The Office of Special Programs and Cultural Series presented “Get Involved,” the last SPIT Knowledge lecture of the semester in the Opal Johnson-Smith Auditorium this Tuesday. Narrated by Brother Jesse Muhammad, award-winning journalist and public relations specialist, the lecture encouraged students to overcome mediocrity and take action towards self empowering success.
The lecture began with a short anecdote of Brother Jesse’s former self, “Jesse Jackson,” in his early years at Prairie View. “I used to party with the best of them,” he said. He explained his unhappiness as a student following mainstream trends and neglecting himself while trying to please others.
Muhammad said after his brother introduced him to literature based on Nation of Islam philosophies, he became “conscious” of his life in America and soon converted to the religion.
Muhammad began his blogging career after covering the “Jena 6” case in 2006, involving 6 young boys who were wrongly charged with second degree murder in Louisiana for “The Final Call” newspaper of which earned national recognition. The recognition induced a passion to communicate important overlooked events and spark awareness amongst the black community.
When asked what advice he would give his 20-year-old self now that he has come into a new understanding of life and true success, Muhammad said, “I would say strive to please God first, then yourself, and not others.”