by Yaminah Muhammad
NEWARK—An awakening spirit filled Muhammad Mosque No. 25 on Father’s Day as Student Minister Dr. Wesley Muhammad delivered “A Special Message.” The message, delivered in front of a jam-packed room, addressed the root of fatherhood, attacks on Black masculinity, the agenda of homosexuality, and the phenomena of so-called UFOs. In addressing these topics, the highly esteemed scholar set forth an effort to reset the consciousness of his audience.
“I think we need a Father’s Day reset. And dear brothers and sisters, you are in the right place to get a Father’s Day reset—the only place where Father’s Day is appropriately celebrated. So, to reset Father’s Day for all of us, I think we should revisit the first Father’s Day. The inaugural Father’s Day,” said Student Minister Dr. Wesley Muhammad, who is a member of the Shura Executive Council of the Nation of Islam and also serves on the N.O.I. Research Team.
To usher in the much-needed reset, the author of several research-based books took his audience back in time to when the first Father formed and designed Himself. “This is the inaugural Father’s Day. The day the first Father emerged in all of His organic, biological, anatomical and intellectual glory,” he said referring to Allah (God), the Original Black man as taught by the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad.
›Student Minister Dr. Wesley Muhammad acknowledged the process of the first Father’s emergence as the template of how to recognize Father’s Day.
However, in today’s world, Father’s Day is currently celebrated through the conflating of LGBTQ Pride Month, Juneteenth and Father’s Day. The well-known student minister spoke of this conflation as Satan’s subtle yet deliberate attempt to hide the true identity of the Black man and woman. For if Father’s Day were celebrated independently and in recognition of the inaugural Father’s Day, the true identities of the Black man as the first-self and the Black woman as the second-self of God would be revealed.
Although his message centered on fathers, Student Minister Dr. Wesley Muhammad concluded his address on the topic of mother, but a particular mother, the Mother Plane. Thus, taking on the phenomena of so-called UFOs. He explained that just as Satan has hidden the true identity of the Black man and woman, he has also hidden the true identity of the so-called UFOs. While labeled as “Unidentified Flying Objects” by the U.S. government, the Nation of Islam identified such flying objects as the Mother Plane and Baby Planes.
Learning of these high-tech planes left guest and certified medical biller and coder Saleemah Baldwin, 40, energized. “Today’s message was powerful,” Ms. Baldwin said. “To tap back into our greatness and to know that I’m a part of that technology that so far surpasses what we know today to be the top technology … it’s just very amazing, energizing and motivating to know that I’m a part of that,” she added.
Ms. Baldwin was not alone in that energized spirit after hearing the empowering and insightful address. The “Special Message” brought resounding applause and appreciation from all of the men and women in attendance—leaving several first-time guests in awe.
“I took it in, but it also made me reflect. It was so eye-opening and thought-provoking and that’s what I really appreciate,” first-time guest Jacquel Skinner said. “I definitely got a reset. Now I can’t wait to celebrate the man in our lives and celebrate us,” the 28-year-old school social worker continued. Her younger sister and also first-time guest, Jilani Skinner, 18, shared a similar testimony. “I liked it. I liked to see how we are working to define Father’s Day and Black fatherhood for ourselves,” she said.
Sunday’s June 18 keynote address came as a close to a three-day series of events featuring Student Minister Dr. Wesley Muhammad, including a visit to Fabian Theater in Paterson, New Jersey, to take on the topic of the Assassination of Malcolm X in a lecture titled: “What’s Paterson and Newark Got to Do With it?” on Saturday, Jun. 17.
“Our work set out on a herculean task. A herculean task. Our objective is not simply to contribute to the popular and scholarly Malcolm X narrative, it is to impeach the scholarly and popular narrative because the Malcolm X narrative is a false narrative. And one key element of this false narrative is consistently, routinely and of necessity, it seems, using the Nation of Islam as the punching bag of this narrative. So, you have to know it was evitable that we would punch back,” Student Minister Dr. Wesley Muhammad said.
Though stating that he did not come to Paterson to throw punches, he did, however, throw stones of truth at falsehood. The diligent researcher displayed public documents, court transcripts, testimonies, an outline provided by Attorney William Kunstler, and other information previous scholars seem to ignore or totally disregard. All of this demonstrated that the Nation of Islam, and more particularly the mosques of Newark and Paterson, were not responsible for the assassination of Malcolm X.
Later that night, he attended the Beautifulone Outreach Program annual dinner as a special guest and recipient of an honorary award for his role as a pillar in the cause of justice. Councilwoman Louise-Scott Rountree and Sister Rolonda Muhammad presented him with a plaque while the room filled with cheerful applause.
Though he received honors on Saturday, his eventful weekend in New Jersey started with Student Minister Dr. Wesley honoring the students of Torchlight Educational Academy through his deliverance of Torchlight’s 17th annual graduation and Moving Up Ceremony commencement speech on June 16.
Before leaving, he expressed his love for the city, laborers and the student minister of Newark. “I love Newark. I had a great time since I’ve been here,” he said. Newark expressed tremendous love for him right back. Student Minister Abdul Haqq Muhammad of Newark’s Mosque No. 25 took to Instagram to write, “We thank Allah for giving to us The Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad and The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan and raising up mighty students and teachers such as [Dr. Wesley Muhammad] who did a phenomenal job in his representation of the Life-Giving Teachings of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad and the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan in the city of Newark, N.J. this past weekend.”
