The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan recited a speech on November 15, 2009, titled "The Time and What Must be Done", on how Black America must change to survive. Minister Farrakhan pointed to scriptures, current events, and other social conditions to issue a warning about the need to change to avoid divine chastisement as an old world lays to final rest and a new reality patiently, and in perfect order, awaits on the coming horizon. The speech can be found at: http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/National_News_2/article_6575.shtml
Weaving together varied scriptures from the Bible and his own insights, Farrakhan speaks of a 6,000-year reign by the white race, which was allowed to create and rule a world built on falsehood. In his lecture, Minister Farrakhan profoundly states: "Today you can't blame the White man for where you are, you are where you are because that's where you want to be. But if you got your own foot out of your own way, no White man in the heavens above or the earth beneath could stop you from achieving what God wants for you." I concur wholeheartedly with this statement.
Undoubtedly, the Minister is correct in his assertion that there is a mandatory need for change and that all African Americans must rise to this occasion; however, there were a number of points highlighted in the message in which I respectfully disagree. Firstly, there is a different type of change required from that which the Minister speaks of. From my perspective, it's an attitude and a state of mind adjustment that's truly needed to overcome our black nation's dilemma and attain the change needed.
As well, Minister Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam have always advocated separatism of the races and the rhetoric of his speech remains consistent with such ideology; if this nation is to truly rise and be resurrected, then all men must rise and stand together as one--to stand independently of thine brethren, no matter one's race and creed, subverts the very principles that preserve the Godly-spirit.
And finally, I found Farrakhan's references to the white race's history and the so-called Biblical-based 6,000-year reign particularly troubling; even more worrisome was the fact that this idea is consistent with the mentality of Black America in general.
Carter G. Woodson, in his book The Mis-Education of the Negro, wrote:
"We say hold on to the real facts of history as they are, but complete such knowledge by studying also the history of races and nations which have been [purposely ignored]. We should not underrate the achievements of Mesopotamia, Greece and Rome; but we should give [equally] as much attention to the internal African kingdoms, the Songhay empire and Ethiopia, which through Egypt decidedly influenced the civilization of the Mediterranean world."
With all of the available Black scholars and historians, it is unfathomable how we as a group do not take the initiative to set the record straight regarding the true history of the Black civilization. Far too many blacks, and whites for that matter, are left with the impression that blacks have never contributed anything to civilization and that our legacy primarily is limited to enslavement and a jungle habitat, when nothing could be further from the truth.
Farrakhan's non-secular views that the white race has reigned for 6,000 years from a secular point of view is a misnomer. Based on known historical facts, the white race reign has only been a little over 2,000 years, starting with the Greek and Roman empires--and even during this time frame, the Black Moor's civilization thrived and was instrumental, along with the Arabs, in helping to free the Europeans from the Dark Ages.
The roots of "Western" civilization, culture, science, technology and religion are to not to be found in Greece, but in Black Egypt and Nubia-Kush. From as early as 10,000 B.C. to 1500 A.D., Blacks were pioneers in the development of science, culture and technology. Some of these sciences and technologies were so advanced that stories of flying contraptions and the invention of advanced machines have been passed down through ancient writings. As early as about 400 B.C., a Black Pharaoh named Pi Di Amen built a model glider to conduct experiments in flight. Centuries before, the Black Egyptians had already invented gunpowder for use in their temples and mystery schools. More information can be found online at: http://www.the7thfire.com/black_civilization/glorious_achievements_of_black_c.htm
The American and European academic systems have set up Blacks to involuntarily accept European values, traditions, and habits, thus, contributing to a total disintegration of Black Civilization culture. Our collective self confidence has been compromised because our cultures and contributions have been distorted and purposely forgotten.
As such, the struggles, sacrifices, and accomplishments of the African slaves have largely been ignored or underappreciated by their descendants. No greater evidence exists to support this argument than that of the shameless embracing--by the progenies of African slaves--a word that was used to dehumanize, degrade and demean their ascendants: [the n-word]. Minister Farrakhan did not touch on this ill that ails our community, which is a symptom of and steroid to the root cause of our current circumstance.
Many of us already own the skills and/or know-how, and the want, to occupy a firm footing in the new-world reality. The issue lies in African Americans' seeming inability to overcome the mental enslavement that was so long ago embedded into them before birth. If we are to become "qualified" for our rightful positions, we must re-form our mentalities into that of a higher-thinking, higher self-respecting race. (And by ascending the mind to a greater mind power, any lacking skills will be intuitively sought and attained.) The first step toward proof that this transformation is occurring will be our eradication of the n-word from our vocabulary and intellectual dictionaries. Once we peel this label from our psyche, we will be able to see ourselves as equal, non-categorized, qualified people; will act as such; and will reap the deserving benefits.
H. Lewis Smith is the founder and president of UVCC, the United Voices for a Common Cause, Inc., a writer for the New England Informer Online, and author of Bury that Sucka: A Scandalous Love Affair with the N-Word. www.youtube.com/watch?v=dP2U0jmZjec
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