>> CHARISSA: I grew up spending most of the summers of my life on my grandparents' farm,
which was in the rural South.
I spent, um, almost every summer there until I was nineteen years old, and the things that
I saw and experienced in the South were more overt (racism, bigotry, prejudice, hatred)
than, of course, here in the North, in Ohio, where I was born and raised.
So, the writings and the reading and the things that influenced me were based on my experiences
as a child in the South, and as a child growing up in the North.
Her name was Winifred, we called her Winnie, and we were in the library and she came over
and I guess she had been observing me before and she noticed that I always sat and read
book after book after book, and she gave me a book called "Manchild in the Promised Land".
And after I finished that book I was so excited because it was the first book that I ever
read that dealt with the Black American experience, and the book takes place in Harlem, New York.
Then she gave me Shirley Chisholm's book, and she gave me "Black Like Me", and so that
began to make me want to read more and more and more about what it was like to be black
in America, and the experiences that other people were having at that time.
I think the biggest differences in the way that life has changed for not only just people
who are in my generation but for our youth, for just overall everything that has happened
with our people as a whole, as a nation, as a society, the writings have changed extremely.
The last book I read was President Obama's "The Audacity of Hope", and just seeing how
this young man has transitioned, you know, from people back in my generation.
I was talking with my nephew about the book, who is only twenty-seven or -eight, and even
he said, "I never thought that we would live to see a black President."
So just that change within itself in the United States is just fascinating to me, you know.
The writing - how everything has changed so much, because back then it was just, "I hope
I can live in a decent neighborhood.
I hope I can have a decent car.
I hope that I can educate my children.
I hope that my children will grow up to be something great."
And now it's kind of like it's come full circle.
These things are beginning to manifest themselves.
You see it everyday: millionaires, black millionaires.
Whereas when I grew up, if someone was a black millionaire, they were either a doctor or
a famous lawyer.
We didn't have those types of people throughout our community for us to show our children,
this is what you can grow up to be, and now we have a black President.
It was "Message to the Blackman in America", which was written, of course, by the most
honorable Elijah Muhammad.
I read that book and, to me, it was like, 'This is what I've been searching for all
of my life!'
Because he gave passages out of the Bible and passages out of the Koran, and when I
went back and I read them, I'm like, 'This is what's been
going on all of my life!
This is what I need!'
And so his book, "Message to the Blackman in America" was the one book that probably
influenced me more than any other book.
I still think, even though we have a black President, I feel that our people are sometimes
worse off than we were in the '50s or the '60s.
We had a sense of community.
We had a sense of value for life.
We had a sense of dedication, not just to fulfilling financial goals or educational
goals, but fulfilling community goals.
I don't think we have that, necessarily, today, and sometimes I feel like we think that we
have arrived, and when you look in our areas you can see that we have not.
So many people are still struggling just to achieve average goals, so... so I see that.
When I read "Message to the Blackman" today, it was written and published in 1965, which
is, what, thirty-forty years ago?
Um, I don't see that his words are not applicable to today, so yeah.
I think it's still very, very necessary today.
[laughing] We still need the message in our lives today.
I was raised a Christian.
Of course, most people who were born in my generation's parents were Christians, so therefore
I was raised a Christian.
However, when I read "Message to the Blackman" and I got a Holy Koran and I read the Bible,
I just really didn't see a big difference.
I think Bible backs up Koran and Koran backs up Bible.
I don't really see where we have to negate one book over the other.
Of course, my book of choice is Holy Koran.
It is my religion, so therefore I probably read it more than I do the Bible, but I cheat
[laughing].
I have a Bible on tape and I listen to the Bible on tape and so many times when I hear
things that are being read to me, I go, 'That's so... it's so Islamic!
You know, it's straight out of Holy Koran.'
And then when I read the Holy Koran, I think, 'Wow, this is straight out of the Bible!'
So both books to me are very, very necessary and very important in my life.
I raised my children as Muslims, however, I was not one of those kinds of parents that
was so dictatorial that I felt like, 'You HAVE to be a Muslim!'
I really, and this is probably going to sound somewhat strange coming from a woman who is
a Muslim, but I wanted my children to choose which path they went down, so I also introduced
them to Christianity.
I really don't have a problem if my child were a Christian or a Muslim.
I want my child, whatever book they choose to follow, to follow it to its fullest.
If they choose that they want to be Christians, I want them to be good Christians.
Because, if you are a good Christian, then you are going to follow the Ten Commandments,
which don't just govern Christian lives, they govern all of our lives.
The Bible says the first commandment is: Thou shall have no other God but me.
Holy Koran says: There is only one God - Allah.
To me, that's one in the same.
It says that you are to honor your mother and your father.
Muhammad said that... a man asked him a question, he said, "If you were to worship anyone other
than Allah who should it be?"
Muhammad said, "Your mother."
And the man said, "Well who after that?"
Muhammad said, "Your father."
That's the Ten Commandments.
It says to not covet what your neighbor has.
That's one of the Ten Commandments, and Holy Koran teaches us to want for your brothers
and sisters what you have for yourself.
So, to me, these Commandments are all in Holy Koran and they are all the same as if they
were the Ten Commandments that were given to Moses.
So I don't really find a distinction between them, so if you are following what the rules
and regulations are in the Bible then you are a good Muslim, and if you are following
what the rules and regulations are in Koran then you are a good Christian.
So, to me, I don't see a difference between them as long as you follow what has been put
for you to follow.
When you read Holy Koran, it gives you passages in the footnotes to go back and it'll tell
you, 'You can read Isaiah.
You can read Ezekial.
You can read Jesus.
Jesus said this, that and the other.'
So, you have to have a Bible if you're going to read Holy Koran because it gives you these
footnotes to go back and read.
So without... you can't...
I don't see how you could read the Bible if you don't have one [laughing].
I do not read Arabic.
I have a Holy Koran that is translated from Arabic into English.
I've always wanted to learn Arabic and I can say my prayers in Arabic and that is because
I have a disc, a CD, where I play it daily as I'm doing my prayers to learn my prayers
in Arabic, but unfortunately, the older you get the more difficult it is to pick up a
foreign language [laughing].
And in this country, being raised, like I said in the early '50s, '60s and '70s, foreign
languages were not available to us like they are now.
So I don't speak Arabic and my Koran has been translated from Arabic into English.
So, (Arabic word for 'one day'), one day I will be able to speak Arabic fluently.
My son took Arabic and he doesn't speak it fluently, but he can listen and tell me some
of the words that they are saying, you know.
So I always wanted a child to learn it but, you know, it's a very difficult language to
learn when you've never learned a foreign language before.
Actually, we have a class in the nation of Islam that is called MGT-GCC: Muslim Girls'
Training and General Civilization Class.
That class was set up by Master Pharad Muhammad to help black women have a better home life.
It has seven elements to it: how to cook, how to sew, how to keep house, how to take
care of your husband and your children, and how to act at home and abroad.
Now, a lot of times when people hear that, they go, 'How to cook??'
But a lot of young women do not know how to cook.
And if you're blessed where you have a cook, that's fantastic.
But you really should know how to cook because the saying is true: The way to a man's heart
is through his stomach [laughing].
So, of course, we learn how to cook and we learn how to sew.
Um...
I love to sew.
I am an avid sewer.
I learned how to sew from my great grandmother, my grandmother, my mother, and then I learned
how to sew.
And the sewing was such a necessary part of life back when we were growing up.
You couldn't always just go to the store.
There weren't Macy's [laughing], and in the South you couldn't even go in the stores to
buy garments, you know we just were not allowed to do so.
So sewing was a necessary part of our life back then, but I actually like sewing.
Sewing is relaxing to me.
I like taking this piece of fabric that is just a square and seeing it turn into a garment.
How to clean house: well no man, or woman, or child wants to live in a dirty house, so
I mean, that's just...
But you also have to be taught how to do that, you know.
So many times we say, 'I wonder why this person's home looks like that.'
It's because they were never taught.
They just do not know how.
How to take care of your husband: well that's a big job [laughing].
Uh, once again going back to the Bible, in Corinthians it says, 'God over man, man over
woman, woman over home and child.'
So if you have a peaceful home, a clean home, your husband is more likely to be at peace
when he comes into his home.
And if you can make your husband happy, he's going to do everything he can to please you.
The Honorable Elijah Muhammad teaches us that, um...
Heaven is in the women.
What he means by that, not necessarily the hereafter Heaven, but here on Earth.
If you are at peace, you really will be able to create a paradise here on Earth for yourself
and your family.
So, how to take care... and if you can take proper care of your husband...
I once read on a tea box, it said, 'The most important thing a man can do for his wife,
or his children is to love their mother.'
So, you know, if a man... then you're happy and you're going to do the best you can to
make your children happy and to raise them properly, spend time with them, you know,
do all the things that it takes to-- to raise your children up.
My husband used to always say that the most important thing a parent can do for their
child is to teach them how to be totally independent, because one day, obviously, the parents are
not going to be there.
So if they don't need the parents in the sense of, 'I don't need my mother to give me money.
I don't need my mother to pay my rent [laughing] or my car payment when I get out of college'
then they'll be able to take care of themselves.
And, of course, how to act at home and abroad: that's just being civilized.
>> INTERVIEWER: Now with the Johnny Katherine book is there some influence from his life
that, um, you see the same as yours, that influenced you in some way?
>>CHARISSA: Well, only in the sense that he kept the faith and he always just continued
to struggle to do what he felt was best, not just for himself, but for his family and his
people.
So it just was inspirational to see that here, this man is this famous lawyer, and he was
so concerned about the little person,too.
He had a, umm... he purchased these apartment buildings just specifically because he saw
some of the bad conditions that black people were living in in California, and he, he...
you know, said, 'I need...
I need to know that...
Here I have all this money.
I need to know that other people can have a decent place to live.'
So, that influenced me to go and purchase an apartment building on this street [laughing]
and, um... try and put it in good condition so that other people will have a decent place
to live.
So, just little things like that.
You know, it's always somebody who, once you read their story, you go, 'I can do that too!'
Maybe not on the scale of Johnny Katherine [laughing], of course, but you know on a smaller
scale.
It goes back to each one teach one, each one help one.
So I know that um... that his book influenced me in that way, and the fact that no matter
what I do I will always be grateful to his dedication to people, you know, to black people.
Because the chokehold law didn't just affect black people.
I'm sure that there were others, you know, being affected by this too.
That was the thing that stuck out in my mind.
Well actually, um... as I had, of course, subscribed to "The Final Call" and I read it.
There are many articles in "The Final Call" but The Minister always has an article about
a lecture that he has given.
And we are so very, very blessed with modern technology because we can get The Minister
on DVD and I probably have the largest CD collection because I'm a listener.
I don't like just sitting and watching television, but I can actually take The Minister's CD
and put it in my car while I'm driving, or put it on while I'm sewing, or while I'm washing
the dishes, or--or any type of housework that may be mundane I can throw in that CD and
I can put on my headset.
Cutting grass is relaxing to me!
I can put on my headset while I'm cutting my grass and listen to The Minister, and his
words are just so powerful.
I don't think people really understand how powerful words are, and that's why when I
hear people using such derogatory language I don't really think they understand how the
words influence or affect us.
That's just like if you constantly... my daughter and I, Akiva, we went to see Precious.
In the movie, I kept thinking about, 'Listen to this mother's words to her child!' and
how her words were so derogatory that it affected this child in such a way, you know, and I
sat there and [laughing] it was really funny, and after the movie was over, Akiva and I
just sat there.
And I said, 'Babe, do you think we should get up and leave now?'
And she said, 'Yeah.'
And the whole time I was thinking, 'Oh, Allah!
I hope I have never used any of those words with my daughters or my son!'
But, his words: that's the thing that is just, I don't think people... he draws hundreds
of thousands of people just because he looks good or he dresses well, it's his words.
And I know that he is divine and guided by Allah and his messenger.
And the messenger's words were so powerful.
His books, you know, he gave us "How to Eat to Live", "Message to the Blackman in America",
"Fall of America".
The minister has written other books, but of course they're all based on these teachings.
And he's just reiterating what the Honorable Elijah Muhammad has already said.
So, there's not one particular book that he has ever given me.
I think the book that he did give us which influenced me to, to really get on it was
he gave everyone a Holy Koran one year, which was a gift, I believe was from Saudi Arabia,
if I'm not mistaken, or the United Arab Emirates.
If I'm wrong may Allah forgive me for that, for my mistake.
And then the other book that he personally gave to everyone in Phoenix was he gave us
a small daily book of prayers, and those are the books that probably influenced me the
most that he's ever given to us.
I had an English teacher- her name was Miss Hicks.
And back in our day, you know, you mainly had African American teachers.
So she was an elderly black woman, she had a cane, and Miss Hicks did not play.
And she taught English and she made English so fascinating that even today when I go past
"past participle," I think of Miss Hicks [laughing], so it was the English book.
And then the other books that really, really influenced me, or I shouldn't say just books
period, but I had a Black History teacher and his name was Ralph Bunch, and I had another
Black History teacher, his name was Mr. Gerin.
They just made history so exciting and even today, my sisters and I always say we missed
our calling.
We should've been history teachers.
Because if I were to go back to school today, I wouldn't want to teach African American
History or American History or Asian History - I would want to teach History, but I would
want to teach it correctly.
I would want to teach it the way it should be taught.
I think that one of the reasons why our children don't love our history, or history period,
is because we start out in our history books... you were a slave.
And that's not true.
So, I don't think that we really understand our history, and I think as a child I remember
one of the very first books that my mother got for me out of the library was on Cleopatra.
And it was really fascinating because Cleopatra was black, and you know, most of the time
they do not portray her as a black woman.
And I just was so enamored by this book to hear these kings and queens are black.
So, I think that would be one of the books that really influenced me as a child - Cleopatra.
Um... there were two sisters, Sr. Janice Muhammad and Sr. Shelley Kasan Muhammad who looked
at our children and said, 'Boy, we need to have some culture and refinement for our children.'
And Minister Farrakhan started what is called "The Arts and Cultural Department".
So these two sisters said, 'We need to give our children something else besides what they
see on TV [laughing].'
So they got together with another sister, Sr. Hazel Williams, Sr. Angela Collie and
myself, and we did what was called the Jewels Foundation.
And with that we try and teach our children through arts and culture, which includes reading,
of course.
We put on what is called the Jewels Ball once a year for our children, and they have to
learn how to Waltz, they have to learn, well they learn to Cha-Cha because it's fun for
them, but we also are constantly telling them, 'Read this book.
Read that book.
Read a book on how to be a civilized person.'
When it comes to our children, I try and influence them not just to read, you know, the Holy
Koran or the Bible, but to read all kinds of books that will help uplift and elevate
them to be the most civilized people that they can be - to be the most educated.
College is not for everyone, although I do feel that everyone should go to college [laughing]
or at least give it a try, but some people are just natural at what they do and they
can pick up things naturally, but somebody has to guide them where to go to get this
information.
So I don't try to limit the children on what they read.
Of course, I think the teachings overrule everything, but I also try and tell them,
'Look, if you read a book on, as I stated before, Better Homes and Gardens, it gives
you a lot of hints and clues.'
So I try and influence them in that way.
And I thoroughly enjoy working with our young people.
It is such a delight to see these young girls come in with their jeans and their t-shirts
and, you know, and then transform into these beautiful young women in their ball-gown dresses
doing the waltz.
It's a wonderful thing.
I think I get more enjoyment out of it probably than they do, but it's a beautiful thing and
hopefully...
Um, we're doing it in Chicago this year, but we plan on having one here and hopefully you'll
come and see what I'm talking about, and that can be part of your program too because it
would be something to see.
It's something that we used to do as a society.
We used to have cotillions.
Basically, that's what it's based on - a botillion or a cotillion for our young ladies to introduce
them to society, and we don't hardly see that anymore among just regular ordinary black
people.
Usually it's for the so called "higher echelon" and so it's something that all of our young
people need to know how to.
They need to know how to conduct themselves in life.
I can't really say there was one individual book except for the Holy Koran and "Message
to the Blackman" that really influenced me to go in the direction that I go in.
When you read a lot, you get bits and pieces from all books that influence you either positively
or negatively.
I read a book, um, about four months ago and it was called "The KKK" because I said, 'You
know what, we always hear about these people and we see them on TV, but I really don't
know what they're about.
I mean, I know they're history.'
And that book influenced me in such a way.
It made me say, 'Wow!'
I am surprised that black people didn't just rise up and take arms against these people!
But it also helped me to understand the mentality of people who are in a position of high places
and still have that KKK mentality.
I mean, when you listen to some of the news reporters, you go, 'KKK!' [laughing].
Particularly on Fox!
I mean, I listen and I'm like, 'Wow, he sounds just like he read the Klan book and said I'm
just going to make it into 2010.'
So, when you read books it can influence you, but it also opens your eyes to be able to
decipher someone's mindset.
And I think that's why we need to read more - because it helps you to break down, piece
it apart and put it back together in a way where you understand how others think, you know.
I read the book "Sybyl" which was about a mother who had mental illness and you know,
three faces of these psychological... and actually the movies that I like are the psychological
thrillers, which sounds weird but I do because it lets you see into the mind of how someone
thinks - why someone would become a serial killer and devalue human life so much.
So, I read that book and I thought, 'Wow.
There was no way that this young lady could've ever grown up to live a normal life because
her mother was crazy!' [laughing] And we joke and we say certain family members are crazy,
and we joke around like that, but really, true mental illness is something that is going
to take a lot more to understand.
It also shows us how our environment makes us who we are.
So it's really necessary to surround our children with books of all kind.