In all of my years of being a Five Percenter, one of the most misinterpreted phrases I have seen is "Poor Righteous Teacher." I say seen, and not heard, because it is not a topic that you hear highly debated like 'power vs. power refinement' or 'the correct universal flag.' You literally see a person's perspective of a Poor Righteous Teacher based upon their quality of life.
When most people consider the word "poor" they think about not having any money, being broke and the inability to afford designer clothes. Those who think a little deeper considers poor as "poverty" and the various psychological, socioeconomic and political elements that contribute to that state. In our modern dictionary, poor is defined as "lacking sufficient money to live at a standard considered comfortable or normal in a society." Historically the word poor carried another meaning and over time it began to take on the meaning we see reflected in our modern dictionary. Let me explain.
Back in 16th Century Europe a price revolution occurred. These series of adjustments caused inflation and shifted the landscape of Europe and its citizens perspectives concerning monetary standards. Some Economists theorize that this price revolution was caused by a large influx of gold, silver, spices and other commodities into Europe. That is partly true. What they usually fail to mention is the pre-influx of 'black gold' into the European economy -- i.e., black people via the transatlantic slave trade. This black gold set the premise for the triangular trade and the foundation for a future American economy. This time period is following the Black Plague; a pandemic that depopulated a large part of Europe. That pandemic, like today's coronavirus, caused food prices and other commodities to inflate due to their scarcity and demand. Why is this important to understand? Because this gives you a sense of the socioeconomic backdrop in 16th Century Europe. Poor meant something different to people during that time. Just like black folks during the Great Depression in America looked at poor differently than young black folks do today.
During the socioeconomic changes within 16th Century Europe, folks didn't simply define poor as not having sufficient money. Poor, to them, was defined within the context of frugality; a word derived from the Latin "frugalis" (e.g., thrifty, economical, moderate, sensible). That perspective of poverty, as being frugal, was a quality of life theme consistent within Old World social life. In modern society we may view their circumstances as simply poor, yet their station in life was viewed in class terms of modesty vs. extravagance. As the Old World became the citizenry source of a developing New World, this concept of frugality was carried over into an American socioeconomic landscape. In time, the concept of frugality began to fade following the Traditionalist Generation and the word "frugal" fell out of common use.
"They are the poor righteous teachers who don't believe in the teachings of the 10%. Who are all wise and know who the true and living God is..."
When learning this 16th lesson there are many Five Percenters who interpret "poor righteous teachers" to mean that we must make a vow of poverty in order to be righteous and teach others. Thus the accumulation of wealth, entrepreneurship or business ownership is often equated with being a rich slave maker. These economic endeavors are often viewed as believing in the teachings of the 10% or blood suckers of the poor. In the early days of the Five Percent Nation even the pursuit of higher education was considered believing in the teachings of the 10%, AKA "the white man's education", by some Five Percenters. It took one of our pioneers, UM-Allah, to attend and graduate from college with a Masters degree to show the real value of higher education. These attitudes about poverty and wealth building is one of the main reasons our nation of the Five Percent has lacked a clear cohesive economic development plan. The irony is, the accumulation of wealth, property and business ownership by "poor" black people in America from the time of Reconstruction up until the 1950s is still unrivaled by the rich black folks we see today. Their concept of "poor" was not about lacking, it was about being frugal and coming together for one common cause. How else did our formerly enslaved ancestors and their children acquire acres of land, build communities and establish thriving towns in the South? Frugality. This same perspective of frugality applies to being righteous teachers.
Poor Righteous Teacher means that our target demographic are the disenfranchised. Why? Because as Matthew 19: 24 states, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God." It is not often that a rich person willingly gives up extravagance in order to live a modest Godly life. Thus we focus on those who need it most, without excluding others. Poor Righteous Teacher also means a righteous teacher to the frugal or righteous teachers of frugality. This does not mean that in order to be righteous and teach we need to make a vow of poverty or walk around like a model for Ye's post-apocalyptic looking clothing line. Being a Poor Righteous Teacher also does not mean to be a chronically unemployed block hugger. As civilized people we need to work, in order to effectively do our duty. We cannot claim knowledge as our foundation when we are literally unstable... We cannot be swift and changeable with our wisdom and a couch surfing transient at the same time. Some Five Percenters behave like there is an inherent righteous humility in brokeness. In their mind "money is the root of all evil" so they shun wealth because getting money is evil. Plus anybody with money must be doing something evil. This long suffering mindset that some Five Percenters have is the same thing that they may ridicule church folk about when they claim that heaven is after they die. The reality is, we are collectively disenfranchised, regardless what we call ourselves. And as a collective, black consumerism produces over a trillion dollars annually and is an unleveraged 'black gold' buying power on par with some countries. We are not poor-poor. We lack frugality.
For many of our people, and some of us as Five Percenters, our relationship to money and definition of poverty must change. As we move into an expanding age of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency, cooperative economics is a vital part of our survival and our ability to thrive in this growing global market. As teachers of righteousness, we play a key role in providing the sustainable perspectives and ethical outlook to push our people forward socioeconomically. We help set the trajectory of civilization and we cannot do this if we are naked and out of doors without bread, clothing or a home. We, and our future generations, demand better than that.
Peace, Saladin
