From Student Enrollment to Solar Facts

    

     First and foremost I would like to say, "PEACE" to my brother Sincere Asiatic who knowledged 120 recently! I am very proud of the God and appreciate the time, effort and consistency he has shown to be successful in this undertaking. For those who have taken this sacred journey from Who is the Original Man to Pluto know that this is not an easy task. Once we have this knowledge we now have the potential to grasp its wisdom and understand how to apply these degrees in our every day life. That also is not an easy task. The knowledge of 120, wisdom of 120 and understanding of 120 equals 360 degrees or a complete cipher. That cipher or code, in addition to our Supreme Mathematics and the Supreme Alphabet, is a vital part of codifying our Five Percent cultural worldview. Celebrating milestones, especially milestones like this, are an important part of measuring our growth and development. If we do not acknowledge where we have been and how far we have come, it is difficult to fully appreciate where we are and where we can go. 

     When we are learning Five Percent culture some of the principles and values that we are exposed to may be unknown or theoretical to us. Learning about the legacy of Allah, his community outreach and youth advocacy, some of us have never done any of this work before. It is an entirely new world to us. It is not uncommon to meet those who claim to be Five Percenters for years.., yet they have no history of community outreach and youth advocacy. It it also not uncommon to find Five Percenters in the heart of any community actively building with the youth.

     Today I want to take you through Today's Degree to give you a sense of how we build on our degrees. This is not THE ONLY WAY and only serves as an example of my self-styled wisdom. Meaning, this is my unique perspective and how I may practically apply this degree and its correlations to other degrees, our Supreme Mathematics and the Supreme Alphabet.

   As Today's Mathematics correspond to the current date, Today's Degree is a degree or lesson within 120 that also corresponds to the date. If today were the 13th, Today's Mathematics would be Knowledge (1) Understanding (3) all drawn-up to or all being born to Culture (4). Today's Degree, Knowledge (1) Understanding (3), would also correspond to one of our 13th degrees within 120 as shown below:

13/1-14: "What is the meaning of C.A.P.T.A.I.N. and L.I.E.U.T.E.N.A.N.T.?"

13/1-36: "What is his ownself?" 

13/1-40:  "But brings rain, hail, snow and earthquakes?"

13/Actual Facts: "There are 790,613,581,824,000,000 square inches on the Planet Earth."

     So if another Five Percenter were to ask me, "How do you see Today's Degree?" I would reference one of the above degrees, recite the question and answer by heart and then share my understanding of the degree and how it applies to life. Suppose today is the 20th, here is an example of how I may build on Today's Degree:

     "Peace! Today's Degree in the 1-40 is, 'What are the prescribed laws of Islam for the said person of that ability? That the civilized is held responsible for the uncivilized and must be punished by the Nation of Islam.' In this degree we learn that for any said ability, meaning, even if we simply said that we had a certain ability, there are certain rules and regulations that govern that ability and expectations that come along with that ability. If I were to say that I was a plumber, there are certain rules and regulations that govern that profession and expectations that I am held accountable for. Imagine if I said that I were a mechanic and someone hired and paid me to perform a job that I didn't have the ability to complete. There are a variety of consequences, including legal, that are the result of me not being responsible for following through with what I said. The same applies to us when we call ourselves civilized, righteous, Fathers, Mothers, Gods, Earths and etc. when we don't live up to who we say that we are. Regardless if a person punishes us or not, life itself penalizes us for being irresponsible. This is one reason why it is important to not say we have an ability that we don't have. It is only a matter of time when we will be forced to show and prove it. It reminds me of my 6th grade students. When I introduce them to a new math concept I always stop to ask the class if they understand. There are always some students who nod their heads in agreement knowing good and well that they don't get the math. After calling them up to solve a problem on the board, I remind them to not say that they know something that they don't know. You will have to show and prove it and sometimes you might get put on the spot. More importantly, I remind all of them to not be afraid to say that they don't know something and to ask for help when they need it. You may think that you can fake it until you make it but you will eventually break it; whether that is a broken object, a broken promise or a broken relationship.

     When something is "prescribed" it is a recommendation that is considered beneficial. In regards to this wisdom cipher [20th] degree in the 1-40, responsibility for the uncivilized is what is recommended for those who are civilized. Why? Because those who are civilized possess knowledge, wisdom, understanding, culture, refinement and are not savages in the pursuit of happiness. Thus we have the capacity to help temporarily guide those who are uncivilized. I say temporarily because the goal is for others to ultimately help themselves.  While we learn that we get punished for not following the recommendation of being responsible, the benefits of this prescription is not expressed. We learn, through experience, that the benefits of being civilized is our direct access to righteousness, knowledge of self, the science of everything in life, love, peace and happiness. 

    Again, this is the Wisdom Cipher [20th] degree. The importance of only speaking about an ability that we actually possess and being responsible for assisting those who are in need is wisdom [2] that helps solidify and sustain our cipher [0]. In fact, it is the exact same wisdom many of us have been taught in our family's cipher, community ciphers, academic ciphers or employment ciphers growing up. My parents always told my siblings and I about not writing a check with our mouth that our ass can't cash. As members of the Black Panther Party they also taught us about the responsibility of being civilized and teaching others. Peace!"

     Above was just a brief example of how I may build upon Today's Degree. If I were to cross reference other corresponding degrees and elaborate on the 2nd and 20th letter in the Supreme Alphabet, the above build would be even more extensive. It would be too lengthy to read, thus I share builds like that via FB LIVE or YouTube LIVE or on Atlantis Build Talk Radio. If you would like me to build on any degrees please email me your NAME, COUNTRY, STATE/PROVINCE, CITY and QUESTIONS to atlantisbuild@gmail.com.

Peace,

Saladin

Are We Trolling OR Teaching?

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

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

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

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

"Own It" -Drake

     

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

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

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

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

Peace,

Saladin

What Is A Poor Righteous Teacher?

   Artist: Poor Righteous Teachers Album: Pure Poverty [1991] 

   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. 

The above history is important to lay out because it provides context for the phrase Poor Righteous Teacher for the Five Percent here in the wilderness of North America. The reason that I mentioned black folks perspective of poverty during the Great Depression, how the concept of frugality faded and the word frugal fell out of common use is because it was at this time that the Supreme Wisdom book was created among black folks here in America. More specifically in the black-bottom neighborhood section of Detroit Michigan. It is within this book of lessons where we get our introduction to the phrase "Poor Righteous Teacher." 

Who are the Five Percent on this poor part of the planet Earth?

"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. 

Business Partners: (L/R) Wise Intelligent, Dr. Sam Williams, Master P, James Lindsay

Photo Credit: Instagram @wiseintelligent 

   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

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: Supreme Alphabet

In this Atlantis School For Gifted Youngsters Animation episode we discuss the Supreme Alphabet, the power of words and the importance of proper pronunciation!

Please SUPPORT and SHARE my Atlantis School Renovation Project. I am renovating a property to establish a cultural enrichment early childhood learning and after school program:

Website: Atlantis School Renovation Project

PayPal: atlantisbuild@gmail.com

CashApp: $SaladinAllah

Peace,

Saladin

7.5 Ounces of Brain Power!

 

   "What is the strongest muscle in your body?" I would ask my preschoolers. The answers I would receive would be everything from arms, legs to balled up fists. All of my students left my class knowing that it was our brain and all of the exercises we did were designed to strengthen that muscle. Whether we were doing yoga, painting, learning letters or playing with blocks in one of our centers, it was all about brain development and as an early childhood educator I was helping construct their brain architecture. I speak about this in the past tense because now I primarily work with sixth graders and I Substitute in other elementary grade levels. Regardless of their grade level, I always emphasize the power of their brains.

   When we get knowledge of self, one of the degrees we learn as Five Percenters is a 32nd degree which asks, "What is the mental and physical power of a real devil?" In summary, we learn that a devil's mental power is nothing in comparison to that of the original man and that they are also physically weaker. We also learn more specifically that there is a 1.5 ounce variance between the weight of the original man's brain and the weight of the devil's brain -- i.e., the original man has 7.5 ounces of brain and the devil only has 6 ounces of brain. Typically when you hear us [Five Percenters] build on that degree we simply equate the 7.5 and 6 to a supreme mathematical correspondence. In other words you may hear something along the lines of, "7.5 is God's [7] Power [5]. 6 is Equality [6] or limitation because the devil's power is limited." While this perspective has some value, it does not tell us anything about the actual brain weight or where the figures 7.5 ounces and 6 ounces even come from. I have also heard misogynists state that "7.5 represents the mental power of man and 6 represents the limited mental power of women." These chauvinists are usually the same folks who ignorantly boast that it is not even important to know what those figures actually mean because "Allah, The Father told us to draw it up." That anti-academic excuse is usually their response to anything math or science related in our degrees. Willfully this article on brain weight and mental/physical power will encourage those who are learning degrees to be more studious.

7.5 ounces of brain vs. 6 ounces of brain

   The average human brain of a normally hydrated person is about 3 lbs. 3 lbs is equal to 1400 grams which is 49 ounces. 85% of the brain is water weight. This means that 41.65 ounces of the brain's weight is water. When you subtract the 85% water weight [i.e., 41.65 ounces] from 49 ounces you get 7.3 or approx. 7.5 ounces of brain.  Let me show you the math again:

BRAIN = 3 lbs, 1400 grams, 49 ounces

85% of BRAIN is water which equals 41.65 ounces

49 ounces - 41.65 ounces of water = 7.3 approximately 7.5 ounces

   As shared above, 7.5 ounces is in reference to total average brain weight of a normally hydrated person. Well what about abnormal brain weight such as 6 ounces? Any difference in average brain weight, whether heavier or lighter, is based upon different factors including genetics, age, sex, body length, BMI, diet, ailments and other variables. Microcephaly, a rare genetic condition that causes small brain development, was first identified among the Pashtun people of Northern Pakistan. These Aryan descendants, often referred to as "white" Afghans, showed incidences of microcephaly 1 in 10,000 newborns while the worldwide average ranged from 1 in 30,000 to 1 and 250,000 newborns. Microcephaly has also been linked to the deadly mosquito-borne and sexually transmitted Zika virus outbreak that occurred in the mid to late 2000s in Polynesia, Africa, Brazil, Columbia, Mexico and other countries of densely populated melanated people.  

 

   

   Aside from a genetic mutation, one common cause of abnormal brain weight is dehydration. Dehydration does more than give you a headache and dry mouth. According to some studies on how dehydration effects the brain, just a 1% reduction in body mass of a 150 lb person equates to a 3 lb loss of fluid in the body which includes the brain. This loss of fluid impairs our executive brain function, body temperature regulation, motor skills, sensory perception and causes brain tissue to shrink over time. What this indicates is that chronic dehydration leads to brain atrophy or shrinkage in brain volume over time. What some scientists have also discovered is that people that evolved in colder climates, where there is scarce vegetation and alkaline food sources, they were more prone to dehydration and its accompanied impairments. Regardless of the outside temperature, humans lose body moisture every day through breathing, urination, perspiration and other body functions. Without perspiration and lack of thirst as visible indicators, people in cold climates often think that they don't need water and cannot get dehydrated. Couple this with an acidic diet consisting of more than 75% meat which lacks fiber and requires more water to process, people are at a higher risk of dehydration. Interesting enough in the late 19th Century into the early 20th Century these cold climate descendants published pseudoscience rationalizing the complete opposite -- i.e., that melanated people from nutrient rich tropical places had significantly smaller brains, a lower I.Q. and were closer to apes on the scale of human evolution. People like Earnest Hooton even went as far as establishing a whole filed of comparative anatomy -- i.e., thus helping establish Harvard as the center of Physical Anthropology and creating the classification model that put white people as the upright model of civilized man and melanated people as low-brow primitives. Hooton's racist work also set the foundation for the American Association of Physical Anthropology and the National Research Council to organize a committee to focus on the anatomy of the "Negro." That committee yielded African baby comparisons with young apes and published findings in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology to prove, not suggest or imply, that Negroes were closer to primitives than the white race. Devilish huh? Does all of this explain where the 6 ounces of brain weight and power comes from? Not entirely. Yet is does give you a sense of the different factors that actually causes abnormal brain weight and its accompanied deficiencies. Deficiencies that can cause a person to be more prone to weakness and potential wickedness.

   The study of the brain is one of the most fascinating subjects we can undertake, especially as  "scientists of life" [Five Percenters]. We are literally learning about our conduit of consciousness and repository of the mind! One of the many things that you learn about the brain is how cell phone technology and social media has literally changed our brain chemistry. When we receive social media notifications such as "likes", "loves", comments, shares and etc. our brain sends a chemical messenger called dopamine along a reward pathway that positively stimulates us. Dopamine is the feel-good neurotransmitter that also gives us a sense of pleasure and satisfaction when our senses are stimulated by eating food we like, hearing music we like, during intimacy, smelling a good fragrance or seeing a beautiful sight. Think about that! In regards to brain chemistry, the pleasure and satisfaction a person gets from a Facebook "like" is the same feeling of pleasure and satisfaction that they get from doing something in real life. Now you understand why many people are satisfied simply saying what they are going to do and never put forth the actual effort to do it. They are literally satisfied with the pleasure of a "like", "love", comment, prayer hands or other emojis they receive. They've been rewarded! Software Developers know this and designed social media platforms with this in mind. I wrote about this more extensively in my article Is Social Media The Digital "Turn on, Tune in, Drop out"?

   In conclusion, how can we even claim supreme intelligence if we see no value in studying the muscle responsible for the executive function of that intelligence? How can we even actualize our mental and physical power if we aren't serious about studying the command center of that mental and physical power? As Five Percenters we sell ourselves short, and the people who we are supposedly teaching, by not putting forth the effort to study actual math and science. I understand that some of us have been in remedial classes growing up, we may have learning disabilities, we just never did well academically or etc. Yet because of this sense of lacking and inferiority complex some of us have developed some very negative attitudes towards scholarship. So instead of seeking help we make up obvious excuses to try and hide our insecurities or academic trauma. I am not a know-it-all and never really challenged myself in school. I did enough to get by. As I got older, especially when I gained knowledge of self I became more studious. This means that I keep dictionaries, other reference materials and an active library card so when I come across something that I don't understand I can take time to research it before I move forward in my studies. I also make sure that I am always connected to experts in various fields who can support me. Yes it is a tedious process and takes patience yet that is what comes along with being studious. Putting in that effort benefits everyone around us. Conversely, our lack of effort will continue to be a detriment to everyone around us, especially our children.

Peace,                                                                                                                                                    Saladin

How Do We Make Racist Children?

*This article appears on the Five Percent Media website*

 

“Ignorance.” That is the short answer to the question, “How Do We Make Racist Children?” With all of the intelligence, expertise, lip service, and resources addressing this issue in America you would think that we would have figured this out by now. But no, we continue to grow children who become the kinds of adults that we saw desecrating the U.S. Capitol building on Wednesday, January 6th. These are the same kinds of adults we saw in Wilmington Delaware in 1898, one hundred and twenty-two years ago, who violently overthrew a duly-elected government. For me, this behavior is not surprising. I could literally write about historical instances of violence perpetrated by Americans against their own citizens EVERY DAY for the next three years and still not exhaust that content. That is only 1,095 days. For 1,095 days I could exclusively write about lynchings and never have to discuss another topic. This is America and make no mistake about it, violence has been a staple of this society from its inception. Some people have been on the historical receiving end of that violence, while others have been its historical perpetrators.

Following the storming of the U.S. Capitol building by Pro-Trump supporters, we have heard both Democrats and Republicans proclaim, “This is not who we are” -which is one of the most disingenuous statements one could make, especially at a time like this. It is a boldfaced lie that denies the obvious existence of historical dissatisfaction, division and devilishment we have witnessed in this country. IT IS who you/we are… and until we can accept that uncomfortable reality we will not be able to perform the institutional autopsies needed to determine the cause of this cannibalism.

 

As an early childhood educator, I am always thinking about ways to foster the kind of growth and development that enables our youth to become caring critical thinking adults. From my experience and research, children are not born racist, sexist or etc. Babies are born into a societal womb that reinforces institutions, social norms and an economy that nourishes racist, sexist, ageist and other ideas just like blood vessels in a womb support the growth and development of a fetus. These ideas help set a child’s cognitive trajectory and contributes to shaping their worldview. We were all socialized like this, regardless how we ultimately grow up to define ourselves. A critical part of our growth and development journey is constantly performing a self diagnostic to check the bullsh*t ideas we have knowingly/unknowingly adopted along the way. Another important part of that journey is helping support others to do the same. Treating these racist, sexist or etc. ideas like they are harmless only creates a larger problem later on. For generations these problems of race, sex and etc. have been outright denied, ignored, minimized and treated as minor by the dominant society. This is the same dismissive way the garden snake was treated in Genesis until it grows into a fire-breathing dragon once you get to Revelations. Like Revelations, January 6th was a day of reckoning for America to face its uncomfortable truths.

So what can we do about this as adults? First and foremost it is important that we model the type of attitude, behavior and citizenry we would like to see and celebrate in our children. Because our youth are growing up in a society that promotes ideas that may not coincide with a worldview of freedom, justice and equality, we must be invested in helping them successfully navigate around, beneath, above and through racist, sexist and etc. ideas. Part of that means helping them develop their “spatial awareness”; one of the critical cognitive skills children start to learn in early childhood.

Spatial awareness is our position in space relative to the people, places and things around us. In early childhood, children start understanding the concepts of location, direction and distance which enables them to physically navigate their environment. They also begin to understand where they are; their point of origin and how they are oriented. For example, recognizing that a toy is across the room on a couch or the direction of a window in a room. When a child has challenges with spatial awareness they have difficulty navigating their environment, reaching destinations and understanding their position in relation to the people, places and things around them. When a child or even an adult does not understand their point of origin they will lack a sense of orientation. Without a sense of orientation, it is impossible to determine direction. This disorientation makes a person more prone to being lost and easily led in the wrong direction. Make sense?

What makes racism, sexism, ageism and etc. so insidious is these ideas distort a person’s spatial awareness and sense of orientation. These ideas pervert reality and warp a person’s ability to understand their socioeconomic position in relation to the people, places and things in society and their capacity to reach their goals. Consider how something like segregated drinking fountains twisted a person’s spatial awareness. Where an object only steps away had to be rationalized as being more distant than the Moon. What about women who have earned a certain position based upon quantifiable data but are consistently passed up for a promotion by unqualified men. There is no way to rationalize how those positions in society and distance to other people, places and things are what they are. In both of these examples, accessibility and the landscape that they see IS NOT what it truly is… While black and brown people are often told all they need to do is work hard to successfully get from point A to point B in life, it is more like the game Frogger. Some will argue that we all have challenges reaching our goals and that is true. What is also true is there have been and still are institutions, government policies and socioeconomic obstructions that have impeded the progress of specific segments of our American population. In other words, some frogs are facing an entirely different obstacle course that other frogs have never seen and will never see in their lifetime. Understanding and navigating a society that distorts our spatial awareness is difficult for adults. So just imagine how difficult it is for our children. The growing mental health crisis and expanding education on trauma-informed care in this country is a clear example of this.

To some people, this warped reality of racism, sexism, ageism and etc. puts them in an inferior position of disenfranchisement. This makes it difficult to navigate this environment, reach destinations and understand their position in relation to the people, places and things around them. To other people, this warped reality of racism, sexism, ageism and etc. puts them in a superior position of privilege. Thus they are able to navigate this environment, reach destinations and understand their position in relation to the people, places and things around them with relative ease. We are all socialized this way the moment we take our very first breath.

   When children are taught to be culturally competent, when we respectfully expose them to different worldviews, it encourages them to become caring critical thinking adults. They learn that everyone has something to offer of significance to this world and your skin color, gender, age or etc. does not make you superior or inferior to others. Teaching children the obvious ugliness of America, as well as its beauty, is also a vital part of this educational process. IT IS who they/we are. For some of us, America has been more of a nightmare than a dream. America has only existed for 244 years yet my ancestors were legally enslaved and segregated against for 189 of those years. This means that 78% of the time black people have been in America we were legally denied the right to participate in American society and have equal access to its resources, institutions and economy. In regards to spatial awareness, many of my people literally lost their lives… and still lose their lives… for “not knowing their place.” We will continue to make racist children, who become racist adults, by lying to them about this American landscape. They need to know what they are inheriting; good and bad. They need to be spatially aware and know their true position relative to the people, places and things around them. There is a short answer for that also. In my culture, we say that understanding is seeing things for what they are, not what they appear to be.

Peace,                                                                                                                                                    Saladin