According to the FBI files linked above, the Moorish Science Temple was founded in the 1920s (most of the "sedition" inquiries were done around World War II). Members of the Temple take one of three last names: El, Ali, and Bey. It's because they believe that all black people in America descended from those three Moorish tribes.
Seems like Jeff Fort's prison conversion might have taken place at the hands of Moorish Science Temple initiates rather than the well-known offshoot, Nation of Islam.
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lionheart: According to this page, the Moorish Orthodox Church is another offshoot of the Moorish Science Temple.
In Chicago Noble Drew issued many Moorish Passports, and it is said that some new converts, in the zeal of their newfound nationality, began to grow less and less subservient in their dealings with the oppressor empire ("Pharoah" or "Babylon"). This culminated in a full scale attack on the Science Temple in which (despite the secret escape route, an essential feature of all Moorish Science Temples) many of the faithful were martyred, including the Enforcer of the Law, a man whom Noble Drew had recognized as a reincarnation of Jesus.
Shortly thereafter (in 1929) Noble Drew prophesied the hour of his death. He was "taken for questioning" by the Chicago Police and brutally beaten, and died soon after his release.
After this, the Moorish Science Temple began to split into sects or factions, one headed by Noble Drew's chauffeur, another by Elijah Muhammed, who his his Moorish Science origins and taught a pseudo-science of race hatred disguised as the "Nation of Islam." Until Elijah's death, many Moors expected him to recant.
In the 1950's in the Baltimore/DC area, some white poets and jazz musicians came into contact with the Science Temple and acquired passports. They formed another offshoot of Moorish Science, the Moorish Orthodox Church of America. At that early stage, the M.O.C. was seen as partly Moorish and partly Eastern Orthodox, and there existed certain ties with "Errant Bishops" of the Old Catholic Church, Syrian Orthodoxy, etc. Some of these founding fathers drifted eventually into Sunni Islam, others remained faithful to the M.O.C. and friendly to the Science Temple.
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GODSA ssassin: What my imagination brought me when I first read this thread was similar to how you describe the Latin Kings. A group within the community intended to help the area and environment they were born into that focused on Noble Drew Ali's and/or Hakim Bey's writings.
It's important to note here that the Latin Kings might try to look after their neighborhoods and promote the development of the Latin people, but they're also behind some heavy-duty crime and violence.
Here's a pretty good perspective from a Latin King leader:
When you have poverty and racism, inequality, lack of a stable economic base in the community, you’re gonna have gangs whether you like it or not. Nowadays they just so happen to be black and latinos. Why? Because we’re the ones that have the lack of economics in our community. Some people say you know pull yourself up by your own bootstraps right and we always say, well what if we don’t got boots. Then what? You know. And there’s never a response to that. I’m not here to justify anything that has happened because yeah there are bad people in these gangs.
There are people that kill, there are people that sell drugs, that’s without a doubt. I always tell my guys and guys from other organizations. If you get caught for doing something, don’t come asking for help unless they’re trying to add on some shit to you. If you got caught for murder, do the time man. There’s nothing I can do about that. What do you want me to do? Pull out 30, 40000 dollars and get you off the hook? You got caught with the guns in your hand and they can verify that you did it, you did it, what you want me to do? Some guys will say, no no you gotta get me out, at least help em get out of the country, go somewhere, do something...
That does happen and I’m not gonna deny it but guess what? It happens in the police department and it happens in our government. Local, state, county, federal government. Same thing happens. It’s just that we’re looked upon as the bad people because when you walk outside your house you see it. You can’t walk into a police station and see that. You can’t walk into the Capitol. It’s all done behind closed doors. Okay? A lot of the gang leaders that exist now are very aware of all the bullshit that’s going on...
We always tell the guys, you gonna go shoot somebody you make sure you shoot that mother fucker. Kill him that way. When you find out that bullet went and hit somebody else, I’m coming after you. I’ll be done. And that’s our justice. Does it justify anything? No it doesn’t. Am I unique in my perspective within the organization? Yes. Are there many that think the way I think? No... .Have I ever killed anybody? No. That I know for a fact. I never killed anybody. Cause when I usually shot at people that just did it to scare em.
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GODSA ssassin: Any thoughts on comparing and contrasting gang-life behaviors with Bey's TAZ ideas, anyone?
I know he's written about Tongs, which is pretty much the same thing. Not entirely, but pretty much. |
