Throughout his 90 years of living, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan has inspired people from all walks of life to fulfill their purpose. His divinely backed words from the Teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad have resonated with young musicians, rap artists, activists and religious leaders alike. For decades, the Minister had worked with, guided, and influenced young people.
“Our young people represent the strongest and the best generation that we ever had. They’re not the wisest, but they are the best because they are fearless,” the Minister said during an interview on “The Breakfast Club” in 2015.
“When you see fearless young men and women, that’s the generation that God’s Hand is on because that’s the generation that will fulfill the promise of the ancestors who died struggling for true freedom, justice and liberation. The young are the generation that will deliver on that promise—with the right leadership,” he stated.
Impact on music artists
Though Shea Pierre, a 31-year-old Grammy-nominated pianist from LaPlace, Louisiana, just outside of New Orleans, has never met Minister Farrakhan, he feels that he has a connection with the Muslim leader. His birthday is May 19, just eight days after Minister Farrakhan’s, and his son’s birthday is the day before.
“I just feel a deep connection with him, with him being a musician, with him growing up in church, with him coming into the Teachings and with him being born in May and being a Taurus,” he said. In January, Shea Pierre released a single, “Black Odyssey,” inspired by the Minister’s words and the Teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad.
“It’s very inspired by the Teachings. One thing about me is that I grew up in church and I still do play in church, but I 100 percent believe everything of what the Teachings say, everything about what the Messenger says. And from the guidance of the Minister, I’ve been able to have a more universal understanding of the gospel,” he said.
The single is part of a soon-to-be-released album titled, “Music, Color, Medicine,” based on the Honorable Elijah Muhammad’s words that music, color and medicine are at the root or essence of God’s true religion.
“The guidance that I get from the Minister is all throughout the album,” Mr. Pierre said. He described Minister Farrakhan as “an articulator of the frustration and the greatness of our people.”
“He saved my life,” he said. “When I was introduced to the Minister at 19 and when he revealed his identity and said who he is, it immediately clicked for me. From listening to him and his guidance, he’s helped me to take all of my elements—my upbringing in church, my worldly experience as a touring musician—and he helps to shape my perspectives to where I can hone my life and hone my artistry to help his work. So, to me, he’s really the answer to the prayer that our ancestors have been praying for.”
Akilah Nehanda, 32 years old, from Houston, Texas, started her rap career in college. It was through Minister Farrakhan that she learned the value of women and the value of music and its universality.
“It was through him that I learned the impact that hip-hop has on the culture and hip-hop has on the entire world,” she told The Final Call. “His message greatly impacts the entire reason why I’m doing music, which is utilizing it as a tool for the liberation of my people.”
When she looks at Minister Farrakhan, she sees a Jesus figure. “I see someone who dedicated his entire life to the advancement and the rise of not only Black people but people of all backgrounds, creeds and colors. And he’s a model that I follow because I desire to do the same thing,” she said. “His work ethic is unlike anything I’ve ever seen, so I have a long way to go when it comes to that. But he’s an excellent model to look at when it comes to wanting for others what you want for yourself and being a true Muslim.”
Nation of Islam rapper and singer Hecava Mecca, 29, has never met the Minister in person. Nevertheless, his musical album box set, “Let’s Change the World,” inspired her to continue music at a time when she was feeling defeated.
“I had this piece of art, and on this piece of art, it said music can change the world, and it was my favorite piece of art. And about two weeks before my 25th birthday, my husband accidentally broke it, and it could not be fixed. And I was so sad,” she expressed to The Final Call. “And it was also around this time that I was praying to Allah (God) to give me confirmation in a way that I will understand that music is something that I am supposed to do.”
For her 25th birthday in 2019, her husband gifted her Minister Farrakhan’s album. After going through the album, she saw a poster in the back of the box set.
“I had pulled it out, and the poster said, ‘Let’s change the world,’ with the Earth and headphones around the Earth. And to me, that was my confirmation, where Allah was telling me—because my husband broke my art piece that said music can change the world, this piece of art says let’s change the world,” she recounted. “So, it was Allah telling me, yeah, music can change the world. … It can change the world, now let’s do it. From then on, I moved forward and I started making my album, and I finished that album at the end of that year into 2020.”
The Final Call conducted a joint Zoom interview with a young married couple, Student Minister Sultan Z. Muhammad, 30, of Muhammad Mosque No. 61 in Grand Rapids, and his wife, Takiyah Muhammad, a 28-year-old bakery owner.
In his teenage years, Sultan Muhammad grew up without his father. He credited Minister Farrakhan with being a father to him. “I was looking for my father, but when I began to really hear the voice of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, I found the father that I was looking for, and he has loved me and guided me. And when I needed him, he has counseled me. And if there’s any success that I’ve had as a young man in life, it’s because of his faith and him standing up and doing what he has done,” he said.
Both he and his wife, Takiyah Muhammad, have had personal experiences with the Minister related to their marriage. “He was speaking to me and my husband, and he was giving me encouraging words about being married to a man with an assignment of resurrecting the dead. And he told me that if I ever have any difficulties, to contact our dear Mother Khadijah and that she’ll be able to help me with some of the things that I would experience,” Takiyah Muhammad said.
Student Minister Sultan Muhammad noted that Minister Farrakhan teaches young people how to develop the right state of mind, the right attitude, the right spirit, and the will to conquer.
He explained that it was Minister Farrakhan’s voice that gave him the inspiration, guidance and clarity of mind to be able to navigate the difficulties of his younger adult life. “Still to this moment, it’s his voice that gives me clarity,” he said. “And so, for young people with all of the things that are thrown at us, that have us distracted, sometimes tempted, pulled in different directions, (Minister Farrakhan’s) voice is that which will allow us to see our way through the maze and to find our way in this world and ultimately find our way in God’s kingdom,” the young student minister stated.
“I think that he’s the greatest voice for young people to listen to,” he said, also adding that the Minister makes righteousness desirable for young people.
Takiyah Muhammad described Minister Farrakhan as “a guiding force to bring us back to Allah’s path and to put us back into our position of power because the youth are the engine that is going to liberate this world.” She noted how many young people are bogged down by the world and want to do what Satan puts in front, which brings heartbreak and pain.
“We do these things, and we think they’re giving us some type of gratification, but truly, they’re breaking us down at the core. But the Minister goes into the Word of God, and he’s able to guide us back to the path and give us a fundamental understanding of exactly what is happening to us when we indulge in the world that Satan has created for us. And he has provided a means of accessing the power that Allah has put in us as the Joshua generation to be able to usher in the Hereafter,” she stated.
She also expressed that there could not have been a better head of the M.G.T. and G.C.C. (Muslim Girls Training and General Civilization Class), the women and girls of the Nation of Islam.
“We really could not have a better teacher who understands not just the men but understands the sisters. He understands everything that we go through, the suffering that we have experienced up until this point, and just the way he loves us, and just the way he shows us a better course on how to be young women, be young wives, be young mothers,” she said.
“How he has just stepped in and showed us the way and has been a guiding force of what it looks like to be not just a man of God, but a woman of God.”
Actress, singer and entertainer Maryam Alima Warith Muhammad, 34, was born in the Nation of Islam, but in 2011, she joined the Sunni Islam community. Even then, she never lost her love for the Minister. She explained that Allah brought her back home to the Nation, and she registered in 2019 in Atlanta. She is now one of the hosts of the “Closing the Gap Broadcast Network: The Farrakhan Generation,” an online show where she interviews young Muslims in the Nation of Islam.
As an entertainer with a birthday two days before Minister Farrakhan’s, he has always been in her view. “He was always in my life. There’s not a memory that I have that the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan was not in my conscience. And so now as an adult and studying myself, not me as an individual, but studying independently and studying him and getting to know him, I want to be able to give as much as he gave,” she expressed. “He makes me want to strive to be the best Muslim I can be.”
Born and raised Atlanta, Jabarri X, 25, joined the Nation of Islam in October 2022. He is a graduate student at Clark Atlanta University and studying to get his master’s degree in public administration. The message of the Minister gave him the motivation to strive toward self-sufficiency.
“His message resonates with my life as it grounded me existentially in a society that only displays destructive imagery in every facet of the media. The Minister’s message served as the answers to the complexities to my life that I had always pondered on but never knew how to interpret,” he told The Final Call.
To him, Minister Farrakhan is the standard that Black men across the Earth should strive to be. “He means the world to me. Not in a fanatical kind of way, but he represents the intention that God had in mind in making us successors of what He created,” he said.
