That Rebellious Streak

Why is it that when we ask something of our children or instruct our children to do something they want to rebel? What is it within us as adults that makes us just so rebellious? Before we even begin to try and answer that question, let's define rebel, the root of the word rebellious.
Dictionary.com cites the origin of rebel as follows:1250-1300; (adj.) ME < OF rebelle  < L rebellis renewing a war, equiv. to re- re-  + bell ( um ) war + -is  adj. suffix; (v.) ME rebellen  (< OF rebeller ) < L rebellāre;  (n.) ME rebel,  deriv. of the adj.
In essence-Re- means renew/again and bell-in Latin is war. Interesting, yes?
Now, look again at the action of the person who is being rebellious. Dictionary.com also cites the meaning  of rebel as:  
1. a person who refuses allegiance to, resists, or rises in arms against the government or ruler of his or her country.

2. a person who resists any authority, control, or tradition.

Now, children it seems have this natural inclination to resist any authority. They don't take to being controlled and have a hard time accepting traditions. However, it seems the same is true for adults. No, it doesn't seem. Adults are exactly the same. They resist, authority, control or tradition too. 

Take for instance, say, your wife asks you to take out the trash. For whatever reason, you don't move, you just sit there. You aren't handling a delicate situation, you aren't in the middle of a life or death situation. You just plain old don't feel like doing it then. Time passes and it becomes less and less important and low and behold, here comes the wife. Standing in front of you with a scowl on her face. Is your wife an authority? Well, the Holy Qur'an says you have rights of whom your right hand possesses. I would say that gives her some 'juice' (pardon the slang). So, in essence she isn't your boss but she indeed has rights/limited authority.

When it comes to your children they certainly resist and you have all the authority as the parent. 

The question is, why? Why the resistance? Why the hesitancy to just submit or do? Is it because we don't know how to do what is being asked? Is it because we resent the fact that someone other than God and ourselves can expect/demand something of us? Is it that inner war of insecurity that tells us, if we obey the request or instruction we are less than another? 

Whatever it is, it absolutely positively must be dealt with in a spiritual way. We must stop thinking that every request is an effort to encroach upon our person. Requests in righteousness are opportunities to acquire a blessing. We start off this way as children and stay that way through adulthood to the detriment of our relationships. Each time our children tell us 'no' or simply resist our authority they are giving life to a part of themselves that enables them to become, really, and enemy to God and the establishment of His Kingdom. They get stronger in silencing the voice of righteousness which, as the Hon. Min. Louis Farrakhan has taught, is our conscious--the voice of God within.

So the next time you decide to resists something that is simple, that is within right, ask yourself why are we resisting, giving life to that rebellious streak?

 

Solution--Muhammad University of Islam

Muhammad has the answers. Ms. Robinson of Fox news touched on the fact that MUI was the saving grace for this young man, but if you see this video I hope that it is clear that it is not only his saving grace but the saving grace for the children in our community that seem as though they have no way out. MUI was the answer to this young man's prayers after 5 months of being in limbo.
We thank Allah and the Hon. Min. Louis Farrakhan for re-establishing MUI. Great job Sis. Tonja Styles for caring enough to get involved!!!

Sherrod's Speech!!!

Initially I had another blog post in mind, once I saw this video, I knew she wasn't fired for her comments. She was fired for daring to remember her history, for having the courage to share it. Listen to her story, it is our story, our History in America. Never forget, never again.

What Mrs. Sherrod Represents

Shirley Sherrod is the former director of Rural Development for the state of Georgia. She was fired over a video she made in March of this year at an NAACP gathering. In my previous post I embedded the video so you could see and hear for yourself exactly what she said. She simply hesitated to help a white farmer, 24 years ago. Why? Because her dad was murdered by a white man, because her entire life she had lived in rural south under the thumb of those that wanted to do her and her family harm simply for being Black.
This is a grown woman who has memories of her family coming out of their homes to defend themselves with shotguns in the night. Her memories are the memories that we have refused to remember or even acknowledge in this post-racial America. But she remembers her experiences with racism, and she shared them. And she stayed in the south to be in a position where she could decide the fate of the very people who she and her family suffered under.
After all of that, she still fought with all of her resources to help a White farmer save his 500 acre farm.
Someone asked me, "What does this Sherrod story have to do with the struggle of Black people?" My answer, "Everything."
That is our story, Sherrod represents us in a small way. She suffered much. She pledged as a young girl she would leave the south and never return. Yet she stayed, fought as best as she knew how, received a measure of balance and most importantly she never forgot her history, her experience.
The fear of some is that she will always remember her pain and seek retribution. But that is not our heart. That is not our way as a people. We forgive (unfortunately forget) and move on.


Then there is the other dynamic that boils down to the old familiar 'dollars and cents.' This Black woman was over, reportedly, a billion dollar budget in Georgia. A billion dollars. In this cash strapped economy, when you have an honest broker over the finances as she was said to be, it's a bit more difficult to maneuver money without accountability. With her conveniently fired, perhaps those funds are more accessible to those who have no intentions of being fair or just.

Every media story we see, without exception is sent out to the general public with an intention of effecting the reader. Maybe it is to persuade or inform but always to leave an impression. In this case, it effectively disrupted the life of a life-long public servant and showed the colors of leadership who threw her under the bus, that should have her best interest at heart.