“One of the gravest handicaps among the so-called Negroes is that there is no love for self, nor love for his or her own kind. This not having love for self is the root cause of hate (dislike), disunity, disagreement, quarreling, betraying, stool pigeons and fighting and killing one another. How can you be loved, if you have not love for self? And your own nations and dislike being a member of your own, then what nation will trust your love and membership.”
—The Honorable Elijah Muhammad, “Message To The Black Man”
In the Teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad there are certain themes and important positions that are stressed and repeated.
Love of self and kind is one of those points and it is something we should pay attention to and act on today.
The level of violence, evil and disrespect we show one another is shameful. The fratricidal killings we engage in make many of our neighborhoods war zones.
Everytown USA, an anti-gun violence group, reported, “71 percent of Black adults or someone they know or care about has experienced gun violence in their lifetimes. 31 percent of Black people know or care about someone who was shot and wounded.
1 in 3 Black people know or care about someone who was killed with a gun. 57 percent of Black survivors experienced trauma from the incident. Despite reporting high levels of trauma, Black communities reported less access to these services.
In the first six months after the incident, 50 percent of Black survivors did not have access to these services, and access to services to cope with the long-term impact of trauma remained the same.”
“Each day on average, 34 Black people are killed with guns, and more than 110 experience non-fatal injuries. Black Americans are 12 times more likely than white Americans to die by gun homicide. 58% of all people killed in firearm homicides are Black. … .
“Black children and teens are 17 times more likely than white children and teens of the same age to die by gun homicide. Every 6.5 hours, a black boy or teenager dies by gun homicide in the United States. Black children and teens are 13 times more likely than white children and teens of the same age to be hospitalized for a gun injury,” said Everytown USA.
In addition to being victimized, instances in which our children have committed crimes are creating an incredible amount of distress and horror. We have teenagers charged with murder, robberies, carjackings and acts that have resulted in the deaths of innocent people. At times these crimes have resulted in the deaths of young people in car crashes while committing crimes or fleeing police.
Though these acts are heartbreaking, we must also ask ourselves what kind of community and country produces such outcomes? Our children are our products. What are we producing and why?
Then we have instances in which parents have involved their children in deadly acts.
In Orlando, Fla., Lakrisha Isaac, 33, was sentenced in June to five years in prison for manslaughter and culpable negligence in the Memorial Day 2022 killing of Lashun Rodgers, 41, in a fight authorities say stemmed from a social media post.
The shooting at an apartment complex was all the more horrifying because Ms. Isaac gave a backpack to her 10-year-old daughter. In the backpack was a loaded gun and when the fight started, the child pulled the gun and fatally shot the victim. Three Black females are part of this tragedy and its outcome doesn’t build love or trust among us.
“The slap on the wrist and the pat on the back that the court has given you today is not okay,” the victim’s sister, Sharetta Rodgers, said. “It’s not okay to take a life and this is not justified. And this is not justice for Lashun Rodgers.”
Beyond shootings, stabbings and deaths, there is entirely too much aggressiveness and conflict among us. Diss tracks between artists Kendrick Lamar and Drake has captured the attention of millions. At its base are two talented Black men insulting and demeaning one another in a conflict that’s good for the record labels. But it sets a tone that is bad for us and one that could get worse.
The Honorable Elijah Muhammad advised us, “Love yourself and your kind. Let us refrain from doing evil to each other, and let us love each other as brothers, as we are the same flesh and blood. In this way, you and I will not have any trouble in uniting.
It is a fool who does not love himself and his people. Your black skin is the best, and never try changing its color. Stay away from intermixing with your slave-master’s children. Love yourself and your kind,” wrote the Eternal Leader of the Nation of Islam in “Message to the Blackman” in 1965.
The value of his words and wisdom ring louder today than some 60 years ago. We have to act in accord with his Supreme Wisdom now.
The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan has called for 10,000 Fearless to stand between the gangs and the drugs and create peace in our community. We must act on the words and instruction coming from the chief helper of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad.
That kind of work is going on with Muslims in Atlanta, who have a model for the 10,000 Fearless approach. It’s going on in Baltimore where Muslims are leading Black men, pastors, service providers and those who can help our people out of the miserable conditions under which they suffer.
It’s going on in New Orleans and other cities where Muslims are engaged in conflict resolution. It’s going on in Saviours’ Tours, where Muslims flood a city and bring light, life and power to our people alongside an inspiring example of what we can become with divine guidance.
It’s happening every day with the Fruit of Islam taking the Sure Truth and solutions to our problems to our people through The Final Call newspaper.
We must do more. And all who are conscious and who love Black people must do the same. We must continue to find ways to work together and we must counter the ugliness foisted upon our people and embedded in our own minds.
It’s up to us to save us. If we love our people, we don’t have any choice and we can’t make any excuses. The lives of our people depend on us along with Almighty God Allah and His divine servants. Let’s get to work.
—Naba’a Muhammad, editor, The Final Call
