SAABA MINISTRIES OF THE WORLD
President Hoshaiah Eon El Khalil
By the power of theHidden,
the All-Seeing,
and the Creator
Peace Family:
The Typically Taught 'Black' Movement
Usually when we think of resistance to oppression, as it relates to the African Diaspora (AD) in the United States (or perhaps anywhere within the world), we usually think about either the Civil Rights Movement, Nation of Islam, or perhaps the Black Panthers. Those are the most popular key terms that tend to pop up within our mind when invoking things like rights, self-determination, and equality.
Not only do those terms invoke those stereotypical, if not traditional ideas, but also the imagery that is attached to that day and time. Pictures of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King jr. are obviously the most popular images when thinking of resistance. Sometimes other images may come to the fore, such as the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, Huey P. Newton, a founder of the Black Panthers.
Dr. Martin Luther King jr. 1929-1968
The Honorable Elijah Muhammad 1897-1975
For those images and terms to stimulate learning concerning that era (surely important to AD and the world) is not what is detrimental to the learner and/or reader. It is how those same terms and images may put people in the mindset that those images and terms are the end to all of AD philosophy and resistance to injustice, race, class, etc., within this country and the rest of the globe.
The ideas that come out of the movements above, political separatism, integrationism, socialist thought, militancy, and the like, are oftentimes viewed as being exclusively from that era. This is far from the truth.
BLACK PEOPLE ARE 'GOD'
Allow me to start off with the political and theological perspective that was popular for the Nation of Islam. They taught that god specifically the one worshipped by the Abraham faiths, is in fact black skinned and is in fact a man. To be more specific, the god of the bible and quran is a black person, a supreme black person. In some other parts of the doctrine, it goes on further to say that all black people (a large quantity of the African Diapora) are considered gods or, as they say, Allah, collectively. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad said he met his god as well as being taught this doctrine in the 1930s.
Master Fard Muhammad - The Black Lord of the Nation of Islam
Another popular black god of the 1930s is the Rastafarian High Being called Selassie I/His Imperial Majesty/Jah/Ras Ta Fari Makonnen. Because of the influence of the Honorable Marcus Mosiah Garvey and the teachings of Leonard Howell, a man that was a Ras (noble) and later, a Negus or King of Ethiopia, became a Jamaican messiah. He was the only sovereign in Africa, at the time, that the small Jamaican sect of Rastafarians looked towards as a fulfillment of prophecy, a prophecy that stated a king from Africa will be the liberation of black peoples. This king became equated to the stories of Messiah in the bible and was percieved as god.
The Honorable Marcus Mosiah Garvey 1887-1940
His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I 1892-1975 - Black Lord of the Rastafarians
Other black gods include Father Divine. He was also considered a Messiah and fulfillment of the bible stories and established his organization called the Peace Mission.
Father Divine 1879-1965 - The Black God
The notion that somehow god is in fact of the Black peoples or at the very least, appears black , is not something that started with the Nation of Islam, Peace Mission, or Rastafarians of the 1930s. In fact images of a black deity go back to very ancient times (old Egypt, Nubia, India, Greece, Maya etc.).
Ek Chuah - Black 'God' of the Mayans
But when considering the scope of the United States during the Nineteenth Century, we can see god being aligned with Blacks in black philosophical thought. Minister Nat Turner in his confessions stated that he saw black spirits in one of his prophetic visions. He also said that Jesus took off his yoke and gave him the burden, which implies that Minister Nat Turner would be the representative Jesus at that time.
The idea of the minister representing or being Jesus is not a new one. Many church organizations look at their leadership as the expressed image of Jesus on the planet (Catholic Church and the Pope, for example).
Bishop Henry Mcneal Turner 1833-1915
Another person that professed the god of the bible to be black was Bishop Henry Mcneal Turner. He was very adamant in saying that if peoples that are called white can see their creator in their own image and likeness, what would be wrong with black people doing the same thing. At the time, the politically correct word for black was negro, hence the reason why Bishop Turner said god is a negro.
COME FROM OUT OF THEM, MY PEOPLE
The original Nation of Islam and Rastafarians, in philosophy, promoted being politically (and in all other social aspects) separated from whites/caucasians, and desired a separate Black Nation.
As I have said earlier, these ideas are not exclusive to, or originating from, this said group. Gabriel (also known as Gabriel Prosser)organized a revolt to take over South Carolina and make it into a separate Black Nation. The African Blood Brotherhood of 1919, whose Leadership was Claude Mckay and Cyril Brigs, believed in a separate Black Nation as a solution for the continual lynching and abuse of blacks in the southern states. This manifested dream of a separate space for blacks in the midst of slavery and oppression was obviously realized in Nanny and the Maroons of Jamaica, the once Palmares Kingdom of Zumbi in South America, Yanga of the Afro Mexican settlement Yanga, and the still existing Caribbean country of Ayiti (may the power and dominion be their's once again).
Yanga of the Afro Mexican Settlement of the Same Name
Zumbi - Ruler of the Palmares
Cyril Briggs 1888-1966 - Co-Founder of the African Blood Brotherhood
Claude Mckay 1889 1948 - Co-Founder of the African Blood Brotherhood
EXCEPT THAT VIOLENCE IS IN SELF-DEFENSE
The Black Panthers were the group that was popular when it came to self-defense. The Nation of Islam also preached self-defense and was brought to national acclaim through El Hal Malik El Shabazz (Malcolm X). The Black Panthers are the progeny of Malcolm's political philosophy. These two groups are known to be the groups of defending one's self against the violent and malicious attacks of anyone, specifically attacks rooted in race thinking or racism.
El Haj Malik El Shabazz 1925-1965 (Malcolm X) - National Representative of the Nation of Islam, Founder of Muslim Mosque Inc., Founder of the Organization for African American Unity
The African Blood Brotherhood taught that self-defense was the way before the manifestation of the Nation of Islam. And before the Black Panther Party ever existed, there was the Deacons for Defense and Justice, whose founder was Charles Sims. Even earlier, Moses Dickson, an abolitionist, created two organizations, one called the Knights of Liberty and a secret initiate group called the Order of the Twelve. Dickson was inspired to do this upon seeing the terrible nature of slavery in the southern states.
Charles Sims - Founder of Deacons for Defense and Justice
Moses Dickson 1824-1901 - Founder of the Knights of Liberty and Order of the Twelve
So we can see that the fight and the resistance of the African Diaspora in the United States has always been an ongoing one, with the same themes and ideas being refurbished and perhaps applied differently. We must keep this in mind since in this present time, there are groups that may be mimicking the themes of the past but are not using an organizational styles that would compliment and compensate for the very different and constantly changing times we live in today.
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Peace
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