I was born in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, NY of African-American/African-Barbadian parents and can trace one family line (Father's) back to Morrocan/Sudanese Muslim ancestry (my Great-Grandfather related this to me, his father was a Nubian who was captured and enslaved while returning home to Fez, Morroco from Sudan).
We left Brooklyn when I was young and moved to Jamaica, Queens and then to Hempstead, NY later on. When I was eight we moved to St. Thomas, Virgin Islands where we lived until I graduated from High School. This was a very traumatic time for me but very pivital in my development of African Consciousness. Every summer I went back to NY to stay with family and while working in my uncle's store on Jamaica Ave I was introduced to the Nation of Islam. It rung a chord in me that I had been waiting to hear, and the words of Minister Malcolm X gave a voice to all that I had been feeling. Needless to say I joined and kept it secret from my family with a major effort. A few years later I read the Autobiography of Malcolm X and again he gave a voice to all that I had been feeling was wrong in the Nation. After absorbing the message of true Islam I left the Nation, took my Shahada (Profession of Faith), and became a Sunni (Orthodox) Muslim.
After High School I wanted to attend the College of the Virgin Islands in St. Thomas but wound up back in NY attending City College. I hated school and joined the Army, yeah, a Muslim American soldier! I married while I was in the Army and had two wonderful children Nikki and Kenji even though the marriage didn't work out. I did have the opportunity to travel while I was in the Army and saw Saudi Arabia, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Singapore, Germany, and a few US states. After the Army I went to college and obtained a degree in Computer Science.
I am purposely leaving out all details of ghetto street life and legal drama because my mistakes are not something to be proud of or for anyone else to admire or aspire to. As Allah (SWT) admonishes us in the The Noble Qu'ran "Cursed are those...who make of themselves a big show". Also the words of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) remind us, "What I fear most for my people are the hypocrites, who talk wisely, yet act unjustly" (as reported by Umar bin al-Khattab). Anything else, that was done righteously in self-defense or in the spirit of revolution is best left silent.
Six years ago I met my wife Suratun who is my love, my best friend, my comrade, my sister in Islam, and my partner in life. Allah (SWT) blessed us with a son Tariq in 2001, my "Little Warrior"...Alhamdulillah.
My life is Islam, every breath and heartbeat, I try my best to serve Allah (SWT) and follow the example of his last Prophet Muhammad (SAW).
I am a Muslim first and an African second. I believe in freedom from oppression for all Muslims, all People of Color, and brotherhood and equality for all people under Islam.
a.k.a. Mecca1
FREE PALESTINE, STOP THE SLAUGHTER IN DARFUR, AND USA OUT OF IRAQ!!!!!
I edited my profile with Thomas’ Myspace Editor V3.6 !
totallypimpedout.net
