TheNuwaubian Nation,Nuwaubian movement, orUnited Nuwaubian Nation[4][5][6] (/nuːˈwɔːbiːən/) is an Americannew religious andblack supremacist movement founded and led byDwight York, also known as Malachi Z. York.[4][5][6] York began foundingseveral black Muslim groups inNew York in 1967.[5] He changed his name, his teachings, and the names of his groups many times, incorporating concepts from many traditions as well aspseudoscientific theories, includingAncient Egypt,Islam,Judaism,Christianity,UFO religions,Nibiru,Sumer,Annunaki,New Age, and otheresoteric beliefs.[4][5][6]
In the late 1980s, he abandoned his formerblack Muslim theology in favor ofKemetism and UFO religion.[4] In 1991, he took his community to settle inUpstate New York before then buying land nearEatonton, thecounty seat ofPutnam County,Georgia.[4][6] His followers, by hand, constructed an Ancient Egypt-themed compound called "Tama-Re" and changed their collective name to the "United Nuwaubian Nation ofMoors."[4][6][7]
By 2000, the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors had some 500 adherents.[8] They drew thousands of visitors for "Savior's Day" ceremonies. Adherence declined steeply after York was convicted of numerous counts ofchild molestation,racketeering, andfinancial reporting violations, and sentenced to 135 years infederal prison in April 2004.[6] The Tama-Re compound was then sold, undergovernment forfeiture, anddemolished.[9]: 156 TheSouthern Poverty Law Center described York as a "black supremacist cult leader",[10] and designated the Nuwaubian Nation as ahate group.[6]
The group has taken numerous names throughout its history, including "Ansaru Allah Community", "HolyTabernacle Ministries", "United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors" (after the move to Georgia), "Yamassee Native American Moors of theCreek Nation",[a] and "Nuwaubian Nation of Moors".[4][5][6]
The Nuwaubian Nation was centered exclusively on the person of its founder, Malachi (Dwight) York, who legally changed his name several times, and has used dozens of aliases.
York was born on June 26, 1935 (also reported as 1945).[10][11][12] He began his ministry in the late 1960s; in 1967, he started preaching to a group he called thePan-African "Nubians" (African Americans) inBrooklyn,New York City,New York.
York founded numerous esoteric or quasi-religiousfraternal orders under various names during the 1970s and 1980s, at first along pseudo-Islamic lines, moving to a loosely "Afrocentric", "Ancient Egypt" theme, eclectically-mixing various ideas taken fromblack nationalism,cryptozoology, UFO religions, theSumerians,ancient aliens, and other knownconspiracy theories. During the 1980s, he was also active as a musician as "Dr. York", recording for Passion Records.
York published some 450 booklets (dubbed "scrolls") under numerouspseudonyms. During the late 1990s, he styled himself a messianic founder-prophet of his movement, sometimes claiming divine status or extraterrestrial origin when appearing on his Savior's Day celebrations atTama-Re.
York was arrested in May 2002. In 2003, hepleaded guilty tochild sexual abuse after beingindicted on 197counts of child molestation, including charges ofsex trafficking of minors across state lines, some as young as eight years.[13] In 2004, York was convicted, sentenced to 135 years for transporting minors across state lines (during the course of sexually molesting them), racketeering, and finance-reporting violations. Hisconvictions wereupheld onappeal.[14][15] York's case was reported as the largest prosecution for child molestation ever directed at a single person in the history of the United States, both in terms of number of victims and number of incidents. The case was described in the bookUngodly: A True Story of Unprecedented Evil (2007) by Bill Osinski, a reporter who had covered the Nuwaubians in Georgia during the late 1990s.
As of 2010[update], some factions of theBlack supremacist subculture in the United States appeared to continue to support York, portraying his conviction as a conspiracy by the "White Power Structure".Malik Zulu Shabazz, chairman of theNew Black Panther Party and York'slawyer, described York as "a great leader of our people [...] and victim of an open conspiracy by our enemy."[9]: 1
During the 1970s, the group set upbookstores and chapters inTrinidad, and in theBaltimore,Maryland, andWashington, D.C., area. According to former follower Saadik Redd, York had between 2,000 and 3,000 followers during the 1970s. The group's headquarters were inBushwick, Brooklyn, until 1983. A portion of the community moved toSullivan County, New York, to a site they called "Camp Jazzir Abba".[16][9] More people stayed in Brooklyn until about 1991.
AMuslim cleric,Bilal Philips, publishedThe Ansar Cult in America in 1988, denouncing the movement as un-Islamic. Phillips relied heavily on the testimonies of former adherents in describing the group's beliefs and practices.[9]: xv–xvi
In the late 1980s, York further borrowed from different religious andesoteric traditions beyond Islam, creating the "Nuwaubian" movement. York styled his movement as a mixture of Ancient Egyptian andNative American themes. He legally changed his name, once again, from "Issa Al Haadi Al Mahdi" to "Malachi York," effective March 12, 1993.[17][better source needed]
Former follower Robert J. Rohan had a critical view of York's changes:
Malachi York came up with the idea to move down South... because he was under FBI investigation.... He provided us as his followers the bogus rationale that we were moving down South to meet our spiritual parents. (He) always was quick to forget that he gave more than one reason for many changes that he introduced throughout the organization.[18]
After moving to Georgia, York and his followers claimed affiliation withMasons as well as with the Jewish, Christian, andEgyptian[clarification needed] faiths. "Once he started changing religious ideas, the older followers became skeptical and left the group," Rohan said. "That was what happened to me."[18] In 1996, York published the Nuwaubian holy book,The Holy Tablets.[19]
The Nuwaubians claimed to be Native Americans of Yamasee descent, even claiming affiliation with the Muscogee (Creek) Nation in the Georgia area, as well as to being "Moors". They had perhaps borrowed the claim to indigenous ancestry from theWashitaw Nation, a Louisiana-based black separatist group led by Verdiacee Turner. The Nuwaubians claimed aprehistoric migration to America "before the continents drifted apart". At this point, the group had called itself the "Yamassee Native American Moors of the Creek Nation".[20] During the early 2000s, York presided at Tama-Re, styled as "Our Own Pharoah [sic] NETER A'aferti Atum-Re", leader and chiefmystagogue of "The Ancient Egiptian [sic] Order".[21]
As of 2024[update], the original Bushwick, Brooklyn, compound continues to function as both a bookstore and a place of religious service under the group "United Sabaeans Worldwide", with their bookstores now spread across the globe.[22] They still carry the designation of a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center under the new name.[23]
On their website, they refer to York as "The Master Teacher Dr. Malachi Z. K. York". They state he was illegally arrested on May 8, 2002, and wrongfully sentenced to 135 years in prison for crimes that "he did not commit".[24] They still follow York's (and others') "Nuwaubian" writings and scriptures, referencing UFO and extraterrestrial theology, "actual fact" and revelations of the "Nuwaupians".[25]
Initially, the Nuwaubians were considered "eccentric" yet tolerable by their neighbors. Tensions increased locally, when the group distributedleaflets attacking whites and claimingracially-motivated persecution in azoning conflict (they had set up an illegalnightclub in awarehouse on their property). These actions alienated many residents of the area, both black and white, among other ethnicities and races.[10] In 1998, the county sought aninjunction against construction under any use that violated zoning policies. Subsequently, the Nuwaubian community increased its leafletting of Eatonton and surrounding areas, charging white officials with racial discrimination and striving to increase opposition to them. Threats mounted and an eviscerated dog carcass was left at the home of thecounty attorney.[10]
Within Putnam County, the Nuwaubians lost black support, in part by trying to take over the localNAACP chapter. Nuwaubians then appealed to national activists, claiming to be racially-persecuted in the county. In 1999,Al Sharpton visited Tama-Re to express his support for the Nuwaubians.[10] During this period, the group maintained Holy Tabernacle stores "in more than a dozen cities in the U.S., the United Kingdom, and Trinidad," and continued to gain revenues from them.[10] York purchased a $557,000 mansion for his own use inAthens, Georgia, about 60 miles away.[10]
In 2001, the group put up candidates, associated with theRepublican Party, for public office, includingsheriff.[26] Their candidates were defeated.
In-conjunction with a Nuwaubian Nation parade held inAugusta, Georgia, in February 2001, the office of Augusta mayorBob Young (1999–2005) published a proclamation written by the Nuwaubian organization, stating the group's beliefs. Quotes include "the Nuwbuns were the dark, brown-to-black-skin, wooly-hair original Eygyptians." "[T]he Black race's greatness has been accepted in America and many books as people of Timbuktu Africa or the Olmecians fromUganda, Africa, who migrated and walked here to North and South America to set up colonies way before the continental drift."[27]
In an interview with a reporter fromThe Augusta Chronicle, Mayor Young said he had not read the statement prior to its release. He explained that his office customarily releases proclamations drafted and submitted for publication by civic groups without subjecting them to substantial content review.[27] He suggested that such proclamations do not constitute official positions of the mayor's office or statements of the mayor's views.[27]
On May 8, 2002, Tama-Re was raided by a joint force ofFBI andATF agents,state police, andlocal law enforcement. Although there were fears that the raid would end in violence, no shots were fired during the operation, althoughtear gas was used by the FBI'sHostage Rescue Team.
York and his wife were arrested outside of the property on the same day, on federal charges of child molestation and racketeering, including transport of minors for sexual use. He was convicted in 2004 by a jury in federal court and sentenced to 135 years in federal prison. His appeal failed, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the last appeal. Tama-Re was sold in asset forfeiture under the verdict, and the new owners demolished the structures. With the revelations of York's conduct, most followers abandoned the group, although some factions of the Nuwaubian Nation still exist.
York is currently incarcerated inADX Florence, a maximum-security federal prison inFlorence, Colorado. He will be eligible forparole in 2122.
In 2004, seven officers of theMacon, Georgia, police department resigned from their jobs in protest against the prosecution of York. Five of those officers were later hired by theClarke County, Georgia, jail as guards. Four of them were fired in 2006 (the fifth resigned) in the wake of charges that they were smuggling Nuwaubianist literature into the jail, corresponding with the prisoner York, encouraging inmates to rebel against white guards, and showing favoritism to Nuwaubian prisoners. The jail commander was fired after he began an investigation of Nuwaubianist influence at the jail. He has said he believes that he was fired because he undertook this investigation.[28][13]
As "Dr. York", the movement's leader was a vocalist andmusic producer in Brooklyn before he left the area. During this time, his Nuwaubian teachings affectedhip hop and Black culture in New York. Journalist Adam Heimlich of theNew York Press suggested the following were influenced by York:Jaz-O,Doug E. Fresh,Afrika Bambaataa,Posdnuos fromDe La Soul,Prodigy fromMobb Deep, andMF Doom/KMD.[29]
In his article on York's cult, Heimlich reviewed some of the leader's published works. He wrote that York had borrowed from a variety of sources for his ideas:
A partial list, from my notes, of places I'd encountered Nuwaubian notions before includesChariots of the Gods and theRael's embellishments on that book, conspiracy lit, UFO lit, thehuman potential movement,Buddhism andnew-age,astrology,theosophy andBlavatsky,Leonard Jeffries and otherAfrocentrics,Cayce,LaRouche,alternative medicine,self-help lit,Satanism, theAtkins diet,numerology andyoga. Many of these York mentions by name. There are also extensive discourses on theTorah,Gospels andKoran, as well as onRastafarianism, theNation of Islam and theFive-Percent Nation.[29]
Inindie hip hop, there are Nuwaubians who perform what they call Nu-wop, such as Daddi Kuwsh, Twinity, Nefu Amun Hotep, 9thScientist, Scienz of Life,Ntelek, Jedi Mind Tricks, Aslaam Mahdi, 720 Pure Sufi, Tos El Bashir andThe Lost Children of Babylon.[30]
In an article forHonor Nation, A. L. JakeAl Reum speculated that the controversialNative Americankitsch costumes and props fromOutKast's46th Annual Grammy Awards performance in 2004 were inspired by the Nuwaubian belief about the Native Americans being "Moors" in origin.[31]
Southern Poverty Law Center described the Nuwaubian belief system as "mix[ing] black supremacist ideas with worship of the Egyptians and their pyramids, a belief in UFOs, and various conspiracies related to theIlluminati and theBilderbergers." They quoted York's letter dated November 10, 2004: "The Caucasian has not been chosen to lead the world. They lack true emotions in their creation. We never intended them to be peaceful. They were bred to be killers, with low reproduction levels and a short life span."[32] Another Nuwaubian racial origin theory has Caucasians descending fromCain: "Adam and Eve were sent to theAegean Islands between Asia and Europe, where they started having children, and each couple's first born child was an Albino and those Albinos are called Cain in the Bible, and Cain is short for Caucasian."[9]: 16
In 1994, Ghazi Y. Khankan, director of the New York office of theCouncil on American–Islamic Relations, commented about York and his group based on their history in Brooklyn. He said, "It's a cult, in my opinion, and in Islam there are no cults. They consider their leader a prophet, which means they have deviated from the Islamic way."[33] The superficial similarity of York's beliefs to those of theHeaven's Gate cult led to some worried newspaper articles after that group'smass suicide during the appearance ofComet Hale–Bopp in 1997, in which the cult was reported to have said that aspacecraft was following the comet.[34]
York taught a number of "revealing"pseudo-etymologies of English words. Examples include:
In 2001, the Nuwaubians put up their own (Republican) candidates for public office [in Putnam County, Georgia] – including sheriff. Prior to the primary, the county Board of Registrars declared 196 Nuwaubians ineligible to vote because they had not established residence in the county.
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