Latinos are a part of the Original Family

By Theresa X Torres | Last updated: Apr 23, 2008 - 10:36:00 AM

“Time dictates agenda. When you know the time, you know what must be done. What must be done is the agenda. It is predicated upon a good understanding of the time. If you don’t know the time, or do not believe in the understanding given of the time, then you will not adopt the right agenda. And if you do not adopt the right agenda, then surely man is in loss.” --The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, from Time Must Dictate Our Agenda!

Latinos in the Nation of Islam are blessed to see past the �black� label associated with the teachings of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad and hear the universality of the teachings through the guidance of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan.

Due to the lack of knowledge of who we truly are, we have accepted and associated ourselves to many “labels” that have generally served to divide the Original family. “Latino” and “Hispanic” are labels commonly used though not always understood. As Latinos, we are the children of Indigenous and African ancestry. We are Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Columbian, Ecuadorian, Belizean, Chilean, and more. Our families are native to America, Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. As so-called Latinos we come in all complexions, we appear to be Indigenous, Black and even Caucasian. We were given the language (Spanish), the names (Torres, Martinez, etc.) and the religion (Christianity, Roman Catholicism) of the Spanish conquerors.

As students of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, Latinos have found great healing in learning the truth about God and who we truly are, members of the Original Family of the planet, along with Native Americans and Blacks. Through the teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad we have been empowered to change the reality of our lives and now have the ability to fill the spiritual void that for some was once occupied by self-hatred, abuse of ourselves and others, drugs, alcohol and gangs.

We have learned that it is the knowledge of self that we lack which keeps us from enjoying freedom, justice and equality. As Latinos and Blacks we have unique experiences but we suffer many of the same ailments such as the inability to love ourselves. According to the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, “This is one of our gravest handicaps. This not having love for self is the root cause of hate (dislike), disunity, disagreement, quarrelling, betraying, stool pigeons and fighting and killing one another.”

For many, Islam has come when all else failed. Latinos in the Nation of Islam are blessed to see past the “black” label associated with the teachings of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad and hear the universality of the teachings through the guidance of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan. The life giving teachings have been fundamental in not only keeping us alive but transforming us into citizens that our families and our people can truly be proud of.

In August 2007, I had the opportunity to go on a 15 day Mxodus Tour traveling to three states in Mexico: Veracruz, Tabasco and Chiapas. Of all the great Mexican history I witnessed on the tour, the history of the Olmec civilization and the 19 Olmec heads discovered in Veracruz, Mexico was the most profound. The excavated Olmec heads are megalithic facial sculptures with African features, made of basaltic stone, weighing up to 20 tons and measuring from about 8 to 12 ft in height. My journey to Mexico was an awakening and a bearer of witness to the divine teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad.

In an article titled, “Ancient City Found in Mexico” by Stefan Lovgren in the National Geographic dated January 26, 2007, he states, “Archaeologists have unearthed a city in central Mexico that is more than 2,500 years old and was influenced by the ancient Olmec culture. Creators of a pioneering written language and calendar, the Olmec are generally regarded as the first advanced civilization in Mesoamerica, the region stretching from central Mexico to eastern Honduras” The Olmec are often called the mother culture of Mesoamerica. They flourished during the so-called formative period of the region’s history—about 1200 B.C. to 400 B.C.”

During this time of tension between Latinos and Blacks it is critical that we understand our ancestral connection. There is money to be made in division between Latinos and Blacks, a people who have been robbed of the knowledge of self. “At the beginning of 2008, the U.S. has more people in prison than any other country. 2.3 million U.S. adults were incarcerated, and 50 states spent $49 billion on corrections in 2007. And for the first time in history, more than one in every 100 American adults is in jail or prison, and 1 in 9 black males is behind bars.” (Pew Center Report)

What will the U.S. prison system look like when Latinos and Blacks wake up? How would it feel to accept our own and be ourselves, to be free from self-hate and the inferiority complex that impedes our development? What would our communities look like if we Latinos, Blacks, and Native Americans knew our historical connection and embraced each other as family instead of enemies?

Knowing our history as Original people could save our lives and the lives of our children. It could influence how we view ourselves and each other. It is only through the unity of the Original family that the blood shed of our people will come to an end. Today, we must free our children from the fear of violence and premature death; and allow them to develop their minds so that they may be the leaders of tomorrow. The time has come to wake the sleeping giants, for we owe it to our children to Will them an estate of knowledge, the knowledge of who we truly are.

“In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. Consider the time, for by the time surely man is in loss, except those who believe and do good, and enjoin one another to Truth, and enjoin one another to patience.” --Holy Qur’an - The Time 103:1-3

(Sister Theresa X Torres is a Latina in the Nation of Islam from Muhammad Mosque #26B in Oakland, Ca.)

The Final Call