Echoing the principle from the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan’s “Let Us Make Man” tour, the F.O.I. mentor Black male youth around the country.
Black fathers are more present in their children’s lives than negative stereotypes present, and the cadre of Black men who mentor, love, and care for those beyond their biological children, sons in particular, is a critically important need.
“Look at the words ‘father’ and ‘farther’: When you project the seed, or the sperm, you have furthered your existence into the future. So, a ‘father’ has to be able to further what he fathers! You cannot further what you father by saying ‘I love you.’
You can further what you father by doing what God did for Adam,” stated the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan in a June 17, 2007, message titled, “The Need for, and the Search for, ‘Father.’”
“The God, after He made Adam, put him in a garden. That is really nice; fathers should always prepare a place for their children … . As men: You don’t have babies and not the wherewithal to prepare a place for them to grow, and an environment in which they can grow in accord with their nature,” Minister Farrakhan stated in that same profound message.
The significance of Black men who are fathers and who mentor young people should be appreciated and honored. The role of fathers in cultivating and developing young lives is a key one and should not be taken lightly. Their efforts are valiant, noble and more critical than ever, said youth mentors and advocates interviewed by The Final Call.
Nation of Islam Student Minister Shahid Muhammad of Mosque Maryam in Chicago is a math professor also known as the “Math Doctor.” He attributes society’s lack of respect and appreciation for fatherhood as part of the challenge.
Over the years, he has presented and conducted several community events with the themes “Boys to Men” and “Saving Our Boys.” These events focus on manhood training, survival and life skills, and developing an appreciation for nature. He helps to prepare young Black males for manhood and being a positive force in their communities.
“There seems to be a total lack of awareness of fatherhood, and usually, when you hear about it on radios and blogs, it’s always talking about the fact that their fathers are not doing what they’re supposed to do. They need to be on their posts or they’re derelict fathers, but we never get to those that are doing what they’re supposed to do,” he stated.
“Most of the time, they’re not put up in the limelight. They’re not, given the proper due for what they do,” said the married father of three adult sons.
This year marks his fourth annual conference, all stemming from the Teachings and Mission of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad and the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, he stated.
“I dedicate my life to helping both of them. And so, in that aspect, civilizing our people and getting the man, the Black man, where he’s supposed to be, is a definite top priority,” explained Student Min. Shahid.
In the Nation of Islam, there are dedicated men’s only classes where brothers learn the various aspects of manhood on a spiritual, economic, mental, and physical level to develop into pillars of their families and communities as taught by the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad and demonstrated by the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan.
Student Min. Shahid’s consistent soldiering in the streets of Chicago is to strive to meet peoples needs, particularly Black boys who have been targeted for destruction by the White power structure.
“It’s a state of emergency. So, whatever I can do in that area, I’m trying to do,” added the long-time educator. The change of mindset from positive to negative has been ushered in through media and movies, he argued.
“They have an image of gangsterism and hustling and pimping and all that as part of being a man—carrying a gun, being a thug. And then they have the other extreme of the feminization of the Black man, that’s put out there as well, and they’re making our boys into girls, and making the girls into boys,” he stated.
Changing the narrative requires giving the Black man the knowledge of what it is to be a man and put forth best efforts to resurrect the Black man through the Teachings of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, he pointed out. Once the Black man is straight, then he’ll be back on his post as a father, and the next generation can be brought up properly, he added.
This year’s “Boys to Men: Saving Our Boys” conference will include manhood and survival training, lessons in agriculture, ATV rides, and learning about farm animals.
Student Min. Shahid urged fathers with children to find some way to spend time with them and be in their lives. “Minister Farrakhan says that word ‘father’ is similar to the word ‘further.’ So a father should be taking their children further than what they, themselves, were able to accomplish in the world.
Their priority should be the furthering, the development, the nourishing and the evolving of their child to reach that full potential. He also said that in order to make a nation, we had to first make a man.
So, the man has to be transformed from the state that we are in right now so that we can transform the children, and transform the family, and transform the nation,” Student Min. Shahid added.
Hip Hop Detoxx, founded by Bro. Enoch Muhammad, is a Chicago-based mentoring group that also works with youth. Their advocacy has evolved into a Males to Men Empowerment and Mentoring Seminar, which will host its third annual event later this year.
Brother Enoch, a father of three, said that as a child, he had friends whose fathers were actively involved in their lives. These examples gave him a small indication of manhood; however, he said that view extended beyond that when he read “Message to the Blackman in America,” by the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, said Bro.
Enoch. The Teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad gave Bro. Enoch the process of evolving toward godhood and becoming one with “the ultimate Father,” Allah (God), he shared.
Minister Farrakhan raised the question, “Well, who is our example for a ‘father’?” in the lecture “The Need for, and the Search for, ‘Father.’”
“If God made man in His own image and after His own likeness, then The Example of a ‘father’ is God,” Minister Farrakhan shared.
“I didn’t get the opportunity to meet physically the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, but I had an opportunity to meet physically the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan,” he said.
“That journey has affected me on quite a few levels, especially when it comes to how I communicate with my own biological mother and the things that I would do and the things that I wouldn’t do, and the things that I aspire to as a man and as a father and as a husband,” he shared.
Brother Marquis Muhammad is based in Los Angeles. His inspiration to help develop boys outside of traditional classroom settings stems from his own childhood experiences and the guidance and tutelage of the Fruit of Islam (F.O.I.), male members of the Nation of Islam.
He is also co-director of a summer camp initiative in the city to work with young men.
“We’re able to get them after school and during the weekends so that we can create a world for them that they’re actually able to be connected to. … Where they go, they’re part of a brotherhood. They’re a part of a team,” stated Bro. Marquis.
The father of one girl and one boy continues those efforts through a boys-to-manhood training program in Los Angeles. Boys 7-14 learn military drill and discipline, self-defense and survival training, anti-bullying, building respect and health and fitness.
They also receive life coaching, mentorship and team building. Nothing beats the training of young Black men and boys like the F.O.I., many of whom volunteer to train youth in his program, he said.
“I think there’s an idea that Black fathers don’t love their children, that Black fathers are not there for their wives. And there’s a lot of statistics that actually go against that,” he argued.
According to the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) 2013 National Health Statistics Report, as highlighted by several media outlets, Black fathers are more involved in the lives of their children than White or Latino men.
According to the data, Black fathers (70%) who live with their children were most likely to have bathed, dressed, changed, … compared with their White (60%) or Latino (45%) counterparts.
Black fathers (78%) were also more likely to eat meals with their children every day compared with White (74%) and Latino fathers (64%). And a higher percentage of Black fathers (27%) took their children to or from activities every day compared with White fathers (20%).
Black fathers (41%) in the home were also more likely to help their children with homework every day compared with Hispanic (29%) or White (28%) fathers, continued the report.
Nonetheless, society still tends to be hypercritical of Black men while lending more grace and compassion to fathers of other races, argued Bro. Deric Muhammad, a Houston, Texas-based activist and member of Mosque No. 45.
He works to empower fathers and young men through his “Smart’n Up” Black Male Summit. It is a community-based motivational and educational summit designed to address the unique needs of Black men and boys.
When he first became a father 27 years ago, he thought he knew how to be a father. “I loved my daughter so much. I thought this was all that was required. Most of us who grew up without a father have no idea how to be one. So, manhood must be taught.
Fatherhood must be taught. Character must be taught. Doing for self to provide for your children must be taught,” he stated, referring to the Teachings of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad.
His many mistakes compelled him to help young men coming behind him to avoid similar mistakes, Brother Deric explained.
He feels that Black men must create non-judgmental spaces to teach, train, listen, correct, encourage, empower, educate and cry, if they need to, to strengthen one another.
The Black male is the prime target of America’s criminal justice system, is the most alienated in America’s educational system, the least considered in America’s healthcare system, and face overwhelming obstacles in this economic system, he argued. Yet, in the face of such adversity, they are still the most involved fathers in America, said Bro. Deric.
“In my humble opinion, Black fathers will never get their just due. So do not expect it. Our just due comes from God,” said Bro. Deric.