom she discovered was living a double life. How ironic. What was even more ironic was the fact that this woman never finished learning 120 and was stuck on the actual degree that teaches us about Freemasonry. It stands to reason that if she were more diligent in her studies and committed to learning our degrees she would have seen this impostor coming from a mile away. She didn't and ended up "losing time searching for that, that does not exist" as explained in another degree she didn't know; "Who is that Mystery God?"  

     If a person does know 120, meaning, they are able to recite these degrees, yet they are not studious, they are still going to probably misapply them. In one of our lessons we learn that "the Earth belongs to the Original Man." As the Earth is the Original Woman's twin, I've met some chauvinistic dudes quote this degree to justify the knuckle-dragging notion that a woman literally belongs to him. It never occurred to them that "belongs to" also means to be "a part of." As in, I am a part of [belong to] a family, we are a part of [belong to] a community and the Earth is "a part of" the Original Man. In these and other instances it was clear to me that some people are out here freestyling, and with the development of the internet, they have the platform to do it. When the above scenarios happens in an actual community or another public space, a Five Percenter would simply add-on to offer perspective and correction. Customarily, the person receiving the perspective and correction would stand there and humbly accept it, even if they didn't like it. If this same scenario happened on social media these same folks can just block and delete you for sharing your perspective and striving to correct them.

     ~Atlantis Build Talk Radio Show~

       Allah & Justice, Five Percenters Square 

   While there has always been misapplications of 120 since the early years of the Five Percent Nation, in some instances social media has been used to amplify those misconceptions. Nowadays there are people online, particularly religious folks, who have been spreading false narratives like Five Percenters are a religion, we are Muslims, Muslim Gods and other untruths. According our founder, Allah, in a 1967 Interview at Otisville Reformatory School For Boys, Muslims from the NOI were against him because of his non-religious stance and advocacy for black and white unity. In that interview Allah also shared that he didn't believe in religion because "religious peoples do not have no understanding” and that he teaches his Five Percenters that "they can't go on under religion because religion has never did anything for them.” 
     This is one of the reasons I have committed myself to being a consistent voice of the Five Percent in the midst of such digital chaos; to help counter these false narratives about my community. This is not to say that I am THE voice or that I personally have all of the answers and every perspective of how 120 should be applied. What it does say is that I have a commitment to my community and the capacity to help push our culture forward. As I mentioned at the onset of this article, this journey is a learning process and sometimes we misapply these principles or values along the way. However, the consistent question that we ask and answer for ourselves, in deed.., is, "What are we doing about it?"

Peace,

Saladin

"The True History of W.D. Fard" Animation Series

In 2018 I launched my Atlantis School For Gifted Youngsters Animation Series that is now globally available in Volume 1, 2 and 3 on Amazon Direct in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and Japan [incl. closed captions]. This Animation Series is designed to globally inspire, empower and educate people, especially our youth, to think creatively and critically about the world around them. 

This recent episode entitled "The True History of W.D. Fard" is the first time W.D. Fard's narrative that chronicles his family dynamics, relationship to Elijah Muhammad, creation of the Supreme Wisdom book and the development of the Nation of Islam has been animated. Enjoy!

The True History of W.D. Fard

Peace,

Saladin

1-36: What is English Lesson No. C1?

     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

Did Yacub Exist? In Search of Homo Capensis

   The first time we even heard about Yacub and his role in manufacturing the Devil was a book published by the Nation of Islam on February 20^th, 1934 called the Supreme Wisdom Lessons. That book was only made available to registered members of the Nation of Islam and contained instructions to its laborers, a mathematical problem book and a series of lessons. Some of those lessons introduce Yacub and lay out who, what, when, where, why and how the Devil was manufactured. The primary book that was made available to the general public that summarized some of those lessons, and expounded upon Yacub’s narrative, was called Message to the Blackman in America. When the Message to the Blackman was published in 1965, Allah, the founder of the Five Percenters, had already founded the Five Percenters a year earlier on October 10^th, 1964. Upon his departure from the Nation of Islam, Allah kept only the lessons from the Supreme Wisdom book and eventually developed an alphanumeric system of numbers and letters known as the Supreme Mathematics and Supreme Alphabet that unlocked hidden meanings and connections within those lessons. Allah then began to share this cultural perspective with the youth in the streets of Harlem who were neglected by the religious, political and social organizations within his community. 

   My reasoning for giving a general background of the lessons, the departure of Allah, his establishing of the Five Percent and the eventual publishing of the Message to the Blackman was to give context. When the Five Percent were introduced to these lessons, especially those pertaining to Yacub, it was not within a religious context. One of the reasons behind Allah’s departure was what he was learning in the lessons were not being taught in the Temple. So he decided to leave the religion alone.

Patmos; an island situated on the Aegean Sea

   So let me give a brief overview of Yacub. Yacub was an original black man, a scientist, said to be born 20 miles outside of the city of Mecca in the year 8400 among 30% of a population who were considered dissatisfied. 70% were of the people were content with the societal conditions at that time. Known as the father of the Devil, Yacub was aware of his determined idea at the age of six. In fact, he communicated this idea to his uncle one day while playing with two pieces of steel. A brilliant child, Yacub finished all of the colleges and universities of his nation at the age of eighteen and because of his unusual sized head people often referred to him as the “big head scientist.” It was at this age that he started teaching among the dissatisfied within the streets of Mecca about Islam and making promises of luxury. As his followers began to grow the authorities became fearful of his influence and started persecuting and arresting them. This had the opposite effect and Yacub found himself the leader of 59,999 followers who began to overfill the jails. Upon arresting Yacub, the King visited him in his cell to negotiate an agreement to stop the civil disobedience. Yacub requested that the King give him twenty years of resources to start his own nation away from Mecca. The King agreed and rounded up all of Yacub’s followers to board ships that were destined for the island of Patmos [Pelon] situated 2,000 miles away on the Aegean Sea. Yacub examined all of his followers and those who were not healthy, strong and good breeders he sent them back. In the Message to the Blackman the Honorable Elijah Muhammad stated that those who were unfit were thrown overboard. Those who were considered not good in multiplying were married at the age of sixteen. When Yacub arrived on Patmos he as the King chose doctors, ministers, nurses and cremators as his top laborers. Next he gave these laborers laws of birth control; a system of eugenics to breed out the dominant black traits and keep the recessive brown traits. Yacub’s society had zero tolerance and advocated the death penalty. Anyone who was found guilty of breaking the law were killed. The Doctors were instructed to examine all those who desired to marry. In turn, through fake blood tests, he qualified or disqualified them to the Ministers who would only marry those that were unalike. Only brown skinned people were given privileges to marry and have a family. If the couple bore a child that was black the nurse would kill it by sticking a pin in its head or feeding it to some wild beast and then lie to its mother that her baby was taken to heaven. The cremators would burn the black babies whenever the nurses would bring them. According to the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, after 200 years of this society’s brown skinned privilege, there were no more black people on the island of Patmos. After another 400 years all of the brown people were gone and there was an island of only people who were yellow and red. In this 600 year this became a society of blue eyed white people; Devils. Yacub was said to only live 150 years so he never saw his own creation. Sometime after the 600^th year these white people journeyed to Mecca and turned the entire city upside down within 6 months of being there, causing the black and brown inhabitants to fight and kill one another. When the King realized what was going on he instructed his people to round up every white person that they could find and prepared to exile them. The people of Mecca took everything from them and made them walk every step of the way across the Arabian Desert to the Caucasus Mountains in West Asia as they now call it Europe. The journey was 2,220 miles and they would remain bound to these caves for 2,000 years until Musa was sent to teach them civilization.

   The above narrative is both directly communicated in our lessons and in the Message to the Blackman pages 110-127. Whether Yacub was a Doctor Moreau-like character who died on the island of Patmos in the year 8,550, there is no evidence to support that. I am also not aware of any archaeological dig on that island that has produced a Homo Capensis shaped skull from 6,000 years ago. This does not means that Yacub did not exist as an actual person. It means that if a person thinks that, it’s what they believe. White skinned people walking around today does not literally prove the validity of the above narrative or even the existence of a person named Yacub. What the narrative does communicate are proven conclusions in areas of psychology, sociology, genetics, group-think, axiology, geopolitics and other sciences of life that we see every day. Let me add-on…

   The story of Yacub is a narrative about the potential destruction that can be produced from a psychological state and social condition that is rooted in dissatisfaction. Left unchecked, that dissatisfaction can manifest the personification of evil. It is an example of how socioeconomic engineering [eugenics] and political science is oftentimes the outgrowth of a mindset that may have been cultivated in a person as a child. This is why psychoanalysts, physicians, psychiatrists, psychologists and any professional who is striving to assess our current state whether physically or mentally, starts with our childhood and family history. Yacub lived 20 miles outside of Mecca, away from 70% of the population; a demographic who were satisfied with their station in life. The only family members mentioned in Yacub’s life is an uncle, not even by name, during his formative years; at the age of 6. There is no mention of his family dynamics or early childhood development. In regards to brain development, 95% of the child’s brain is formed by the time they reach 6 years old. This is the reason a child’s head at that age is not proportionate to their body. The brain goes through a process known as “synaptic pruning” to eliminate synapses to help the brain run more efficiently. Ideas up to this point become determined and form the neurological blueprint of the child’s future development. This is why children enter Kindergarten [which is actually a “garden”] right before the age of 6 when the seeds of development are first rooted and cultivated. Our lessons tell us that Yacub made a declaration about his determined idea at the age of 6 while playing with two pieces of steel. In early childhood development children are encouraged to participate in ‘dramatic play’ because it promotes social emotional development. Yacub playing with steel, envisioning building a nation when he was older is dramatic play. It indicates that even in what would be consider to be “innocent play”, a deep determined idea is work.

   A synonym for Mecca is “magnet” which means a place that everyone wants to visit. Again, Yacub was born 20 miles away from this location among the dissatisfied who were without. The two pieces of steel he played with at the age of 6, one piece with magnetic and the other piece without, is a metaphor for how he viewed the 70% satisfied and the 30% dissatisfied; the haves [with] and the havenots [without]. Like with many of us who have grown up in similar conditions, low/vacant esteem became the seedlings of an inferiority complex that encouraged us, like Yacub, to overcompensate for what we didn’t have. Some of us chose sports, the creative arts or other things to overcompensate with. Some of us, like Yacub, chose academics. So at the age of 18 Yacub was said to have finished all of the colleges and universities of his nation. Another curious thing that was mentioned about Yacub is that he had an unusually large head. While this could imply that he was Macrocephalic or that he suffered from a condition known as Hydrocerphalus which causes the head to enlarge due to spinal fluid around the brain, there is no evidence of this. The fact that he finished all of the colleges and universities of his nation and was known as THE, not “a”, big head scientist does imply something about his personality when you do a psychological profile. What it would indicate, according to a DSM, is Narcissistic Personality Disorder [NPD]; an inflated sense of self importance, delusions of grandeur, lack of empathy, manipulative and demanding. His narrative is an almost textbook diagnosis of NPD and hints at other health conditions related to Megalomania.

   As Yacub started to gain followers in Mecca he also began to challenge the status quo. Growing up on the outside, Yacub developed a sense of disdain towards the 70% satisfied who looked just like him, yet didn’t recognize the concerns of the 30% who were dissatisfied. This disdain was Yacub’s self-hatred that echoed how he essentially felt about himself. Why? Because who he considered oppressors, 70% satisfied, looked just like him. This is no different than a young male growing up despising other males based upon his negative experience, or lack thereof, with other males. In some instances, males like this have such contemptment for or ingrained prejudice against other males, that they desire to be a female. Yacub, as a black man, had a determined idea to destroy the black population in order to make a nation to rule in their place.

   Yacub wasn’t a person in a laboratory pouring potions in beakers trying to make a new man. Yet the island of Patmos, because of its isolated, alienated controlled environment, geographically represents a laboratory. This being the name of the place where the Devil was manufactured, Yacub was the big [senior], head [lead] scientist. An island “is-land” surrounded by a body of water. The brain is an organ that is also surrounded by a physical body of water. Patmos is an external replication of how the brain actually functions. The same way in which Yacub’s determined idea was manufactured on the island of Patmos, thoughts are manufactured in the brain. His Patmos society was managed by laborers who governed the life cycle of human beings to insure that his undertakings were successful. According to Yacub’s society and like today, the medical, ministerial, nursing and death care [doctors, ministers, nurses and cremators/morticians] industries are present at the beginning, throughout and at the end of a human being’s entire life cycle. Our lessons state that these laborers followed his law and were bound to secrecy in the same way that these modern day professions require confidentiality and won’t disclose client information. The nurse's law of Yacub in particular is reflective of the racist program promoted by Eugenicist Margaret Sanger. According to Yacub’s narrative, after 600 years of ethnic cleansing, that society produced a white Devil; the personification and archetype of evil. Evil that's likened to the white supremacy/nationalism, colonialism and institutional racism that has turned the whole world upside down today.

   As this article is already lengthy so I won’t go into the history/symbolism behind the Devil going to Mecca, turning it upside down and then being exiled into the Caucasus Mountains until Musa came to teach them. I was inspired to share this article and some of these points, especially for those who believe that this entire narrative can be simply summarized by the physical appearance of white people. That is not only unscientific but it's completely absurd. Yacub by definition means to supplant, replace, override or trip up. This is what the name functionally means, regardless what we may call ourselves. Practically applying this narrative gives us the tools to self-assess if we are playing this role of a big headed scientist. It enables us to help teach and redirect the youth in our community; helping insure that dissatisfaction, lack of family structure, disenfranchisement, low/vacant esteem and a sense of inferiority does not become a breeding ground for future Devils. It empowers us with the ability to recognize how anti-social behavior, separation and disassociation is an Patmos-like island and that island could be a tell-tale sign of a laboratory of sickness or even suicide. Lastly, this narrative shows us that our lessons are not to be taken on face value... 

Peace,

Saladin