Dear Family;
With the utmost respect, sincerity, and love, I write this letter. Because of your work, and the guidance of ALLAH/JAH/GOD, this newsletter exists. I watch your tapes, listen to your speeches, read your books, attend your Houses of Worship, take your knowledge and place it, as I understand it, in this newsletter for all to read.
I have viewed many events, and wish to take a moment of your time to express a concern of mine. My intention is not to disrespect, but to speak as one family member to other family members.
It's time to put a halt to many things, one of which is lack of cooperation or coordination. In a world where ignorance runs amok, there is no excuse for in-fighting, disharmony, or conflict of any kind. I've seen religious and secular disharmony, mis-communication, back-biting, scheduling conflicts, lies, rumors, and insults from and towards family members, and it is sickening!
Egos have no place in our struggle. There is no leader nor worker who is higher than any other. We do not have the luxury of time to waste on this. I would rather see the UNIA, NAACP, COUNCIL of Black Women, SCLC, Black Panthers, Black Jews, Christians, and Muslims, all of the branches of the NOI, and others working toward a common goal, rather than disrespect each other. If we allow egos to direct our actions, we create confusion and distrust within the community we love and serve. How sad it is to see Brother or Sister A (who follows Group C) disrespect Brother or Sister B (who follows Group D), but I see it too regularly not speak on it.
I call upon our Brothers and Sisters, who are Religious Leaders, to lead us in problem-solving within the ranks of Freedom workers, be they local, national or international. As men and women of GOD, one of your duties is to calm, not incite. Any Black Religious Leader who incites division within the Black community, should be looked at very carefully. Ministers, bring us together, have us sit at the table of peace and love, and show us how to work out our differences.
Brothers and Sisters, we must work together! We say we represent the community. We say we love the community, and are willing to give our lives for it. That sounds nice, but we cannot accomplish anything as long as we are separated. Together we can do many wondrous things, fragmented we can do nothing. How can we expect the community to cease the slave behavior of in-fighting, when we do not show them a proper example?
Our enemy loves to see this type of behavior! He doesn't have to worry about us seriously taking him on, if we can't work together. When we separate, for whatever reason, we leave an open hole in our flanks. As we go into the 21st Century, the time is too crucial for suicide. We no longer have neither the time nor luxury to be divided nor divisive. Our family need a unified and strong force speaking to and for them. We are exactly where we are today because of split groups. Imagine the force the Civil Rights struggle could have had if Malcolm, Martin, The Honorable Elijah Muhammad, The Black Panthers, SCLC, CORE, NAACP, and other organizations had worked as a unified group? Imagine the He and She-roes who would be alive today!
The last thing we should do, is allow ourselves to be divided. Our enemy will come at us in every possible way, and we have to be unified to win every battle. Let's be careful, cooperative, peaceful, and introspective, it could save us.
As we work out our differences, let's not allow our enemy to see nor be able to use our internal bickering. We should avoid printed, visual, or audio media with harsh words for each other. The media's assault on the Million Man, Woman and Youth Marches, and some responses by Black Leaders is something we, the Black community, wish to never again be exposed to. We should be careful of our responses when interviewed by the media, for time has shown they can and will be used against use.
I have no delusions that we will always see eye to eye. However I believe we can disagree without being disagreeable.
With love and respect,
Your Sister,Tyree