Rizza Islam is about action. Following a powerful panel at the 2022 REVOLT Summit x AT&T, the Nation of Islam member caught up with REVOLT backstage to further discuss his thoughts on next steps toward freedom for our people. “Every group of people has actions behind what they believe in,” he said.

“If you do not make it known publicly with actual movement, like meeting up with people who you are going to call for the financial side, the land acquisition, you will not be taken seriously when it comes to anything else. Why? Because this deals with the pain of the past and your ancestors who came up and brought you to where you are.”

Islam added, “If you don’t do something to make that right, no one will respect you when it comes to anything in the future. So, we have to do what is right to make that happen, so that we can build our future to make it greater than what it was in the past.”

During the Summit, the leader shared his views on the actions that need to take place in order to move forward as a society in “The Reparations Conversation.” Moderated by Van Lathan, Islam was joined by Erika Alexander, Tariq Nasheed, Tezlyn Figaro, Kamilah Moore, and Killer Mike to dig deeper into the conversations surrounding reparations for the Black community.

With the theme of this year’s Summit being focused on the future, Islam opened up about the importance of truly moving forward as a people. “A lot of our people, mentally, are still stuck in the past. Regardless of traumatic situations — you name it — a person who is stuck in the past in psychotic, a person stuck in the present is neurotic, meaning we’re always nervous,” he explained. “The most intelligent people live in the future because they solve problems before they happen. So, the future is now because we’re making things happen tomorrow by looking at what we’re dealing with today.”