03/15/1986
IWDM Study Library
Promoting Business Atlanta, GA PT1

By Imam W. Deen Mohammed
Imam WD Mohammed:
I begin with Bismillah Ar Rahma Nir Raheem. That is With the Name of G-d, the Gracious, the Compassionate. We pray the Peace and the Blessings be upon Muhammad the Prophet, upon his descendants, companions, the righteous all Ameen. Also, I would like to at this time express my appreciation for the opportunity to address you here in Atlanta, Georgia at this Convention Center. I was surprised to see the great numbers here. I didn't expect to speak to this large a gathering. I heard of the business workshops. They were planned in good time to be, I would say knowledgeable of what was occurring here today. And also, I was aware of the support from distinguished business brothers and sisters in this area that I have come to appreciate and admire very much after hearing of their patience and hard work and now the progress that they are making in this area. I don't want to name any of them, but we are very happy with the fine persons and progress that you are making in the way of business in Atlanta, Georgia, in this area here.
We pray our Allah blessings be upon your efforts and that you will enjoy constant growth and increase in business that will be a blessing and great help not only to Muslims, their families and the Muslims, but also to the people of Atlanta and elsewhere. Anywhere we have progress and good work, progress, it benefits all. I don't want to alarm anybody or to make people think that the situation is worse now than it has been, but there are some concerns that when brought before us as we recognize them, make possible the best performance on the part of all of us that want to better our conditions.
I believe that when we look at the immediate time that we are aware of, the last maybe five years or so, when we look at that time period, I would say that we're doing better. I'm talking firstly of the Muslim community, the Muslims. But I'm also including the non-Muslims too of the African American people and struggling masses, striving, hardworking masses or neglected masses in this country. I recall being very much aware of the mood in this country, the trends, the spiritual trends, the direction that we were headed in spiritually 10 years ago, seven, eight years ago. And it was frightening. It was frightening to see so many people happily going to hell.
But in the last I would say 3, 4, 5 years, I've seen a change. I've seen more serious people making themselves known, making their position known, making their commitment, known that they're on the side of health, morality, strong family, progressive community. And that has been very refreshing for me because I was very upset to see the mass spirit of the American masses is going happily down the road to hell. It hasn't been all the, I would say change for the better, but we know that the abuse of life, family abuse, teenage pregnancy, crime, drug abuse, has been on the rise and it's still on the rise. So it's not all progress. There are some very sad things that we have to look at too. But once the people's spirit change, there's hope for them. And I believe that America, especially African Americans, black America, is in a better situation now then it was 6, 7, 8, 10 years ago or more. In a much better situation. There's much yet to be done and many of us, we fail to see the value, the benefit of moral preaching. We don't see much in the effort to raise or to awaken the conscience of people. We'd rather give our attention, our energy to political movements or economic movements. But moral life is what we need more than anything else as a people, and it's not only us now. We can include the poor masses of America. We are all in the same situation.
But I am mainly addressing the African-American situation because there are more of us and more of us dependent on outside circumstances for our tomorrow, for our life support. Whereas many of the Hispanics and other ethnic groups in this country where poverty exists for them just as it exist for us, have a determination to manage their life, to better their financial situation, even if it means suffering for a long time, putting out a lot of energy to get little, and that's something that we still have to develop in the striving poor and the neglected poor of the African-American man. I believe that I can best help by sharing with you the information, observation, that seems most important to me. And offering some answer or pointing some way to a better life.
And I believe that success and failure for people in America depends most of all on their awareness of the condition or the situation for them in America. I don't think that African-American people are aware of reality for them as citizens of America. And it's because we have had to give our mind and spirit and soul to the freedom struggle, civil rights, the defending our equal human worth in a land that once enslaved us, segregated us, utilized us, rejected us, et cetera. Even now when the land and the law have changed, we still spend too much energy on race issues, race issues.
So the cause of that past conditioning and past necessity and conditioning in our life that we even now cannot put ourselves in a situation to take advantage of opportunity in America. There's always opportunity in America. Wherever there is freedom, there's always opportunity. And all of us are free to go out of our home to seek employment, to sit in our home and think our way out of our situation, go outside and try to start a business, or start a movement. We're free to do those things. But there is little spirit, little spirit in the public, the poor public of America for anything other than immediate pleasures.
Most of us, we're taken away from the serious concerns by an invitation to have immediate pleasures. It can be a party, it can be a dance, it can be a celebration, but whatever it is, most of our people tend to run to it if it offers immediate pleasure. This is serious. And I feel that sharing with the audience that I am fortunate enough to address the concerns that I feel, the concerns that I feel, the observations that I feel that offer some direction from light, from understanding. To share them with you even though what I offer may be identified or called philosophical, theoretical or whatever. Maybe some tell me, say, "Well it's too heavy for me Brother Imam."
Maybe things I have concepts of or knowledge of or ideas of are too heavy. Observations that are too complicated or too heavy. But I still feel that I must share these things with you. Because it's not always the studious person or the intellectual person or the knowledge teacher that hear and understand and grasp the idea and have the courage, the spirit, the energy to move on it. Sometimes it's the man that never saw himself as being such that recognize something, come alive and do more with it than those people from whom we expect great results. So I'm convinced that what I'm doing is not a waste and it is finding a home somewhere and it is motivating people somewhere, and it is making possible a better life for somebody somewhere. And as long as I can have that feeling, then I'll be enthusiastic still and I'll be coming before you doing my best, carry my load and giving you what I have to offer even if it is philosophical or theoretical.
The former advisor to President Jimmy Carter, a man that I met on occasion when I was fortunate enough to be invited to the White House named Brezinski. Former advisor to President Carter. Mr. Brezinski has authored a book. And in his book, he points to America as the social laboratory of the world, the social laboratory of the world. Now we all know what a lab is, a science lab or a lab for any science experiment or study. We know what a lab is. And this great man, this great figure, in his book he refers to America as the social lab or laboratory of the world.
He is not doing that to say that America is bad or to put America down, but he addresses that because he felt it was necessary. That was a necessary observation to make the subsequent statements and points in his book. I have told people some time before I read this book, that there's something very peculiar about America's freedom. I recognize there is a kind of contradiction. In fact, it is a contradiction. And you can only see it as not a contradiction when you see its purpose. But to most people it's a terrible contradiction. And this strange contradiction keeps most people lives in turmoil. Because they're being torn apart by their own spirit, by their own mind, by their own sensitivity.
In America we're free, but being free in America is not the same as being free in an undeveloped land. It's not the same as being free in a primitive society. There is a better chance for the average person in America or the masses in primitive society, America's freedom is very difficult, very, very difficult. At times we enjoy a season of opportunity. But that season of opportunity will not stay. Freedom in America will eventually take away that season of opportunity. Because just as there was freedom and opportunity to create that good season, there's also freedom and opportunity to take away and bring in something better, and that something that's brought in better may be even worse for you. Without being specific and pointing to any specific development, I hope that I am making myself clear. We must understand that America and it’s kind of freedom began really as an experiment.
It started as an experiment. An experiment with freedom to see just how far freedom can be taken before a new order has to be brought in. You know when we were children, we didn't believe that freedom in America meant the freedom to do the degrading and shameful things that the public and the media shows us in this day and time. When i was young if you had told me this stuff would happen, I wouldn't have believed it. I said no, they would have to overthrow the government. There would have to be a change in government. I wouldn't have believed that people would be able to do the most perverted and strangest things and receive approval or at least sanction in the name of freedom from educated people, professional people, great institutions and a great media. I wouldn't have believed it. This culture that we call American culture is rotten and poisonous through and through. And I think those who are pointing to America as a drug culture, they really saying something very mild. It's a sick and perverted culture; it's a blind and self-destructive culture. It's one that turns the destructive forces on anyone and destroys the best that is in the American life. And the best way to survive in this day and time is to be against America's cultural atmosphere. If you are not against it, you are going to be destroyed by it.
But that's freedom. That's freedom in America. That's freedom American style. The great experiment. To see just how much freedom can be allowed. Just what will happen if people are left to do whatever they want to do. Who thought when I was a boy that equal rights would mean equal rights for gays. We could have accepted that there would be equal rights for women because that's human, that's natural. I'm sorry if I am offending someone here. I don't hate you if you are gay, but I don't see your way of life as being the norm. I've been trained to think or to believe that what is normal is what is established. And it is not established that the human being is homosexual.
It's established that the human being is male and female. And there's an occasional development or presence of homosexuality. That's not the norm. Then if It's not the norm it's not natural. But the new line is to say anything is natural is natural. That's not the way I was brought up. That's not education when I was a young man. We were not told that anything happens is natural. We judge that that was normal for nature to be natural. And the opposite of nature unnatural. The deviation unnatural, the norm natural. That's how I was brought up. And I want to hold on to that kind of thinking even if it kills me because I prefer to die that way.
And again, I'm afraid because I have homosexual friends. I do not hate gays. I do not hate him. In fact, I sympathize with them. It's a wonder we don't have more gays, the way they treat masculinity. So, this observation that America is an experiment, a great experiment, a lab for the whole world. And I do believe that. Where everything is tried here so it won't have to be tried elsewhere. So, England is doing pretty well socially. They have economic problems but family life is not in the hellish state that it is in here. And you can go all over the world, in the poor quarters of Africa, the Middle East, wherever you go. You find social life and family life in a better condition than it is in America. In America family life is at the worst it can be. In fact, there's hardly any family life at all for the majority of the poor African Americans. You can't call it family life when children and parents have no more child/parent relationship, children behaving any kind of way, disregarding the family, the parents. The members of the family being taken in different directions, coming in at different times of the day, half the time they don't even see each other.
Spending all their time outside with strangers or with other associates outside the family. Givig their time to television when their in the house or the record player or some other interest and not finding time for each other. You can't call that family. And that's the condition of most of our homes. Not one home but most of the homes are like that, in that kind of state. Another thing we have to understand about America is that America offers freedom to everything. Free markets. The is markets is free. And in the free markets, I know that if I want to have money or business and I see the opportunity for my business somewhere in the public, I'm free to develop that market.
I'm free to do that. Even if I want to sell something that's killing you, I'm free to do it. The proof is the great drug problem right now. Drugs are killing us. Drugs are killing innocent and guilty people; it's making slaves of people. And it has been doing so for a long time. it has reached now greater and epidemic proportions. But still there's drugs sold, heroin, coke, whatever, all over the United States of America. We know that if this country really wanted to stop that, if they wanted to outlaw it they could outlaw it. And stop it. But it's the way of America, that's American freedom. These are obligations that we must make and take very seriously. How are we going to progress with our family life, how are we going to progress business life if we don't even have business life yet. You know that? As a people we don't have any business life yet. People have businesses. But as a people, we don't have any business life. Japanese got business life in America.
We don't have any business life in America. Jews have business life in America. We don't have any business life in America. There are other groups with business life in America, but as a group we do not have any business life in America. Some of us have business but as a people we don't have any business life in America. We want to make progress for establishing business life for African Americans. We have to take these obligations very, very serious. We didn't come to America; we were brought to America. See, when you're going somewhere, you in a different situation. When you're being taken somewhere you don't have a map. Am I making myself clear? When you're taken somewhere you don't have the map. You don't have the information on the place where you are being taken. Those who are taking you there, they have the map and they have information on the place where you are being taken. We didn't come that way.
So we found ourselves slaves in America. No map, no information. Just placed here. In a situation of slavery, we began to try understand the circumstances we found ourselves in. And gradually we were free to study America, to study American ideas. And let me tell you something, when we study America, we are studying America from slave sensitivity. We're studying America from slave situations. We are setting America as people who have been abandoned. In America. So we are studying America with Negro, black man, African American sensitivities. Whereas the person who comes here from Spain or Thailand or Korea, or somewhere else, the person who comes here, he doesn't involve any race or ethnicity in his study of America before coming here.
He just wants to get whatever he coming after. He might be coming at some better job opportunities. He may be coming to take advantage of technology, the great schools of technology or a great opportunity to come here and grow with America's technology. There might be a number of reasons. He might be coming here just to take in America because there's no checks on you. You're free to go into business if you want to. You're free to have a freedom of assembly. You have all these different freedoms. And I want go to America because that's a good situation for what I want, for what I want to do with myself in my life.
Well he already has some idea of what he want to do with his life. It's different for us. We started off pleading for freedom, freedom from slavery. And then once we were free from slavery, chattel slavery, then we had to plead for just treatment, and then for equal opportunity. Preferential treatment on the basis of what had been taken away from us, what caused us to be handicapped by centuries of slavery and being deprived in America. So, then we asked for equal opportunity, preferential treatment. We are now conditioned; we're still in that kind of sensitivity. So, we're not in the same position that the newcomers in.
You can charge people up, tie them up in their hurt and in their grievance. You can tie them up with that kind of stuff, where their efforts will be weak and you can easily defeat them. If you can make your point, whether it's a chess game or whatever. If you can tie him up with emotion, if you can tie 'em up with problems that weigh on their emotions, hurt, grievances, you weaken them. You weaken their ability to compete with you. And that's our state. That's our state as a people. We have been conditioned by past experience to be wounded emotionally, to be motivated by emotions intentionally. There are too many hurts and too many grievances to just get out here and compete with people and do a good job.
We need some understanding. We need to understand our peculiar situation in this peculiar kind of freedom. The only way I know to tell you is to tell you as I see it. And that is that America is just a place for you to come and make your peace. America doesn't guarantee your protected life. It doesn't guarantee you a moral life. It can't guarantee you social success or economic success. It can't guarantee you those things. Look how the government spent so much money on these racial initiatives. Where the federal government with its great power, it's great resources, great tax revenue resources will be able to take over guardianship for our race and spend money for racial change, a racial uplift.
The big money was spent and now it's all over. And we're hearing from official places, official reports that we are more economically unstable as a people than we were before those great federal initiatives. Now that should tell us that we can't depend on Big Poppa in the White House, not even the federal government. We can't depend on outside forces or outside factors working for us and taking care of us. Making ways for us to have a decent life or equally enjoyable life with other ethnic groups, with groups in this country. We can't depend on those outside. I watched the children's play. It was good, very good, very good. They mention the time of Reconstruction. During the time of Reconstruction, blacks have great political positions, great political positions.
During the time of Reconstruction, the blacks in the south were over the whites of the south. For a time. It was because of the might of the North. The presence of Northern troops. It was because the government imposed that kind of situation on the whites of the south that we enjoyed that kind of progress. Now here goes another time where we seemed to have made great progress due to the great social programs, with President Kennedy, President Johnson. It looked like we were going up, making a lot progress, being taken care of. But it was false. And as soon as America decided that we can't tolerate this any longer, the majority of American people were sensitized against it, now it's gone. So, we should be fed up with requiring assistance from America. And when I say that, I'm looking at the assistance that other ethnic groups are asking for. They don't come here asking for all this help. We got to forget about slavery behind us. If we remember it, we got to remember it in our own private quarters. Don't bring it out in the public anymore. We don't need to tell America that we were made slaves. America knows it's history. We don't. need to tell America that we were discriminated against. We don't need to tell America that. If we are going to talk about that, we need to be inside the safety of our homes.
Enter Here


