Seminar urges action in disaster preparedness

By Tariqah Shakir-Muhammad -Final Call- | Last updated: Jan 15, 2020 - 5:50:47 AM

Participants listen during one of many of the Disaster Preparedness workshops. Guests were offered critical materials such as “The Fall of America” by the Honorable Elijah Muhammad as part of the Disaster Preparedness Seminar.»

CHICAGO—If a disaster struck would you and your family be prepared? Would your neighbors be prepared? How long would you be able to survive? These are the types of questions asked and answered at the annual Disaster Preparedness Seminar held at Muhammad University of Islam.

The seminar coordinated by Nation of Islam staff featured informative workshops on responding to and surviving a natural disaster caused by severe weather, administrating medical services and protecting and preparing your home for disasters.

“The time in which we live demands our attention and if we are knowledgeable about the time then we also have a responsibility to act in accord and prepare for the time,” said Student Minister Abel Muhammad.

“If someone gives you a warning and we don’t heed the warning, the person who suffers the consequence of not adhering to sound advice and a very, very important warning is not guilty but the one who didn’t heed or respond in a proper manner to the warning is the one who can only blame themselves,” he explained.

Guests watched thorough and helpful demonstrations by certified medical instructors on how to use basic first aid, tend to medical traumas and emergencies, assist and manage illnesses and injuries on other persons.

Other workshops prepared guests in preparing their automobile for a natural disaster, properly storing food and water; purifying water; maintaining proper hygiene; handling the death of a loved one (by Imam Sultan Muhammad, student national imam of the Nation of Islam), and training children to handle natural disasters and/or emergencies.

Student Min. Abel Muhammad explained it is critical to inform others about being prepared.

(L) Thorough demonstrations during workshops showed guests how to use basic medical techniques. (C) Martial arts instructor Celeritas Muhammad speaks with attendees during workshop. (R) Instructors offered resources such as helpful pamphlets and hotlines to organizations during seminar.

(L) Student National Auditing Coordinator A’ishah Muhammad during workshop. (C) Disaster Preparedness Seminar included workshops on self-defense and safe-guarding your home. (R) Azziza Muhammad discusses health and nutrition during seminar. Attendee browses through pamphlets and resources offered by instructors.

“Go and walk down 71st street and you’ll think that people are drunk until you talk to them and realize there’s no smell of liquor on them. It is our people’s minds beginning to falter because we don’t have what is needed and we have not prepared mentally and spiritually for what is to come,” he continued.

Leonard Noble said the Dec.14 seminar was timely and a necessity for anyone. “You need to know what you need to have—matter of fact, the Minister speaks about it all the time as well; what to have stored up and how so that you can sustain yourself while you’re waiting on help.”

The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam has always promoted per his Teacher, the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad’s guidance to prepare now for the disasters sweeping America and those to come.

“Way back in the ‘60s, Elijah Muhammad said, ‘America would suffer from unusual rain, unusual snow, earthquakes unusual,” Min. Farrakhan said in an interview published in The Final Call. “Then the forces of nature, hail, sleet, snow, cold, fire. Now, look at America,” said the Minister.

The country saw a vicious pattern of hurricanes beginning in 2017, the worst being Hurricane Harvey, Irma and Maria which caused $265 billion in damage. They were met with spontaneous wildfires, record-breaking temperatures in the summer and winter seasons, and record-breaking high-magnitude earthquakes.

“This is just the beginning and that is what I wanted to say about whoever will be our president. If you’re not dealing with that which has incurred the wrath of God, then you can’t make American great again and you can’t bring America back from the abyss that she’s falling into. Within the next few years, the dollar that we kill each other for will be devalued into nothing,” said Min. Farrakhan.

Attendees of the seminar were encouraged to share with their friends and families the information they received. Pamphlets containing resources and disaster/emergency preparedness “to-do lists” were handed out, and instructors made themselves available for Q&As after each workshop.

“I need to be prepared for the unexpected which is natural disasters and things of that nature,” said guest Lawrence E.X. “If I don’t know what to do, that may cause more harm to my family and myself. I have a family member who has some health issues, so I need to know how to handle that in the case of an emergency.”

Instructors included Maryam K. Muhammad, Tania Muhammad, Alva Muhammad, Shawntell Muhammad, Zenobia X, Lisa R. Muhammad and Lenore J. Muhammad, Amin Muhammad, Imam Sultan Muhammad, Celeritas Muhammad, Emanuel Muhammad, Ronald Muhammad and Clifton Muhammad.

For more information on disaster preparedness and to download a free PDF of preparedness tips, visit finalcall.com

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