Yusef Speaks -- Young Muslim Breaks Silence on the Anti-Liquor Store Movement
YO! Youth Outlook Multimedia and New America Media, 
, JR Valrey, Posted: Feb 10, 2006
Editor's Note: Yusef Bey IV, 19, is one of the men facing charges in connection with liquor store vandalism. That incident, which was caught on video tape and broadcast internationally, has sparked an anti-liquor store movement in Oakland CA. JR Valrey is a Bay Area journalist and a contributing editor at YO! Youth Outlook Multimedia.
(3m 43s, mp3, 2.6MB) Download File
(3m 43s, mp3, 2.6MB) Download File
OAKLAND Calif. -- The anti-liquor store movement is a part of the a new black power era that is emerging in Oakland. A few months ago, some well dressed men ran up into two liquor stores in North Oakland and threw merchandise on the ground. A half dozen men have been indicted for the incident – some of which was video taped. That one action kicked off a movement that has Muslims from every race involved.
JR: What is the objective of the movement to get liquor stores out of the Black community?
Yusuf: We had liquor stores in our community for a long period of time, and we know what goes on around these liquor stores. One thing about it, is its not just liquor stores, they sell crack around theses liquor stores, they're able to buy crack and drugs out of the liquor stores, and things like this are not supposed to be done by so called Muslims.
If you say you’re a Muslim, you should have the action of a Muslim. If you say your going to be a Muslim and an follower the Mohammed you should have the actions of following Mohammed, not selling drugs or selling alcohol, or selling things in your store that's not good for our people. That's killing our people.
JR: For people who may not be versed in the Quran or the holy books, does it say specifically that Muslims shouldn’t touch alcohol?
Yusuf: Actually yes sir, it does say that. It actually said that Muslims should stay away from drugs, alcohol, and pork. That’s what the holy Quran says, and we're under the leadership of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad under Dr. Yusef Bey, currently under Antar Bey, which teaches us that the reason why we don’t use these drugs, don’t drink alcohol, is because it messes up our mind and our thinking. It affects our judgment. You know it has us going out killing people, robbing people. It (alcohol) gives us false courage. That’s why we're in the prisons like we are today, because of things like that -- for Muslims to be selling that or involved in it, makes it even worse.
JR: Can you speak to people who may not be in Oakland, can you speak to how alcohol is regulated in the city of Oakland, in comparison to neighboring suburbs?
Yusuf: Everyone knows that, it's a reason for that. It’s a reason why a majority of liquor stores are in the Black community, because they figure if you have liquor stores all throughout the Black community , like it is today, we're going to be the ones using it.
We've been robbed of a knowledge of self for 400 years so were able to go after anything that’s out there. So if you have liquor stores out there, we're going after liquor stores. If you have drugs out there, we're going after drugs that’s how we are. They use us because we don’t have the knowledge of self. Any people that don’t have the knowledge of self fall victim to things things like that, and they know that.
So in their opinion, why not make money off of it? Us, at Your Black Muslim Bakery, aren't going to allow people to make money off of killing our people. We're not going to allow that. No other man should allow that. If you say you a man or you say that you're following such and such, you should have those actions. Here at Your Black Muslim Bakery, we talk the talk and walk the walk. And if any Arabs or anybody, comes into our community and uses our people, and abuse our people, and kill our people, then you know if we're here to help our people, we're here to help our people fully, not half-doing. We're here to help our people fully, which means that if we have to get rid of the liquor stores to help our people, then that is what we're doing.
JR: Some less active less grounded less grounded in the community, politician types are criticizing the movement and are saying that Black people need to take self responsibility and not drink, it's not the Arabs fault, what do you have to say to that argument?
Yusuf: My opinion to that is that we've always had house niggas in our community always. For 400 years we've had the house niggas, you got the field nigga, and you got the yard nigga. And those people to me seem like the house nigga.
You're right it is our fault, once you have the knowledge of self, it is our fault. But we're talking about a people that didn't ever have the knowledge of self, who still don't have the knowledge of self, who don't have no father or mother in the home. If you have a liquor store right across the street, common sense says that you're going to go for that. Now us at Your Black Muslim Bakery, we have the knowledge of self, that's why we abstain from that. It's still in our community, but we don't go to that. But we're trying to help the people that don't have the knowledge of self that is in a different circumstance.
JR: What are the short-range and long range objectives of this movement?
Yusuf: The long range is to get them out of our community period. This is not something that goes on for one day, where we march for one day, we hold picket signs up for one day, or we march to city hall for one day and it is going to go away. That's not our objective at all. That might be other Muslims objective or other Christians objective, but our objective is to get rid of the problem period.
Like I said for over 400 years, people have been taking advantage of us, for over 400 years people have been using us; coming in to our community and treating us any old type of way that they want to treat us, now it is time to stop. So our objective is to get rid of them period. We hope through the courts and through the political system. But if it doesn't then we have to see what goes on after that.
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