Should Allah's Five Percent Form a Tribal Government?

   On October 18th, 2019 the Yanadameen Godcast, a Youtube podcast hosted by Hip Hop Artists Lord Jamar of Brand Nubian and Rah Digga of the Flipmode Squad, was joined by Actor, Hip Hop Artist and Community Advocate Born Mastermind Allah to discuss nation building and steps needed to form a tribal government. This episode highlighted an initiative spearheaded by Born Mastermind to nationalize Allah's Five Percent Nation of Gods and Earths into a tribal government. You can view this episode in its entirety HERE. 

     While this was the first time that many Five Percenters became aware of this initiative I was aware of this for some time before it was publicly shared. The first time I heard about this determined idea was in 2018 during a panel discussion about community building and the political process at our Annual Show and Prove. That panel was coordinated by our late great brother Cee Aaquil Allah, moderated by the elder God Minister Justice and featured King Civilized, Born Mastermind and myself. While King Civilized and myself elaborated on our insight and journey in the political arena and community outreach, Born Mastermind spoke about creating a plebiscite and forming a tribal government. The second time that I heard about this initiative was early 2019 when I built with Born Mastermind in Mecca [Harlem] during the Official Street Naming ceremony. We exchanged math and soon thereafter discussed his initiative more extensively and my projects, programs and initiatives. We also discussed potential collaborations. Following that conversation he also sent me information to do further research and decide if I was willing and able to be involved in this initiative. It was following that initial conversation, unanswered questions I posed, research I did and the cultural inconsistencies I saw that I decided not to be involved. So I ceased to follow-up on the private meeting texts and donation initiative Born Mastermind began to organize around his idea.

    In regards to the cultural inconsistencies I saw, there were things that were not in line with our teachings. In a November 15th, 1967 interview at the Otisville Reformatory School for Boys, Allah, the founder of our Nation of the Five Percent, shared, "I'm not against the United States. The Earth got to be build on. And it's your duty to teach the uncivilized we don't care whether he's black or white," and "... you got to educate these children in a way to show them why they must keep this country themselves, black and white, must unite together... now many of my people are against me." This, among many other statements by Allah, made it clear that he and his Five Percent were not Pro-Black or Anti-White nor were we against American citizenship. Allah, who was a military veteran at this time, did not refer to his Nation as a tribe nor did he promote the idea of being a sovereign body operating apart from the local, state or federal government. 

Who is the Founder of the Five Percent?

     Since our formal inception, we did not need nor seek to be nationalized as a tribal government. Allah’s Five Percent is already a Nation, with a National Flag, a common culture, chronology and land [territories]. When it comes to nationalization, for one to claim federally recognized tribal enrollment status you must prove your ancestry as a descendant of Indigenous People here in North America and/or use other tribal constitution criterion to prove your nationality as outlined by that particular tribe. This means you must show genealogical proof and/or other enrollment criteria that you descend from First Nations People such as the Seneca, Hopi, Olmec, Mayan or any of the other 550+ federally recognized tribes. If you are saying that you were here before these 550+ federally recognized tribes then you must be able to show and prove that. That requires more than books and artifacts in a museum as proof. Although we recognize that we are descendants of First World People, the Original People and fathers and mothers of civilization, and can cite archaeology, paleontology and other facts as evidence to support that, many of us who descended from those First World People have difficulty proving our ancestry genealogically and genetically.
     Forming a tribal government was not Allah’s impetus, program or goal. Allah was practically invested in community outreach and youth advocacy to help his Five Percenters become productive members of this society. Our unique culture was and is a way to facilitate that process. It is through our culture that people learn to think global and live as local citizens. At the same time Allah was not advocating assimilation or being a part of “the dead world.” He advocated the acquisition of power through showing that our Nation is equal to all nations through the science of education. 

   I understand Born Mastermind’s desire for organization, collective work and responsibility. Many of us understand this and are already working individually and collectively within our respective areas as Allah’s Five Percent. Many Five Percenters felt violated, expressed outrage and publicly shared their contempt upon hearing that Born Mastermind along with a small group of people came together as a plebiscite to draw up a constitution, form a government structure and vote to nationalize Allah’s Five Percent and our Flag without our consent. Although Born Mastermind shared his perspectives on nationalization during a 2018 panel discussion I took part in at our Annual Show and Prove, he did not formally bring this initiative before our Universal Parliament for input nor did he share it with many of the elders of our Nation. Many Five Percenters felt blindsided seeing and hearing his tribal government initiative for the first time on a Hip Hop podcast. That shrewd, non-participatory approach often makes any initiative, regardless how well meaning, doomed from the start.

     Living in Western New York I have had the privilege of knowing, working with and being with many members of the sovereign Six Nations; the Cayuga, Mohawk, Seneca, Oneida, Onondaga and Tuscarora. When I was a child I invested a lot of time on the Tuscarora Reservation because my Ole Dad was friends with the Chief. When I first began to see these ideas about sovereignty, particularly among Moorish Science Temple members, I immediately recognized that most of those folks were basing that upon what they read online or saw in YouTube videos. I could tell that they had rarely if ever been around First Nations People, on their territories and had no clue what sovereignty and self governance practically looks like. Even though I've seen some well intended people seeking sovereignty, most of these folks were males interested in forming a tribal government for less than noble reasons. Most of them wanted to assume a different legal identity to allude past debts like child support/arrears, taxes or to hide criminal background records they couldn't get expunged. Whether well intended or not, I also realized that most of these sovereignty seekers didn't consider the real responsibility that comes along with it. Self governance, forging a court system, institution building, credentialing professionals, obtaining housing and etc. hit different when financial institutions, hospitals, county buildings, utility companies, wireless service providers, insurance agencies and automotive dealers don’t provide services in your sovereign jurisdiction. It doesn't mean that the idea of sovereignty is impossible, it means that folks must really be willing to make serious sacrifices in order to truly live that out. Most folks aren't even built for that and this is the reason they promote the dual citizenship game; to have one foot in and one foot out. Some do it to acquire benefits from a society as one of its citizens, but then claim sovereignty when they're expected to do something for that society in return. In other words, I can buy property and open a business people patronize yet not pay any taxes to the society that contributes to the fire, police and other services that protect my property, patrons and supports my business. Does that seem fair to you? 

     I do not consider Born Mastermind’s nationalization initiative, nor his intentions, evil. I do consider them not well thought out, grandiose and culturally inconsistent. I think that he truly thinks that his initiative is in the best interest of Allah’s Five Percent, and like with other controversial decisions he has made concerning our Nation in the past, he is doing things his way regardless to who tells him otherwise or what the consequences are. If the name and flag of the tribal government he was nationalizing was unique, it wouldn’t be problematic. Unfortunately, he is using our Nation's name and flag for his tribal government initiative. When you use the name and flag of any Nation that already exists, that is a serious problem. 
     The bottom line is this: I am not in support of creating a tribal government because Allah’s Five Percent is already an autonomous Nation. That is our body politic. We are culturally self-governed and come together locally, regionally and nationally for Parliaments to build upon how our local and general body is operating in accordance to our culture. If changes need to be made in the best interest of our ciphers then we build upon that and collectively make a decision in the best interest of the body. We have no individual leader and encourage collective leadership with everyone possessing an equal degree of input in our affairs. Our ciphers are a consensus method designed to get everyone’s equal input, not a plebiscite where the few can decide what is best for the many. When the few vote to make decisions for the many that process produces dissatisfaction, dissension and division... Regardless what our profession is, we are Allah’s Five Percent credentialed within various industries. We own property and thus have jurisdictions, as Allah’s Five Percent. We are not in need of autonomous Federal recognition or jurisdiction nor do we need permission to operate as we already do. What we do need is for some of us to realize that we already have everything that we need, and simply build upon that.

Peace,

Saladin

Hey RZA, We Have Questions About Wu-Tang: An American Saga?

   Since its September 4th, 2019 Hulu release, Wu-Tang: An American Saga series has received mixed reviews from mainstream audiences, critics and citizens of the Five Percent Nation. With an 80% Rotten Tomatoes Rating, Daniel Fiendberg of The Hollywood Reporter writes, "the Wu built a brand based on the street-level drama of their primarily Staten Island upbringing, but filtered through lenses as eclectic as martial arts movies, comic books and 5 Percenter doctrine. The Wu narrative is gritty and grounded, while at the same time verging on urban legend or tall tale." He also goes on to state that, "it captures some of the group's kaleidoscopic perspective and nascent brilliance, but leaves too many of its best ideas half-developed."

   As a Five Percenter, it is no secret that our culture has been very influential in the growth, development and creative expression of the Wu-Tang Clan and its associated group members. In fact, RZA explicitly depicts some of our cultural elements in this series which most mainstream audiences are being exposed to for the first time. While some of those cultural elements were accurately depicted, other elements were not accurately depicted. Because of this, Five Percenters have shared mixed perspectives about how we were and are portrayed in this series. On October 18th I sent RZA an email concerning these perspectives which he has yet to respond to. In part, that email read:

"With the success of your series, and more mainstream exposure of various cultural elements of the Five Percent, I would like to interview you about that process. My readership would be interested in knowing what challenges come along with striving to articulate those cultural elements in a screenplay and presenting them in mainstream media on film? What was the process used to familiarize the actors with the culture of the Five Percent? What creative control do you have in our imagery, use of symbols and objects that express our culture in the series? What was your vision in regards to our depiction and how closely have you manifested that determined idea? These are just a few questions, and others, that many of us have regarding our cultural expression in this series. To my knowledge there is no interview, or interviewer who has allowed you to expound upon these important insights and I would be thankful to have an opportunity to responsibly make this happen!" 

   While some Five Percenters have been quoted on social media as saying, "Bullshit" and "That's why I'm not watching that series.... It's all watered down....", others have stated, "Wow peoples it's TV ya'll. I [am] thankful he [RZA] made Knowledge Born of our existence to the mainstream. I like it!" and "It's not a documentary. lol It's a TV series based on true events. Near Correct." I can understand and appreciate both perspectives. Since its release I have received three times as many inquiries about KOS [Knowledge Of Self] than I normally do. This has enabled me to respond to more questions regarding our culture and direct people to active Five Percenters in the inquirer's region. Creating consistent quality content from a Five Percenter perspective has enabled me to build this type of global platform that people can reference. While there were certain Five Percenter customs that were correctly depicted in this series such as the Just-Ice character questioning Rakeem [RZA] backstage about Today's Mathematics and Rakeem's breakdown of "justice" when questioned by the Gods on the block, there were other instances in this series that depicted us so inaccurate that any Five Percenter would question how much creative control RZA actually had in this series. For example, the emblem that Five Percenter actors wore was not our Universal Flag. As one Five Percenter put it, "reminds me of the Kellogg's Raisin Bran Logo." In the series our 120 Degrees/Lessons were presented as some type of book or manual that one could buy, not the book of life research binder that a student compiles as they responsibly acquire their Degrees/Lessons from their Educator/Enlightener. Although this Wu-Tang: An American Saga series is inspired by actual persons and events, the Five Percenter characterizations, dialogue and incidents that are fictionalized for the purpose of dramatization is still disinformation that can misled people about who we are as a Nation.  

   The release of the Wu-Tang: An American Saga series has definitely caused more people to inquire about the culture of the Five Percent. This same interest has occurred throughout the chronology of Hip Hop depending upon what Five Percenters or Five Percenter influenced Rap Artists were popular. This did not and does not automatically make a person qualified to learn anything. It is only through building actual relationships is that determined. Regardless of a person's interest, the release of a dramatic series or treading topics on social media, we as the Five Percent have been here and will continue to be here living out our culture. If a person is truly willing to seek, they will find us.

Peace,

Saladin