EP21 - Immigration - A Righteous Evolution

In this insightful episode of 'The Family Ties,' co-hosts Frank Abdul Shaheed & 
 Faridah Abdul-Tawwab Brown discuss the importance of embracing seasonal changes, both in nature and in our lives. They delve into the current political discourse around immigration, emphasizing the need for a community that is charitable and secure. Using examples from the Quran and the Prophet Muhammad's leadership in Medina, they highlight the role of family, community, and shared responsibilities in building a 'City of Light.' Through personal stories and historical references, the hosts explore themes of spiritual and material migration, the duality of human nature, and the responsibilities we have towards our neighbors. The episode ultimately encourages listeners to adopt a mindset that aligns with scriptural values and work towards the collective establishment of human dignity and excellence.

00:00 Welcome to The Family Ties
00:50 Autumn Reflections and Personal Insights
04:50 The City of Light and Community Security
06:57 Keys to Community Security and Immigration
15:19 The Role of Charity and Responsibility
23:14 Family as the Foundation of Society
40:58 Historical Lessons and Spiritual Guidance
52:29 Closing Thoughts and Future Directions


This podcast is about family life as a means to address current problems in American society. A scripture based African American perspective. 

Welcome to The Family Ties, a Prescription for Society.
Through this experience we invite you to join us in an exploration of the concept of family ties as a prescription for society.
 
YOUR HOSTS:  Frank Abdul Shaheed &
 Faridah Abdul-Tawwab Brown
 
This episode was recorded and edited by Darryl D Anderson of AMG - Ambassador Media Group visit https://www.ambassador-mediagroup.com/
__________________________________
Music Credit
Back Home by Ghostrifter Official | https://soundcloud.com/ghostrifter-official
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Creative Commons / Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Copyright 2024

Transcript

Frank: 0:15

Peace be upon the family, as we welcome you to another experience of The Family Ties, a prescription for society. I am your co host, Frank Abdul Shahid.

Faridah: 0:26

And I am your co host, Farida Abdul Tawab Brown. Before we get started, don't forget to subscribe so you can stay up to date and get all the All the latest episodes,

Frank: 0:36

welcome back to another fantastic, hopefully episode with my dear co hosts, sister Farida. It's a pleasure to have you back. How are you?

Faridah: 0:45

I am well, it is a pleasure to be back and to be here with you. I am well enjoying the, I guess the new newness of autumn. I was going to say the vestiges of summer, but autumn is upon us. My favorite season of the year.

Frank: 1:02

Yes. I'm more of a spring guy because I'm looking forward to the new growth and a new life. And, and those types of things, as I get into autumn, I'm thinking about, Oh, I'm going to have to go into another five months of cold. Oh no.

Faridah: 1:17

See, you know, I'm not even thinking of winter at that point. I'm just thinking of the beauty, the magnificent beauty, you know, as a new Englander, you know, born and raised in, in Boston, Massachusetts. So the awesomeness, the resplendence of the beauty of the turning leaves is just amazing. And then that little nip in the air, you go from steamy summer nights to the coolness of autumn. And it always signifies change to me. And I guess, because it's associated with the beginning of the school year, September, around that time, I think it always was associated in my mind with new beginnings. In a similar manner to spring, but just, I guess, in that idea of intellectual growth and making new friends, that kind of thing.

Frank: 2:02

Well, as I'm looking back on some of the literature that I used to read, a lot of Charles Dickens and those types of great, authors that we had to read while we were in high school and going through school, I think of like the cold, dark winter was the name of a book or something similar to that. But if it's cold and it's dark and it's winter, then in my mind, I'm thinking, well, then there must be a sunset and this has to be autumn, which is interesting because when you look at the sun rise in the spring, you, sometimes you may be blessed to see. Some color in the sky, but often you don't really see a lot of colors in the dawn of the day It's just very bright. The color sky is usually very blue and it's just very clear Just a clear time of day, but normally when autumn comes or the sunset comes that's when you see the streaks of colors where you tend to see them also in the trees during the Setting of the Sun during the seasons known as autumn, which I found very interesting and beautiful as well

Faridah: 3:05

Yes, you know, I read a poem once that described autumn, the magnificence. It described autumn as the the time of year when the trees and nature was going through these cycles that were closed, like you said. It was a harbinger of of winter, you know, of death in a sense. But it was that period in life where the mature trees, the fullness, they're revealing their full beauty and color. And I, I find that reminiscent, I think of people like my mother, you know, in the, the, the, the, you know, near the end of her life, she was giving of her beauty. She was giving of her knowledge and her wisdom and and everything that she had gained on this earth and the beauty in that was showing and she was giving it to those around her. And I think of autumn in that way, in that same, a similar manner, the beauty of those leaves turning.

Frank: 3:59

There is a song called the autumn leaves. And my favorite version of it is by The Temptations. Now, they never released the song. They just happened to do a rendition of it on a The Ed Sullivan Show, actually. But that version of The Autumn Leaves, I just really loved it. that, that version, plus I'm a Temptations fan anyway, but the, the, the, the song itself just gives you a greater appreciation of autumn and how our life is reflective of going through a period of autumn as well.

Faridah: 4:32

Yeah. I must say that my, my favorite version is Nat King Cole and you know, of, of that song. So we both enjoy it from different different places on the musical spectrum, if you will.

Frank: 4:43

Yes. But they're all, all a dignified. Taste and everything. So,

Faridah: 4:49

yes,

Frank: 4:50

well, you know, in previous episodes, you know, we, we wanted to just reinforce what we want to do to use this platform for what our voice is designed to be. For what interests we have and just want to make sure that our listening audience understands why we're using this platform and using our voice and really encouraging them to look deeply into themselves and find a way. Find a way for them, for their voice to be heard, their actions to be seen. So that way we all have this universal design for ourselves and we all have a collective destiny and to ensure that we all are on the path to that collective destiny. So we, we mentioned about this city of light. On a previous podcast and, and how the city of light just embodies the hopes and dreams and aspirations of the soul and the material coming together to have this establishment, the good establishment as we, as we mentioned before. So we, we want to continue in that, that vein of, of determining what the city of light is. should be and how we should take steps to try to develop ourselves and taking steps towards that city.

Faridah: 6:13

I have a question for you in light of that. And I think it's a very important, like you said, we're, we're trying to establish what it is that we are doing with this voice. And it's very important to the both of us that you know, that you, as our, our listening audience understand that this is a movement that we'd like to build. You know, that's, that is awakening the purpose within and calling on all of us to, to find that light inside, connect it with the light of guidance from our creator and, and set this city on in light, you know light the city up with our individual lights. And so in light of that, I would I would like to ask you what are the keys? You know, I would like us to consider what are the keys to the security of a community. And I asked that in light as well of the recent political political conversation that we've been involved in. Most recently it's come to the fore in a recent debate between the two two of the presidential candidates in this November, 2024 election. Of course there are other candidates, green party candidates and, and others, but the two nominees from the democratic and Republican parties and in that debate conversation has come up. around the immigrant community in this country. And we know that that's a hot topic and, you know, a hot button issue right now in our country because our cities have been darkened. The light in our cities and in our, ourselves, our homes, our, our families have been darkened in a way. And there's a darkness surrounding this national conversation that we're having around immigration. So can you discuss that a bit in, in light of the keys to the security of a community?

Frank: 8:01

Absolutely. I will do my best

Faridah: 8:05

as you do well every week.

Frank: 8:09

Thank you. The check is in the mail. When I think of security, I think of a security guard. And normally a security guard would have three things on him. He would normally have a pen. He would normally have a flashlight and he would normally have a set of keys. And one particular person I heard, and many years ago said that the more keys you have on your key ring, the more it shows your level of managing responsibility. So so we're talking about the keys to security of, of, of a city coming to a city or community. I wanted to throw that in, but I want to, I want to talk about this political climate about immigrants. So, interestingly, man's life is designed to grow. We're designed to go. We're not designed to stay still. We're not a stagnant creation. We're designed to traverse. We're designed to, to, to go many places and do many things. So there's always a movement to go somewhere, to leave something, to go to something. One of those very. Early inscriptions on the soul of man was God himself, our creator created man to find him, which means you have to leave something to find something. So it's already in our nature to, to leave one point, to go to another point. Normally, in that level of progression, it's for to build. Upon something very rarely, do you ever see us in a situation where we're trying to, we're leaving something to get away from something, but even if we are getting away from something is because it's denying us an opportunity to build something. So the, the motivation in us and our spirit and our soul is to leave one thing to go someplace else to discover, to find a better place. Understanding a better situation, a better establishment. So when I hear the language of our political situation regarding immigrants, it's given us the picture of a people who wanting to take from something versus them wanting to establish their best life to contribute to something. So the very symbol of freedom in America is The Statue of Liberty, and we know that on the Statue of Liberty, what is the quote on the Statue of Liberty? You know, give me your, your tie, your core, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, to breathe life free, freedom expression. This is what America is called the humanity too. This is the established, this is the place for you to have your best life, the America. As we know it to be, but the language of the political people suggest something otherwise. And it's something that we have to be very careful on when we're looking at this, this picture of immigrants. And as I said, I wanted to paint the picture to say that already in our nature, we're designed to move to a better establishment. It's something in us that moves us there. Our nature moves us there. Our spirit moves us there. And ultimately our mind will move us there for us to now establish our physical establishment in this new land or this new environment or this new knowledge or this new circumstance. So I wanted to just to begin with there and see what you thought your thoughts are. in response to that, having securing the keys for a secure city or community.

Faridah: 12:12

So, yeah, you, you, you brought up a lot, but I think the idea of, of movement, of the necessity of movement I think that one of the things that we have to focus on is this There was a very important, enlightening teaching that, that made reference to the, the point of departure being very being critical to understanding migration or immigration. And I think it's critical because we're told in the, the Quran. in the scripture of the Muslims that migrate, we're told, migrate in the way of God. And so it's very important what the intention is behind a migration, a movement. And so whether you're actually talking about a physical migration, the immigrants who are being painted with a, a, a, a brush.

Frank: 13:10

That is

Faridah: 13:11

a broad brush that is almost entirely negative in our current you know, in the, the current political discourse that that brush is, is very negative. It's very broad and it is also evoking not scriptural guidance. or even having a reference to, you know, our history, as you pointed out, you know, looking at the Statue of Liberty and the poem that's inscribed upon the base of the Statue of Liberty that speaks to the impulse and the, the exhortation to charity, to security, for those who have to flee, who are looking for relief from some situation that oppresses human dignity or doesn't make space for human dignity. So whether you're speaking about the, the migrant who is moving physically away from a geographical location and a reality that oppresses their, their very being and their ability to have a healthy, dignified human life. Or speaking to the reality of the necessity to migrate again, this point of departure to migrate in one's disposition away from a reality that is oppressive and which and seeks to undermine the, the human dignity and the expressions of human dignity. And I think that the key to security that is inherent in that or the keys to security that are inherent in that is that migration inherent in that is a struggle, right? To move from one place to another, even in one's mentality, even in their psychology or their spirit, it requires a struggle and it requires an effort and a standing. It also requires a community neighborly needs. It requires care. It requires offering harbor or it offers harboring or safety. Right. And so you cannot have one without the other. And so immigration is an invitation for those of us who have something to offer to be generous with that. If the, if the migration is on the part of somebody who is moving out of a place that oppresses the human spirit and doesn't make way or a pathway or room for human dignity to be secured, then any human being or any institution in society is required, if one follows the logic of scripture, is required to offer safe harbor.

Frank: 15:56

Yes.

Faridah: 15:56

For that individual or that thinking. And so I think those two things are key to the security of any community. And I think it's telling that we're being invited away from that picture, that guidance that scripture gives us in our current Our current political discourse when we, when we're looking at actual physical and material migration.

Frank: 16:19

Yes. So once again with this podcast, we want to make sure that our listening audience, you know, just understands that how language has been formed to, to free us. And at the same time, we've talked about this duality is also was created and used in a way that wasn't intended, and it now has put us in an oppressive, oppressive state. So it is our duty to, to love one another. It's already in us to do it, you know, but, but as a support for that our creator has put in society and put in, in nature. This relationship, and we see it in many forms in, in, in, in society and in creation, having the responsibility of being one who is secure means that it just doesn't stay with you. Part of the security is to ensure that which is around you has the same benefit as well. The, the one who is immigrating or leaving a circumstance and wanting to come into another circumstance understands that even in that level of condition that they're in, that there's a certain responsibility that they have as well. So each party has to respect their level of responsibility. So that way these two responsibilities never. Never rubbing against each other. They're never in conflict with each other. They are actually following the same logic. It's just that they're both in different positions, but the logic is the same. So when we talking about securing a situation and I'm a neighbor, I am in my community, I'm just in my neighborhood. I have to understand that my neighbor next to me, I have to, in order for my security to be safe to true have to have. To have true security that I have to ensure that the ones next to me has the same resource or the same access to the resource. So ultimately it is for me to share if it's not knowledge, it could be material, it could be spiritual. It could be a host of things, but I have to share that because that is my responsibility. To share that level of what I have to ensure that the security stays where it is, the person who is seeking freedom, the person who is seeking liberation understands that should understand that coming into that condition offers you the responsibility to maintain that freedom and liberation, which means that you have to pick up another burden or pick up another responsibility to ensure that that freedom stays free. With others. So as, as the Statue of Liberty says, give me, you know, you want to come to, to breathe free, to be, to breathe freely. So to, to put it all together, they work together. So the one who has, and the one who doesn't have worked so closely together that you don't know who has and who doesn't. That's the picture.

Faridah: 19:26

Yes.

Frank: 19:26

That should be the picture. You shouldn't know who the wealthy person on your neighborhood is because you guys should be working together in such unity that you don't know. You all look the same. It's a uniform picture and with this immigration language, that's what the responsibility of those who have are obligated to those who don't have. So in America, the picture is this as American citizens, we're, we're, something is being taken away from us because immigrants are coming. So now I have a certain disposition towards the immigrant that won't help them be successful, which ultimately will take away my security in the long run. So we have to redefine what these responsibilities are and have the, have to be aware of what the language is and be able to decipher the language to get the best results.

Faridah: 20:21

So you're, you're I, I love the beauty of, of, of the logic of scripture, because what you're describing in, in, in reorienting us to these concepts that in their guided that the guidance has been there for, you know, thousands of years and we're looking at this idea of loving thy neighbor. as thyself, right? We're looking at the, this idea that what, if there's enough for one, there's enough for two. That we're told in the Quran that if you spend in the way of, of, of God, like for, with your intentions to be pleasing to your creator, then you will never lose. It's like loaning. to God alone so that when you are giving of what you have and remembering that everything that we have is a gift and a bounty from God anyway. Right? The creator is the one who has provided this. There is a, in, in the Quran, we're told that, that God is the best of providers. And so the reality of what's going on. of taking from what He has provided. Not meaning that we don't understand and respect the idea of ownership and understand that we are stewards of the wealth and material possessions that God gives us, but understanding that ultimately this is all a provision from Him. And so we're supposed to utilize what we have. Like you said, the right hand should give so that the left hand doesn't even know that it's giving. The, the neighborhood should be functioning in a way that You understand what your neighbor needs and you are racing in a race with others to provide what your neighbor needs. In what, in what way, you know, we have this critique in our country. Well, that person's supposed to pull themselves up by their bootstraps and, you know, we shouldn't be, you know, you should, you shouldn't give them so much that they become dependent. Well, when a baby. is learning to stand when you watch them, when you observe them doing this thing that's in their spirit, they're watching everyone around them, walking, moving, getting to the things that they want being able to move away quickly from one point to another. They see that and they want that for themselves. So that's a desire to stand in and establish oneself. They often need help. Mm-Hmm. the baby will hold onto something, a table, a couch, a a, a person's leg. Their, their mother's arm. Their father's finger. Right. And they will use this to stabilize themselves as they're standing. And once they have had the practice and they're in, in the habit of doing it, then they walk on their own. That's the process. That's the process for all of humanity. And so I will take this back to looking at the, the, the, the model for this for humanity And it's in the family because it's in the family where you realize that we are, we are, we have a model for healthy interdependence. Healthy interdependence begins within the family unit. And as we all know, the title of this show is family ties, a prescription for society. What you're describing as you talk about immigration and the, the need. that we have as, as, as, as people, as American citizens to migrate, to immigrate from our way of thinking, the way we currently construct that this is a battle over resources and there's not enough for me. So how can there be enough for these migrants who need my resources as well? And then it becomes this mighty fight over these limited resources when God himself has provided enough resources for every human being. It's just about management, right? And it's about, and those, those ideals, that way of seeing it, of course, it's in scripture, it's in guidance, but it is modeled in the beautiful example that God has given us in the formation of family life. When the husband and wife come together The husband, especially when the wife is pregnant and she's carrying children and she has these young children who are dependent on her very body for nourishment and sustenance, there is a responsibility upon that mother to, to take care of her body. and her spirit and her mind so that that child can be healthy. And there's a responsibility on the father to go out and provide material resources and also spiritual guidance and emotional support as that process is happening. So they're both dependent on one another. They cannot stand. She cannot stand in her role as a nurturer of human life without the support. of a husband and father who, who takes his role seriously and gives out of what he's been provided. And he cannot stand in his role as a provider and a leader for his family. If he does not have an understanding of the value of what his wife is doing in nurturing and carrying his future. his establishment within her body, both literally, literally and metaphorically. And so within the family, that's when sisters and brothers, we learned how to rely on one another. When you're down, when you need something to eat, when one person is sick, the others help one another. It's in the family unit, the healthy family unit that we learned that we have to rely on one another. And so once you take that, understanding in practice, that scriptural guidance in practice in a very meaningful way, in a way that's modeled in our actual creation. Then we take that and we, we, we, we use it at, on the neighborhood level. Yes, we care for our neighbors, the community level. We care for our community and ultimately the level of the human family.

Frank: 26:30

Yes. Very well. Very well. I love that picture. It's just a beautiful picture. The picture of family has always been a beautiful picture. So in the climate that we're in now, you know, you mentioned the pull yourself up by the bootstraps. Yes. I've always. Yes. Marveled over that particular saying, because it suggests that a person who hasn't done it is lazy that that's, that's been the connotation with that, that that person is lazy if you don't put yourself up by the bootstrap. Look, I'm successful. I put myself up by the bootstraps. Well, as you. Painted the picture about a child wanting to stand up oftentimes, if not, every time the child looks for a structure that has already established itself for them to stand up. So once again, as a child, you're not even, you can't even birth yourself. Something has to birth you. So at any point in your life, did you ever think you could do it by yourself? You're getting the wrong picture. So that pull yourself up by the bootstraps is just another way to deceive man out of his good, his good life. And his good mind is good senses to, to want to be arrogant to the point where it's just you. And if it ain't, if you can't do it, then, then you can't do it or it can't get done. So, yes, right. So a child needs structures and we need structures in our community, and this is what secures the community. This is we looking for those securities in the community. So we mentioned once before in a previous episode about. The city of light, and we mentioned a particular city, the city is Medina and the proper term for it is Medina Al Munarwa, which means the city of light or enlightenment. And we referenced that Muhammad, the prophet, the prayers and peace be upon him, who received the Quran and established the life in that city as an example for all of humanity. That's the example. What, what, what made it the city of light? He put a requirement on the residents of that particular city to accept. The immigrants who were coming into his city, and he was one of those immigrants. He wasn't originally from that city, but he was invited to move to live there. And he brought along those who had the same sensitivities as himself, as well as the people who have already secured the city to come to the city as well. But his requirement was to. Share and share alike as my grandmother's always say share and share alike To share and share alike meaning that you should open your your heart. You should open your resources. You should open everything up to Accept what's coming because that's a shared Dispositions, a shared idea, ideal, and it's a shared, a common identity that they want for a common solution or a common goal or focus. And then those who were coming with him understood that there was a requirement on them as well. If I had to. Which means that now we both have one that you can't overburden the person who's accepting you just because you you've come into a new situation, which means initially what we talked about is the disposition of leaving in the first place. to have the best life. You're now coming into a situation where you can have that best life, but in that best life, there are requirements and there are rules and regulations and obligations as well. So for, in order for us to have this city of enlightenment, then we all must have the same disposition. And the disposition is to be charitable because charity begins at home.

Faridah: 30:28

Yes.

Frank: 30:29

And it spreads abroad. These are, these are lessons that we learned even before we even knew what they were connected to. It was just in the environment and we just knew these things. So when we heard grandma say, share and share alike, we understood what that was. We might've been a little angry because I had two Mary Jane taffies that I wanted to eat on my own, but I had to share one with my brother knowing full well, he's at the age where his teeth is falling out anyway, because he's about to get his adult teeth. I still had to share and share alike. So. These are just life lessons, and we have to have the disposition to accept and also have that disposition to go forward.

Faridah: 31:07

You are so correct. I have my own share and share alike story in it. As you said, these are important lifelong lessons that we learn in the bosoms of our childhood, you know, in our families. And my mother, who also happened to be my first grade teacher. She, she my sister and I, you know, I am a twin. And so we, our, our birthday falls in May. So that's during the course of the school year. So that we, she brought a cake in and, you know, our classmates are going to sing happy birthday to us. And, you know, the twins are turning seven and, you know, we were so excited until my mother informed us that we were going to be sharing our cake with a class, a classmate of ours who had done had some type of remarkable academic achievement that she was super proud of. And we were, we were stunned with what we have to share a birthday cake. And of course he's there smiling like, yeah, I get to blow out the candles too. We were yeah, we were not impressed with that lesson at the age of seven, but it has read, it's stuck with us. We knew it was something we had to do. And that lesson, you know, has, has lived with us for a lifetime and we understood. You know, I understood the importance of sharing what you have, even if it doesn't feel good in the moment, that charitable spirit is about giving you know, even if you can feel that it would have been more comfortable. for you to have it all for yourself. You realize that the greater good is being served, the happiness. And when we saw the joy on his face, when we knew that he was being celebrated for something that he had accomplished, I mean, that did feel good, you know, it really did. And that felt good even to a child. And so I think going back to this idea, you know, you're, you're really Honing in on the idea that everything is created in payers, that there's a duality, that there is a success in the, the only way that the community can function as a whole is for both the, the the migrant, the one who has traveled

Frank: 33:10

Mm-hmm.

Faridah: 33:10

For a righteous reason. And again, like you said, there, there, there are there are regulations built in to this idea. Even when you talked about, you made reference to Muhammad the Prophet, prayers and peace be upon him and his his command to the believers to support one another and enter into a relationship where they would even inherit from one another. But that wasn't to go on for a lifetime. It was, to to, to help them as the child does, as the baby does to stand on their feet. And then once they are that drive, and that's a way that supports the human. There was even one companion of the prophet prayers and peace be upon him at that time, who felt so strongly about, you know, standing on his own two feet that he, you know, he went out and he, he, he worked and he went to the market and he worked really hard so that he wouldn't have to end up relying on, on his partner. But that was just to show that you don't kill the spirit of the human being to stand in and establish on their own by giving them the natural supports that are necessary. But you will do that if you do it in a way, you know, if you, if you keep holding up the baby forever, the baby will never want to learn to walk. So one of the other the, the, the built in supports in this process is also to vet the migrant. For their intention to leave. Remember again, the Qur'an saying that, you know, you migrate in the way of God. You know, if you've been taken from your home, if you're not able to secure your human dignity, then that should be that liberation that you're looking for, for the human spirit, that should be recognized by anyone who is already secure. And we have an obligation to help them secure it.

Frank: 34:50

Yes. We

Faridah: 34:50

have that obligation that exists in us. And as you said, the community cannot flourish without that charitable nature and that striving for the establishment of the human dignity.

Frank: 35:04

Absolutely. And, and the thing that I love about our audience is they're so patient with us and these stories that we tell because these stories are so developmental and, you know, and we just want to make sure that we are connecting with the audience and just to let them know that these. Life lessons have, have formed in us and developed us as well. So my mother, I have to, I have to bring this up and mom, you know, the, there is no question my love for you, but I have to bring this story up mom. So my mother birthday is on December 24th. So oftentimes she wouldn't get gifts on the 25th, so she would just get on the 24th and they were, she was in such a poor situation, not having resources that oftentimes she wouldn't get anything for either day. So her aunt used to bake her a coconut cake, a three layer coconut cake. And let me tell you, you, you can't beat scratch. Nothing beats scratch. I just want everybody to understand that. And for those of us who have the. Palate to remember the, the, what scratch does that, that you've, you've been blessed. So she would make my mother a coconut cake and that was her birthday gift. So when we came along and of course, you know, 20, December 24th came along and she got this coconut cake and my mother said, you guys can't have any. Like, what are you talking about? Are you telling us we need to share our stuff, but we can't handle coconut cake. She said, because this isn't my birthday cake. This is my birthday gift. You don't share your gift, you share the cake. And I was like, really, Ma? Okay. So what we would do is when she would go to work, we would cut the cake in like such thin slices that she wouldn't know, but, but as children thinking we getting away with stuff, she knew it. But but I will say this, I just want to say this for the record, my mother gave of everything. It's just, we just couldn't get none of that birthday cake, but I just want to go. Since you talked about birthday cakes and stuff like that, but that was her birthday gift. Not her cake. That was a

Faridah: 37:16

gift. It reminds me of that episode of the Cosby show where Cliff was cutting and he was eating the cake. He wasn't supposed to then. So he cut it out the middle, put a piece of paper towel in and covered it with frosting. He was just about as slick as you guys were. But no, I, I, I do think returning, you know, like, Like you said, these stories develop us and they happen within the womb of the family. So we cannot overemphasize the fact that the family is the prescription for society, that the guidance that we have, the light that we want to awaken in all of us, there is a flame there that's in our hearts that was put out. put there by the creator of all the worlds. And then he designed this unit, this entity, this institution of the family to help us grow that light to protect it. You know, when you first light a flame, you know, you've got to protect it from too much oxygen. It needs a little bit of oxygen. to light. But if you put too much oxygen on it, initially it will blow the flame out. So the family unit is where that flame is protected, protected from too much oxygen, protected from the winds of the world so that it can, it can develop and, and remain strong and pure in its light and its warmth until it is ready to, to help go out and light others, ignite other flames. And so I, I wanted to return just to the idea of immigration because While this current political discourse reminds us of how far we have traveled as, as a people from the guidance of scripture. in our response to the, the immigration crisis that we're experiencing in this nation. You have so beautifully reminded us, eloquently reminded us that that is the responsibility, the obligation of charity that is married with that desire in the human being to do whatever needs to be done to move and evolve. And, and come out of the places where your human dignity is attacked, that that effort to strive and establish has to be married with the, the, the effort to be charitable. And when those two things are married, then the human community can offer security. for, for dignity. And I think, so what I wanted to ask you about next is this, this current conversation has pointed us to a reality that we have been trying to address with this show. And that is that there is an emigration necessary from our current disposition as Americans and as as a people, that we need to emigrate from this disposition in our minds that is reflected in our broken families, in our neglected communities, in our lack of establishment. We have plenty of individual, like economic establishment. We have plenty of individuals who are wealthy beyond, you know, you know, their wildest dreams. And we have plenty of individuals who might have individual family life where they are financially secure. But as a community, we are lacking financial stability, the ability to sit at the table of human brotherhood and say, we have something material to offer in by way of supporting. humanity in its movement toward the destiny. So I, I'd like us to talk a little bit about how we can segue now into this, this notion that we're trying to cultivate in our listeners. to start this flame of a movement toward establishing this ethical army based on scriptural guidance and scriptural values that will struggle and move, migrate in this movement toward the establishment of human excellence and the protection and security of human dignity. And it has to be married with the supports, the charitable supports that help that That idea come into recognition. So I'd like to talk a little bit about how we can do that mentally or what is the, what are, what are the realities in our history? We know we have the great migration, a physical migration of our people. We also have a migration from in the nation of Islam experience of a people out of America. Separating themselves from the American context and then eventually a re entry. So you can talk, can you talk a little bit about, about this idea that we must do this in our disposition?

Frank: 41:56

Yes. So I was going to address the fact that, you know, history is Probably our best teacher. We have enough in, in man's history that we can look back and every issue that we're faced with today, we've already faced before, and there has been some indication of a particular pathway for us to get through the process. We mentioned this duality earlier. So in, in the, in, in wanting to grow, there, there are pains. That you have to go through in order to grow you know, a childbirth is one of those, one of those great situations that in the process of the pain, you find the relief and the joy in the pain. If you never go through it, then you never find it. A child doesn't know how strong they are until they stand. A child doesn't know what his muscles can do until they exercise them. And in that exercise, and you find yourself lifting a heavy burden or heavy, something heavy that you feel like you can't overcome it. And that's when enlightenment comes. That's when the connect, the communication comes for you to determine what are next steps for me to be able to manage what's in front of me, this burden in front of me, whether it's, you know, family life, whether it's a child, it doesn't matter, but that's when it comes. So in the duality, we find the answer. So our history tells us that we are a people who are strong in spirit. And they'll tell you that African American age is real spiritual people. They, you know, they, they got the spirit, they closer to the Lord, you know, and even different ethnic groups will look at African Americans say we're closer to God than any other group of people just by our display of our spiritual being. But you referenced the nation of Islam as a, as a, another picture as well, where we see that this group of people, not only with the spirit, They also had material establishments as well, and they merged the two. So we have a history of that happening. We also have the history of Rosewood, the history of Tulsa, the history of all these different places where we see our life established in the midst of hell. That's all around us. We've been able to establish our life, stand up and establish the best life for our people. So it's not beyond us to do these things. History tells us we can do these things, but the issue is we need to be able to use our spirituality to guide us to our mentalist, our mental establishment. So use the, use the history of man. To help us use the history of African Americans in America to help you use the history of a people determined to not want a subpar life. And we see that. We see that in, in a, in a person by themselves. So how do they not have a subpar life? They look for a mate. They look for a partnership. They look for something to come together to create the abundance. It's already in our nature to, to, to want to be together anyway. So if it's just a man and a woman wanting to be together to create a life. That's one level of it, but it's also two families coming together to create even greater life and that's called community life It's already in our disposition to do these things and that's the trajectory that we need to be on as we're working our way To get through these in these issues of not having the proper supports and wanting to be the best community we can. We have them. We just have to grab them and stand upon them.

Faridah: 45:42

You know the, the picture that you just painted for us is it's one that I carried within my heart and in my disposition as a human being. And I think it's one that always saw my story First, as a human being, as a daughter of Adam in seeing that my parents, my first father had a fall, if you will, you know, or in his ignorance or his impressionable nature.

Frank: 46:15

Yes.

Faridah: 46:15

I like, I like that. Was deceived. Right? Yes. Yes. Yes. So, and, but it is in that very nature. God has written his salvation into his nature because that very nature that's impressed, that can be impressed upon, upon by the enemy of man. is also prone to the, the follow the excellence in its pattern and follow the guidance that God has promised for mankind and delivered over the course of our sojourn as human beings. So in that example, being the daughter of Adam, I already have a picture that I was designed to do difficult things. Yes. That, that my excellence as you cited so beautifully before that it is in the, the, the lifting and the climbing and the asserting and establishing oneself that the child recognizes their strength and what they're capable of. It's, it's in that picture of Adam, that beautiful picture of Adam, that I see that I am destined for success. That, that's written into my very nature. And then in my particular, so that's my picture as a, as a human, my universal picture as a human being that Farida had. And then I had the particular picture. of myself as an African American, the very particular picture and that experience that you just laid out so beautifully about our sojourn in this nation and our, our, our evolution as a people and our, our birth as a people. And that too was an example, not of anything to be ashamed of, but it was an example of the resilience of the human spirit. And what happens when a human being who has been denied. every support that human beings need to establish themselves when that has been stripped away from them, denied over and over again in almost every iteration that is possible from, from chattel slavery to Jim Crow laws and, and, and mores. that when that person who has had everything denied, when that people who has had everything denied, then receives the favor of God by way of guidance, that in that lies the, the redemption. And so, and the result, right? And so that's the picture of myself. that I had. I have, I've always carried within my heart, that picture of the duality of the ability, the struggle, that my excellence is only made apparent through my struggle and that the mercy of God is expressed through me and through other human beings as charity to my fellow man. And so when those two are married, that picture gave me an Excellent sense of self. And so this is the picture that I think is capable of being established in a child when they have knowledgeable and faithful parents, which I was blessed to have. And so, yeah, go ahead.

Frank: 49:23

No, no, I'm saying, I'm guessing the grants.

Faridah: 49:25

Yeah. And so I just wanted to say to that, that I think sometimes we get so dis we can become disheartened by the darkness. In which we see our people right now, our communities, right? We're like, oh, where's the, the darkness is here. How will we ever get the light? Well, God says that the morning is coming, right? That, that in the alternation of day and night, there are signs for those who have wisdom and understanding. So the, the. The light is on, the daylight is coming. It's promised. All we have to do is work hard for it and be willing to move from one place to another, from one disposition to another, from one understanding to another and marry that as you so beautifully stated with the husband and wife, you choose a mate, will you marry that with the imperative? to always give of what you have, because that's a loan to God. So with that, those two things in force, we will overcome. Too much has been given to us. So we are exhorting you, our listening audience to reflect on that deeply. This is your inheritance as a human being. And this is our inheritance specifically as an African American people who have been given guidance by a merciful, merciful, merciful God. We're capable of turning this thing around and we will do it with his help.

Frank: 50:52

Yes. And in the Quran God says that he won't change the disposition of a person until they first change what's bothering them, which means that you have to, that's a, that's a immigration right there. You're, you're moving off of a particular sensitivity or lack thereof to something that's more beneficial for you to invite. God's help in which is already there. You just haven't, you just decided, well, you just haven't accepted it. So the covenant that, that God has established with us is the premise. It is the first step. It is what's, what's holding us. That is the supports for us to stand in our places to hold up and create the security in the cities that we lived. As long as we stayed with the covenant. Then the help will always be to us and just want to quickly put picture what the Quran talks about rain and it says the rain lightly falls to the earth and then some things you see abundance and growth and, and, and, and, and benefit into other things is just like a barren, nothing. Nothing like a rock that doesn't give anything we're always in the same environment. We just have to be sensitive in the environment to be able to use what God has blessed us with. And that's always having the consciousness of the covenant that we are assigned. And I'm subscribed to that he of his benefit to us.

Faridah: 52:24

Yes, we are. Yes, we are.

Frank: 52:28

Yes. So once again, we are very thankful for this wonderful opportunity to address this wonderful audience that's constantly growing. I must say. And and we look forward to the opportunities coming very soon that we're able to interact with our audience to define and redefine some of our. Our concepts and some of our directions and some of our issues and those things, because we want to make sure that we are at a step and extension of our audience, and we want to make sure we represent you guys very well. So we thank you for your patience, your listening and for your. And with that, Farda, the praise is for God. We have moved one step closer to that wonderful destination excellence.

Faridah: 53:19

One step at a time. Until next time, let us remain conscious of our creator, of the sacred relationship of parent and child and of the family ties that bind us. Subscribe to the podcast. And come back next time for a new episode of the family ties

Frank: 53:37

from Frank Abdul Shahid

Faridah: 53:40

and Farida Abdul Tawab Brown. Peace be upon the family.