Muslims unite with Moonies

The Nation of Islam seeks to extend its reach with
grass-roots networking

By Noah Schaffer

There's probably no religious group more controversial than the Nation of Islam. Some praise the group's street activism and message of self-reliance, while many others detest the group's leader, Minister Louis Farrakhan, for his anti-Semitic rhetoric. Despite this, Farrakhan and the Nation have shown remarkable organizational skills, convincing more than an estimated 500,000 black men to attend the 1996 Million Man March in Washington, DC. That power, though, may be waning, as evidenced by last October's Million Family March, also held in Washington. This time, according to newspaper estimates, only a quarter million people attended the March, despite a concerted effort to include women, whites, and other religious faiths. Mainstream African-American organizations like the NAACP and the South Christian Leadership Conference, who didn't endorse the first March, also played a role, as did the Reverend Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church.

But although the MFM might have been perceived by the mainstream media as a disappointment, some evidence suggests that its impact could have resonance in Worcester's African-American community.

Five years ago, the Worcester delegation drew heavily from the area's black churches. This time, Albanian Muslims, members of the New Life Apostolic Temple (a Main Street congregation who draws many worshippers from Ghana) were among those who went to Washington.

This new unity reveals itself back at the Franklin Street office of the Black FBI (Fighting Back with Intellect), a non-profit group that focuses on African-American interests, where a follow-up meeting for the committee that sent two busloads to the MFM features a group of about 10 that draws from several different sources -- the Nation of Islam, the Unification Church, the Afrakania Mission, and secular community activists interested in the messages of the March. Two such activists are Joyce D. McNickles and her husband, Carlo Baldino, a retired North High history teacher.

McNickles glances over at Jeff Allard, a member of the Unification Church, and mentions the controversial leader of Allard's church, the Rev. Sun Myung Moon. Neither Moon nor Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan have been happy with

their treatment in the mainstream media. Farrakhan is often blasted for his divisive and anti-Semitic comments. Moon is frequently depicted as a cult leader, and has also come under fire for dubious business practices, such as the right-wing Washington Times newspaper.

Now they've come together to work on projects like the March, which was organized by Farrakhan but heavily funded and supported by Moon, a multi-billionaire. The pro-family message of the March was met with approval by Moon, who is famous for holding mass marriages. "I don't know much about Moon," muses McNickles, "but anyone who gets that much criticism from the media must be worth listening to."

This represents a blossoming relationship between markedly disparate groups. Now local religious groups who often find themselves outside of the mainstream are working together. But have the Marches made a difference within the community on the whole? And will the coalition that made up the MFM planning committee in Worcester work together now that the March is over?

Keith Muhammad thinks so. As the most visible figure in Worcester's Nation of Islam Study Group, Muhammad is often seen selling NOI-produced newspapers in Main South, or is heard broadcasting Farrakhan speeches on his WCUW radio program. He says the organizing committee for the March is still meeting regularly, and has several events planned for Black History Month.

"The beautiful thing about the local organizing committee for the Million Family March was that there were so many different perspectives -- a variety of people from different faiths and philosophies," says Muhammad. "We want to make a change for the betterment of our community, and the betterment of the family. When one of us has an event, now we'll make an attempt to all be there, so our youth see a united front."

Despite its relatively large black population, Worcester hasn't always had a Nation of Islam presence. When Malcolm X spoke at Clark University in 1963, the audience included quite a few Black Muslims who had come from Boston and New Haven, according to Memphis Circuit Court Judge D'Army Bailey, who arranged the speech when he was a Clark student. "There really weren't any [Muslims] in Worcester," says Bailey.

While the current Nation of Islam Study Group is by no means large, it is certainly visible. Muhammad is largely credited with that visibility, although he says growth really began in 1991. Muhammad, who was born Keith Chester (the son of Worcester Election Commission member Beverly Chester), joined in 1993, after being exposed to the Nation's teachings by friends and family.

Along with organizational growth, Muhammed's group has strengthened certain alliances. For example, the Emmanual Baptist and Belmont Street AME Zion churches each sponsored buses to the MMM, and both helped to publicize the MFM, although to limited response from their congregations. This would have been unheard of during the 60s, when the NOI clashed with other black religious leaders over the tone and direction of the Civil Rights movement.

Belmont Street AME Zion's Reverend Nathaniel Perry sees opportunities for his church to work with the NOI in the future. "There are some things that different religions can do together. Keith has offered an olive branch, and he'll support the things going on in the churches, and we say `how can we help him?' I think the Nation of Islam is doing some good things with black men who are coming out of jails and prisons -- steering them back [into society]. Local churches should be doing more of that."

James Martin of the Black FBI also thinks the NOI marches can and will continue to have meaning back home. Martin's visit to the MMM in 1996 prompted him to form his organization. Today, his group is an active player in Worcester's black community, holding events and providing services such as an after-school homework center. Martin himself has become a visible political presence as well, turning up at rallies and city forums on issues like economic development.

Martin joined the MFM's planning committee, and brought many of his staff with him to Washington. With the structure of the Black FBI already in place, Martin is someone who can actually talk specifics about what to do next. "People can be unsure what their role is. We, as an agency, have a better grasp than most individuals would have on their own."

Martin says two issues raised at the March could result in new FBI programs. First, he hopes to set up transitional housing for youths between 16 and 22 who are about to be released from prison or the Department of Social Services system. "These young men didn't have a nurturing environment during their adolescence, and they have to make the transition to adulthood. They need educational and vocational skills to make the transition a viable one." The other proposed program would bring together 30 young mothers into a co-operative child care unit.

However, the fact remains that many area black churchgoers didn't make it to Washington. Muhammad blames the mainstream media, which he feels didn't give the March enough attention. The Telegram & Gazette ran several articles about the March, but Muhammad wasn't pleased with either the placement or the tone of the articles. Many mainstream papers ran news briefs, in contrast to African-American media outlets like Boston's WILD radio station or the statewide Unity First newspaper, which plugged the March heavily.

"We would have liked to have seen more church participation, with this March we seemed to get a larger youth contingent instead," says Muhammad. "As to why, there is the issue of how the mainstream media did not promote this, and as far as we were concerned, entered into a conspiracy to white out the March by ignoring it. By doing so, many of the mischief-makers in the media believed that if they could ignore it, the March would be less successful."

Others offer different reasons. Rev. Thurman Hargrove of the Second Baptist Church says he's more interested in working at home to better Worcester's African-American community, which the 1990 census showed having three times the poverty rate and a third less per capita income than that of the city's white population -- shocking figures, to say the least. "I don't think we should run to Washington to solve our problems," says Hargrove. "We should be united and getting together here -- I think going to Washington is a waste of time. "I've been here 43 years, and I know what we need here, but we are not united to take care of what Worcester needs," says Hargrove.

While Rev. Perry and Rev. Richard Wright of Emmanuel Baptist Church are active in mainstream programs such as Emmanuel Baptist's child care center, which receives public and private funding, Rev. Hargrove focuses on street-level projects. For example, the church has flyers posted throughout Main South offering help for drug addicts.

The Black FBI's Martin also wants more unity among the city's black clergy. "I don't think the clergy here feels the need to come together as a group, and deal with the issues that we should be dealing with. In every major city, you see the black clergy stand together on issues that are impacting everyone. Here, you see that with the Latino clergy, but [not] when it comes to the black clergy."

But while the March may have brought together a strong variety of local churches and religious figures, one community that wasn't reached was Worcester's sizable Jewish population. Tensions between Jewish leaders and the Nation of Islam recently escalated, when much to the dismay of some, Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Sen. Joseph Lieberman proposed a meeting with Farrakhan.

Locally, the Jewish/NOI relationship hit a low point when a video of a Farrakhan speech was shown in a North High classroom in 1998. Baldino, now retired, showed the video as part of an oratory class. The Worcester Jewish Federation denounced the use of the video in the classroom. "The tension that arose from that issue has never been resolved," according to Muhammad. "[Resolving it] comes down to whether or not you have people who are willing to enter into a dialogue with each other."

While Orthodox Jews were present at the Million Family March, Worcester Jewish Federation President Robert Adler wasn't impressed. "I watched portions of the March on C-SPAN and saw numerous speakers devote themselves to speech that does not advance the relationship between the Nation of Islam and the rest of America, which includes the Jewish community. I heard speakers who were hurtful, and plain wrong, in regards to Jews in America and the State of Israel."

Adler is referring to speakers like Wannetta Longwolf, who, according to The New Republic, told the crowd that the American government is "imperialist, capitalist, Zionist" and that Israel is "the taker of the fat...the stealer of the land." And even more damning to claims of the "new Farrakhan" is his statement in mid-October that "there is Jewish control over black artists and black athletes and black professionals."

Adler says he would "have to understand what the motivation was before I judged any local church group that decided to support the March. There may have been reasons with respect to attempting to achieve African-American political unity, but I would want to express my concerns to them regarding the other messages that came out of that event."

Despite their differences, both Adler and Muhammad stress the need for members of the two communities to meet with each other. Willis Center Executive Director Carlton Watson is both black and Jewish, and he participated in the MMM. "It was less about Farrakhan, and more about black men coming together to make a statement. A number of people from Worcester really came forward from that event and stepped into a larger leadership role, and it had a positive impact on the community."

Noah Schaffer can be reached at nschaffer@mailandnews.com