"Negro Cults" - Vintage Newspaper Clippings

[xoxodede]

They were advertising in Black owned papers as well.

The Colored American
Washington, District of Columbia
12 Nov 1904, Sat • Page 3

And some had the nerve to be racist just like their white friends.

 

[xoxodede]

Detroit area probably had one of the largest Arab communities in America at the time,

You right. And they still do.

 

[IllmaticDelta]

Detroit was a hot bed at that time for Islamic/Eastern influences

I noticed that! Honestly - from the clips I have been seeing Indians/Eastern Influences were all over the Midwest, North and some of the South.

It was a whole bunch of "seers" and healers - from there trying to get a way in our communities for those spiritual dollars.

yup.....Eastern and "hindu" immigrants were scattered in around Chicago and Detroit and that help foster the backdrop for people like Drew Ali and Fard

aframs even had some close ties to south asian muslims

Spoiler

On February 15th we Ahmadi Muslims will celebrate our centennial as the oldest Islamic organization in America, and not just esthetically but with self renovation, prayer, fasting, charity, outreach, and community services. It was Hazrat Dr. Mufti Muhammad Sadiq, may Allah be pleased with him, who arrived in Philidelphia as the first Muslim Missionary in America and swiftly established the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community as well as America's longest running Islamic periodical, the Moslem Sunrise under the auspices of Hazrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmad, May Allah be pleased with him, 2nd Caliph of Messiah Ahmad and the Promised Reformer. Sadiq came to win hearts towards Islam as the best solution to societal ills. Sadiq awakened Americans to the lasting revolutions brought about by the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, who was sent as a mercy to all people for all times, and to announce the advent of the global Messiah, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, peace be upon him, of whom Sadiq was a prominent disciple. When racial discrimination against Blacks, Indians, Asians, and other "darker races" rocked the nation, reminiscent of today, Sadiq practiced and preached the needed Islamic principle of universal siblinghood. Mosques never separated people based on race or social class. In fact, when segregation based on color was the norm and the colored had to take the back seat in America's public, our African American Ahmadi Muslims blessed the front rows of our Mosques and were the foremost Muezzins or callers to prayers as well as Chapter Presidents throughout the nation. Sadiq revealed to Black Americans that Islam was the religion of their forefathers before slavery. African Americans were not only the earliest converts and pioneers, but the majority of our community. Not only did our Ahmadi Muslim predecessors influence and contribute to the civil rights movement but our efforts to actualize racial equity and equality predated it. "Love for all, hatred for none" is the culture my Ahmadiyya Muslim Community gifted the United States one century ago this month.

100 Years of "Love for all, hatred for none" in America

.
.

 

[IllmaticDelta]

The San Francisco Examiner
San Francisco, California
28 Jul 1963, Sun • Page 1

Chicago Tribune
Chicago, Illinois
26 Sep 1929, Thu • Page 46

Daily News
New York, New York
20 Mar 1934, Tue • Page 266

also:

there was already a relationship with Eastern/South Asian types and blacks in regards to Islam which is the backdrop that Fard and Noble Drew Ali came up in.

 

[DoubleClutch]

Detroit area probably had one of the largest Arab communities in America at the time,

they still do but it’s segregated to an extent. Arabs and blacks aren’t necessarily living in same communities like Latino and African Americans in nyc for example

Maybe it wasn’t as segregated back then in Detroit but Arabs got money now so they aren’t really in black communities unless they got a dollar/party store, gas station, phone store etc....or restaurant

 

[IllmaticDelta]

they still do but it’s segregated to an extent. Arabs and blacks aren’t necessarily living in same communities like Latino and African Americans in nyc for example

Maybe it wasn’t as segregated back then in Detroit but Arabs got money now so they aren’t really in black communities unless they got a dollar/party store, gas station, phone store etc....or restaurant

back then it wasn't like that; infact, arabs/indians of the darker complexions used to blend/marry/mix into black communities with regularity

On the far right below

 

[get these nets]

You right. And they still do.

In that era, the WASPs and established white ethnic groups kept the AA Southern migrants, and the new wave of immigrants out of their neighborhoods in the North. I'm not sure about the specifics about Detroit metro area, but wouldn't be surprised if Arabs lived and had shops in or near Black neighborhoods.
Groups living or working in close proximity will eventually have some influence on each other.

Down South, where the church anchored the community for generations, Islam would have been tougher to sell. For sure.

 

[DoubleClutch]

In that era, the WASPs and established white ethnic groups kept the AA Southern migrants, and the new wave of immigrants out of their neighborhoods in the North. I'm not sure about the specifics about Detroit metro area, but wouldn't be surprised if Arabs lived and had shops in or near Black neighborhoods.
Groups living or working in close proximity will eventually have some influence on each other.

Down South, where the church anchored the community for generations, Islam would have been tougher to sell. For sure.

regardless if they lived in same neighborhoods religion kept them apart.

black church presence was strong as Islam is for Arabs

and then there’s racism.

that’s why the only way to introduce Islam to Black Americans was from a pro black/anti white Jesus Christianity angle

not to mention whatever else Fard was selling to black people in Detroit.

 

[get these nets]

regardless if they lived in same neighborhoods religion kept them apart.

black church presence was strong as Islam is for Arabs

and then there’s racism.

that’s why the only way to introduce Islam to Black Americans was from a pro black/anti white Jesus Christianity angle

not to mention whatever else Fard was selling to black people in Detroit.

Reread my post.
What I'm speculating is that the church ties in the Northern cities wouldn't have been as strong as they were in the Southern communities that many Detroiters came from.
Back where they were from, there might have been a central church for their community. Their families and neighbors attended that church for generations.

Up North, in communities of AAs from different places, they are exposed to different Christian denomination churches. And because immigrants live in the same spaces, they are exposed to non Christian houses of worship too.

Non Christian religious organizations were able to attract Black people in the North. They might not have been as receptive in rural or urban centers in the South at the time.

 

[DoubleClutch]

Reread my post.
What I'm speculating is that the church ties in the Northern cities wouldn't have been as strong as they were in the Southern communities that many Detroiters came from.
Back where they were from, there might have been a central church for their community. Their families and neighbors attended that church for generations.

Up North, in communities of AAs from different places, they are exposed to different Christian denomination churches. And because immigrants live in the same spaces, they are exposed to non Christian houses of worship too.

Non Christian religious organizations were able to attract Black people in the North. They might not have been as receptive in rural or urban centers in the South at the time.

yea makes sense why the Fard would go to Detroit and Chicago or maybe he he had some East Indian family already living there

But yea up north Church traditions were weaker and communities weren’t as established so black people were more easily susceptible to false teachings or new movements/ways of thinkings .

Still Detroit gotta be one of the blackest places in USA (church going or not) back then and now so it’s still mind blowing to think how he just showed up and soon his followers actually thinking he was God.

 

[IllmaticDelta]

yea makes sense why the Fard would go to Detroit and Chicago or maybe he he had some East Indian family already living there

But yea up north Church traditions were weaker and communities weren’t as established so black people were more easily susceptible to false teachings or new movements/ways of thinkings .

Still Detroit gotta be one of the blackest places in USA (church going or not) back then and now so it’s still mind blowing to think how he just showed up and soon his followers actually thinking he was God.

Up North church traditions weren't weak; afram people outside the South are just more into straying from tradition

 

[NZA]

yea makes sense why the Fard would go to Detroit and Chicago or maybe he he had some East Indian family already living there

But yea up north Church traditions were weaker and communities weren’t as established so black people were more easily susceptible to false teachings or new movements/ways of thinkings .

Still Detroit gotta be one of the blackest places in USA (church going or not) back then and now so it’s still mind blowing to think how he just showed up and soon his followers actually thinking he was God.

urban people are more "cosmopolitan" than rural people. this is true for all ethnic groups. whites in the north dabble in more foreign things than white southerners. the communities in urban areas can be even older than much of the south but still adopt new things faster. that doesnt mean their traditions are weak, it means their traditions are "challenged" by close proximity to different groups. rural people dont have their ideas challenged nearly as often because they are more homogenous and scattered.

 

[IllmaticDelta]

Up North church traditions weren't weak; afram people outside the South are just more into straying from tradition

This is the same reason why most of those "Hotep" type organizations (NOI, 5%, Moorish Science, Hebrew Israelites etc...) never had any impact in the South lol. The only religious movement outside of normal Afram tradition that gained an Afram following in the South was

 

[DoubleClutch]

Does the Hebrew Israelite movement have a large following in the south?

 

[IllmaticDelta]

Does the Hebrew Israelite movement have a large following in the south?

No