The Final Call

The challenging, rewarding task of cultivating boys to men

By Brian E. Muhammad -Contributing Writer- | Last updated: Jun 21, 2016 - 9:41:44 AM

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Much has been said and written about the plight, condition and state of Black and Brown men and boys in America. Social scientists and experts have provided the statistics and painted a dim picture. Scholars, think tanks and organizations have issued studies and reports spelling out the disparities Black and Brown males suffer in various categories of health, economics, and education and in social welfare issues like mass incarceration compared to their White counterparts.

Despite the gloomy outlook dedicated individuals and change agents say all is not lost for the Black and Brown male, however change cannot wait.  

 “When you have a problem you have to first get to the root of the problem because we’re taught that for every cause, there is an effect,” says Houston-Texas based community activist and organizer, Deric Muhammad.

Deric Muhammad speaks at last month’s Smart’N Up Summit in Houston.

When we look at the statistics and the dire condition of the Black and Brown male, we’re looking at the effect. “Everybody wants to talk about the effect, but nobody wants to address the cause,” he said.  There are multiple causes and not a “one size fit all” answer.  It’s “several problems that require several solutions,” explained Deric Muhammad.

“We cannot talk about fixing the problem without acknowledging that the problem has been manufactured.” The conditions didn’t happen by “osmosis” nor “an accident,” but by design, he said.

Deric Muhammad lectures and holds an annual Summit for young Black Males called “Smart’N Up!” and finds that the problem tied to a conspiracy is hard for people to swallow. “One of the reasons that we’re having such a hard time getting a grip on the solution to the problem is because we really don’t want to take a hardcore honest look at the cause.”  He partially blames the cause on policies set forth by the U.S. government such as disproportionate sentencing in crimes that often sees young, poor Black and Brown males receive more jail time for minor crimes.

Author, lecturer and psychologist Dr. Umar Abdullah Johnson said the Black male dilemma is “almost at a point of no return” and intervention is needed immediately.

“Without question there’s an extermination mandate against Black males and a mandate is being carried out by both the United States government as well as the American social order—the general White public in this country,” Dr. Johnson said.  The mandate is being supported by a lack of infrastructure in the Black community, he said.

 “The fact that we do not have our own educational institutions on a mass scale, as well as economic opportunities for our young men, they often find themselves sitting as ready participants in the mass incarceration system and of course the premature extermination system,” reasoned Dr. Johnson.

He said much of the violence, murder and crime is born out of lack of opportunity and the desperation it creates because most crime is economically motivated, he said.

“But whenever we have conversations about crime and Black males, the economic importance to the overall problem are often divorced from the public narrative, which means that Black men often end up being blamed as the cause for so much violence in our community.”

Many people in positions of influence or power never get around to discussing “mis-education” and “economic castration,” he continued.  “It’s because there is no intent to change the “mis-education machine” or to improve the economic opportunities for Black males. The Black community will have to fix the problem themselves,” said Dr. Johnson.

If not, “We risk seeing the Black men go from endangered species to population of the past.” 

For years, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, National Representative of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam, has taught what makes a man and also warned about government conspiracies to destroy the Black male keeping him in an emasculated and dependent position.

 “Every man must become a producer,” said Minister Farrakhan addressing the Boys to Men conference in Chicago earlier this spring.

“You’ll never be considered a man until you can produce for yourself,” he said defining the responsibility of men versus boys. He raised the point of how White children are placed in circumstance to learn how to open up a business.  The same must be done to turn economic development in Black communities and making them a safe place to live.

Supporting and opening Black business is being a man, the Minister said. “When boys become men they become the protectors of their community,” he remarked. 

Over several decades the Muslim leader has warned about the sinister plan of the government on Black males.

Disproportionate arrests and unequal sentencing have had a devastating impact in Black communities. The fact that Black men are six times more likely to be jailed than Whites and more Blacks are in prison or on probation today than were enslaved in 1850 is enough cause to be alarmed, observers say.

The reasons vary and as Michelle Alexander pointed out in her widely read book, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, there is a deliberate agenda for incarcerating young Black men. The result is the existence of a “permanent under-caste” of people, she wrote, stuck in a quagmire of marginalization and inequality.

But with the cards stacked against Black and Brown males their condition begs the question are they a lost cause?

Pastor E. A. Deckard

“No, the Black and Brown male is not a lost cause,” said Pastor E.A. Deckard who heads the Green House International Church in Houston.

“The reason that I can so firmly say no is because those that we would label as being lost—if it were not for the grace of God—I would be one of those ‘young men’ that you would have called lost in the days of my youth,” Pastor Deckard remarked. 

The pastor and community leader said he is now in a very prominent position in society because he didn’t give up on himself and “life didn’t give up” on him. “If I can make it then any other kid in the hood can make it,” he said.

“Any Black man or Brown man in America can succeed if they’re given the right exposure and opportunity,” he pointed out.

Pastor Deckard believes that Black and Brown men who escaped the streets and overcame the negative environment have a “mandate” to return and show a “different alternative” for young men. He said it’s important that they go back and tell their stories to young brothers on the fringe.

“If a young African American male or young Hispanic male only see the negative side of life … only sees “the  ’hood’ lifestyle, the criminal lifestyle, the drug lifestyle, the gang lifestyle—if that’s all they’ve been exposed to it minimizes their forecast for the future,” Pastor Deckard said.

It’s about presenting options and examples that change can happen. As a Christian, Pastor Deckard works in brotherhood with Deric Muhammad—a Muslim to address the conditions of Black males. One initiative is the “No More Blood Shed” Movement to bring an end to the senseless violence in our communities.  The interfaith relationship is an example how the problems can effectively be handled.

“A lot of people have different thoughts and different solutions that they come up with. Some say the absence of a father and there needs to be father figures; some say mentoring, some say they need jobs and programs which is all good,” said Shahid Muhammad, Nation of Islam Student Minister and educator who convened the May 30 ‘Boys to Men’ conference themed “Let us Make Man” in Chicago.

Grandmaster Anthony Muhammad who is also the student Assistant Supreme Captain of the Nation of Islam, demonstrates martial arts technique to young man.

He said the bottom line is in order to change behavior, their minds have to be changed. “What’s missing is the knowledge of themselves as the Honorable Elijah Muhammad teaches us. They have to have root knowledge of self and they have to have a connection with God and it has to start as young as possible,” Student Minister Shahid Muhammad told The Final Call.

Student Minister Shahid Muhammad is known for engaging the community in the streets where he sees firsthand the negative effects of the Black male condition.

“The earlier we can get them the knowledges that they need, in order to civilize themselves, love themselves and then appreciate their own Brothers and Sisters—the  better,” he pointed out.  

Student Minister Shahid Muhammad explained the main thing they need is the teaching of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. “We’ve seen examples at Muhammad University of Islam when children come from maybe a public school where there’s total savagery.” Once they are enrolled and receive the Islamic Studies class, “we begin to see a change,” in their countenance, their minds and behavior, he continued.

“The Honorable Elijah Muhammad says in order to produce any change we have to first have a new idea and a new thought.” That’s where a renewal begins. “All the other things would just be enhancements and edifications of that,” added Student Minister Shahid Muhammad.

“Satan’s world of education has not solved the problem and it’s not going to and giving a job, you are giving a savage a job and all they’re going to do is take the money and continue savagery.”

Brother B.J. X Gammage, of the Nation of Islam, speaks to young boys on the streets of Chicago. The Fruit of Islam in Chicago and in cities around the country visit communities to engage with residents, resolve conflict and bring a positive word and influence.

For Bruce Tresevant, founder of Project Unity USA, a Columbia, S.C. based non-profit that works to connect community folks with leaders and cultures from all walks of life for a unified effort, there is a leadership void in solving the issues of Black and Brown males.

“We don’t have true leadership in the Black community,” Mr. Tresevant said assessing the plight of Black and Brown men.

“Our Black males that are responsible for our younger youth, we fail to show up to where we need to be. We don’t show up to court; we don’t show up to city or county council meetings to demand what we feel is due us … especially being taxpayers,” Mr. Tresevant added.

Mr. Tresevant sees the trickling effect of disunity and poor leadership in the way resources are distributed and prioritized by government.  A community leader and businessman, Mr. Tresevant strongly advocates Black men taking charge of the situation to counter the situations adversely affecting them. “You as the Black man have to stand up, because if we don’t, nobody else will,” he argued.   “The only thing that other folks gonna stand up for is putting us in prison (and) keeping us at minimum jobs,” he said.

“We as Black men need to stand up and do and be what God has already ordained us to be,” he told The Final Call. “God has already ordained us to be leaders,” adding “we begged for years and years … (but) we have this Jim Crow mentality that we can’t do it unless the White man says so.”

He said Black men are suffering from a slave mentality that must be broken and described young Black men as “mis-guided missiles” that need committed men to intervene and emulate. He is calling for a new movement of Black men. 

We were brought to this country not to be made freed, justified, equal to mankind; we were brought into this country to be subjugated, said Deric Muhammad.  The only way you can perpetually subjugate a people is to attack the man, who is the natural protector, provider and sustainer for the family. “You have to keep him under attack … control him and you have to ultimately destroy him,” Deric Muhammad said.