Respectability and Representation: The Moorish Science Temple, Morocco, and Black Public Culture in 1920s Chicago

2002 ◽  
Vol 54 (4) ◽  
pp. 623-659 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Nance
Keyword(s):  
Public Culture ◽  
Moorish Science ◽  
Moorish Science Temple

Mystery of the Moorish Science Temple: Southern Blacks and American Alternative Spirituality in 1920s Chicago

2002 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Nance
Keyword(s):  
African Americans ◽  
Religious Traditions ◽  
Black Scholar ◽  
Legitimate Business ◽  
Alternative Spirituality ◽  
The Many ◽  
Moorish Science ◽  
Southern Migrants ◽  
The Church ◽  
Moorish Science Temple

In 1926, the well-known black scholar Ira De Augustine Reid complained that storefront churches were “a general nuisance. Neither their appearance nor their character warrants the respect of the Community.” Mortified, he described the founders of these informal assemblies: “He conducts his Services on such days as he feels disposed mentally and indisposed financially. To this gentleman of the cloth… the church is a legitimate business.” More to the point, he described his perception of the many southern migrants who aspired to found their own churches and religions, recounting how one “young swain” had announced to the leadership of a large traditional black congregation that he had had a dream. “In this dream a still small voice told him to ‘G. P. C.’ and when he heard it he knew that he was instructed to ‘Go Preach Christ.’ After further questioning by the Council, the chairman told him that he had misinterpreted his dream, for it certainly meant ‘Go plant corn’” For many educated African Americans, the idea of southern migrants presuming to enjoy their own religious traditions on their own terms in the urban North was ludicrous.

The FBI and the Moorish Science Temple of America, 1926–1960

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sylvester A. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
National Security ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Early History ◽  
World War ◽  
Selective Service ◽  
History Of ◽  
Moorish Science ◽  
Race And Religion ◽  
Second World ◽  
Moorish Science Temple

This chapter explains how the FBI’s interaction with Muslims predates 9/11 by many decades, going back to the early history of the FBI. It examines the FBI's efforts to surveil and infiltrate the Moorish Science Temple of America, from the 1930s until 1960. Racial assumptions shaped the FBI’s response to this group, particularly following their refusal to conform to the Selective Service Act during the Second World War. The chapter demonstrates how the FBI’s attitudes to race and religion intersected to produce a clear pattern of hostility toward this religious group despite the FBI’s repeated findings that the group was not a threat to national security.

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