“We were brought here as a piece of property. And to keep that piece of property, it is to not allow the property to know the value of the property. What I mean by that — 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 that has equal knowledge with you. You just can’t do it. And so, this knowledge of yourself is the thing that will free you from what you [have] been suffering from.”
— The Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, closing of every episode of Nurah Speaks
This is a direct quote from the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah which plays at the conclusion of every episode of Nurah Speaks, my weekly podcast. Hosting Nurah Speaks is a labor of love launched primarily from the persuasion of our late Brother and Co-Founder of C.R.O.E., Brother Munir Muhammad.
Brother Munir advised me to start Nurah Speaks, helping me recognize and uncover the value in my voice — something he has done for countless others. In fact, anytime I am credited for the success of Nurah Speaks, I never exclude the fundamental impact of our Brother’s support and encouragement.
Nurah Speaks was established in 2017 and featured Brother Munir as my guest in the fourth episode. That show, we discussed the founding of C.R.O.E., the media branch of the organization and his own personal legacy. Interviewing Brother Munir Muhammad, acclaimed host of the Munir Muhammad Show and Muhammad and Friends, was a blazing endorsement for me!
Though podcasting is a saturated market, the benefit of the podcast space is that it democratizes media. This means that it creates opportunities for would-be broadcasters (or in this case podcasters) to exercise their voices without the barriers of commercial and political gatekeepers. Although corporate underwriters sponsor popular podcasts with celebrity hosts, the independent voice can carve out a lane for itself.
That is what C.R.O.E. has done and that is the example emulated by Nurah Speaks. It is the ‘Competing Message’ — a voice unique and distinct from the sensational, provocative, lazy, and as Brother Jamil Muhammad wrote in his inaugural essay, ‘convenient’ perspectives of modern media.
Nurah Speaks is a call to consciousness, accountability and action for our community on the condition of our people.
In the opening quote, the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad reminds us we were brought here as a piece of ‘property.’ For us to remain as ‘property’ — owned, used, abused and discarded — equal knowledge must be withheld. Conversely, if we want to be free of ownership, terror, maltreatment and 400 years of discontent, the Messenger informs us that “knowledge of yourself is the thing that will free you from what you [have] been suffering from.”
Nurah Speaks serves that premise by sharing information through a holistic lens. While others are entertaining, Nurah Speaks is enlightening. That is what the podcast offers and that is what I will offer in my ongoing submissions to the C.R.O.E. Report.
Not only will I bear witness to the truth of the Messenger’s teachings, I will report on the progress being made in Camden, New Jersey by Muhammad’s Temple of Islam No. 20, under the local leadership of Brother Minister Wasim Muhammad, the Delaware Valley Representative of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad.
The C.R.O.E. Report is an exceptional vehicle to inform our people of the Time and What Must Be Done. With expressed gratitude, I thank Brother Jamil Muhammad, Editor and Publisher, for inviting me to contribute to this very necessary and very revelatory publication.