I want a moment to speak to my brothers; growing up as young men, there has always been a standard for what “masculinity,” really is. Well, what is it? What does it really mean to be masculine?
Merriam-Webster defines being masculine as “having qualities appropriate to or usually associated with a man.” What are these qualities? What does it mean to be a man? The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan said, “Every man, in order to be a man must be a man of God or he’s not a man at all.” The scripture says, “Let Us make man in our image and after our likeness.” This means that to be a man, you need to be a man of God. This also applies to my sisters; in order to be a woman, you must be a woman of God. What does it truly take to be men and women of God? What does it truly take for a man to be masculine?
Well, for one thing, it takes healing, and as the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan said, “Healing takes medicine, and to get medicine, you need a doctor.” For almost five centuries, Black people have been the victims of the worst treatment any human being could ever go through, and the mental, spiritual, moral, and physical effects are still very much present. The Black man and woman’s true identities have been robbed from them, and in the process of total obliteration, our people, who were once the great rulers of this planet—kings and queens, the engineers of marvelous, nearly unfathomable civilizations—have been reduced to the common “hood nigga,” which is less than what a man really is.
So what should we do? The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan said, “You can’t have a healing without medicine, and you can’t have medicine without a doctor.” We need to turn to the doctor to heal our wounds. Well, who’s the doctor? That doctor is your Creator; He who created you and put Himself in you so that you may overcome all obstacles in life, including the wounds you’ve been afflicted with.
I know it’s hard brother. I know it’s hard because society tells us that “men don’t cry.” I have seen some of the greatest men I know cry, because it takes real men to cry. Real men are able to admit when they need help and humble themselves to acquire that help.
Don’t worry, your “man card” isn’t in any danger. Your masculinity isn’t in check. We all need healing, including the man. So don’t allow such shallow judgement to get in your way. Look at that humiliating situation you were in once; that situation you’ve been keeping on the low. Look at that situation that’s been holding you back straight in the eye, acknowledge it, and confess to your Creator your wrongs, and from there you’re on the first steps towards the healing process.
Don’t take your issues out by poor eating habits, destruction of property, or harming yourself and others, ESPECIALLY our sisters. The beauty of God is that He allows us to find comfort in our talents, whether it’s reading, fine arts, music, playing sports, physical fitness, or whatever we can use that isn’t self-damaging to heal our wounds and begin the self-atonement process.
Society has destroyed our being, and in order to recuperate from the damages society has left on our mental being, we need to heal by turning to God and asking for His comfort. That’s the most masculine thing to do, and that’s what real men do.
