The Ghetto is Not Really a Place

Shem Hotep ("I go in peace")



“The kingdom of heaven is within you; and whosoever shall know himself, or herself shall find it.” Sawaad Amen Ra


LONG LIVE OUR PAN-AFRICANIST GENERAL KHALLID ABDUL MUHAMMAD.

Khallid Abdul Muhammad 1948-1998

Like Malcolm X, Khallid should also be considered "Our shinning Black Prince". Minister Farrakhan called Khallid "A Black stallion that no one can ride but God." This dark skin brother epitomized, and was the personification of "Black Is Beautiful". He was close up and "in yo` face". He was real. He was not surrounded by an army of bodyguards, thus making him "larger than life". Khallid was yet another beautiful example of what the teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad can do for Black men. Far too many Black boys have the wrong role models to look up to, such as silly gangster rappers with their pants hanging down, or "larger than life" athletes. Black boys need more men like Khallid instead of this growing gangster` thug culture.






The Ghetto is Not Really a Place.

What`s so fabulous about being ghetto? In case you weren`t aware, the ghetto is not a place. It is a state of mind. Negroes are currently stuck in a ghetto state of mind that is hindering us all from achieving our full potential.


How did we get to this state?
It`s sort of like being a black horse in a horse race and your gate doesn`t open. Meanwhile, all the other horses are white and off and running but you`re stuck in the starting block. By the time your gate opens, all the white horses are damn near at the finish line because you didn`t have any W-D 40. Face it, Black people are about 400 years behind the finish line and something always causes our gates to stick. Be that as it may, while we should be trying to mount a come from behind victory, we often find ourselves hanging outside the stables, smoking weed and drinking malt liquor and Alize`.


There are so many examples of fundamental ghetto mentality syndrome (FGMS for short) that I`m not even sure I can list them all. Yet, by bringing at least some of these examples to your attention, it is my heartfelt hope that everyone will take a second look at themselves and at their individual state of mind. For some folks, the following examples will be hard to read. We will surely lose some subscribers because I can spare no ones feeling here. Some folks are what they eat and some folks are what they speak. The truth is only real if you don`t lie about it.

If there is anyconsolation to be gleaned for those who are already suffering from this often contagious condition, please note that there is a difference between regular Black American culture and the Black American ghetto mentality. For starters, eating fish on Friday`s is a part of Black American culture, (yeah I know the Catholics do it too) but eating fish or barbequing on the front porch when it`s not your family reunion is ghetto.

Hopefully you won`t mind, but I decided to preparea short list of a few other ghetto mentions, which if you have done in the past, just might do in the future or have indirectly taken part in as part of a group and/or gathering, you might want to visit your local Ghettologist for accurate diagnosis and treatment.

What kills Black people the most?
Our Kemetic ancestors were very wise people. They dealt with all facets of life and incorporated their spiritual beliefs into everyday activities. They speak on the subject of tradition in simple proverbs. For instance: “Everyone finds himself in the world where he belongs. The essential thing is to have a fixed point from which to check its realty now and then.” Just because it is traditional for Black people to do something in a particular manner doesn’t mean you should continue to do it because your ancestors did it. This is not progress. The Black Church should speak to Black people in a manner that the times call for. This is why so many youth are turned off from the Black Church. The Black Church doesn’t speak their language. The Black Church doesn’t deal with the issues pertinent to the youth’s survival. Children today do not have the same respect for what adults say. This is a good and bad thing.
For children today is not afraid to question authority. You can’t simply scare the youth today by telling them to not question God and the Church. Its effects are slowly starting to diminish. You have to be more knowledgeable today to deal with today’s youth. We are in the Age of Aquarius (knowledge); it’s time to get with the times.
Children today are learning more and more about the world around them. Today’s youth can put together complex web applications and can hack into big business company files. Children are building robots and have their eyes set on space. Children today are turning their X-Box’s into Windows Servers. You simply can’t come to these individuals with the same old routine that use to work for your grandparents. What are you going to tell your kid about sex and marriage, according to the Bible, when they actually read for themselves and come to find out that sex before a marriage ceremony is not a sin. I have angered many a people with this one because no one can find a law in the Bible that forbids sex before a marriage ceremony, yet we teach this to our children as law. Children are smarter than you think. They are not going for the jive our parents taught us, so let’s not repeat their mistakes. My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6). Knowledge is what’s missing from today’s churches. Too much emphasis is on preaching than teaching. In a book called The Negro Church in America by Dr. E. Franklin Frazier, he points out that; “...the religious instruction of the slave required preaching rather than instruction in the Christian faith. Preaching meant dramatizing the stories of the Bible and the way of God to man…. Another qualification which the slave preacher must possess was the ability to sing.”


The method of teaching found in most churches today, are not the methods of our ancestors. This new form of charismatic preaching does not allow the mind to really concentrate on the teachings. People are too caught up into how the preacher is preaching in the sermon as compared to what the preacher is preaching. The way a preacher teaches should be based on how well the information is transmitted, not how much applause he can obtain or how well he rouses the crowd. Imagine yourself in a college class room for mathematics, do you think you would get much learning done if the teacher brought in an 8 piece band and throughout the lesson shouted at you to get your attention? “Yeah!” “Uuuuhhh!” Most will reply, “It’s not the same!” My point is, in all methods and institutions of learning; this method for teaching is unacceptable, except in the church. Most will agree, I assume that a concert and screaming throughout the lesson would not benefit them in any other place of learning. So why do we accept it at church? I am not saying that music should not be a part of the experience. That is just as African as Africa itself. But there is a time and place for everything and the music and entertainment should not overshadow the teachings. The mind must be in a calm state to really understand what instructions are being given. This is why you study in quiet, so the mind can process effectively the information trying to be understood. I speak about this so vehemently because we have people in the church today who have been going to church for over 30 years who know nothing about Christianity. Most people in the church cannot speak a lick of Hebrew. If I said, “Yahawah Ba Ha Sam Yahawahshi Barak Athah”, most would look at me crazy. Most people cannot speak any Greek or Aramaic. Most people in the church don’t know who Constantine is and how important he is to the church. Most people in the church cannot tell me anything about the five council meetings (Nicea, Constantinople I, Ephesus, Chalcedon, and Constantinople II). Most people in the church don’t know whom Sir. Francis Beacon is and his role in the editing of the King James Bible. These are important people and events that are a direct result of how we perceive Christianity, yet no one knows about them. The reason why is because church is not set up for true instruction. It has become a place to feel good. When Christ went to learn, he learned at a temple, where he could ask questions and they had assignments and could take notes. That is non-existent in the modern church and Sunday school is not the same thing. This stems from our slavery days. It was forbidden for slaves to learn in their traditional methods of learning. The slave masters knew about the education of the Africans. This is why they tried so hard to hide it from us. If we began to read, speak our native languages and could decipher for ourselves exactly what was said in the Bible and its original text in the Torah, it would cause the slave to rebel because the slave sees a contradiction in what has been said and what they see in the actual text and historical documents.



Revolt Aint A Revolution.

Why are we fighting each other trying to overthrow our brother?
Why are we still saying freedom, still freedom can`t come?
We have to learn things from ancient history to help build a new society.
We have to remember Kwame Nkrumah and Marcus Garvey to build our own economy. Now a revolt aint a revolution, a coup is still not the solution.
We have to plant some food on the land, agriculture is the key for building a nation. Why are we measuring` progress as determined by the whites? Why are we still saying yes to all their mess? We have to understand` the times we are living in, and remember where we have been. We have to remember what happen in slavery, so as not to repeat that history.

Now a revol aint a revolution, killing leaders is not the solution.
We have to build schools in the community to get rid of illetaracy.
Why are we listening to these preachers who pose as moral teachers?

Pimp Rev. Senator James Meeks (D-Chicago)and Pimp Creflo Dollar.

Why are we still saying amen to the very thing that put us in this pen? We have to return to ancient philosophy and reveal all of earths mystery. We have to live by our own spirituality to determine our own destiny.

Now a revolt aint a revolution, white foreign aid is still not the solution. We have to overstand Africa for all African to help build a new nation. Why are we discussing our problems with people that will not help to solve them? Why are we still begging for freedom, while looking down the barrel of a gun? We have to seek King Shaka and Hannibal.


In these times of aggression and understand what was their mission. We have to advance to victory with truth and right known that right must overcome might. Now a revolt aint a revolution, building nuclear weapons is not the solution, if some thing is not worth dieing` for its not worth living` for but if it takes war to free us then is just WARRR. By the ballot or the bullet,by the bible or the gun any which way freedom must come.