Founder/CEO

Friday, April 26, 2024

Anchor Institutions and the Fate of Allah School in Mecca

 


   When the elders in our Nation of the Five Percent spoke and speak about the olden days, when our Parliaments were standing room only, how we had a working relationship with our local government, and when our influence in our communities spanned the boroughs, they are articulating how we were an Anchor Institution. Anchor Institutions are institutions, such as nonprofits, universities, hospitals, and corporations that serve as socioeconomic engines rooted in the communities they serve. According to National Academies, anchor institutions "play an important role in uplifting community conditions through a series of multilevel strategies and economic investment, including the creation of workforce training and living-wage jobs with good benefits, creating and improving affordable housing, increasing local safety and access to parks, and many others.Since its founding in 1967, our Allah School in Mecca Street Academy was established as our brick-and-mortar anchor for youth/community outreach within the Harlem community. Over the last fifty-seven years, we have fought to maintain that identity as an anchor in the public domain where mainstream media has historically mischaracterized us as a gang. With the expanding gentrification of Harlem, its subtle erasure, and redefinition as "North" or "Upper" Manhattan, it is important for us as Five Percenters to consider ways to protect our institution as the historical anchor it has been. 

     Within our Nation, it was always assumed among our members that our Allah School in Mecca is a parcel that was gifted to us by the Lindsay Administration with a 99-year lease. It was only recently discovered that no legal document exists to substantiate that claim of a 99-year lease. While some Five Percenters have argued that Allah School is Defacto ours because of our historical use, we are not the legal property owners. This parcel is classified as a miscellaneous religious facility owned by the New York City Department of Citywide Administrative Services [NYC DCAS]. From a legal standpoint, we as Five Percenters have been occupying this space based upon a non-verbal, undocumented memorandum of understanding with each City Administration since June of 1967. Because there is no legal documentation to substantiate our Defacto claim, our occupancy can be legally defined as squatting by the current or future City Administration. Luckily in New York, if squatters occupy a property continuously, openly, and exclusively without permission for a specified period, they can take its title. While this may be possible with a private owner, it is questionable if the New York City Department of Citywide Administrative Services would allow this to happen for prime commercial real estate that continues to appreciate in value over time.

     According to public records, the total assessed value of 2122 Adam Clayton Powell Jr Blvd [Allah School] in 2021 was $186,300. In 2022 it increased to $202,950. Its current value is $215,000. The value of the building [Youth Center], which measures 1,200 square feet, was $69,300 in 2021. In 2022 it increased to $85,950. The value of its land, which measures 12,490 square feet, has remained $117,000. Its market value, or the actual price someone was willing to pay for this property in 2021 was $414,000. Its current market value is $478,000 and continues to increase each year. Although there have been and continue to be conversations about the economic development of our Allah School, what has not increased are actual facade improvements or economic development on this property. 

     The value of any property is not based on the parcel itself. The property value is based on the surrounding neighborhood and the community. Sometimes to raise property value, community members are systematically excluded from economic development projects to redesign the neighborhood. This displacement process to change the character of an area for outsiders to move in is called gentrification. Regarding the Five Percent, this displacement of our Nation began during COVID-19. During the shutdown, we were restricted from using P.S. 154 Harriet Tubman Learning Center [250 W 127th Street] for our Universal Parliaments and Annual Show & Prove. Harriet Tubman was an adjacent Anchor Institution and community partner whom we have collaborated with for four decades. According to the School Administration Staff whom I spoke with at that time, the auditorium/cafeteria space was not available to the public due to COVID-19 gathering restrictions and unclear vaccination status protocols. This was understandable, seeing that most public spaces were closed during the shutdown. Yet four years later, our Five Percent Nation still has not set foot back in Harriet Tubman. This single maneuver displaced our most critical mass of Five Percenters who gathered monthly at Harriet Tubman for our Universal Parliaments and yearly for our Annual Show & Prove. Whether intentional or not, this maneuver undermined our ability to remain anchored in our community. As an alternative site, our Nation has been using P.S. 92 Mary McLeod Bethune [222 West 134 Street] for our Universal Parliaments and our upcoming Annual Show & Prove.


Allah School, PS 154 Harriet Tubman, PS 92 Mary McLeod Bethune

     Although this alternative site at P.S. 92 Mary McLeod Bethune is only half a mile away, it still displaces our Nation. Without our critical mass of Five Percenters gathering monthly and yearly within our community and at Harriet Tubman, a huge socioeconomic void was created that now erases our historic public visibility. How can we consistently engage our community members and provide resources where we are not present? How can we demonstrate that we are an asset rooted within our community, when we are not actually in the community? 


Aerial view of Allah School and its surrounding economic development


     When you look at the above aerial view of our Allah School, you can see the economic development and economic development potential around it. What you cannot see are the socioeconomic anchors that are being rooted around Allah School as engines to serve our community in ways in which our Allah School is not. While there are brothers who consistently show up in person/virtually once a week to talk for hours about our culture, there are no professional revenue-generating workshops, classes, or projects being facilitated at Allah School every day. We have no grant-funded youth advocacy/community outreach programs being offered in the neighborhood. We have no collaborative initiatives with area organizations and institutions that are available on-site or virtually. Nothing is being offered by/for women and girls; even though women represent 75% of the professional non-profit workforce in the U.S. and the Allah School is a non-profit. Additionally, according to a recent April 23rd Five Percenter Newspaper Facebook Group Post and my follow-up confirmation with School Officials, we are now in jeopardy of losing P.S. 92 Mary McLeod Bethune as the current location of our Universal Parliaments and the upcoming Show & Prove. A petition is being circulated by the surrounding school community to stop us from utilizing the space due to adult Five Percenters loitering, urinating, drinking alcohol, smoking marijuana, and being noisy on school property. 

April 23rd, 2024 Five Percenter Newspaper Facebook Post


     While some understandably see all of these things as a huge deficit, I see them as a unique opportunity for those of us who have the knowledge, wisdom, character, and consistency to make some positive productive workshops, classes, projects, programs, and initiatives happen. However, this will require some deep fundamental changes at our Allah School which some may not be willing to make. So where does this leave us? It leaves our Nation in an unprecedented time of growth and development if we are open to exploring solutions that may be beyond our personal scope. To continue our legacy as an Anchor Institution, we must be rooted in the same youth advocacy, community outreach, and capacity to secure resources as our founder, Allah. He was a doer, and his self-styled wisdom was evidenced in the way he actually shaped his community; the complete opposite of the deficits that I shared above. If we clearly do not have the character, experience, expertise, or credentials to lead these workshops, classes, projects, programs, and initiatives, we should proactively support the best knowers who do, regardless of our age or gender. Our survival literally depends upon this support, and our Nation will not thrive without it. 


Peace,

Saladin

8 comments:

Mallah-Divine said...

I think this was a fare and accurate blog. Definitely different types of progressive ciphers has to take place! Would love to see some solution oriented thinking on Nation growth.

Anonymous said...

Peace. When was the last time you were actually at Allah School, Saladin? Your perspective is outdated. -Dasun Imanuel

"POSITIVE" ZABAR UNIVERSAL SHABAZZ ALLAH said...

Peace, what I'm about to say is gonna ruffle some feathers, but I do not care at all.These socalled adult 5%ers that are smoking weed, drinking alcohol, making a noise/disturbing the peace, and urinating/pissing all over the place, are in know kind of way demonstrating civilized behavior. They are demonstrating the lifestyle of savages in the pursuit of happiness. These kind of individuals should not be allowed to be a part of this nation. There is a need to eliminate this kind of behavior. Brothers and Sisters should not be allowed to be abusers of cigarettes, alcohol, drug use of any kind. That is not the example of righteous and civilized people. You're not justified to be teaching anybody civilization if you are still living an uncivilized and undisciplined way of life yourself. Clean this nation up, and get rid of those cigarette smoking, drunk ass, dope using "NIGGAS" out!!!!! PEACE, I.J.S.

Anonymous said...

Peace. Thank you to the God Saladin for this insightful post.

In all honesty, I think the God Saladin has some progressive views that could potentially move our nation in a direction I don't think some are taking the time to see. I've done the knowledge to a lot of what the God has done and continues to do for the babies and various communities. His viewpoints can be seen as outside of the norm, and in my opinion, I think that is what some of the brothas may have conflict with. Regardless of that, informative post God. Peace.

Anonymous said...

“While there are brothers who consistently show up in person/virtually once a week to talk for hours about our culture, there are no professional revenue-generating workshops, classes, or projects being facilitated at Allah School every day. We have no grant-funded youth advocacy/community outreach programs being offered in the neighborhood. We have no collaborative initiatives with area organizations and institutions that are available on-site or virtually. Nothing is being offered by/for women and girls; even though women represent 75% of the professional non-profit workforce in the U.S. and the Allah School is a non-profit.“
WOW what would Allah think of his nation today?? They thought all they had to do was quote lessons… I guess that showing that that wasn’t all there was to this….
Should be holding classes showing and getting everyone their own LLC, showing everyone how to set it up, how to write off their entire life to have more money year after year, or brothers with money setup a black chamber of e-commerce for black businesses, to promote and work together, or brothers in real estate walk those who want to learn through the process, actually teach and don’t worry about charging the poor, once we all get on and start making money it’s a wrap….

PEACE TOE THE GOD

Lord Universal Understanding

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Anonymous said...

To the Chosen Nation of Builders…

Peace and Supreme Elevation,

It’s a great day for me — how about you?

I write to you not as a man above, but as a reflection of all of us below who have chosen to rise. Today, I come not to flatter, but to challenge. Not to lecture, but to ignite. The time for endless conversation is over. The hour of manifestation is now. Our people are crying out for leadership, direction, and purpose—and not from those who merely speak of greatness, but from those who move like Gods and build like Fathers.

Our ancestors didn’t survive chains, lynch mobs, and spiritual warfare just so we could inherit trauma, confusion, and conflict. They suffered for us to stand firm, think clearly, love deeply, and build righteously. The Father never called us to be idle intellectuals or reactionary rebels—He called us to be civilized builders. And in that, there is divine duty.

We Must Be Righteous Examples, Not Just Righteous Speakers

What good is wisdom if it’s never applied? What good is knowledge if it never touches the streets that raised us?
• Talk is cheap. Transformation is costly.
• Memes inspire, but mentorship builds.
• Criticism is easy. Construction is divine.

The young don’t need more preachers—they need partners, protectors, and providers. They need to see what righteousness looks like in real time, not in theory. That means we must live in a way that magnetizes respect, discipline, and curiosity.



The Work Before Us: Programs That Produce Fruit

We must establish programs, not just platforms. We must develop pipelines, not just protests. I’m calling on my brothers and sisters, from every cipher and every street, to unify around one cause: to build a nation of practical opportunity.

Here’s how we do it:

1. Entrepreneurship Classes

Let’s teach the young how to flip their creativity into capital. Logo design, product development, online stores, budgeting—all the real tools they need to own instead of rent their destiny.

2. Real Estate & Land Acquisition

Educate our youth on ownership. No more “the block is hot”—it’s time to own the block. Teach zoning, group economics, wholesale contracts, and family trusts. Show them how to build generational wealth with what they already spend money on: land and shelter.

3. Transportation & Logistics Courses

Trucks, box delivery, dispatching, freight brokerage, CDL training—real trades that produce real dollars. Our people shouldn’t be just the workforce. We should be fleet owners, company founders, and logistical engineers.

4. Gamified Learning: Our Entrepreneur Board Game

Learning doesn’t have to be boring. Let’s bring financial literacy into living rooms and barbershops with our own STEM-certified game. A tool for mothers, fathers, mentors, and schools to teach wealth-building as a family sport.
www.educationalgamestore.com



Supreme Keys in Daily Application

We talk about Supreme Mathematics. We build on the Supreme Alphabet. But are we truly living the keys?
• If Knowledge doesn’t lead to Wisdom, then it’s not Knowledge.
• If Understanding doesn’t birth Culture, then we’re just memorizing.
• If Power doesn’t serve the People, it becomes poison.
• And if we say God, but don’t Build, then who are we really?

Let us make no more excuses. The youth don’t owe us respect—we owe them a righteous example.



This Is Our Call to Action

We must become:
• Builders, not just believers.
• Organizers, not just observers.
• Fathers of programs, not just followers of prophets.
• Sharers of light, not hoarders of praise.

We are the temples, the architects, the protectors of our culture’s future. If we don’t do it now, the next generation will have nothing but hashtags, hoodies, and heartbreak. We must stop talking about what we lost—and start building what we refuse to lose again.



With Love, Loyalty, and Labor,

Imperial YXING ALLAH
God, Builder, Father, Visionary
Evolution of Righteous World
“Where Every Cipher is a Chance to Create Supreme Reality.” Peace

Anonymous said...

Peace the 7 is definitely on point when it comes to his assessment of the situation we are faced with the problem is people don’t want to except truth and let those who are qualified and has shown and proved that they know how to navigate successfully in this system ,we have ego tripping people who want to stand on who they know or how long they been around until we learn to except those who are qualified and know how to move us forward regardless of personal differences or opinions we stay stagnated in time PEACE