Estimated reading time: 13 minute(s)
Warning: This post might touch you….I’m teary-eyed thinking about it again and just writing it…I never post lengthy things but this young brother wanted this to be known that he did something positive.
Tuesday, while out for our weekly truth trafficking Final Call push with Brother Linton Muhammad, I spotted this young brother crossing the street and heading in my direction. We have a rule that if any person is within earshot, we do not allow them to pass by without us engaging them. So I noticed this brother, dressed down in red, had his phone to his ear so I said, “I won’t interrupt you my brother but here’s a copy of our paper for you to get a little knowledge.” Then I noticed he wasn’t on a call, he was actually listening to music via his speaker.
So, I said, “My brother, may I ask you a question?” He said, “Yea” with his music still blasting. I asked, “Where are you headed in life?” He said, “Well, right now I’m headed to my new gig I got.” I applauded and encouraged him for that and then asked, “What do you think you’re ultimately born into this world to do? What do you think your purpose is? You know how great you are?”
He stares at me and then turns off his music and says, “God must have a big plan for me, huh?” I said, “Yes Sir!” Then I started to tell him how The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan teaches us we must find what we love to do and that which we do best to get on the road to our ultimate purpose. I started telling him how great Black people are and how we’re not born to walk the Earth without aim and purpose…
Then, he looks down at his phone, from what appears to be an abrupt text message. He says, “I gotta go homie, I gotta go.” I said, “No problem soldier, thank you for your time Black man.” He starts to walk and as he gets to the street and turns around, looks at me and says, “Aye man, can I stay here with you?” I said, “Of course.” He comes back and asks me to share more about The Teachings of The Honorable Elijah Muhammad. I can’t remember all I said, I honestly got in the spirit of excitement over his hunger to hear more.
Then he asks me, “So y’all under the 5-point star, huh?” He saw the star and crescent on my Twitter Bird lapel pin. Then he asks me about the 5% Nation then shows me his street organization affiliation tattoos. And I tell him, “B.L.O.O.D. means B.rothers L.eading O.thers O.ut O.f D.arkness, right?” He said, “Yea.” I said, while pointing in Bro. Linton’s direction across the street, “Well, that’s what Farrakhan did for us and that’s why we’re out here to help others like you brother. We deal hope instead of dope. We have to give one another a sense of purpose as Black men… ” The more I spoke to him, the more he stared at me and then in a loud emotional yell he says, “Man, bro stop! Bro…man, wait…hold up….” Tears started flowing from his eyes. He said, “God talking through you to me. I don’t cry g. I don’t do this…see on the real, that text was for me to go do something I wasn’t suppose to be doing. But something about you made me not want to go do it…”
At this point, Brother Linton rushed over because he heard the brother yelling from across the streets. Bro. Linton greets him and then he finds out Bro. Linton is from Louisiana like himself and they have a wonderful exchange in patwa. 
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Then….what happened next is what got us: The young soldier takes a copy of The Final Call newspapers, jumps into the street and starts going up to cars to offer copies to them! He got a little discouraged when people initially wouldn’t roll down the window but I told him, “See, being out here with The Final Call helps us to handle rejection in life. The Black man is always rejected but that doesn’t stop us from going to the next car. Don’t get discouraged.” Then he went back out and sold one!!!!! I was walking alongside of him telling the people, “Aye, he’s out here doing something positive, show ya love!”
When a police car rolled up, he got nervous, got out of the street and said, “Ah man, here come the cops.” I said, “Hell no brother! These are our streets. Go and offer them The Final Call.” And he did! They rolled down the window and politely declined but he smiled and felt great about what he did. It was then time for him to go to work.
He said how great it felt to be doing something positive. Then took this photo. Brother Linton showed the pic to him and he said, “Yeah, we HOPE DEALERS today.” We exchanged contact info, he asked me for two copies of the paper and then shook my hand.
While walking away I saw him go up to the foreign owner of a nearby cellphone store who was outside smoking a cigarette. I heard him tell the guy, “You need to put down that cigarette and pick up this knowledge.” And handed him the paper.
All Praise is Due to Allah!!! It would be an understatement to say that this served as more motivation to push even harder in these streets to go after our people as The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan instructs us. Never give up on our young people in the streets!!!!
(Photos: Linton Muhammad)
