There were several Gods who were responsible for teaching in the Bronx. Among them was Born Allah, a very powerful and articulate God who was in the Nation since the early days. [Years before this, in 1968, while Allah was attending a Christmas party at City Hall he had a discussion with Burt Roberts who was then, District Attorney in the Bronx. Roberts told Allah, although supposedly joking at the time, that “I have no problem with your being Allah. You can be Allah all you want in Manhattan, in Queens, in Kings County but you come up to the Bronx county and tell people you’re Allah and I’ll have your black ass in jail.”]
Born Allah taught young Gods in the Bronx that they were responsible for defending and maintaining their own neighborhoods. They did not view the police as being protectors of their neighborhoods but rather as their oppressors. An incident occurred in Sept. of 1973 in which a man was killed on the street by a large group of people from the community for firing a gun savagely on the street. Born Allah was singled out and railroaded for his crime because the white authorities identified him as the “ring leader” of the Gods. He was given a twenty-five year to life sentence and to this day sits in a jail cell, not for the crime of which he is accused, but for the crime of teaching black youth to be sovereign over themselves and community.
This is analogous to the case of Nelson Mandela in South Africa who also taught his people that they should not denounce violence as long as the white authorities continued to perpetrate violence against them. Both of them have sat in jail for the better part of the last twenty-five years for their views. Another event that further illustrates that the forces that killed Allah were alive and active in the Bronx took place in 1976.
A very sincere God by the name of Kyleek had acquired use of the local manpower office for use of the Gods and Earths in the community to hold classes in martial arts, sewing, etc…. He had the keys to the building and was responsible for opening it up everyday which he did faithfully. One day he didn’t show up to open the building and he hasn’t been heard from since. The Nation began to grow in epic numbers among black youth. Gods and Earths were teaching and multiplying in all black neighborhoods within the City and in many neighboring states. Now it was more than just youth who were predominantly from the same socio-economic background; low income, broken families, with histories of run-ins with the authorities, but also included bright, middle class youth from working family backgrounds.
So, the Nation reached across all class divisions. And most importantly, unlike other organizations that falter under when their leader is taken from them, the Nation of Gods and Earths grew prolifically after Allah was taken from them
ALLAH LIVES!
Article Submission: Bobby Ward