Neb Naba Lamoussa Morodenibig said that instead of being fierce, it is better for you to be intelligent. The whole world respects intelligence, and when you are intelligent, people fear you.
by Bikamen Khentimah
Neb Naba Lamoussa Morodenibig said that instead of being fierce, it is better for you to be intelligent. The whole world respects intelligence, and when you are intelligent, people fear you. Intelligence based on the right foundations is the true crown, which is why our Ancestors built civilizations rooted in wisdom and not terror or propaganda. Their societies valued knowledge, community, and harmony with nature and spirit. Intelligence is how we remember who we were, even when the world tries to make us forget. It’s how we sang in code, braided escape maps into hair, survived middle passages, plantations, and ghettos. Intelligence is power that heals and uplifts.
Being feared might make others step aside, but it doesn’t make them respect you. It doesn’t create a legacy. Intelligence is generative because it teaches and carries the wisdom of the elders and passes it to the youth. Fear destroys bridges. Intelligence builds them. Our indigenous communities don’t just value the intellect of books but the wisdom of lived experience. The grandmother who knows every herb in the yard. The griot who remembers the old names. The child who asks the right question at the right time. That’s intelligence. It is collective, rooted, and alive. And it brings people closer.
When we lead with intelligence, we speak truth to power with clarity. The clarity that makes our position firm is that we know what truly matters for ourselves, families, communities, and humanity at large. The clarity that enables us to move forward with the necessary detachment to live as nature intended. The kind of clarity that helps us look at the root of our problems, our goals, objectives, and things we wish to achieve so that we can revolve- go back to the beginning of our paths and redirect ourselves to the path that helps us spiritually evolve.. Speaking truth to power with clarity also means that we do not fumble or stutter when we name what must change. Our words become arrows that are aimed with purpose. We strategize, organize, and transform systems. We move forward together.
But when we lead with fear, we inherit loneliness. A man who rules through fear walks alone because he fears for his back. But a wise leader walks with their people, uplifted by their trust. Choose intelligence because it honors our Ancestors, strengthens our communities, and shapes a future where we all rise. Wisdom echoes through generations and gives direction. For only intelligence rooted in Ancestral wisdom becomes the crown we are meant to wear. Wisdom is not simply knowing; it is remembering. Intelligence becomes sacred when it is guided by the heartbeat of those who walked before us. When we lead with that kind of intelligence, we do more than succeed; we sustain. We do more than resist, we reimagine. And in that reimagining, we become bridges between the past and the future. This is the kind of intelligence the world needs now. The one that is silent, luminous, and nourishes like a mother’s love.
