Source: AP Images
Minister Louis Farrakhan, being the great orator that he is, sat down to speak with a Muslim woman and a man who were asking him questions about his take on recent events in the Hip Hop. If you haven’t noticed, Farrakhan has been reaching out to different influencers in the community to spread his message, likely promote his upcoming Million Man March and shake some things up in the Black community.
It’s needed and I appreciate him engaging.
If you’ve ever listened to him, you know that there is a lot of truth behind his words, particularly when it comes to racism in this country. He’s almost always on point. But when it comes to women, a recent video shared on his Facebook page proves that he has some more work to do.
The woman sitting at the table asked Minister Farrakhan: What is [a woman’s] specific role as a female artist?
Keep that question in mind.
In answering it, Farrakhan with all the eloquence, smoothness and charm of an old, Black granddaddy who used to be a playboy back in the day, explains his stance. See what he had to say and then we’ll discuss.
After applauding Beyoncé, Rihanna and Nicki Minaj for both their talent and physical beauty, he said:
“Today you strip the woman of her clothes. How can a man think straight, looking at the beauty of Beyoncé?”
So then the woman attempts to ask him another question, “So what would you say to…”
Farrakhan finishes by asking: Her managers?
And then he was off:
Help us to be more sane. A man is made into a dog by a way a woman presents herself to a man. There ain’t no preacher out there that’s that holy that a woman can disrobe herself and a man can still think Bible, still think Quran. How do you rule a man? You rule him by the beauty of your body and the suggestion of sex. So when you strip a woman down, a man becomes a dog. You don’t make a man? You make him to treat you like an object of sex instead of the creative genius that you are.
You have to educate the managers. Jay Z is a good man. Jay Z is a good manager. But now, your woman is on display. Do you want men looking at your woman, being tempted by your woman, to make advances at your woman? Who wouldn’t want to be with Rihanna? Who wouldn’t want to be with Nick Minaj? But you strip them then their body is being used as the tool of the degradation of a woman and the subjection of a man.
Then he speaks about the ways in which women have been abused by the men they trusted in their lives. And then goes back to praising women and all the contributions they could possibly make to the world.
There’s no man doing something that a woman can’t do, and in some cases do it better. Man is Hakeem. That’s the attribute of God, that means wise. She’s Hakeema that means God has made her to be a possessor of wisdom.
Don’t degenerate your woman and make her nothing more than an object of sex. She’s more than that.
So I would encourage Jay Z–and I hope you’ll take it in the spirit that I give it, out of love for you and honor for your greatness and honor for the love and beauty and greatness of your wife. I would love to see our women clothed, demonstrating the gift of their talent. The gift of their form should be seen by those who are worthy. You got an unworthy dog looking at something beautiful that he wants to paw at but can never have. Do you know what that does to a man, when he can see you and can’t have you? Then he wants to go home and attack a child.
A helluva left turn there, yes.
Then at the end, he referenced his friendship with Hip Hop mogul Russell Simmons. He said that once he was invited to Simmons’ home and during that same time there was a billboard featuring his then wife Kimora Lee Simmons scantily clad–or maybe completely naked, hiding her breasts and vagina. I don’t know. And he made a point to tell Russell that he refused to look at his wife. Russell said he was a nut, crazy. And Farrakhan said that he respected her too much to do so.
It’s a lot. And I encourage you to watch that particular portion of the interview, eleven minutes, on the last page, to get the true nature and sentiment behind his comments. He really seemed to be speaking out of love. Love and misogyny.
I thought it was odd to ask a man what a woman should be doing in the first place; but since this woman clearly regards Minister Farrakhan as a religious leader, I understand it. If you want to live according to the principles of a certain religion, you speak to the one who has studied. And for her maybe Farrakhan is that person. Still, never once in his response did he say “Beyoncé, I think you should,” or “Beyoncé, I would love for you to…” or “Beyoncé, your role as a Black woman should be to…”
Every statement was directed toward Jay Z. He didn’t even say a woman’s role was to show other women how to behave through their own actions. That too would have been problematic but it would have at least given Beyoncé some autonomy away from her husband and independence as a whole person with free will.
I know a lot of people will say that Farrakhan’s comments were flattering and complimentary of women. He likened women to possessing wisdom. And I like that sentiment. I believe it. But God, in all His wisdom, knows we live in the real world. And wisdom means nothing if you’re not acting it out for yourself. And sadly, in his entire response Farrakhan did not provide any concrete ways in which women should be or could be doing this. So it all just sounds like hot air. You’re a wise woman but you need a man, your husband to tell you how to dress. It’s contradictory.
Secondly, it was interesting that he seems to be under the impression that Jay Z is the one dressing Beyoncé. I don’t know the inner workings of her marriage or her money but I would be shocked and appalled to learn that Jay Z is at the mall or flipping through catalogs looking for things for her to wear. I love Beyoncé and have watched enough interviews, specials etc to know that probably more than most women in the industry, she is in control of her image. If she’s dressing this way, it is her choice.
As much as I love Beyoncé, I’m not going to pretend that I would be comfortable wearing many of the outfits and costumes she wears in public. But I’m a person and a woman who appreciates my free will. And if God allows us to make our own choices who am I to tell another human being how they should dress their own body. It’s simply not our place. And I have not appreciated men telling me how to dress my own body. Anyone with a relationship with God knows that God convicts people about different behaviors at different times and in different ways, though He can and does use other humans to do so.
Perhaps Farrakhan thought he was acting as an agent of God.
I don’t know.
Then there’s this issue, the most glaring one, which I’ve seen time and time again from men all over the world: instead of holding each other accountable for their bad behaviors and attempting to make themselves and each other better men, and more importantly, better people. Farrakhan says that when a man looks at a woman half way dressed, he goes home and attacks a child.
Huh?
So, Beyoncé’s wardrobe choices are responsible for children being sexually assaulted? No, that’s ridiculous. A man who’s a pedophile is a man who hasn’t dealt with his own issues or one who hasn’t been held accountable by other men in his community.
I often find that instead of men taking ownership over their mess, it’s much easier to point the finger at women. There are so many single parent households because women don’t pick good partners, rather than men aren’t focusing on commitment and being there to raise their children. Society is crumbling because women don’t have any standards, as if women have been given the economic, social and global power to affect all the decision making in this country or abroad. Apparently, women live in this world by ourselves. And whenever she does exercise autonomy, her decisions equal ruin for the community.
That’s just not true.
We all share a part.
One of the most poignant arguments from Farrakhan came when he said that he refused to look at Russell Simmons’ wife. He took responsibility for the images he consumed and refused to look at her. Kudos. We all have choices. While some of us like to pretend that Beyoncé is everywhere, infiltrating our minds, she’s not. And even if you don’t know she’ll be performing somewhere, probably with few clothes on, then you can always turn the channel or walk away. This is what I mean about men holding themselves accountable. I get that no one is thinking about the Quran or the Bible when they see Beyoncé on stage, but truth be told, there are a lot of times when we’re not thinking about those things. Life is in your face and it’s not always holy. But as a person chasing after God, you have to learn how to redirect and refocus. I even understand that it might be a challenge; but if you find it impossible, that says less about Beyoncé’s choices and more about your own.
You can watch the video in its entirety on the next page.
