Nurah Speaks

In an era popular with youth task forces and social programs serving ‘at risk’ youth, we must ask what we can do to head off delinquent behaviors in our young people. In this episode, I suggest that ‘Family Is The Best Social Program’ and I have research that I share to support this assertion. The research indicates that, “Children born to unmarried mothers generally receive lower human capital investments because the contractual partnership between the parents is less stable, and sometimes nonexistent (**Becker, 1981).” In other words, we increase the likelihood of unfavorable outcomes for our children when we do not anchor them in families to provide them the needed moral, social and economic supports. Frankly, we cannot reasonably expect to make a healthy community when a large segment of our children are conceived by people who neither parent likes or desires to create a family with. Families are the beginning of life lessons that cultivate us to interact within our broader community and nation. So if

Patriotism is a great quality to have and experience. National Pride. National Affection. National Devotion-everyone should have this for their own nation. It is unnatural to not. Blacks in America are in a strange ‘in between’ in which some of feel American patriotism, some exhibit Pan Africanism, some are just indifferent and some others regard American patriotism or national pride as racism. In this episode I discuss what I think is our misunderstanding of patriotism and the entitlement of white Americans to their national pride. “If you had known the history of yourself you would not have been made a slave.  And you won’t be a slave now if you have a knowledge of yourself.  It’s hard to enslave a person who has equal knowledge as you.  You just can’t do it.” Food For Thought With The Honorable Elijah Muhammad If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com.  Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her w

There is nothing normal about social media wherein children have access to millions and millions of people and ideas all in the palm of their hand. No reasonable parent would acquiesce to their child entering the homes of random strangers at will. And no reasonable parent would permit their child to entertain strangers or allow them in and out of their children’s bedrooms. However this is exactly what social media is.  It is a mechanism that creates access to any ideology, predator, media or lifestyle and all with a simple click. And beyond all that - we do not have the depth of what our children are accessing (and who are accessing them) because apps have technology to prevent parents from surveilling their children’s online activity. Social media puts our youth at risk to Increased irritability. Increased anxiety Diminished self-esteem Cyberbullying Online Predators Sharing of Personal Information Dangerous Viral Trends Developing Tics/movement disorder  Even cigarettes comes with

Social media, podcasting, blogging-each provides a platform to be heard and seen. But what qualifiers have entitled us to a platform? What problems have we solved, what have we accomplished, what foundations have we built that justifies us having an audience? In an age where just anyone can be a coach, speaker and social media ‘influencer’ we should not bypass the process of growth. Before we speak, we should listen. And after we speak, we should listen again and continue listening. The learning is in the listening. And if we want to have longevity and a firm foundation, we will need to input more than we output. “The lack of knowledge of self is one of our main handicaps. It blocks us throughout the world. If you were the world and you were a part of the world, you would also turn a man down if he did not know who he actually was. If we, the so-called Negroes, do not know our own selves, how can we be accepted by a people who have a knowledge of self?” Food For Thought with The Honorable Elijah Muhammad I

What is the metric by which we measure progress in Black America? What is the gauge and how would we define our progress or success? It can be difficult assessment to make if there are no clear markers. In Episode 194 I explore these questions and how we can compare the way we analyze an adult's success in using his skills, knowledge and means to live an independent life with the ongoing conditions in Black America. What are your thoughts? How would you say that our progress should be measured? “What I want to get over to you is this: due to the lack of the knowledge of truth, you feel satisfied today to be here and satisfied to remain here while your fathers were not satisfied in coming here nor even to stay here. What has made you to be well-satisfied to be here and to remain here? It is this: the destruction of the knowledge of yourself and your God, your religion and your kind by the slavemaster has now made you satisfied in what the slavemaster says is his , while you have nothing whatsoever that you

Episode 193 continues as the second part of a two-part series of guidance that we should share with our girls and our adolescent women. This part addresses 'Speaking and Language' and 'Education and Career.' In this installation I share ways that we can support our girls and adolescent women to be successful by enabling them to be effective communicators, understand how to manage the work environment and understand the connection between education and their future aspirations. We certainly cannot exhaust the wisdom that we must share with our young women but we should exhaust ourselves in our efforts to enlighten them. Remember to pick up or order your copy of Barracoon by Zora Neal Hurston. Be sure to support Black-owned book retailers. Here are a few below: LaUnique Bookstore - Camden, NJ Uncle Bobby’s - Philly Ida’s Bookshop - Collingswood, NJ Harrietts Bookshop - Philly' “You are too proud.You have your diploma and your education and you think that you should be white. You are too proud. The white man

There are some key life skills that our girls and young women should know before leaving our homes. If when we see them, and they are not showing a capacity to manage basic care tasks, it is a sign that we need to continue our training of them, or begin the process. We cannot fault them for what we have not taught them. “Help us to make our beautiful young girls that which they should be. You are the most beautifulest women there is on earth and I saw several girls and women out of the nations over in Asia and Africa.  And I have not found any of them as beautiful as you are.  On a whole, you are the most beautifulest people there are.  You don’t think so, but you are.” Honorable Elijah Muhammad If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com.  Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link. Follow Nurah Speaks @NurahSpeaksPodcast on Facebo

Do we notice how they insert our adverse economic, health or educational outcomes whenever the leaders of this nation have a new political argument? For the COVID 19-vaccine-they said we should be vaccinated because the Black Community has substandard health outcomes due in part to the poor access to quality care. For the abortion debate-they said restrictions are an unfair penalty against Black women because Black women do not have the same means to take time from work to travel out of state to receive an abortion like white women do AND that additional children will cause additional economic hardships. These same pundits make no argument to tackle the root causes of our health and economic disparities.   So I question, do Black women really matter except to exploit our condition to advance a political or social agenda?  There certainly is no argue over the cultural influences that help maintain these disparities. They are just another mechanism that promotes these same conditions but our main

This episode is dedicated to exhibitionistic oversharing being masqueraded as transparency and that has become the norm in our culture. Where have we gotten the idea that making our personal lives an all-access event is a virtue? There is still great value in privacy and boundaries. Don’t let social media and reality television convince you otherwise. “The worst kind of crime has been committed against us, for we were robbed of our desire to even want to think and do for ourselves. We are often pictured by the slave-master as a lazy and trifling people who are without thoughts of advancement. I say, this is a condition which the slave-master very cleverly wanted and created within and among the so-called Negroes.” Honorable Elijah Muhammad from the book Message To The Blackman In America. If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com.  Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her b

Consistent, collective activity is our best means to achieve change in a meaningful way. We are mistaken to believe our emotions are a compelling force. Activity, not anger is what compels change. We should be concerned with entities that give us platforms for our emotionalism rather than our collective action. “I say, you should have your own Black police who have a Black heart like yours-a feeling for yourself; not a beast like heart who depends on nothing but a nightclub loaded with iron or lead to crack your skull. Don’t want that kind. I say, you should demand Harlem to be policed by Black policemen. You should also work to become your own mayor. You should not never accept…I say we should always choose your own representatives for the city government, or the county, state and for the U.S. state. I say, we should choose our own representative-vote for him ourself…!” Honorable Elijah Muhammad If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.

“Where have you been Nurah?” For some time now I have had the feeling that something was missing from the podcast but I could not quite put my finger on it. I had a dissatisfaction, a nagging if you will that the podcast was incomplete. So stepped away to figure things out. And what I discovered is that I was not including a vital part of my foundation in the show, and that is the words and wisdom of Elijah Muhammad. When I began this podcast, it was not an ego driven project. In fact, I was nudged and nearly nagged to expand my audience so that the message I shared regionally in workshops, trainings, and keynotes could be heard by a broader listenership. In my introductory episode I shared a bit about myself with listeners so that the audience could know who I was: A wife, a mother, a Muslim follower of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, a community organizer, civically engaged, etc. However as I proceeded with the show, I did not include the key to what has made me successful and that is the wisdom of Elija

Businesses that have once been sure hires for our young people are not so sure anymore. Hiring managers do not want to deal with the hassle that comes from dysfunctional youth who are not able to follow instructions, who do not arrive to work on time and prepared for their shifts and who lack the capacity to navigate petty isms amongst colleagues. Our young people must possess the functional life skills required to perform successfully in the workplace. And it is our responsibility to equip them. If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com.  Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link.

More and more I am see social media posts of mothers disparaging ‘The Village’ during their family’s crises with thier out of control children. My question to that is, “Are ‘you’ a part of the village? Have you been volunteering or are you a member of a social organization, church, mosque, civic group?” It is easy to condemn the village as inaccessible when we live in silos or in isolation. It can be an unfair criticism when we take no part. I encourage parents to always be involved in their community in some way and the good news is that there are all sorts of ways to be plugged in. Schools, sports and other extra curricular programs can be a place to volunteer as well as community service groups and reputable non profit agencies. Churches, mosques, temples are also places where parents have membership and a natural built in support system. Municipalities and law enforcement agencies also host community events that families can be involved in. We need to wait for a crises to get involved in ‘The Village’. It

There is so much good that comes from giving. And there are so many forms of giving that we have no excuse to forgo making meaningful impacts in our community. Whether it is time, skills, or resources-giving has a way of helping the giver just as much as the person(s) being helped. Your confidence and self esteem will grow, you’ll have more joy in life and you will have more gratitude. Charity is a universal principle across most religions and philosophies because there is just something very right and rewarding about being unselfish.  Experience it for yourself If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com.  Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link. Follow Nurah Speaks @NurahSpeaksPodcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email info@NurahSpeaks.com. Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the

The gender war in which we are currently engaged is doing harm to us, our young people and our community.  On countless podcasts and YouTube channels Black women and Black men are ripping each other apart, saying the vilest of things and criticizing one another in the harshest of manner. Few discussions lend to a productive contribution to the culture. These programs are mostly fodder for entertaining viewers who align with the attitudes and opinions of the hosts.   The continual fragmentation of the Black community is evident by this content and the promises of our future become casualties of this gender war. We need a more compassionate approach that recognizes the horror of our collective lived experiences if we will ever hope to have peace with one another. If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com.  Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this&n

This episode challenges the ways that we segment ourselves into sub-demographics and how those divisions impede our collective progress. This installment specifically addresses Black Feminism and encourages listeners to broaden their understanding of the fullness of harm done to our people (Black Descendants of American Slavery) and how we manifest that harm through our interactions within the Black community. I’d love to hear your take on this subject and this episode. What are your thoughts?  To engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com.  Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link. Follow Nurah Speaks @NurahSpeaksPodcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email info@NurahSpeaks.com. Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!

Black creators are among those removing their content from Spotify. Artists and podcast hosts are concerned about COVID and vaccine misinformation they say is allowed on the platform. The boycott was kicked off after attention was brought to Joe Rogan’s podcast. I am in disbelief that Black creators are mobilizing around the tenor of content produced by Joe Rogan rather than that produced by Black artists for an overwhelmingly Black audience. Scrolling through Spotify, I find Snoop Dogg, Kodak Black, Travis Scott, Megan Thee Stallion, Pop Smoke and Nicki Minaj among countless other Black artists who have content that degrades Black women, promotes drug abuse, uses abusive language, promotes rape culture and killing within our community. Joe Rogan and COVID and vaccine misinformation are THE WRONG THINGS and Spotify should be the least on our list to boycott. If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com.  Listeners can also learn more ab

Regulators are monitoring and governing the language used by high profile entertainers. Parents and legislators are monitoring and governing the language used in text books and school curriculum. Who is going to monitor and govern the language record executives are dumping in the minds of our most impressionable? Are we so insignificant that we not concern ourselves with the enthusiastic invitations to pills, prostitution and other destructive endeavors projected at our youth? C’mon Black Community-our apathy is showing! If you would like to engage with the Nurah Speaks podcast, submit your listener questions to info@NurahSpeaks.com.  Listeners can also learn more about Nurah by visiting her website: NurahSpeaks.com or reading her blog by clicking this link. Follow Nurah Speaks @NurahSpeaksPodcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. To bring Nurah as a speaker at your next event, email info@NurahSpeaks.com. Remember, don’t just Join the Movement, Be the Movement!

Infants born during the pandemic scored lower on developmental skills as compared to those born before the pandemic. Suicide attempts spiked for youth ages 12-17 during the pandemic…and are still rising. Had the nation’s health experts considered the impact of COVID-19 public health strategies on our youth? Did they consider the mental health toll that their language and use of morbid imagery could have on our most vulnerable? In episode 180 I share distressing statistics concerning our infants, children and adolescents that have been reported over the last two years. And, who, if anyone can be held accountable? NOTE: This episode makes mention of suicide and may be triggering for some listeners. Suicidal thoughts or actions, even in very young children, are a sign of extreme distress and should not be ignored. If you or someone you know needs immediate help, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or the Crisis Text Line by texting “home” to 741 741. Check out

Stay alert to the divisive language employed by talk show pundits and political leaders concerning the COVID-19 vaccine. Don Lemon called the unvaccinated stupid and idiots.  Howard Stern said the unvaccinated should not be admitted to hospitals for treatment but instead ‘go home and die.' Our community cannot afford to widen rifts that already separate us and we do not need more reasons to be at odds with one another.  Regardless of our vaccination status, we have common concerns that we must be united in addressing without standing in judgment and condemnation of each other.  Let's not add more reasons to be divided. Here are a few links to information that I shared in this episode: https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2021/s0730-mmwr-covid-19.html https://www.wsj.com/articles/people-harmed-by-coronavirus-vaccines-will-have-little-recourse-11602432000 https://rumble.com/vrkgip-flashback-rachel-maddow-vaccine-stops-covid-and-prevents-further-transmissi.html https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y