The History of Moorish Americans (Abridged)
Similar to Sovereign Citizens, the Moorish American movement is based on a religious establishment:The Moorish Science Temple of America. It was created by Noble Drew Ali in Chicago, under the premise that all African-Americans are descended from the Moabites, who descended from Moab, the Son of Lot. Yes, the same one from the Old Testament. He specifically claims that they came from the Moroccan empire, and according to Ali, this made them Moorish by Nationality, and Muslim by faith. So let’s talk about that
First up is the Nationality: Ali claimed that Ancient Moabites “inhabited the northwestern and southwestern shores of Africa”, which would put them in the right location to be Moorish (Spain, Portugal, Morocco). However, actual biblical scholars put the kingdom of Moab on the eastern side of Africa, in Jordan/Canaan.
As far as the religious aspect, Moors, who again were in or near Morocco, were Muslim. However, Moabites, residing in Jordan/Canaan, were not. Instead of worshipping the Muslim God Allah, they worshipped a god called Chemosh.How did he get this wrong? There are some theories that attempt to explain this.
One theory claims that because the word Moor has historically been incorrectly attributed to all Africans, and has been used interchangeably with the word Moabite in some Medieval texts, Ali simply got confused.
A second theory claims that Ali confused Moabites with Morabites, due to the fact that the African American dialects of 1913 commonly dropped the r sound after a vowel. If we look at the location of Morabites, it seems to match. And, Morabites were primarily Muslim.
A third theory, which I like the best, is that the original Moabites migrated to Morocco, having been integrated into Phoenicia, which was originally located in Levant before it spread west. The Phoenicians did settle in the area that is now Morocco, and not only does that give us the right geographical location, they had the right religion! Among the many gods that were worshipped by Phoenicians was... Chemosh, the main guy worshipped by the Moabites! What still isn’t established is why Ali is so keen on the relevance of the Muslim faith. Neither the Moabites nor the Phoenicians, nor the Roman Empire or Berber tribes who historically controlled the land that is now Morocco were Muslim. But Morocco did become Muslim in the late 7th century and early 8 th century, when that area was conquered during the Muslim Conquest of the Maghreb.
We’ve got it all sorted out, right? Almost. We have the right location, and we’ve figured out the religion issue, but the timeline still has some holes. In Ali’s doctrine, he states “The Moabites from the land of Moab who received permission from the Pharaohs of Egypt to settle and inhabit North-West Africa; they were the founders and are the true possessors of the present Moroccan Empire.”
So that can either mean the Moabites or Phoenicians received permission from the Pharaohs of Egypt, on the eastern side of Africa to head out to Morocco, 2200 miles west, which is possible if unlikely, and that Ali is ignoring their religion in favor of his own, or he is actually referring to the Muslims that conquered that area 700 years after the last pharaoh died, which would explain the religion and the use of the term “present Moroccan Empire”, The problem is, that fails to mesh with the Egyptian permission slip narrative.
No matter how you look at it, the facts don’t quite match up, and there are a few other logistical issues with his doctrine. But ultimately, that isn’t terribly relevant to this video. What is important is that Ali uses this “history” to establish that African Americans, as Moorish Americans, are descended from the same people as Jesus Christ. Where have we seen this before? Oh yeah! Sovereign Citizens believed something similar, but with white people. Don’t think that I’m saying these Moorish-Americans were black supremacist, because they weren’t. At least, not in the beginning.
Ultimately, it appears the Moorish-American religion was a mostly harmless way for African Americans to be proud of an identity that wasn’t related to slavery in the United States, and I can’t fault him for that.
Here’s where it gets interesting. In 1929, the first schism occurred. Claude Green left the Moorish Science Temple after an argument over money, declaring himself Grand Sheik and forming his own temple. He was later found stabbed to death. Ali and other members of the temple were arrested on suspicion of organizing or carrying out the murder, but released without charges. Soon after, Ali was found dead, and rumors that his death was caused by abuse at the hands of police, as well as poisoning by his own followers, began circulating. Anti-police sentiments grew within the organization.
This led to a scramble for power. Edward Mealy, a member of the Temple, stated Ali had named him as his successor, and Ali’s former driver John Givens, asserted that he had received a vision that indicated he was the reincarnation of Ali. Ultimately, a member named Charles Kirkman was declared to be the successor, while Mealy and Givens formed their own factions.
But. It. Gets. Better. Later in the same year, Kirkman’s wife reported that he had been kidnapped by the same man who was a primary suspect in the murder of Claude Green. When police confronted the suspect, they were fired upon. Two officers died, and one member of the Moorish American Science Temple was killed. 60 members were eventually arrested in connection with this incident. Anti-police sentiments increased.
In 1930, Wallace Fard Muhammed, who also claimed to be the reincarnation of Ali, split from the Temple and formed the Nation of Islam, which he ran with the help of a man many of you will recognize: Malcolm X. This group became known for its black-supremacist and anti-Semitic rhetoric, after severing all ties with the Moorish Temple.
As tensions between the police and the Temple rose, it wasn’t unreasonable for either side to dislike the other. Being African-American in Chicago around this time wasn’t all peaches and cream, and there was a justifiable distrust of the police by members of the Moorish Science Temple. Some believed their prophet had been killed by police. Others were upset that Moorish-Americans had been arrested in relation to various murders. The FBI was conducting surveillance on them for possible acts of treason. Yes, members of the Kirkman Faction were accused of spreading Japanese Progaganda during WWII. However, the investigation was eventually dropped, and other investigations over the next decade into other subversive activities never revealed enough for prosecution. For a while after that, not much of historical note happened regarding the Moorish Science Temple.
In the 1960s, a man named Dwight York took the teachings of the Moorish Science Center of America and combined them with those of a few other organizations, including the Nation of Islam, to form the Ansaar Pure Sufi in New York, later known as the Nubian Islaamic Hebrews. The doctrine of his organization didn’t really mesh well with state laws, and In 1993, possibly to escape prosecution for various crimes, he moved to Georgia with some of his followers, declared himself a member of the Native-American Amasee Nation, and built the Tama-Re, an Egyptian-themed compound in Eatonton. Because if there’s anything we associate with Native Americans, its... Egypt. While there, his organization’s name was once again changed, this time to the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors, and York emphasized that he was actually from another planet. He assured his followers that an alien mothership would hover over his compound’s main pyramid in 2003 to transport worthy moors to another planet.
While his teachings on alien motherships may have been unique, York wasn’t the only Moorish-American to incorporate Native Americans into their identity. Enter Verdiacee Hampton Goston, also known as Verdiacee Turner , also known as Empress Verdiacee Tiari Washitaw Turner Goston El-Bey, a two time mayor of Richwood, Louisiana, who published a book in 1993 claiming that the Washitaw Nation of Native Americans was registered as an indigenous people by the United Nations, and could declare themselves immune from the laws and regulations of the United States. As a self-proclaimed Washitaw herself, she stated that Napoleon only sold the streets of New Orleans and a military barracks to the United States as part of the Louisiana Purchase, whereas the rest of Louisiana was actually stolen from the Washitaw tribe. I’ll be explaining that in another post.
Meanwhile, at Tama-re, the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors were accusing white officials of racism, after construction on the compound appeared to violate local zoning laws. Threats were issued by the organization, and an eviscerated dog was left at the home of the county attorney. In 1999, a few Montana Freemen, yes! The same Montana Freemen that I discussed in my Sovereign Citizen video, visited Dwight York in Tama Re, and one even moved in to act as their “common-law judge” to help them out. From there, new ideas regarding sovereignty were established, such as the belief that the United States is actually Morocco due to the signing of the Moroccan-American Treaty of Friendship, and therefore United States laws don’t exist, because there is no United States. I’ll also be explaining that one in a different post as well.
The actual Moorish Temple appears to oppose the doctrine of both groups, and has tried to distance itself from York’s Moorish Americans, especially after York was convicted of child molestation in 2004 after his mothership failed to rescue him from pleading guilty to over 100 counts of child molestation and human trafficking, in what was the “largest child molestation prosecution ever directed at a single person”. According to Bill Osinski, who wrote a book about the Newaubian Nation of Moors and York’s trial, “When [York] was finally indicted, state prosecutors literally had to cut back the number of counts listed — from well beyond a thousand to slightly more than 200 — because they feared a jury simply wouldn’t believe the magnitude of York’s evil.… [It] is believed to be the nation’s largest child molestation prosecution ever directed at a single person, in terms of number of victims and number of alleged criminal acts.”
Epstein, eat your heart out.
In his trial, York tried to claim he was immune from prosecution because of his Native American heritage, and look who he brought up!
“Your Honor, with all due respects to your government, your nation, and your court, we the indigenous people of this land have our own rights, accepted sovereign, our own governments. We are a sovereign people, Yamassee, Native American Creeks, Seminole, Washitaw Mound Builders. And all I'm asking is that the Court recognize that I am an indigenous person. Your court does not have jurisdiction over me. I should be transferred to the Moors Cherokee Council Court in which I will get a trial by juries of my peers. I cannot get a fair trial, Your Honor, if I'm being tried by the settlers or the confederates. I have to be tried by Native Americans as a Native American. That's my inalienable rights, and it's on record." - Drew York
There are a few other Moorish-American groups that began popping up around this point, such as the Free Moorish Nation, the United Mawshakh Nation of Nuurs, and the Al Moroccan Empire. The doctrine of each group is slightly different, so If you’re not sure if the person is a Moorish-American, look for these signs:
They’ll almost always be of African descent [there are known exceptions for Washitaw members], they may be wearing a fez, and their name will often be followed by bey or el-bey.
And there you have it. That’s the abridged history of Moorish Americans. I will be presenting this in a video with quotes from the actual doctrine and graphics to help viewers understand certain aspects better. Look for Blue Bacon on youtube to find it in the future.
