What role can artists play in effective messaging to address unhealthy behavior in our youth?
The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, National Representative of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, cautioned and warned about what he called “The Deathstyle of the American People.”
In his 1993 book, “A Torchlight for America,” on page 125, Minister Farrakhan writes: “We are living relatively short lives as a result of our careless lifestyles. Sixty to 70 years is the lifespan of a typical American, and if we are fortunate to live even that short period, our lives are still riddled with every type of disease.”
In the same chapter, he notes, “According to the Bible, we live in a world that is called ‘death.’ The lifestyles of the people reflect this world of death. This world of death is caused by rebellion against Allah, God, who is the source of good life.”
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Minister Farrakhan continues, “The lifestyles of the people reflect this world of death. In Proverbs it reads, ‘There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the ends thereof are the ways of death.’ (Proverbs 14:12) Most of us believe our lifestyles are correct, and we have prided ourselves in the lifestyles we live no matter how degenerate they may be according to the standard raised by Almighty God.”
Statistics on the problem of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) serves as proof and verification that this “deathstyle” among Black people is continuing.
Recent government data show that sexually transmitted infections (STIs) remain a serious problem in the United States, particularly among Black and non-White youth populations.
While reported infections declined slightly between 2023 and 2025, the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) said that compared to past data, the number of overall cases is higher than those reported a decade ago.
According to their report from September 2025, “Sexually Transmitted Infections Surveillance, 2024 (Provisional),” the CDC said serious challenges remain with the overall rate of infections and that additional efforts must be made to reach certain groups that have fallen through the cracks.
“There were still more than 2.2 million reported STIs in 2024, and compared to a decade ago, overall cases are 13% higher; congenital syphilis is nearly 700% higher,” the CDC said of these alarming numbers.
Congenital syphilis, which occurs when a mother with syphilis passes the infection on to her baby during pregnancy or childbirth, is of particular concern because it can harm future generations with birth defects, brain and nerve problems, blindness or deafness. It can also cause miscarriages and stillbirths.
Other data revealed that young people between the ages of 15–24 bear the highest numbers of new STIs in the U.S. and that from this age group, females are the highest for chlamydia infection, while males aged 25–34 are the highest for syphilis and gonorrhea.
CDC statistics compiled by worldmetrics.org further state that:
• Racial/ethnic minorities in the U.S. have higher STI rates than White individuals: Black individuals have a 2.5 times higher chlamydia rate.
• Latina women in the U.S. have a two times higher gonorrhea rate than White women.
• Rural areas in the U.S. have a 30% higher syphilis rate than urban areas.
• Individuals with multiple sexual partners have a six times higher risk of chlamydia.
• Racial disparities in STI rates persist despite public health efforts, with Black and Latino populations 2–3 times more likely to be diagnosed.
Risky lifestyles and behaviors have led to these alarming statistics and outcomes, particularly among young people. For decades arts, culture has been an influential part of Black society.
So, is there a role that our artists can play in effective messaging to address unhealthy and risky lifestyle behaviors, particularly in our youth?
America’s deathstyle, problems and cultural solutions
In “A Torchlight for America,” on page 97-98 in the section, “Promote a cultural revolution through the arts,” Minister Farrakhan writes, “The artistic community has historically been in the vanguard of social change. What is now needed is for the artistic community to lead a cultural revolution.”
He continues, “On the physical level, man is what he eats. Spiritually, ‘… as he thinketh in his heart, so is he… .’ (Proverbs 23:7) If the American people are constantly fed filth and garbage through newspapers, magazines, television, movies, plays and music; if the public, like the proverbial swine, has become a lover of filth;
And if thoughts guide behavior, what do the thoughts of the American people produce? Do the thoughts of the American people produce rape, incest, murder, theft, greed, and the destruction of family and the institutions of society? I would argue that the answer is yes.”
Minister Farrakhan also warned on page 107 that relationships “between men and women have become rampantly irresponsible.” He has also warned about the problems that arise resulting from careless sexual activity.
“Women are being used, and allowing themselves to be used, as sex objects. This moral problem, in part, is undermining the cultivation of proper family life. We breed hostility with the thoughts we carry during promiscuous relationships. We have sex for recreation instead of its divine purpose of procreation,” he continued.
Sister Dr. Safiyya Shabazz is a member of the Nation of Islam and attends Muhammad Mosque No. 12 in Philadelphia. She is a board-certified family physician and owner of Fountain Medical Associates.
She told The Final Call that she agreed that the popularity of online dating, the stimulation of promiscuity as promoted through popular music and fashion, a widespread culture of casual sex and the social trend of “ghosting” (disappearing after sexual encounters) is endangering an entire generation of young people seeking validation through a misunderstanding of physical intimacy.
“I think what is happening in the minds of young people is a desperate search for belonging,” Sis. Dr. Shabazz said. “That’s what everyone is really searching for that is being manifested in very dysfunctional ways.
Young people are finding a false sense of belonging in online communities or even a certain level of anonymity in expressing a lot of deviant thoughts that people don’t have when they’re in face-to-face interactions,” she said.
She noted that the rate of HIV/AIDS infections is now higher in the Black American population than it once was in comparison to the White population.
“I looked at one of the references and statistics, most of the HIV, the new diagnoses of HIV were Black people, they’re at 42%, and 69% were among gay, bisexual … men …,” Sis. Dr. Shabazz said. “So, these types of things that are becoming more and more prevalent in our community, they do have real consequences for health.
I think that the recklessness, the carelessness that we’re seeing in our youth, the root of it is this desperate search for belonging and love, finding it in ways or activities or behaviors that are very unhealthy,” she said.
“Sex is a powerful drive in any animal species, including humans, because the drive to reproduce is very strong; and when you have these images and the easy access of it with pornography, you see a similar habit-forming tolerance and the need for an increased dose,” Sis. Dr. Shabazz explained.
She described the brain’s release of pleasure-seeking chemicals such as dopamine as being part of a neurological process that can drive an undisciplined person into more deviant and risky behavior.
However, Sis. Dr. Shabazz said people, particularly young people, are seeking something better in life and that it is better to be demonstrative with them than to condemn them. She also said implementing the Teachings of the Eternal Leader of the Nation of Islam.
The Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, where people are given a choice, by offering water from either a clean glass or a dirty glass, reflects the concept of change by attraction over promotion.
The role of artists, entertainers and cultural trendsetters can be critical in promoting the “clean glass.”
Taking responsibility to create change
In his lecture, “Satan and the Mastery of Sexual Urges,” delivered April 8, 1987, at The Final Call Administration Building in Chicago, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan said the human being contains both an animal nature, driven by physical needs, and a divine nature that can incline toward good or evil.
“The forces that God sets up as opposition, they are forces that help to keep you in check,” he said. “When you overcome those forces, and now feel free, then the freedom manifests everything that’s hidden in you, the thing that is good, and also, the thing that is not so good. Now, you’ve got the head and you’ve got the body. The head, of course, is that which creates satisfaction for the body,” he explained.
Describing how natural urges can overpower reason and result in poor or even deadly decisions toward self or others, Minister Farrakhan said, “the force called sex is a powerful force, isn’t it? No one can be righteous unless we can control the inner forces that are neither good nor bad, but if the intelligence does not bring these forces under control, then evil becomes your way of life.”
He continued, “The body has urges that send messages to the head, the head thinks and satisfies urges, needs, wants … you need air, water, earth, food, clothing, shelter, education, love, peace, happiness, comfort, the union of male and female, the procreation of the human species and at some point, along this road, death comes.”
“Every force or urge or need of the body is regulated or controlled by the intelligence of the head,” Minister Farrakhan said.
Minister Farrakhan has also stressed the importance that artists can play in helping to uplift our communities and inspiring young people. In a message, he delivered June 13, 2001, in New York, titled, “Farrakhan challenges the hip hop community,” the Minister spoke on the role artists can play in spreading positive messages and imagery.
“In the Book of John, it says, ‘In the beginning was the word. And the word was God and the word was with God and the word became flesh and the flesh dwelled among men. And the light shined in the darkness but the darkness comprehended it not.’
I do not think it is an accident that music and culture have moved to this time and that the spoken word has become that which is affecting youth throughout the entire planet,” Minister Farrakhan said.
“In countries where governments do not like Western music or Western civilization, people are sneaking around listening to the word and moving to the beat of the hip-hop generation.
If in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God, then, God here means Force and Power. The Word has Force. The Word has Power; Force and Power to move men to think new thoughts and to do new things.”
Sister Neelam Hakeem Muhammad of Mosque No. 27 in Los Angeles is a hip-hop artist who goes by the stage name NEELAM. Dedicated to uplifting lyrics that are conscious, positive, insightful and empowering, both she and her husband, Bro. Marquis Henri Muhammad, work as a team to write, film and produce positive, uplifting content to present an alternative to what is often promoted.
Her popular hits include collaborative works such as “We Got ‘Em Like,” featuring rap artists in the Nation of Islam, Da-Neek and Goalden Chyld, and “I’ll be the King,” featuring Erykah Badu, have received acclaim for their efforts to elevate the consciousness of people who listen to their music.
Sis. Neelam told The Final Call that she sees the value and wisdom of the Nation of Islam’s Ministry of Arts and Culture to help inspire positive lifestyles over what has become an American “deathstyle.”
“In the days of Motown, the music we (Black people) made before proved how powerful and useful we can be producing a beautiful universal language that could effect and reach people,” she said.
“Hip-Hop would become another manifestation of expression, highlighting what we are, what we’re going through and how we feel and would like to feel (but) it was dangerous to the objective of those working to keep us ignorant and disunified,” she added.
“So, hip-hop, crossing into the new millennium would become one of our enemy’s most useful tools to exalt ignorance, addiction and promiscuity,” added Sis. Neelam.
It is the duty of civilized men and women to raise their communities through culture, refinement and beauty, she explained.
In his 2001 message to the hip-hop community, Minister Farrakhan reminded them, “Your potential to change reality is so great that if you learned the skill of words and how to use words;
If you learned how to say what it is you want to say, but, say it in a way that gains universal respect, then, the rap would evolve to an art form that will never be replaced. It will evolve to be that form that will set the stage for the next phase of its evolution.”
Final Call staff contributed to this report.
