Black Cousin's Mafia

research library:  Greetings. Today, from the research library book review, we have a special guest with us; Mr. Fatihah Shariah.  How are you doing today, Black man?

shariah:  As salaamu alaikum. all praise to Allaah, Lord of the Worlds.  I'm doing, brother.  I'm doing.  Black in america.

research library:  Wa laikum as salaam.  Black in america.  Heavy topic to understand, but very appropriate to introduce because we want to have the readers understand the actual plight or progression of our 400 hundred year sojourn in america.  As a reader of your work, both fiction and nonfiction, as a Black man, I identify very well with the various themes, and ideaologies that you present in your writings.  In particular, your works of fiction, and the dynamic of the characters throughout, where I see my everyday life in your books.  From Dream Honourable, and the beauty of Black women to Hot Black Water, and the vulnerability of children trapped in ignorance, and sickness.  And now we have your newest work; Black Cousin's Mafia. 

shariah:  I first want to thank Almighty Allaah for this interview, and for you, Brother, and the work that you are doing with the Library.  It is a necessity that we are very rarely gifted with because of our ignorance as a nation of people.  And it is only Allaah that guides us to what we call the hereafter or paradise, in this world, and beyond the grave.  Without Allaah, none of this would be possible.  I also want to thank you for your compliments.  To be nothing in the world of things, and to still be nothing, but have someone compliment your work is tremendous.  The mindset is Black people progression from the realities of slavery, and colonialism.  Both forms of wickedness exist today in dominant fashion because of the rule of the devil, and both forms have developed into a third head called ignorance, and it is the ignorance component  that is mainstreaming across racial lines where Black people are the destroyers of themselves; mass self genocide.  From a nonfictional element, to write about the aspirations and successes, the dominance of us as Black people is straight forward, something comprehendible.  But from a fiction perspective, the language and description capabilities are infinite so the fiction reality can be abstract or something not readily adhered to, but we understand.  It is only the very best of our works; Richard Wright, Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, where the fictorial reality is the reality, and not psuedo fantasy.  With the destuction of everything Black from mainstream empowering media, nothing is seen or heard that will continue to give guidance.  You have to find yourself in the most awkward situations before you begin to hear reality, Black history antiquity, what Allaah is saying to you.  In writing fiction, and in writing Black Cousin's Mafia, the themes of the defining of our greatness; from the 1950's up into the early 1980's with the Honourable Minister Farrakhan rebuilding the Nation of Islam, to identify with the characters, the story line, the situations and circumstances, is what it is because it is the more significant, dominant time period that has shaped or reshaped the thought processes of Black america.  We have to understand, our greatness, how the bible gives it to you, can not be eclisped within a thirty, forty year time span, but outside of american chattel slavery, I would say there was not another scribed time period that dominated, shaped and provided the groundwork pathway tens of thousands of years into our future. So in just reading a book, a Fatihah fiction, whether conscious or subconscious, you will inherently gravitate towards the circumstances of the narration because the themes of our dominant progression development, mentally, are the same themes intertwined throughout the storyline.

research library:  Ummm, that's heavy.

shariah:  To publish information from a research environment of books of a structured discipline is straightforward, and again, the horror of our Black american reality, at the highest level, is food, sometimes, that can not be digested directly because there is no 'repair' for the damage; a recompense or justice for the crimes committed against us.  So for me, my approach to writing fiction is more of a down time from the atrocities against us as Black america.  To understand, initialIy, I would never write a fiction book on the struggles of Black america, but I would write a book about the life of a Black man or Black woman, Black people, and have the aurora, that Black american fight characteristic througout the text.  Whether it be a redirect of situations, the names of the characters, the descriptions of the environments.  Its not going to necessarily say Black america, but it will say Black people.  And I get that perspective from my brother, Richard Wright.  The literary world of writing, for me, is Mr. Wright.  Again, the things he was saying in his writings was very real for me, something that made sense.  I just love my brother for the works he put out, and we thank Allaah for him.  So in reading Mr. Wright; he already gave it to you, so how I write, who I am, is going to be the movie "Crooklyn" with reading education from Mr. Wright. Mrs Hurston, and Mrs Walker.  Now we have to understand, the knowledge of Mr Garvey is also in there, but again, we are speaking about fiction. compared to realities that we actual are living, if you can understand that.  As a writing novice, I am still trying to gain better control of the english language.

research Library:  No, that's understandable.  Fiction, Non-fiction.  We are living real life.  To take yourself away from the madness, and listen.  

shariah:  To not make our reality a fantasy, where we began to say that its not real or it never happened, that everything is going to be ok.  Everything is not going to be ok, and then we fantasize it as an untruth. 

research library:  I was just about to say that.  From being Black america to being people in some country with a few pieces of property.  

shariah:  Exactly.  So writing fiction, reading fiction, for me, is that Black woman, right. You love her, and how she make you feel.  That she accentuates that you are a Black man is powerful.  A lot of that is lost in today's educational system of how we learn, and 2023 education for us as Black america is Black people hating Black people, and you are going to learn education to promote your nation from that environment.  Real crazy.  And really, only the scripture can give context to it, for it to make sense.  So as I talked about before, Black Cousin's Mafia was apart of a three part literary display; the Black series: Hot Black Water, Black Cousin's Mafia, and  Black Mothers.  Black Mothers is still in the works.  It will be a book, movie/ documentary about Black women doing their thing as mothers in society.  Real Powerful.  Allaah blessed me with the construct, and it was just a follow through on the revelation.  I wrote Black Cousin's Mafia after just finishing Hot Black Water.  Allaah showed me how to write from a production point of view to just produce works, start to fininsh.  But again coming from the literary backgroud that I come from, to produce works with no substance, like mass producing little candies; takes away from the quality of the work.  So I will sit, and let the thought sit for months, years before I move on it.  But in getting involved in writing the character of 'Simone' in  Hot Black Water, I just couldn't wait to get into the develop of the character 'Cousin', and how Allaah would direct me to develop him throughout the script.  It was very challenging because again, the subject matter is intense, and only from an outside, shallow view point, the language and word choice used to describe activities that we could only imagine to be so simple, but extreme complication in thought, makes at times the word play of Black Cousin's Mafia seem irregular.  Not being consistently around a league of professinal writings, I don't know what that is, and would need the community of literary greats to give me further insight.  Allaah say lack of writing experience, and low command of the english language, things that we are presently working on.  But I believe it is at times the disfunction of the reading rhythm within the writing that places the reader right inside of the skin of the character.  You are not Cousin, but you are right there with him.  I don't know, what did you get from it, how it reads simple at times?

research library:  Brother, Black Cousin's Mafia was very uncomfortable for me to read because the Blackman is homeless, and to be made aware that Black people are living in that type of sickness, where as the hard life we think we live is ease, and comfort.  This brother is homeless, sleeping in an alley, and the reality is we have present day situations, easy accessible, that will place the Black man, and Black woman in that type destitute.  But what messed me up was that the storyline is not even in that direction.  The book talks very little about the politics of homelessness, but rather this Black man is completely socially destroyed, and where is the help?  And there is no help coming.  Was that the motivation behind the book, a type social awareness of our Brothers, and Sisters homeless on the street?

shariah:  Indirectly.  When I first started traveling to various book events across the east coast of america, going to these bigger cities, and coming from down south, as a muslim, to meet Black people, and celebrate who we are is one of the characteristics of our paradise.  But now I was seeing hundreds of Black people living on the street, and it messed me up because I couldn't do nothing.  Even if you had finances to give as charity, you wouldn't have enough to give what the environment was showing you, and I would be right there talking to them like we knew each other our entire life, but once the conversation was over, and I couldn't take them with me, they were going right back to what they had made on the sidewalk to sleep, and live, and it was just messed up.  Never really settles well with you when you leave, but they are still there.  So on some level to bring attention to the situation is good, but homelessness is not going to be corrected with Mr. Shariah writing some fiction book about a homeless man.  But the theme is there for us to understand when we come back into the reality of our lives, and the decisions we make to live, and to help if you can.  The approach to writing Black Cousin's Mafia was the same as writing Dream Honourable, and how difficult the task to write about something with very little action or movement, to capture the reader with words, but the context of the environment is simple, whole numbers.  Could I do it, with the simplicity of the story line, write a good book.  Would it be one of the great books?  How would Allaah direct the develop of the story?  That was the thing that was most motivating.  What was Allaah going to do with what He was showing me?  Real motivation, but a lot of work.  I say a lot of work because as a writer, to produce what you believe is decent because its your work is satisfying, but to present a storyline that is a bore; to bore the reader.  For Fatihah to fall in the category of 'he than wrote a bad book'.  I say that because I personally have never read a book that was not satisfying.  And I believe, even across racial lines, if a book is written by someone that is not Black, that book will still give you something of knowledge, and wisdom.  There are horrible movies, but not horrible books so for me to write the first horrible book in the history of books, you understand.  So you are reading about an unimaginable situation that is a present day reality in many Black people's lives, but the environment of the conscious intent for attention is a line of silence across a time span of a couple of days.  For the reader to consistently hear the silence yet not be bored, and again the simpleness of the word structure for illustration.  To understand those components that develops the gravitation to the book to read is what I was writing towards, to agitate that thought where when you put the book down, you want to pick it back up again to keep reading it.  Totally different than reading a action novel or some type Black drama.  

research library:  I kind of felt that in reading Dream Honourable.  At times trapped in the pages of wanting to know, but you had us in the middle of the wilderness reading about a white grizzly.  For me, it was the dynamic of the characters that keep me going, wanting to know what was next.  

shariah:  Dream Honourable was special for me because it was my first book, and it was a blessing from Allaah.  So by itself, its an original Fatihah, but when you put Hot Black Water, and then Black Cousin's Mafia in line with Dream Honourable, there can be a repetition writing style; reading the same book under separate circumstances, and that was a certain distaste in my mouth; to not be original everytime.  So I'm learning.  I believe Married to a Monkey is a walk on a separate path which is good, to give the readers something fresh, or to write a science fiction that is reality.  There are alot of directions we can go in, its just patience, and the time of refinement for quality, and ascribed perfection.

research library:  That's good that you say that because as we close, I wanted you to let the readers know what you have in line from your fiction environment.  

shariah:  You know, as we development in intelligence, at first I was really into writing ficiton, and thinking what it could be like, and how we want things how we see it, but the mind is a complicated muscle to use when you don't understand.  In seeing the power of writing, and controlling our narrative, I grew into the concept that non- fiction should be more prevalent than fiction or to imagine.  Black america needs solutions to their problems, and fiction at times can present itself as a type escape from the hell that we live in.  With that mindset,  I have been focusing on putting out science research books, books that develop us scientifically as a nation of Black people.  From Communism Dominance of Democracy Economy to Curriculum Development for Public Educational School Systems, I would like to focus on putting out some good reference science literature that can be a bookmark in a certain time period in our present history.  We have a sleeper, Number System Farmer's Guide for Children, that I pray will revolutionize the way we look at Black men as mathematical, scientific instructors, and what, and how our young children are learning mathematics.  To have the child learning with an intelligence system that utilizes light speed understanding, and implementation.  So that's developing, and taking progress, and in between praying to get it right, to put a fiction out would be good.  There's Five Dollars, and The City of Cancer.  We have a kung fu joint called The Lemon Trees.  That thing is hot.  I really want to make that into a movie.  Allaah blessed me to see that thing so vivid that I believe I can produce, and direct it myself, but I also believe that the script is at a certain level where one of our Black professional entertainers might want to do something with it, so I'm just working, being patient.  I really want to see Hot Black Water made into a movie.  To give Black america something they been missing for the past ten, fifteen years; that late 80's, early 90's movie theater experience. so if it be the will of Allaah, these things will become a reality at some point in time.

research library:  All praise to Allaah, Lord of the Worlds.  Is there any concluding words you wanted to say to the people?

shariah: I want to thank Almighty Allaah again for us as Black people.  I want to thank everyone that has supported my work.  We have to continue to stay focused because our progression is a development process which is at hand.  The madness of the onslaught of the promotion of illiteracy for us as Black people is not normal or reality, but insanity, and we have to work, and produce to destroy that ignorance.  I would finally like to thank the many people, organizations, groups that are in the work of helping Black people become successful, innovative, advanced for the prophetic fullifillment of who we are, and who Allaah says we are. Their commitment is tremendous.  As salaamu alaikum.

research library: Peace.