When Japan Was "Champion of the Darker Races": Satokata Takahashi and the Flowering of Black...

8/13/2019 When Japan Was "Champion of the Darker Races": Satokata Takahashi and the Flowering of Black Messianic Nati

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WhenJ apan WasChampi onof t he Darker Races :Satokata Takahashi andt he Fl ower i ng ofBl ack Messi ani c Nat i onal i smDuri ng Wrl dWar I I , some25Af r i canAmeri canswerearrestedf or

resi sti ng t hedeaf ~ ` orf or exer ci si ngsedi t i ous behavi or Thetwent y or so per sons hel d on t he moreser i ous char ges i ncl uded E l i j a hMuhammadoft heAl l ahTempl eof I sl am arel i gi ous associ at i on M t t i eMaudLensGordon t he PeaceMovement of Et hi opi a, anAf r i can r epat r i at i onmovement i n t he Garvey t r adi t i on t heRev Ethel bertA Br oast er of t heI nt er nat i onal Reassembl e of t heChurchof FreedomLeague, I nc a bl ackHebreworgani zat i on andBi shopDavi dErwnandGenera LeeBut l er , l eader s of t hePaci f i c Movement t he Eastern Wor l d, anem gr a-t i oni stgr oup Thearrests brought t o l i ght t he exi stence of strong, pro-J apanesesent i ment s amongAfri canAmeri cans that t he author i t i es, notto menti onbl ack mddl e- cl ass spokesper sons, qui ckl y di sm ssed as t heut t er i ng of asmal l number off anat i cs

The r e a l i t y , however , wast hat pro J apanf eel i ngs amongbl ackwor kers aswel l as t he bl ack mddl e cl ass hadbeen bui l di ng si nce t het urn of t he c e n t c c r y , f ol l owi ngJ apan scel ebrated vi ctoryover t heRussi anf l eet Thi s moodwrrs gi vengr eat er i mpetus duri ngt hewor st year s of t heGreat Depr essi on by t he appearance i nDet r oi t of a apanesendt i onalknownas Maj or Satokata Takahashi , whotook commandof anassoci a-t i on knownas TheDevel opment of OurOwnM Takahashi s i ni t i al organi zi ng acti vi ti es i n Det r oi t , Chi cagqand

St Loui s, andt he r i ppl e of j ec t s theref rom l ed t o t he messi ani c expecta-t i on on t hepartens of t housands of Af r i can Ameri canst hr oughoutt he m dwest , t he upper and l ower M ssi ssi ppi Del t a, east ~ent r al Okl a-homaand t heNewYorkNezuJ er sey r egi on t hat J apan s i mper i al armywoul df ree themrom her avages ofAmeri can r aci sm Throught he empl oy of newspaper a r t i c l e s , FBI document s, ml i t ar y i ntel l i gence reports,andcourt records t he author hasreconstructed ahi story whi ch, upunti lt hepr esent hadbeen al most compl et el y f or got t en

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shoot of theNati on of I sl am[NO ], foundedi n Detroi t i n 1930by thel egendaryDFard[pronounced Far - ad ] . After M Fard de-parted themdwest i n 1934, the NO becamewacked by f acti onal di sputes beari ng on 1thepropri etyof humansacr i f i ce ; 2) NO di s-l oyal ty to the Uni tedStates ; and 3) whetherFardshoul dbe consi deredaprophet ofGod, as hehimsel f maintai ned, or Godi ncar-nate I n the resul t i ng t urmoi l , one of Fard sl i eut enant s, E l i j a h Muhammad was f orced t of l e e Detroi t f or Chi cago, where aNO branchone ost ensi bl y l oyal t o M Muhammadhad been i n operati on si nce 1932 M Muhammadchri stened hi s newassoci at i onthe Al l ah Templ e of I sl am hi s f ol l owers be-came known as theTempl e Peop e TheDe-t roi t NOwas event ual l y fol dedi nto theATO ,but i t was not unt i l the l ate 1950s t hat theuni f i edandgreat l y expanded organi zati on re-est abl i shed i t se l f as the Nati on of I sl am

he NO worl dviewwas domnatedby anapocal ypti c andpropheti c vi s i on whi ch

hel d t hat the Afri canAmeri can, the or i gi -nal or As i at i c bl ackman, f e l l i nt o a state ofsoci al domnati on that beganwth sl avery 1Thi s s i tuat i on was a di rect resul t of the ma-chi nati ons of an e vi l b ack sci enti st, Yakub,whografted whi te peop e, al so known asdevi l s, fromori gi nal b ack peop e a l i t t l emore than 6,000years ago Godhadgrantedto whi tes the rul e of thep anet f or si x ml l en-ni a, after which ti mea f i e r y batt l e was t o takep ace i n the skywhere theywoul d suffer per-manent def eat , and the ori gi nal sense of or-der restored t o earth The devi l s rul e wasactual l y up i n 1914, w th an addi t i onal graceperi odgrantedbyAl l ah i n order t o al l ow theNati on of I sl amt o save andconvert as manyAfri can Ameri cans as possi bl e t o t hei r or i gi =nal rel i gi on 4 Wthi n NO eschatol ogy therearri ved a f us i on of ml l enari an and Afri canAmeri can nat i onal i s t tr adi t i ons, wth J apan sacknowedged l eadershi p r ol e couched i nmessi ani c terms But theNO s nowf am l i ars tory of theMother Shi p, or Ezeki el s Wheel , was cast i n a somewhat di f f erent l i ght i n theear l y 1940s TheMother Shi p, i t seem, was i nthe possessi on of J apan, the bl uepri nts forwhichhadbeendrawnup i n the Hol y Ci ty of

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Mecca and sent t o theJ apanese governmentf or devel opment :

J apan has had f or many years a monster ai rpl ane,known t o t he Mosl ems as a mother ai rpl aneThe mother ai rpl ane i s sai d t o carr y 1, 000 smal lai rpl anes, each of whi ch carri es bombs, whichwi l lbe used agai nst t he whi t e man Eachbomb i s sai dt o besuchs i ze t o penet rat e t he eart h s surf ace f oradi st ance of of oneml e, and t o destroy anarea off i f t y square ml es when i t expl odes The Mosl emhave al so t ol d t hei r peopl e t hat t he J apanese havesuperi or equ pmnt of every ki nd anddescri pti on .

hi cago-based organi zati on begun i nl a te 1932, the Peace Movement of Ethi op aessent i al l y advocatedGarveyi smwthout Gar-vey hat i s, embraced i n i t s total i ty thedoctri ne of theUni versal NegroI mprovementAssoci at i on [UNI A] but wth nei ther des i renor need f or Marcus Garvey s personal l eader-shi p I deol ogi cal l y speaki ng, the PMEcame t or el y more upon the support of whi te raci stsfor i mpl ementi ng i t s Back-to-Afri ca pro-gramthan had theUNA but i n truth, t hatwas the very di rect i on i n which M. Garveyhimsel f had been headi ng after 1921 . PMEheadandformer UNA mmer M t t i e MaudLena Gordon sought support f or Afri canAmeri can repat r i at i on to Af r i ca fromPres i -dent Roosevel t i n 1933, and, towards the l att erpart of the decade recei ved i n i t i a l l egi s l at i vebacki ng f or such f romthe notori ousl y anti -b ack M ss i s s i ppi Senator Theodore B l bo I ntertwnedw th the PME s repat r i at i on pro-gramwas acommtment t o J apanesewar aimsAmongnumerous other charges, Presi dentGordonwas accusedof having decl ared t haton December 7th, 1941, one bi l l i on b ackpeop e struck f or freedom a rather unamb guous reference t o J apan s attack on PearlHarbor 9

Much l ess i s known of the Col oredAmeri -can Nati onal Organi zati on, reportedl y foun-dedi nChi cagobyCharl esNewbyandSt okel yDel mar Hart i n 1939. Newby, whoonce ma-t r i cul ated at Leavenworth f ol l ow ng a convi c-t i on f or auto theft, was credi t ed w th beingtheori gi nator of the sl ogan, Tal k Bl ack, SeeBl ack, Wal kB ackandMnd Your OwnB ackBusi ness . z I t was sai d that at CANOgat her -i ngs J apanese General H deki Toj o wasprai sed as acomng savi our of theNegro fromtheAmeri can whi te, and t hat vi r tual l y al lNegro l eaders, i ncl udi ngJ oe Loui s, hi s w f e

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andmother, were l oudl y condemned Thegroupwent so f ar as t o advocate vi ol enceagai nst a l l whi te peop e seen on the South-s i de . z z Newbywas deposed as presi dent f o l -l owng a sp l i t i n August 1942, i mmedi atel yafter whi chhe andHart formed the Brother-hood of Li bertyf or theBl ackPeop eofAmer-i ca CANOandBLBPA were al so sai d t o besynonymouswth theWashi ngtonParkForum(thus cal l ed because of i t s regul ar meeti ngshel d a t the park) 2~

I n the l at e 1920sM Hammurabi ( as FHHammurabi Robb eventual l y came t o beknownonChi cago s South Si de) hadedi tedasmal l vol ume ent i t l ed The Negro i n Chi cagoFromthe1930s onwardhedi rected theWorl dWde Fri ends of Afri ca (known al so as theI - ouse of Knowedge), whi ch some three de-cades l ater conti nued t o sponsorweekl yacti vi t i e s encouragi ng Afri can Ameri cans toknowt hemsel ves, t hei r nati onand theworl d I n 1956 M Hammurabi screened f i l m onAf r i ca at ATO s very f i r s t nati onal conventi oni n 1942hewas chargedw th speaking i n be-hal f of aJ apanese vi ctory andshowngmoti onpi ctures of the Pearl Harbor attack, obtainedsecret l y fromJ ap sources, at meeti ngs of theBrotherhood of Li berty 2

ounded i nNewOrl eans i n 1936, w th anaddi t i onal chapter l ocatedat Chi cago, the

I nternati onal Reassemb e of the Church ofFreedomLeague, I nc professed bel i ef i nOne God, OneKi ng, OneRace, anappar-ent take on Marcus Garvey s sl ogan, OneGod, OneA m OneDest i ny (bothprobabydrawn fromthe Chri sti an theme of OneLord, OneFai t h, andOneBapti sm) Appeal -i ngt o OdTestament proof - t ext s r i nci -pal l y Deuteronomy28andJ eremah12heI RCFL hel d t hat Afri canAmeri canswereJ ews,t hat theprogenyof ensl avedAfri cans carr i edt o thewesternhemspherewere thedi r ect de-scendants of Abraham I saac, andJ acob Thegroup s l eader , the Rev EBr oast er , hademgrated t o theUS fromBel i ze, Br i t i s hHonduras i n theear l y 1920swhenhewas bet -t er knownas pugi l i s t Franki eAnsl emDuri nghi s 13 year s i n the r i ng, Ansl emreportedl yearned a f a i r l i vel i hood tradi ngpuncheswth thebest boxers thenati onhad t o offer athi s wei ght . 2 Arrested on charges of advi si ng

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members of hi s group to refuse i nducti oni nto the army, Rev Broaster does not appearto have harboredpar t i cul ar l y strong pro- J apa-nese tendenci es Yet he was cl ose to thePMEWn East St Lou s as wel l as theChi cago-basedWashi ngton Park Forum havi ng ad-dressedbothgroups duri ng1941

Perhaps themost i mportant of a l l the pro-J apangroups due t o i t s wdegeographi c i nf l u-ence, the Paci f i c Movement of the EasternWorl dwas founded i n Chi cago i n 1932 andtransported t o St Lou s i n t hat same year Fromthere thePMEWxtended i t s networkt o Kansas Ci t y, the southeastern MssouriBoot Heel reg on, southern I l l i noi s, theYazoo- M ss i ss i pp i Del t a, andeast - cent r al Okl a-homa More so thananyof the other associ a-t i ons, the Paci f i c Movement expressed afundamental dual i smi n i t s i deol ogi cal per-spect i ve Torn between the demand f or f u l lc i t i zenshi p r i ght s i n theUS and the desi r ef or pol i t i cal sel f - det erm nat i on through emi grati on, the PMEWs l i ne al t ernat el y vaci l -l at ed betweensupport f or aJ apanese m l i t a r yi nvasi on of theUS wth theai mof securi ngb ack equal i t y at home, and emgrati on t o Af -ri ca, J apan, or Brazi l w th thepxesumed hel pof the J apanese government From1934 t o1940 thegroupwas headed byRev Davi dErwn, who si mu taneousl y occup ed a posi -t i o n of l eader shi p i nTri umph theChurch oftheNewAge, a Hol i ness denomnati on By1939PMEWmembershi p i n East St Lou s wassai d tobevi r tual l y i ndi st i ngui shabl e from hatof the Tri umphChurch ~~The House of I srael taught t hat Afri canAmeri canswere the real Hebrews, t hat Adamwas bl ack, and t hat the back race was oncesupremeoneart h, havi ng l ost i t s exal ted posi -t i o n out of di sobedi ence t o GodThegroupoperated school s i n whi ch the Hebrew l an-guagewas t aught , andcl aimed t hat t hey wereensl aved by thewhi terace because t hat l an-guage i s excl uded fromthe publ i c school s. zLi ke the I RCFL, the HO appears t o havebeen l es s pro- J apanthananti -Ameri can

f al l theAfri canAmeri canorgan zati onsOhargedw th sedi t i ous act i vi t i es duri ngthe war, the Moori sh Sci ence Templ e ofAmeri ca was the onl y one t o have been i nexi st ence pri or to theGreat Depressi on, hav

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i ngbeen started byprophetNobl eDrewAl i i nNewark, New ersey, i n 1913 2 8 Al though i t sear l y act i vi t i es remai n shrouded i n myst er y,the Chi cago templewas est abl i shed i n 1925ndChi cago remai ned the organi zati on scenter of gravi t y throughout thedepressi ondespi t e the occurrence of ser i ous organi za-t i onal s p l i t s i n thewake of Al i ' s death f romt uber cul osi s i nJ ul y1929 2y From16 ac t i v e templ es i n 1928 based i n c i t ies such as Det roi t ,Pi ttsburgh, Ceveland, andR chmond, theMST (or, more preci sel y, theMST f ac t i onl ed bY Charl es Ki rkman-Bey frommd-1929onwards hadgrownto some f i f t y branches bythe earl y 1940s 8 Suspected of harbori ngstrong, proJ apanese sentiments duri ngWorl dWr I I , the organi zati onbecame the target ofext ensi ve efforts on thepart of theFBI t o un-earth cri mnal evi dence to t hat effect But i twas onl y i n Kansas Ci t y t hat MST memberswere actual l y arrested and then sol el y oncharges of draft - evasi on And, f i n a l l y , i n 1935 the Ethi opi an Pac i f i c

Movement was founded i nNewYork Ci ty byRobertOJ ordan and Ashima Taki si l i -pi no nat i onal who represented himel f as aJ apanese, Taki s earl i er had played a l eadi ngrol e i n the PMEWn St Loui s; he subse-quentl y l e f t theEPMas wel l Born i n K ng-st on, J amai caaround the turn of thecentury,RobertOJ ordan hadearned qui te areputa-t i on as astreet-corner agi t at or i n Harl emdur-i ng the thi r t i es and earl y f ort i es Vi si t or s t oEPMSundaygatheri ngs hel d at ameeti nghal lat Lenox and 113th coul dhear the Harl emHi t l er , as he was cal l ed, regul ar l y expoundon hi s r efusal t o bedr af t ed, gi ve prayers f or anAxi s vi ctory, decl are hi s i ntent i on t o f i ght onthe si de of J apan, andexpress thewsh t hatafter the def eat of the Al l i es, hewouldhavePresi dent Roosevel t pi ck hi s cotton 4N TION LISMNMLLENN LISMMore than anythi ng e l s e , the f l oweri ng of

pro- J apantendenci esamongAmeri can bl acksi n the era of the Great Depressi on repre-sentedaconfl uence andc rystal l i zat i on of twol ong-standi ng trends i n Afri can Ameri canthought nati onal i smandml lenni al i smAsan unassimlated nati onal mnori ty, Afri canAmeri cans f romthe l ate 18th century onwardhadmani fested general tendenci es towards

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ful l i ncl usi on i nt o Ameri can soci et y, on theone si de, andan equal penchant towardsgroupautonomy, on theother 2 At times thi sl att er sentiment has blossomed i n t o desi r esf or an autonomous, bl ack nat i on- state Butdue t o the demonstrated f u t i l i t y of securi ngblack sel f-determnati on wthi n the Uni tedStates, Afri can Ameri can nat i onal i st move-ments have of ten tended t o exhi bi t a strongemgrati oni st character I n the 20th cent ur y,of course themost si gni f i cant organi zati on ofthi s typewasMarcus Garvey s Uni versal NegroImprovement Associ at i on nadmxtureof apocal ypt i c vi si on, mess i -

ani c anti c i pat i on, andprophecy bel i ef , ml l en-ni al i smder i ves f romew sh- Chr i s t i an rel i gi oust r adi t i ons S t r i c t l y speaki ng, of course theMl l enni umr ef er s t o that f uture time whenChri st, havi ng returned t o earthand smttenSatanand hi s mni ons shal l rei gn f or athou-sandyears ; andafter whi chtimeSatanshal l berel eased f romthe bottomess pi t i n t o whi chhe had been cast, anddefeated once agai n,f or ever 8 8 I nmoregeneral i zedterm hi stor i anEr i c Hobsbawmhas characteri zed the pr i nc i -pal character i st i cs of ml lenari ansoci al move-ments i n the f ol l ow ngway a profound andtotal rej ec t i on of the pr esent , ev i l wor l d, . and apassi onate l ongi ng f or another andbetterone ; second, an i deology of the t ype embod-i ed i n J ew sh and Chri st i an messi ani c f ormwhere i t i s f oretol d that the comng of theMessi ah shal l bri ng a l l suf f er i ng t o an end,andpeace andj usti ce rei gn forever ; andthi rd, a fundamental vagueness about theac-t ual way i n whi ch the newsoci et y w l l bebrought about . 8 4

Perhaps oneof theearl i est recordedmani -f estati ons of ml lenari ansentimentamong

Afri canAmeri cans can be found i n Gabri el ' si nsurr ect i on whi ch took pl ace i n Vi rgi ni a i n1800 andwhere theenslaved i nsurr ect i oni stsi dent i f i ed themel ves wth the I srael i tes of theOdTestament . Al ongwth the huge soci aldi splacements occasi onedby the i ndustr i al i z -i ng of Ameri can soci et y duri ng the l a s t quar-t er of the 19th century and i nt o the next ,came the f l ouri shi ng of prophecy bel i efmarked, i n Afri can Ameri can communi ti es,by the spread of Pentecostal andHol i nesschurches During the Great Depres-

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si on, ml l enari an senti ments underwent a sec-ondgrandawakeni ngamngAfri can Ameri -cans as wel l , as attested by the pr ol i f e r at i on ofpropheti c re l i gi ous denomnati ons such asDaddyGrace s Uni tedHouseof Prayer f or Al lPeopl e Prophet J ones Church of the Uni ver-sal Tri umph, Father Di vi ne s Peace M ssi on,andProphet F S Cherry s Church of God~~But the Depressi on Decade al so wtnessedthe r i s e of what has been apt l y characteri zedas messi ani c nat i onal i sm a uni quel y Af ri canAmeri can expressi on marked by the conf l u-ence, of secul ar nat i onal i s t and re l i gi ous m l l e -nari an t r adi t i ons . Tobe sure, such f ormshadbeenwtnessedear l i er w th the appearance ofB ack Hebrewdenomnat i ons around theturn of the century, as wel l as w thi n the Gar-vey movement , where Marcus Garvey hi mel fwas somet i mes l i kened t o a Negro Moses .Moreover, apocal ypti c references not i nf re-quentl ycol oredGarvey s vi s i on of a redeemedAf r i c a . 9l l enni al streak was seen t o runthrough MSTAdoctri ne as wel l Equati ngMarcus Garvey s r el at i on t o Nobl eDewAl i asthat of forerunner J ohn the Bapt i st t o Chr i st ,theMSTA s Hol yKoranhel d Al i t o be the l a s tProphet i n these days whowas prepareddi vi nel y i n due t i me byAl l ah t o redeemmnf romthei r s i nf ul ways ; and t o warn themofthe great wathwhi ch i s sure t o come uponthe earth

Messi ani c nati onal i smemerged f ul l - bl own,however, onl y duri ng the peri od of sharp so-c i a l dete r i ora t i on marked by the Great De-pressi on I t arri ved i n the f ormof B ackHebrewassoci at i ons such as the I nternati onalReassembl e of the Church of FreedomLeague and the House of I s rael , and proto-I s l am c organi zati ons such as the Nati on ofI sl amAl l ahTempl e of I sl amAmoresecul arvers i on coul d be seen i n groups such as thePaci f i c Movement of the Eastern Worl d, thePeace Movement of Et hi opi a, and the Et hi o-pi an Pac i f i c Movement Andout of t hi s ml l e-nari an envel ope i n a f asc i nat i ng sort of way,J apan arose as the i mpersonal messi ahandGeneral Toj o as a more i nt i mate oneoftens of thousandsof bl ackAmeri cans Thekeyt o thi s l a s t puzzl emaybe f oundbybr i ef l y trac-i ng the or i gi ns of the pro-J apan movementamngAfri canAmeri cans back tothe turn ofthecentury

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THEWNOFPROJAPANESESENTIMENT

ProJ apanese senti ment amngAf ri canAmeri cans dates back t o the RussoJ apanesewar of 19041905, when the Russi an navy s u f -fereda di sastr ous def eat at the hands of J apa-nese warshi ps . Throughout the Asi anconti nent J apan s vi c t oryproduced f i r s t aston-i shment, then euphori a SunYat sen probabl yput i t best

S ncethe r i s e of theJ apanese, theCaucasi ansdarenot l ook down upon other As i at i c peopl es Thusthe power of J apannot onl y enabl es theJ apaneseto enj oy the pr i vi l eges of af i r s t c l ass nati on butenhances the i nternati onal pos i t i on of other Asi a-t i c peopl es I t used to be thegeneral be l i ef thatthe As i at i c s coul d not do what the Europeanscou d do Because the J apanese have l earned sowel l f romEurope, andbecausewe knowwe Chi -nese can do as wel l as theJ apanese, we see thepos si bi l i t y of doi ngas wel l as the Europeans `J apan had vi nd cated the honor of Asi a

andprovedt o theworl dthat, gi ven equal op-port uni t i es, the As i at i cs are i nf e r i or t o nonen anysphere of l i f e , m l i t a r y or c i v i l , pro-cl ai med the I ndi an nat i onal i s t Lajpat Rai .Moreover, J apan s newfoundpr est i ge gave i n-spi rat i on t o peopl e of Afri can descent as wel l .The arch- raci st LothropStoddard noted thatthe Russo-J apanese war produced a l l overthe Dark Conti nent i ntensel y exci ti ng ef -fects . Fromthecol umns of theNewYork Age,Archi bal dGri mke heaped prai se upon the l i t tl e brown i conoc l ast s i n grand Bi bl i cals tyl e Go ye l i t t l e brown men, conqueri ngand toconquer Sheath not your t er r i bl e sword l ay notasi de yet your bl oody scourge Ye shal l overthrow

Ye have thrownRussi adown, yearedesti nedtothrowdownothers than Russi a i n thei r pri de, i nthei r l us t f or power , t o bri ng t o the dust themghty of the earth.I t was not wthout cause that the defeat of

Russi a by J apan, as Du Boi s l at e r noted,woul d gi ve r i se t o a fear of col ored revol tagai nst whi te expl oi t at i on on thepart of thewestern powers.

l most f rom the very begnni ng, J apan sat t rac t i on to Afri canAmeri cans was two-

f o l d as a model f or pol i t i cal and economcdevel opment, and as a potent i al m l i t a r y a l l y

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agai nstS raci smnearl y example of theformer came f romBooker TWshi ngton i n1906 The J apanese race i s a convi nci ng ex-ampl eof the respect whi ch theworl d gi ves t oa race t hat can put br ai ns and commerci alact i vi ty i nt o thedevel opment of theresourcesof a country, procl aimed the Sage of Tus-kegee Musi ngsofJ apanesem l i t a r y i nt er ven-t i o n coul dbe found i nanuncompl etedshortstory begun by bl ackj ournal i st J ohn EdwardBruce i n 1912, where the Presi dent s earnestcal l for vol unteers t o repel an i nvasi on of theS by J apan r esul t ed i n a temporary drop-pi ngof thecol or bar But heretheerasureofthe col or l i n e emergedas an i nd i r e c t resul t ofJ apanese m l i t a r i sm by the 1930s numerousAfri canAmeri canswereprepared t o wel comeamore di rect routeRemarkabl y, the Afri can Amer i can embrace of J apan, general l y speaki ng, had devel -oped i ndependent of any di r ect ef forts on thepart of the J apanese themsel ves . 9 I f ,perchance, bl ack f o l k had been appri sed ofthe contempt wthwhi ch many J apanese re-garded other-peopl e of col or, t hei r responsemght have beenmoreequi vocal I n any case,Afri canAmeri canswere dul y i mpressedwhenBaronMaki no, J apan s pr i nci pal del egate t othe 1919 Peace Conference, submtted anamendment (ul ti matel y rej ected) to theLeague of Nati ons Covenant supporti ng thepri nci pal of raci al equal i t y. Conversel y, c i r -cl es c l ose t o the J apanese government werebecomng f avor abl y aware of Afri can Ameri -can i nt erest i n J apan At ameeti ng cal l ed i nearl y December 1918 f or the purpose of el ect-i ng del egate- 0bserver s t o the peace conven-t i on at Versai l l es, Marcus Garvey, anadvocateof Asi a f or the Asi ati cs as wel l as Af r i ca f ortheAf r i cans, warned t hat The next war w l lbebetween the [N]egroes andthewhi tes un-l e s s our demands f or j ust i ce are recogni zed. Wth J apan t o f i ght wth us, we canwnsuch a war . Comng f rom the i nterna-t i onal l y recogni zed head of the Uni versal Ne-gro Improvement Associ at i on, the messagewas apparentl y wel l r ecei ved i n J apan I n hi swork of f i ct i on, Ni chi - Bei sensoyumemonogatar i( f apanese- Ameri ca Wr Fant asy] publ i shed i n1921, ret i red J apanese rmyGeneral Koj i roSato gl eef ul l yportrayedJ apan s destructi onoftheS Pac i f i c Fl eet , the sei zur e of Hawai i ,and the i nvasi on of the Uni ted States mai n-

THEBL CKSCHOL R VOLUME24, NO1

l and Pl ayi ng a promnent r ol e i n the novelwas noneother thanMarcus Garvey, whol edarebel l i on of ten ml l i on bl acks i n support ofJ apan s mssi on AIso eveni ng up the scorewere numerous J ews andGerman-Ameri cansseeki ng j ust i ce f romAngl o-Ameri cans. I n1925M. Garveyhimel f was contacted by theIndi an r evol ut i onar y RashBehari Bose, 4 thenresi di ng i n J apan Bose hadforwardedt o Gar-vey a copy of a book, 1 he Negro Probl em au-thoredby Kametaro Mtsukawa, i n whi ch theUN was promnentl y f eatured Mtsukawawas a founder of Gyochi sa ( Soci et y t o Real i zethe Way of Heaven on Earth), a short - l i ved,ul tr a- nati onal i st groupmodel ed along thel i nes of another, more promnent associ at i onknown as Kokuryukai , whi ch al so advocatedtheemanci pati on of a l l col ored races .

neof themore i mportant of anumber ofOight wngpatr i ot i c associ at i ons i nJ apan,the Kokuryukai , or so- cal l ed B ack DagonSoci et y, was founded i n February 1901 byUchi daRyohei t o promote t he mssi onof i mper i al J apan andto check theexpansi onofthe western powers . ; 5 I n 1901 thi s tw n goalassumed the formof agi tat i on f or war wthRussi a I mperi al i st i c i n natur e, the soci et y tooki t s name f romthemurRi ver t hat separatedChi nese Manchuri a f romRussi an Si beri a( Cal l ed themurby theManchus, the Chi -nesenamedthe waterway Hei l ung-chi ang, orBack Dagon Ri ver Shari ng the same i deo-graphs as the Chinese, but pronounci ng themdi f f erentl y, the r i ver was known t o the J apa-nese as Kokuryu, or BackDagon, and i t wasby the l att er desi gnati on t hat the soci et y be-cameomnousl yknown i n theWest However,thei mpl i cati on of the t i t l e was al ways cl ear t oeveryJ apanese J apan s f ronti er was t o ~be ad-vanced t o themur. ~ Knownf or i t s pol i t i calassassi nat i ons w t hi n andwthout J apanese t e r -r i tory, the soci et y assumed as i t s mssi on theemanci pati on of the col ored races f romwhi t e, westerndomnati oneven i f t hat al someant t hei r subj ugati onby a colored J apanCarri ed t o theUni ted States byJ apanese i mm-grant s, there the BackDagon Soci et y pl ayeda r ol e that remai ns cl oudedas muchbyWorl dWar I I medi a sensat i onal i sm as by the raci stparanoi a ofS i ntel l i gence operati ons I f thesoci et y enj oyeda speci al rel ati onshi pw th Af r i -

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canAmeri cans, concl usi ve evi dencehas yet t osurface on t hat score But i t i s nonethelessd i f f i c u l t to bel i eve t hat the stat e- s i de organi za-t i on, or a branch of one of the manyotherul t r a- nat i onal i s t soc i et i es based i n J apan, di dnot contri bute i n some wayt o J apan s pre-wari nt el l i gence and espi onageoperati ons i n theUS Whatever the case, one wi l l be cont ent ,f or themoment , wth the knowedge t hat

I n Ameri ca, theB ackDagon Soci etywasapatr i o-t i c , ul t r a- r i ght wngextremst group Thei r l ove forJ apan created an ethnocentri c f rame of thoughtthat Ameri cans found radi cal andrepul s i ve Coun-ter i nte l l i gence agents noted t hat the name of theB ack Dagon often appeared under nams ofJ apanese pat r i ot i c soci et i es andgood w l l i ns t i t u-ti ons r ai s i ng funds for theJ apanesermD s t i nc -t i ve robes were part of thei r ceremoni es the FBIbel i eved that mmbers mt covert l y, el aboratel yadornedwth bl ackhakamas, or dresski monos, ac-centuatedwth ac i r cul ar whi te crest on theback Save for anumber of s i gni f i cant except i ons,

the techni ques ut i l i zed byJ apan t o pos i t i vel yi nf l uence Af ri can Ameri cans were thosewhi ch i t used i n Formosa, Korea, and Man-churi a The f ol l owi ng descri pti on of t hei r ac-t i v i t i e s i n the Phi l i ppi nes i s r epr esent at i ve :

Delegati ons of Fi l i pi nos are entertai ned i n J apanwth the del i ghtful hospi ta l i t y of that countryNewspapermen, l egi s l ators, teachers busi nessmenhave fraterni zedwth themmbersof thei r respec-t i ve professi ons i n Tokyo, Yokahama, andKyotoCorrespondi nggroupsof J apanese have vi s i t ed thePhi l i ppi nes Promnent Fi l i pi no busi ness menareassoci atedwth J apanese busi ness ventures i n thePhi l i ppi nes , or retai ned as l awyers by J apanese i n-terests i n the I sl ands Therehas devel oped i n theI sl ands a smal l but act i ve pro- J apanese groupthe mmbersof whi chare aggr essi vel y campai gn-i ng t o hasten thedaywhenaJ apanese ori entati onshal l suppl ant the present connecti ons wth theUni ted States Numrous youngFi l i pi nos arel earni ng J apanese and at l east one of themhasattended the Imperi al M l i t ar y cadem .

Lacki ng a genui ne nati onal bourgeoi si ew th subst ant i ve capi t al or i ndust r i al hol di ngs,Afri can Ameri cans never engaged i n eco-nomcventures w thJ apanesebusi nessmen atthe l evel i mpl i ed above Nor i s there any r e-cord of Afri can Ameri cans havi ng l earnedJ apanese i n any s im l a r capaci t y But by thel ate 1930s a smal l but s i gni f i cant number ofbl ackAmeri can i ntel l ec tual s and educatorssuch asTThomas Fortune, J ames Wel donJ ohnson, Robert Russa Moton, and GeorgeSchuy er had vi s i ted J apanandformed pos i -t i v e i mpressi ons Fol l owng hi s own t r i p to

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J apanand Manchuri a i n earl y 1937 E BDu Boi s waxed ebul l i ent over the soci alachi evements of J apanese f asci s ts i n Man-chukuo the amount al ready accompl i shed i n four years i s nothi ng l ess thanmarvel ous The peopl e appear happy, andthere i s no unempl oyment There i s publ i cpeaceand order. ~ Unimpressed bysuch co-erci ve ef f i c i ency, however, was LangstonHughes, whowas deported f romJ apan i n1933as a resul t of hi s contact w th TokyoLeft -i s t s , as wel l as open c r i t i c i sms of t hat country santi -democrati c pol i c i es t i Ontheother hand,the proposed marri age i n 1934of Pri nce Li jArayaAbebeof Ethi opi aandMasako Kuroda,daughter of aJ apanese vi scount , wasvi ewedbysome Afri canAmeri cans a s heral di ng thedayof an Asi an-Af ri can gl obal uni ty l Nor was Af -ri can Ameri can i dent i f i cat i on w th J apan as l i berat or of the darker peoples harmed bythe adopti on of a f i c t i v e , As i at i c i dent i t y bymmbersof smal l , mass-based, bl ackorgani za-t i ons such as theMST andtheNO TO

umors of war between the Uni ted Statesand J apanhadf l our i shed i nt erm t t ent l y

f romthe peri od j us t pri or t o Worl d War Ithrough the 1920s ~~ When they reemergedf ol l owi ng the tat t er ' s i nvasi on of Manchuri a i n1931, the J apanese government embarkedupon greater e f fo r t s t o ascer t ai n as wel l as t oi nf l uenceAfri canAmeri canopi ni onSuch ef -f o r t s , according to bl ackj ournal i s t Roi Ot t l ey,

came t o somethi ngof abl ossomaf ter theDepres-si on, when f or the f i r s t ti me they made some i n-roads wth the rank-and- f i l e They sought outdi scouragedel ements amongthe teemng thou-sandsof theurbanareas Throughthe Mn i s t r y ofPropaganda, they foundafewr adi cal nati onal i sts,f i er cel y ant i - whi te , whowoul d l endan ear t o t al k ofan al l -co ored utopia Besi des, a number ofJ apanese of att ract i ve manners andsound know-edge of Ameri canaf f ai rs came to theUni tedStat esandposedasmeni al s seekingsoci al t i es wth Negrodomesti cs andprofessi ng i nvi ol abl e raci al ki nshi p Byassi duousl ycul t i vat i ng contacts , thesepeopl ei nsi nuated themelves i nt o the Negrocommuni ty,and in ti me some Negroes came t o l ookupon theJ apanese as bel onging t o a messi ani c r ace, whi chwoul d l ead bl ackmenout of bondage Oneof the most ef f ect i ve of these propa-

gandi st s was a manknown as Major Sat ok-at a Takahashi (Al though Takahashi s namsuf f ered anumber of var i at i ons i n spel l i ng bygovernment agenci es andthepress, theabove

T BL CKSCHOL R VOLUME24 NO1


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i s how t appeared on hi s marri age c e r t i f i -cate. 6 5 Another was the schol ar l y Yasui chiH ki da, who arri ved i n theUS i n 1920,worked l ongande f f e c t i v e l y amngNewYorkCi t y bl acks andwasdeported f ol l ow ng PearlHarbor . ` O the l eadi ngpro- J apaneseorgani -zati ons amongAri can Ameri cans i n the1930s M Takahash , at oneti meor anotherhadassumed thedi r ect contro of one foun-dedtwoot her s andmaintainedc l ose t i e s wthat l east sever al morencl udi ng the NOandtheMST Wenhi s di sc i pl es i r e c tor otherwsewere i ndi cted oncharges ofsedi t i on i n la t e 1942andear l y1943 Takahashhadal readyservedthree year s of what was t obecome a si x- year - pl us pri sonsentence

BornNakaNakane i nJ apan i n 1875 Taka-hash emgrated t o Vi c t or i a Br i t i sh Col umbi aaround the turn of the century where hemarri edAnni e Craddock, anEngl i shwomanI n 1921 theNakane f aml y moved f romCan-ada t o Tacoma, Wash ngton, but af t e r exper i -enci ng sever e f i nanc i al di f f i c ul t i es f i v e year slater M Nakane sudden y di sappeared, ap-parentl y abandoni ng hi s w f e and f our ch i l -dren t o thei r own resources H s ac t i v i t i e sf rom1926 through1931 remain obscure Adopti ng the name Satokata Takahash andspur i ousl y cl aimng t o be a r e t i r e d J apanesermymajor, he resurfaced i n the spri ng of1932 at aCh cago meeti ngof the Un versalNegro Improvement Associ ati on By thefal lthe5f t :5i n L i t t l e Maj or, or Li t t l e Godofthe East as he was var i ousl y known t o hi sf ol l ower s hads e t t l e d i nDetroi t Accordi ng t oDetroi t Pol i ce detecti veLawrenceJ ohnson,who t e s t i f i e d before aheari ng cal l ed by theImmgrati onandNatural i zati on Servi ce i nSeptember 1933 Takahash had resi ded i nDetroi t f or aboutayear H s ac t i v i t i e s came t othe at t ent i on of the I NS i n ear l y 1933 andcompl ai nts f romAri canAmeri cans regard-i ng the content of hi s speeches were repor t -edl y made at FB of f i c es f romthe f ol l ow ngOctober onward. `

Later questi oned by the FBI Takahashcl ai med t hat hi s occupati onwas speci al doc-t or i ng aki nd of r e l i gi on i n wh chheacted asa preacher, and t hat af te r having recei vedi ns t r uc t i on i n t hat f i e l d at an i n s t i t u t i o n s im -l ar t o a semnary i n J apan, he hadbecome aShnto pr i est . FB anal yst s surmsed t hat hi sspeci al doctori ng ac t i v i t i e s had someth ng

THEL CKSCHOL R VOLUME24 NO1

t o do w th one of the Shnto f ai t h- heal i ngsects of J apanHowever, therewas no i ndi ca-t i o n t hat hewas spreadi ngtheShnto f ai t h orwas i nterested i n the establ i shment of aSh nto shri ne or templ e. ~ But al thoughTakahash s r eal mssi onmyhave been thestimu ati ng of pro- J apanese l oyal t i es amngtheAri canAmeri canpopu ati on, sucha t askwas hardl y ant i t he t i cal to the teachngs ofShnto I t was assumed by many t hat J apanand theUn ted St at es woul d event ual l y go t owar over thequesti onof Pac i f i c t e r r i t or i es . I nt hat cont ext Takahash sattempts toorgan zeAri canAmeri cans al ong pro- J apanese l i n e sappear t o havestemmedf roma desi r e t o f a c i li t a t e thedi srupti onof economc producti onandm l i t ar y conscri pti onw thi n theUS

ne of Takahash s ear l y associ at es aver -Oedt hat theformer representedhmsel fas a J apanese of f i c ial who hadbeen sent t otheUn tedSt at es by theJ apanesegovernmentt o organ ze the col ored peopl e. J apaneseBaronTanaka, i t was sai d hadpreparedame-mori al outl i n ng the pol i cy of the BackDragon Soci ety i nJ apanmongother meas-ures theTanakamemori al proposedtheuni -f i cat i on of al l thedarker peopl esof theworl dby pursui ng a pol i cy of Asi a f or Asi at i cs .J apanwoul d assi st such peopl e t o organ zethemelvesandformt hei r owngovernment .Theassoci at e whose testimonywas f r equent l yunr el i abl e sai d that Takahash cl aimed t o beaf f i l i at ednot onl ywththeBackDragonSoci -et y but theJ apanese Consu ate at San Fran-ci sco Cal i forn a. J apanese si tuated i nvari ous communi ti es i n the Un ted St at eswere pr esent l y worki ng amngb ack Ameri -cans Takahash aff i rmed Themment for or -gan zi ng was r i pe f or the peopl e of theUn ted St at es were unsuspecti ng andwoul dl augh at such propaganda but i n fact thetime was not f ar of f whenJ apanwoul d takeact i on .TH V LOPM NTOFOUROWOneof the most publ i ci zed movements

attemptedi n 1933 TheDevel opmentof OurOwnwas i n i t i a t e d by George Grimes, a c i t yworker, as a l egi t i mat e pol i t i cal organi zati on.Through Organ zati on, Educati onand Co-

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operati on and otherwse, TDOOs o f f i c i a lai mwas t o advance the i nt erest of i t s members al ong the l i nes of Cul t ur a l , I ntel l ec tual ,Soc i al , I ndustr i a l andCommrci al ac t i vi t i esandotherwse as deemednecessaryby theor -gani zati on 2 Takahashi , i t was sai d, becami dent i f i ed w th thegroupandl ater succeededi n suppl anti ngGrims, andused the organi -zat i on t o urge Negroes toj oi n wth a l l othercol oredpeopl eel l ow, brown, andbl ackagai nst al l whi te peopl e. He c ol l ec ted f o l -l owers fromexi st i ng organi zati ons as wel l . Af -t er Nati on of I sl ammembers par t i c i pat ed i nwhat was reported as a humansacr i f i ce, NOfounderFardwas i nstructedby Detroi tdet ect i ves t o l eave the c i t y i n December 1932After cl andesti nel y returni ng t o hi s formrresi dence at the Hotel Traymre, l ocated atthe i ntersect i on of J ef f erson andWodwardnear the waterf r ont , Fardwas arrested onceagai n i n l a t e May1933 Gvena f i nal warni ng,he l e f t the Motor Ci ty f or good I t was aroundthi s t i me, presumbl y, that a handfu of NOmembers fol l owed Takahashi i nt o TheDevel -opment of Our Own Al though El i j ahMuhammad s pri nci pal l oyal t i es l ay w th theNO unt i l hi s ownabrupt departure fromDe-t r o i t i n 1934, he, too, seem t o have hadnoth-i ngbut ki ndwords f or Takahashi

nternal changes seemo havepreoccupi edTDOOduri ng i t s f i r s t several mnths ofexi st ence Havi ng f i l ed as anon-pr o f i t or gani -zat i on i n October 1933, T OOotedout i t si ni t i al groupof of f i c er s the f o l l ow ng month SDespi te the apparent t urmoi l , the organi za-ti on qu ckl y establ i shed branches i n M .Cemns, Rosevi l l e, Ri ver Rouge, Ecorse, i nthe8-M l e roadareaandel sewhere. Theap-parent core of the mvemnt was the Bi r d-hurst Center at Ei ght Ml e Road, wheremmbershi p ranks qu ckl y swel l ed t o 500One of the l argest Detroi t uni t s met at theAri onHal l , l ocated at 2131 Chene Street An-other convenedregul ar l y at 3404St Antoi ne Al though the pri nci pal organi zi ng tookpl ace i n theDetroi t area, therewere al so r e-ports of achapter i n I nd anapol i s bui l t on theorgani zat i onal rui ns of the Moori sh Sci enceTeml e. By l a t e 1933 TDOOwas sai d t o have14 chapters and some 10, 000 members Apart fromacknowedgi ng i t s worki ng-cl ass

PAGE32

base, onecan say l i t t l e el se about theorgani za-t i on s const i tuency at presentnclud ngthenumber of feml e members Wether, as i nthe case of the Nati onof I s l am TDOOmembershi pdrewmi nl y fromthe mst recent l yarr i ved, and the mst imoveri shed of De-t r oi t s bl ack southern mgrants, or , l i k e thePMEWn St . Lou s andEast St Loui s, fromthosewhohadest abl i shed urban resi dency ata tim mre proximte to Wrl dWr I , r e-mi ns t o be d scovered

Under Takahashi s stewardshi p, Fi veGui d ngPr i nc i pl es boundT OOdherentst o an overarchi ngcode of conduct :

1. To act i n accordance wth God s w l l .Thus, there i s nothi ng to f ear but God

2 To be true to oursel ves Those whoare not true to themelves can

not be true t o others 3 To hel p oursel ves i nsteadof re l y i ng on othersodw l l onl y hel p those who hel p

themelves 4 To be part of our communityandour country

Less t a l k , mreact andsel f - sac r i f i c e arenec-essary i f agroup i s t o act together By gi vi ng i nwe gai n, by surrender we w n

5 To beauti f y thi s worl d i s our f i nal goal Hencewe must f i r s t have the beauty ofheart w thi n oursel ves

Wether or not these pr i nc i pl es were or i gi -natedbyM Takahashi i s uncert ai n, but prece-dents f or such gui del i nes cer t ai nl y exi st ed i nthe f i r s t Fi ve Pr i nc i pl es of Buddha, al so knownas the Pansi l , the Fi ve Rel ati onshi ps and, suppl -emntary Fi ve Normof Confuci an t hought , aswel l as the Fi ve Teachi ngsof theKurozumKyof ai t h- heal i ng sect of Shi nto I n the hands ofone of i t s bl ack mni ster- l eaders, the organi -zat i on s ml l enar i an appeal cou dal sobe readi l yobserved

TheDevelopmnt of Our Own i s af r i endl y or-gani zati on for thedarker peopl esof Amri ca Letus organi ze oursel ves for oneai mandonedesti nyunder t hi s organi zati on Wmust do thi s , becausewe are l i vi ng i n a c r i t i c al t imatim for darkpeopl es t o organi ze themelves f or one commoncauseWycan t we as a peopl e see the signsof thet i mes? TheBi bl e says, You shal l see the s i gn i nthe East , then youw l l know that the tim of theSon of Man i s near at hand He w l l gather up hi sel ect

By organi zi ng oursel ves under the f i ve gu d-i ngpr i nc i pl es , we shal l be abl e andready t o metH mI n contrast to the l ess-temered publ i c

speeches f or whi ch he was of ten known, M.

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Takahashi s i n i t i a l col umn i n Det roi t s pre-mer black newspaper, the Tr i bune- I ndepen-dent , f i t w l l wthi n exi st i ng, Afri canAmri -can, mddl e-cl ass, mi nstream thought Cal l i ngfor Afri canAmri canuni t y, Takahashii mmodestl y at t r i but ed a newoundadvocacyamongDetro t bl acks f or the uni f i cat i on ofthe colored race, t o hi s ownorgan zi ng e f -f o r t s over theprevi ous ei ght months

I ampleased t o announce to you l adi es andgentlemn, that my earnest [ ef for t ] i n coopera-ti onwthyou l oyal mmers, hasg vensom ef f ectto our pri nci pl es, i n suchaway as to createanewtendencyamongyour people toward raci al un tyThegreat est obst acl es to our desire for un ty ofrace arenot somuchexternal barr i ers, but i nte r -nal quarrel sanddi scor d, dueto sel f i sh ami ti ons,petty j eal ousi es, narrowvi s i on, andwhat not . Ahousedi videdagai nst i t s e l f cannot stand Wseemanyorganzati onswrecked by i n ternal str i fe, andmanynati ons weakenedandhelddown, by i nte r -nal di vi s i ons andf act i onal i sm

entr al t o the quest i on of i nt ernal , raceuni tywas theneed f or harmon ous rel a-

t i ons betweenmenandwomen But genderun ty couldbe achieved onl y on the basi s offul l pol i t i cal r i ght s f orwomenw thi n the gen-eral movement f or Afri canAmri canj ust i ce Menandwomenshould respect each other, andst r i ve to develop harmonywth oneanother, al -though there [seem to be pecu i ar i deas prevai l -i ngamong acertai ngroup of mn, that thewomenshouldnot holdanyof f i ce i n anorganza-t i on, nor have voi ceat themeti ngs

Permtmeto say t oyoumn, that our i nterna-t i onal supervi sor i s awomn, i f you pl ease, wthwhomsomeof themembersof theboardof con-trol have already hadan i ntervi ew She s nownChi cago do ngwonderful work among the whi tepeople, though di f f erent f rommywork.Thi s work amongthewhi te peopl e, for

whi chthe i nt ernat i ona l supervi sor had demonstratedher sel f capable of carryi ngout , wasto creat e a new tendencyamongthe whi terace for raci al equal i t y, t hat i s, t o convi ncethemof the fact t hat they have been creat i ngmny enemes f or mny years, not i n the for-ei gn l and, but r i ght here [ w t h] i n t hi s coun-t ry s nat i onal boundary Thepopulati onofthe suppressedcolored race was i ncreasi ngrapi dl y Let colored ci t i zens have t hei r duepl ace, before i t i s tool a t e Thi s i s our advi ce tothe whi te race, i n the sol ut i on of the raci alproblem But Takahashi himel f refused toaddressgatheri ngs wherewhi teswerepresent

THEBLACKS(~OZAR POLi IME24,N0 1

For themost part, Takahashi sspeeches be-fore meti ngs of organzati ons such as theBethelME Church, or hi s wr i t i ngs i n theDetro t Tr i bune- I ndependent , remi ned cau-ti onary But anumber of the Li t t l e Maj or spreferred l ectures possessedamore f l avorf ulcharacter f or examle, The S nkingShi pand the L i f eboat , and Whi te Supremcyand the Whi te Tyrant most l i kel y del i v-ered before bl ack, wor ki ng- cl ass audiences I nhi s whi te supremcy speech, Takahashi as -serted that, by f ol l ow ng J apan s f i v e gu di ngpr i nci pl es , Afri can Amri cans woul d suc-ceed i n overthrowngwhi tedomnati on

I comehere to promote i nternati onal un tybetween the dark people of J apanand the darkpeople of Amri ca t o l ead themto abetter andful l er l i f e Wat J apanhas done i n thepast 70years, theNegroes, t oo, can do by accepti ng J apan s f i v e

gu di ng pr i nci pl es Thewhi temanw l l gi ve youl i t t l e I f youobtai n anythi ng i t w l l be donethrough conquest Youmust f i ght

J apanhas succeededbecause~eryoneworkedas aun t Youmust work as auni t Fol lowJ apan sgu di ngpri ncipl es J apan s aworl dpower equal toGreat Bri tai n and the Un ted St ates and feari ngnothi ngbutGodndwhat of J apan s stake i n thi s outpour-

i ngof Asi an sol i dar i t y f or BackAmri cans? Three-fourths of the worl d are black people

andone-fourth i s whi te, andi t i s not i n accord-ancewth God s w l l for one-fourth of theworld torul e the t hree- f ourt hs, whi chareblack NowhatJ apan has gai ned ri ghtful recogn ti on i n theworl d, she i s w l l i ng to helpother dark racesWknowthat the black people of the Un ted St atesare ci t i zens t hereof , andcan not helpJ apan di -r ect l y i n case of war, but thereare other thi ngst hat canbe done I f thewhi temanknewt hat yousymathi zedwthJ apan, hewoul dnot al l owyoutoshou der arm or gonear anammun ti onplant i ncase ofwar I n sompart s of t hi s countryyouhavebeenshot t o deathor l ynched [ whi l e] weari ngtheun form .

J apan i s mki ng overtures t o you I f she f a i l syou ai l Thi s i s thel ast chanceof thedark races ofmeri ca to overcom whi te supremcy and tothrowthewhi te tyrants of f your backs I n hi s l ecture i nvoki ngwestern ci vi l i zat i on

as a si nki ng shi p, Takahashi assuredhi s l i s -t ener s t hat J apanwas the l i f eboat , thehopeof BackAmri ca

Youare cl i ngi ngto aneraof Caucasi anci vi l i z a-t i on and psychology because youare afrai d tol eave the si nking shi p I say the si nki ng shi p be-causewesternpresti ge i s doomed I t i s pursu ng i t si nevi t abl e course t o the graveyard of obscurehi s tory

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Here i s theNegro s chance t o freedomn l i f e Leave the si nking shi p Ci vi l i z at i on s marchwest -wardhas reached t s f art hest westernshoreon thePaci f i c Coast of Ameri ca

West of Ameri ca i s what? Hawai i , the Phi l i p-pines andyour fri endJapan, the l i f e boat of raci all ove made radi ant by thestar of theEast , J apan On one occasi on, probabl y around ear l y

1934 when he was out on bai l , Takahashispoke at the Gol den Leaf Bapt i st Church i nFl i nt , Mchi gan Descri bi ng thetal k , ReverendWlkerson Vaughn l at e r r e cal l ed t hat Taka-hashi expresseda desi re to organi ze Afri canAmeri cans so t hat i f theyneededJ apan theywoul dcome t o our rescue Hedi dn t expectus t o f i ght wth themn case theywent t o warw th theUni tedStates, but hed d [ want ] i t sot hat theycoul dt al k wthus i nan organi zat i on,sai d they hadthesecond l ar gest navy i n theworl d He askedhowmanypeopl e ( col -ored) were i n Fl i nt , hewanted at l east 4, 000col ored peopl e i n t hi s organi zati on, hewanted a l l of them but at l east 4,000. ' ~ Onyet another occasi on, fromaspeech ent i t l ed J apan s D vi ne Mssi on Takahashi outl i nedthree steps bywhi ch t hi s mssi on was t o bef ul f i l l ed: namel y t o l i ber at e Manchuri a, thenal ready accoml i shed t o uni teJ apan, Man-chukuoandChi na i n t o onebl oc ; andt o beau-t i f y theworl dbyemnci pati ng al l thecol oredraces fromoppressi on.

l so extend ng a Pan-Asi at i c l i f el i ne tobl ack Detroi ters was Muhammad

Kahn, an East I nd anwhowarnedT OOu-dences t hat the whi temanhas been l yi ng t oyou ever si nce Li ncol n saved you and thatyou dark raceshadbetter wake upandorga-ni ze At another meti ngKahn af f i rmed i npart, that the dark races are t i r e d of bei ngf ool ed by the whi te race, and t hat f or any-thi ng t o beaccoml i shed they mst organi zeagai nst thel at t er I ndi awasnowready t o j oi nJ apan i n order t o secure i t s i ndependencefromEngl and

Not surpri s i ngl y, the prose l yt i z i ng e f f o r t s ofTakahashi andhi s l i e ut enant s i n Detroi t andsurround ng commni ti es qui ck l y f e l l underthe survei l l ance of theDetroi t Pol i ce Depart-mnt, theWayneCounty Sher i f f s Of f i ce, theImmgrati on and Nat ura l i zat i on Servi ce, theFederal Bureau of I nvest i gat i on, andm l i t a r y

PAGE34

i nt el l i gence servi ces as wel l Accord ng t o oneobserver, The assi gnmnt t o uncover Taka-hashi s l ocal sedi t i ous act i vi t i es was gi ven t otwo col oredmembers of the Detroi t Pol i ceDepartment, Offi cers Laurence [or Lawrence] Johnson andA fred Perry Theyworked on the case secre t l y f or si x mnths,andattendedmeti ngs of theDevel opment ofOur Own 9 The FBI , for i t s part, unvei l edpl ans to prosecuteTakahashi f or having i mpersonateda forei gn government o f f i c i a l

I n ear l y Septemer 1933the Li t t l e Majorwas taken i nto custody by the I NS whi chpromtl y schedul ed a heari ng t o determnehi s el i gi bi l i t y f or deportati on9 Threemnthsl ate r hewas arrested w th several other menatthehomeof asupporter Pearl Sherrod Sus-pected of A mng at Overthrowof Whi teRace, rang the capti on of a news s to ry de-voted t o the a f f a i r , but government prosecu-tors eventual l y narrowed the r focus toTakahashi s i mmgrati on vi ol at i ons : enteri ngthe Uni ted States wthout i nspect i on, f ai l ur et o possess a val i d vi sa, andbei ngan al i en i nel -i gi bl e to ci t i z enshi p TheothersEmersonSherrod 20 Wl l i amohnson, 49, andCho-sukeOkhi , 45, al so knownas Georgewererel eased wthout charge the f ol l owng dayOneof Takahashi s cl ose associ at es, MuhammadKahn, 35 anat i ve of I ndi a, was subse-quentl y i nterrogated andset f r e e , a f t e r bei ngwarned t hat hecoul dno l onger wear hi s m l i -tary uni form n publ i c . ndTakahashi himsel f was freedon bond shor t l y t he reaf t e r

Froma pol i t i cal perspect i ve, themrri ageof Pearl SherrodandSatokataTakahashi thefol l owng February provided TheDevel op-ment of Our Ownwth a sense of organi za-t i onal cont i nui t y as wel l as anevent t hat coul dbeused t o msk news of the, subsequent de-portati on of the l at t er M Takahashi wasf orced out of theUS onApri l 20, 1934 butan announcement of the coupl e s mrri age,whi ch had act ual l y taken pl ace two mnthsear l i er i n Tol edo, Ohi o, appeared the f ol l ow-i ng day i n the Detroi t Tri bune- I ndependent :Mrs Pearl BSherrod a graduate of Tusk-egee I ns t i tute , Aa , andamember ofaprom-nent col ored faml y of C arksburg, WestVi rgi ni a, hadbecome the bri de of Maj orSatokato [ ] Takahashi , an i nf l uent i al ci t i zenof Toki o J apan ' Thear t i cl e went on t o notet hat Maj or Takahashi , who i s hi ghl y edu-



13/24

Gat edDet r oi tFranci sco,on portantpl anst he . v 5aware .ceedi ngs,pl aced .supposedral i zedshoul d hashit oTakahashiral i zedname, .f ourVancouver ,al t hough,wi t houtearl i ercome.t heJ apanbondsla teVancouver ,rect i ngthrough .

ssumngf ol l ow ngTakahashipaper . 4Ms ourMr ; Bl a ck s .Mrofof But

f orput .Brown,Theportray ar y . hashi ' snumberTHE VOLUME . 1

matei ngact .Et hi opi anprobabl e l ouehl i czi l czese,r eor gani zei ng .s u l tprevi ous,j unct i on i ngaal i enbenef act or .But .i ngc i t i z e n s ,undermnement .Col eman, .Fi tzpatr i ck.Takahashi ' s,l ack .M.wi t houtmentwas .Col eman, ; pres ; nal ; Wl l i ams, . ; .speakers ; .Unabl ebyseparat e ;d i z l havehe . ~mayr epor t edl yni zedwhichConsti t ut i onf l a g . ~survi vedni zati onbear i ngl eader shi p

nmembers PAGE35


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ahashi at Toronto The pr i nci pal charge i tseem was t hat Ms Takahashi hadbeen l i v -i ngsomewhat ostent at i ousl y i n her capaci t y asacti ng chi ef execut i ve, andnot properl y for-ward ng t o her husbandfunds earmarkedbythe organi zati on for hi s support . ubsequent communicati on f romM. Takahashi t ohi s w f e i ndi cat es mutual accusati ons of mri -t al i nf i del i t y as wel l D smssing her f romof -f i c e M. Takahashi thenaddresseda l ett er t oorgani zati onmembers requesti ng t hat theychoose betweenhe the founder, andhi s pre-sumabl yerrant w f e ; thesubsequent votewentoverwhelmngly i n hi s f avor . Thegamewasnotyet over, however f or Ms Takahashi qui ckl yf i l e d sui ts agai nst the newydesi gnatedexecut i v e of f i cer, CashCBates, andothers f or rea-sons of sl ander and fraud Al thoughher l egalact i ons were event ual l y dropped, theef f ect i veresul t of chal l enges onboth si des was the di s-i ntegrati on of The Devel opment of OurOwn Presumabl y because of the s t r i f e occur

r ing wthi n the or gani zat i on, reported theFBI Satokata Takahashi i l l egal l y reenteredthe Uni ted States at Buf fal o on J anuary 111939 usi ng the i dent i f i cat i on of another Ca-nad anJ apanese, Hi sazi Kubo . Thosewhoremai ned l oyal t o Takahashi werereorgani zedby him nto another, siml ar associ ati onknown as theOnwardMovement of Ameri caThe newgroup was, i n f act , i denti cal toTDOOexcept f or the excl usi on of Pearl Taka-hashi I ncorporated as a non- pr of i t organi zati on several weeks l ater , the OnwardMovementdubbed the DownwardMove-ment by Ms Takahashi qui ckl y est ab-l i shed an economc cooperativeorgani zati on I ncorporated the fol l owng~1~ I ay the prof i t - or i ent ed Producers andCon-sumers Market was l ocat ed at 20546-50 Cher-ryl awn i n Det r oi t , i t s pr eci se, stated purposebei ngTo buy s e l l t r ade, andoperatemarkets for thesal e of both at wholesaleandandretai l merchan-di se i nci dent al t o general groceryandmrcanti l ebusi ness To sel l meats poul t ry, Fi sh, f r ui ts , veget abl es, cannedandbottl edgoods, ci gars, ci garett es obaccos provi si ons, dri nksrugs, dai ry prod-ucts noti ons andal so to purchase, l ease or otherw se acqu re real estate and i nt erest i n l and forthepurposes herei n set forth Pearl Sherrod Takahashi was t o have the

l as t word, however Havi ng returnedt o Detroi t

PAGE36

i n J anuar y, , and feari ng onl y God, M Taka-hashi set uphouse wth 26 year- ol d Cheaberor Cheaver) McIntyre, then separated f romher husband, andwho r ecent l y hadbecomesecretary of the OnwardMovement Appar-ent l y i n retal i at i on, Ms Takahashi not i f i edtheImmgrati onandNat ural i zat i on Servi ce ofher husband s i l l egal presence i n Apri l , butthe I NSwas unabl e t o determne hi s where-abouts Fromurther i nformati onsuppl i edbyhi s w f e , M Takahashi was f i nal l y appre-hendedby twb immgrati oni nspect ors i n lateJ une Af ter reportedl y of f er i ng t o bri be thei nspect or s i norder t o al l owhi s escape, hewasarrested on twocounts i l l egal entry i nt o theUni ted States as wel l as attempted bri beryConvi cted i n l ate September, Takahashi wassentenced t o amaximumermof three yearsimpri sonment anda 4, 500 f i n e Subsequentl y transferredf romtheFed-

eral Peni t ent i ar y at Leavenworth, Kansas t othemedcal center for Federal Pri soners [ atSpri ngf i el d, Mssouri ] as a mental case, hewas i ni t i al l y rel eased i n l ate February 1942Immed atel y apprehended as a dangerousenemyal i en duri ngaperi od of wartime hos-t i l i t i e s Takahashi was re- i nterned short l yt hereaf t er Whi l e i ncarcerated he had thedi st i nct i on of bei ngci ted asone of the pri nci -pal causes of the1943 Detroi t racer i ot . I nl ate 1946, at the age of 71, hewas once agai nr el eased f romconfi nement andal l owedt o re-j oi n hi s w f e i n Detroi t. But as t o whetherM Takahashi ever became aware of the c i r -cumtances surround ng hi s 1939 arrest andi mpri sonment, the hi stori cal record of f ersnot a cl ew

I NTHEBALANCE

Al evi dence poi nti ng t o Takahashi ' s gov-ernment t i e st l east t hat avai l abl e unt i lnowremainsci r cumst ant i al . Questi onedbyaut hori t i es, Takahashi himel f f ul l y admttedt o membershi p i n the B ack Dragon Soci et y,but cl aimed t hat nei ther henor theorgani zat i o n possessed connecti ons t o theJ apanesegovernment . At onepoi nt a dent i st , Dr . I s a-muTashi r o, was sai d t o havebeensent by theJ apanese Consul General of Chi cago t o address theOnward Movement of Americagroup i n Det roi t , iml yi ng cl ose l i nks but notnecessar i l y off icial t i e s t o Li t t l e Godof the

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East . However, amost provocati ve sugges-t i on of the l att er came whenJ apanese Maj orI t i z i Sugi t sa pa d a v i s i t t o theUS i n ear l y1941 Former Assi st ant M l i t ar y Attache t o theUS andthencurrent Chi ef of theAmeri canSecti on of the J apanese General Staff( chargedwth themanagement ofJ apaneseM l i t ar y I nt el l i gence i n the Un ted States ),Maj or Sugi tsawas sai d t o have made i nqui r i esconcern ng the condi ti onof the i ncarceratedM Takahashi .

Evi dence l i nki ngSatokataTakahashi t o thef l oweri ng of pro-J apanese acti vit i es amonganumber of Afri canAmeri can organ zati onsduri ng the 1930s i s, mer ci f ul l y, somewhatcl earer Fol l owng hi s l ater arrest byUS au-thor i t i es, M Takahashi cl a med that whi l ev i s i t i n g Tacoma, Washi ngton i n 1930 hel earnedof one Abdul Muhammad whohadwri tten ab ack mni ster of that c i t y request -i ng that aJ apaneseworkamongthe Negroesi n Detroi t. 1 Watever the meri ts of whenand howTakahashi came i nto contact w thMuhammad knowedge of t hei r subsequentrel ati onshi p remai ns equa l y probl emati cOnesource cl a med that Takahashi resi dedw th Muhammadbut l e f t becausehe consi d-eredhimafraud. Another hel dTakahashi tobe the fraudul ent party ~ Watever the case,the i n i t i a l f ri endshi pwth Abdul Muhammadappears to have gi ven Takahashi access t oNO members Wi l eEl i j ah Muhammaddoesnot appear t o have f ol l owed Takahashi i ntoTDOO Takahashi assur edl y l e f t hi s mark onhims wel l For exampl e, i n a speech report-edl ygi ven i n 1933, M Muhammadstated thatt he J apanesehad sent ateacher t o theb ackpeopl e and that the J apanese were brothersand f r i ends of the Ameri can Negroes ar ef er ence, no doubt, t o Takahashi . Wetheror not the Li t t l e Godof the East ever con-sul t ed wthFard, Nati onof I sl amfoun-der of equa l y di mnuti ve physi cal stature(and af f ecti onatel y known t o hi s fol l ower s asthe Li t t l e God of Egypt ), i s unknown M Fard, as notedearl i er , once cl a med t o be theor i gi nator ofT OO

By 1942TheOnwardMovement of Ameri cahad become af f i l i ated wth the Moori sh Sci -enceTempl e, casti ng apro- Japan i mpri nt onthe l att er Takahashi ' s ear l i er roomng t o-gether wthCashCBatesandHerschel Wash-i ngt on, twomenwhol ater becamepromnentTHEBL CKSCHOL R VOLUME24, NO1

i n the MSTA, i s what i s bel i eved by theFBI t ohave sparked the pro- J apan i deol ogi cal t en-denci es that thenf l our i shed w thi n themajor-i t y of MST branches 5I n the ear l y 1940s the pr act i ces of theGary, I ndianachapter of TheDevel opment ofOur Ownhad evol ved i n suchaway as t o embraceNO symbol i smLedby Centra Pope(aka J oseph Gbson), the group awa ted theday that the Fi ve Gui di ngPr i nci pl es, r ecasthere as Freedom J usti ce, Li ber t y, Equal i t y,and Honor, woul d be thei r s under J apaneser ul e Theor gani zat i onal bannerbeari ngaredbackgroundwthawhi te star and cr escentposi t i oned near the l ower l ef t - hand corner,and the l ett ers F , J , L, and E (denoti ng thef i r s t f our pr i nci pl es) i nscri bed at each of thecorners begi nn ng counter-cl ockwse at theupper ri ghtwas sai d to have been sentf romTokyo e

By the l ate 1930s both theMST andtheNO were consi dered i mportant i nst i tuti onalsources of pro- J apansenti mnt i n many Af r i -canAmeri can commun ti es But a thoughproJ apan senti ment was apparentl y r i f ew thi n the MSTA, no subst ant i al case was abl et o be madeby aut hor i t i esa s i tuat i on nodoubt a ded by the or gani zat i on s hi ghl y de-cent r al i zed character

near l y 1932 MadameMLTDeMenaoftheUni versal Negro Improvement Associ a-

t ion enl i sted the speaki ng ser vi ces of a F i l i -pi no by the name of Pol i car pi o Manansal aPosing as aJ apanese-and empl oyi ngthenameAshi maTaki s, Manansal abeganspeaki ngun-der UN auspi ces throughout the mdwest That spri ng, fol l owng aUN sponsoredmeeti ng i n Chicago, M Taki s and hi s part-ner , a Chi nese by the name of Moy Li ang,wereapproached byTakahashi , whoi ndi catedhi s i nt ent i ons t o found a pro- J apan or gani za-t ion to be known as the Paci f i c Movement oftheEasternWrl d. Promptl y si gni ngon, theorgan zi ng acti vit i es of thethreetook themt oI ndiana Harbor and then back t o Chi cago ssouth s i de . Some three months l ater theyt r avel ed t o St Loui s, where themost si gni f i -cant, earl y center of PMWc t i v i t y wasest abl i shed

Thea f fa i r s of the PMEWl so became i n -tertwned wth those of M t t i e Maud Lena

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Gordon, a staunch former Garveyi tewhohadbecome di s i l l us i oned w th the pol i c i es of theUN After havi ngworkedwththePMEWnI ndi ana Harbor, Gordon had a f al l i ng outwthTaki s Wthdrawng her supporters f romthe organi zati on i n l a t e 1932 sheformed thePeaceMovement of Ethi opi a a pro J apan Af -ri can repat r i at i on movement Fi nal l y i n 1935Taki s came i nt o contact wth West I ndi an-born Robert J ordan Pri or t o part i ng company the two formed the Ethi opi an Pac i f i cMovement i n NewYork Ci ty z

I t was thus t hat Satokata Takahashi begat ahandful of proJ apanorgani zati ons amongAf -ri can Ameri cans : TheDevel opment of OurOwn, Pac i f i c Movement of the EasternWorl d,and theOnward Movement of Ameri ca ThePMEWn turn begat other proJ apan associ a-t i ons such as theOri gi nal I ndependent Benevol ent Af ro- Pac i f i c Movement of theWorl d, thePeace Movement of Et hi opi a and the Et hi o-pi anPaci f i c Movement TDOOand i t s spi nof fOM al so great l y i nf l uenced the Nati on ofI sl am i t s di rect successor theAl l ahTempl e ofI s l am as wel l as the Moori sh Sci enceTempl eof Ameri ca Together these or gani zat i ons i n-f l uenced at thevery l east t ens of thousands ofworki ng-cl ass b acks f romthe earl y 1930sthroughWorl dWr I I , those South as wel l asNorth, rural as wel l as urban Theydi vi dedandmul t i pl i ed unt i l t hi ngs came t o ahead i n thef a l l of 1942 after whi ch ti memost of the pri nci pal organi zers of these groups were hustl edof f t o pri son I n 1942 f i v e T hapt ersw th no more than 170 members t o t a l , weresai d t o be s t i l l i n oper at i on i ncl udi ng groupsi n Detroi t andGary I ndi ana andoneheadedby Harry I t o i n Chicago z Theact i ons ofUS bl acks f avori ng nat i onall i berat i on foundechoes i n theshort - l i ved andpoorl y concei ved 1935 Sakdal i st a upri si ng i nthe Phi l i ppi nes where adherents were t ol dand apparentl y bel i eved t hat t hei r st ruggl eagai nst US neo-col oni al i smwoul dbe j oi nedby a J apanese i nvasi on of the i sl ands Onemght ci t e as wel l the ef for ts i n I ndi a ofSubhas Chandra Bose and hi s supporters t oassemb ea l i berat i on army agai nst the Br i t i shw th the materi al assi st ance of J apan ` I t i sthus i mportant t o understand t hat bl ack i dent i f i c a t i on w th a more powerful J apannone-t hel ess containedarat i onal kernelhoweverpo l i t i c a l l y msgui ded the overal l vi si on

PAGE38

Ut i l the bombi ng of Pearl Harbor i n l a t e1941 most b ack Ameri cans, i t seem,conti nued t o vi ewJ apan as a posi t i ve modelf or pol i t i cal andeconomc devel opment, w tha smal l er number f avori ng t hat country' s di -rect m l i t a r y i nt ervent i on i n the raci al affairsof theUni ted St at es . Fol l owng the attack onHawai i , J apan s ml i t a r y campai gns agai nst theWest conti nued t o bevi ewedbymanyAfri canAmeri canseven staunch pat r i ot s aspayback f or whi te underest i mati on of thecapabi l i t i es of peoples of col or nd as theUS pl ungedi nt o thewar l eadi ng spokespersons f or the b ackmddl e cl ass sought t o u t i -l i z e theJ apanese t hreat as a wedge t o exactgreater concessi ons i n the realm of pol i t i calandc i v i l r i ght s f or Afri canAmeri cans, argui ngper suasi vel y that thefu l l f i ght i ng pot ent i alof theb ackpopul ati oncoul dnot be at t ai nedunt i l Afri can Ameri cans were made t o f eell i k e f ul l - f l edged ci t i zens (Shades of J ohn Ed-ward Bruce ) Most Afri can Ameri cans wereei ther i ndi f f erent t o or reactednegati vel y t o-wardtheoutbreakof Worl dWr I I i n September 1939. Some were bi t t er because nei therthe governments of the Uni ted States norGreat Br i t ai n hadmdeanyeffort t o f orestal lthe I t a l i a n conquest of Ethi opi a Ohers di dnot wsh t o see the Uni ted St ates become i n-vol ved i n an i mperi al i st war S t i l l othersvi ewedthe f i ght i ng i n Europe as a di vi ne actof retri buti on vi si ted upon the un-ri ghteous 1 nd there were many who supportedJ apant l east unt i l thebombi ngofPearl Harbor .

ProJ apanese thoughts amongAfri canAmeri cans duri ng the war then were hardl yconfi ned t o amerehandful of cr ackpot s asthepopul ar press b ackas wel l as whi t e strovehard t o mai ntai n I n earl y 1942 the Of f i ce ofWr I nformati oncommssi oned a pri vat e sur-veyamongAfri canAmeri can resi dent s of NewYorkCi ty i n order t o gauge t hei r at t i t udes t o-wards J apan Theresul t s i ndi cated t hat ei gh-teen percent of the respondents expressedthe bel i ef that i n the event of a successf uli nvasi on of the Uni ted St at es by J apan, thecondi ti ons of Afri can Ameri cans woul d i mprove another 31 percent t hat t hi ngs woul dremai n the same anda si gni f i cant 26percentwere noncommttal = Whether an i ndi cat i onof anti -Ameri can or proJ apanese sent i ment

THEBL CKSCHOL R VOLUME24 NO1


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these resul t s coul dnot have been reassuri ngt o the Roosevel t admn strati on

Wthi n the Af ri canAmeri can communi ty,onl y the bl ack Lef t f ul l y and consi st ent l y per-cei ved f romthe ear l y 1930s onward the growi ng danger of J apanese f asci sm and theconsequent f o l l y of Afri canAmeri can i dent i -f i cat i on w th those whoportrayed themel vesas l i berat ors of the darker races. Al thoughan unquesti oni ng supporter of J apan s causeduri ng the earl i er days of the Afri can Bl oodBrotherhood, Cyri l Bri ggs was amongthef i r s t t o rai se the al armi n 1932 i n the pagesof the Negro Worker I n the la te 1930s Bri ggsandHarryHaywoodcol l aborated i n the wri t -i ngof a smal l pamphl et, I s JapantheChampi onof the Col oredRaces? aworkwhi ch, as amatterof pol i cy, was assi gneda col l ect i ve authorshi pt hat i ncludedother bl ackCPUS l umnari esWhi l e the pamphl et s mai n purpose was t oundermne the proJ apanese i nf l uenceamong bl acks f os tered by the Paci f i c Move-ment of the Eastern Worl d and other, l i k eorgan zati ons i n theS . i t s authors del i ber -ate l y l i m t e d t hei r scope t o the di scredi t i ng ofJ apanese f orei gn pol i cy i n Asi a 1 5

I t i s ti me t o r evi se the vi ewpoi nt l ong hel dbymanyacti vi sts and schol ar s t he author i n-cl uded) t hat the Depressi on Decade w t -nessed a strengtheni ng of cl ass consci ousnessw thi n the Afri can Ameri can nati onal communi ty vi r tual l y at the f u l l expense of groupconsci ousness and nat i onal i st senti mentnotwthstandi ng the exi stence of Don t BuyWhere YouCan t Work movements thatsprung up i n a number of c i t i e s Theol dervi ewrecogn zes the Great Depressi on pri mar-i l y for the sharpeni ng of cl ass tendenci es aswel l as the growh of ml l enni al rel i gi ousmovements w thi n bl ack communi ti es Exampl es of the f i r s t canbe f ound i n the foundi ngof theSouthern Tenant Farmers Uni oni n Arkansas, Mssouri andOkl ahoma; the organi z-i ngof the Sharecropper s Uni on i n Al abamast r uggl es of the CO n the aut o, steel , mn-i ng, and packi ng-house i ndust r i es ; the Scot -tsboro andAngel o Herndoncampai gns ; thecampai gns of l ocal unempl oyed counci l s, andthe l i k e But as ti me goes by, and evi denceper col at es upward f romheretofore buri ed orobscure sources, a growng number of r e-searchers are begi ni ng t o vi ewthe decade asone where Af ri can Ameri can nati onal i sm


f l ouri shedperhaps as muchas i n theTwenti esa perspecti ve to whi ch a recent study ofbl ackAmeri canmovements f or thedefense ofEthi opi a el oquentl y contri butes . z `

though a rather di smssi ve and superf i -ci al account of the warti me arrests ap

peari ng i n Time magazi ne was msl eadi ng i nmany r espect s, i t s t i t l e Takahashi s Bl acks,contai ned at l east a sembl ance of truth z ToAf ri canAmeri cans comng i nt o di r ect contactwthhimn the 1930s, or whol earned of hi sexi st ence through ot her s , Sat okat a Takahashirepresented a per soni f i cat i on of the noti onpr eval ent throughout Asi an countri es w t h-out the f i r s t - hand experi ence of a J apaneseoccupati on) as wel l as bl ack Ameri ca at thet i me, t hat J apan, as champi on of thedarkerr aces, woul d l i berate themf romthe yoke ofworl d-wdewhi tesupremacy As i t turnedout,of course, and a l l f or thebetter, our er stwhi l esepi asamurai prepared i n vai nfor amai nl andi nvasi on of theS whi ch never ar r i ved Butdespi te themessi an cauracreatedaround hi sperson, those organi zati ons whi ch fol l owedM Takahashi or hi s i deas were f or themostpart, f ounded or run by Afri canAmeri canst hemsel ves, f ul f i l l i ng needs present i n t hei rowncommuni ti es

I f there i s a pol i t i cal l esson t o be l earnedf rompro- J apanmovements amongbl acks duri ng the Great Depressi on, i t i s perhaps t hatthe waters of sel f - det erm nat i on conti nue t orun deep wthi n the Afri can Ameri can nat i onal communi tyevenduri ngti mes of s i g n i f i -cant cl ass conf l i ct , and that progressi vestr at egi es f or soci al change whi ch i gnore theexi st ence of the former, remai n as doomedasthosemred i n extrememyth-maki ngandu l t i -mate myst i f i cat i on

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*I t wasf romHarryHaywoodsome t z u e r c t y f i v e yearsago t hat I f i r s t l earned of t he exi st ence of pr o- J apa-nese or gani zat i ons amongAf ri canAmeri cans i n t heI 930s andearl y 40s, andhence i t i s t o him hat t hepresent essay owes i t s great est debt I amspeci al l ygr at ef ul f or assi st ance pr ovi ded by t hef ol l ow ng i ndi vi dual s and i ns t i tut i ons f i r s t l y t he l i brary staffat the Uni vers i t y of Massachuset t s at AmherstEdl aHolmandher i ndef at i gabl e I nter l i brary Loancrew and l i brar i ans Paul aMark and BarbaraMorgan i n part i cul ar; ar chi ves t echni ci an ScottMForsythe of t he Nat i onal Ar chi ves - Gr eat LakesRegi on ; J ohnTayl or , a r c h i v i s t Nat i onal Ar chi ves- Washi ngtonDCandLi nda Kl oss of t he FBI ' sFOA/PA sect i on, al so i n Washi ngton Robert

1 By the 1950s the preferredEngl i sh spel l i ng of thesurnameMohammedchanged toMuhammad(andt hat of Mosl emt o Musl i m For the sake of consi s-t ency, the l at t er spel l i ng hasbeen adopted f or r el e-vant i ndi vi dual s menti oned i n t hi s study For thesame reasononew l l fi ndhere thet r adi t i onal West-ern order of gi ven name/surname i mposeduponJ apanese i ndi vi dual names, si nce that i s the f ormordi nari l y present i n ci ted newspaper reports andgovernment documents

2 ; Sedi ti on Race Hate Used by Toki o to Lure 85Nabbedby FBI , Chi cago Defender (September 26,1942) 1 4 U S I ndi cts 38Cul t Members, Chi cagoDef ender (October 3, 1942) 1 Federal J ury I ndi c t sCul t Leaders Here, Chicago Def ender (October 31,1942) 1 ; 1 12 Negro Chi ef s Seizedby FBI i n Sedi -ti on Rai ds, Chi cago Tri bune (September 22, 1942) 9 Another NegroFanati c Sei zed as Pl ot Leader,Chicago ri bune(September 23, 1942) 8

3 Fi veWoUgedRevol t i n Harl emandAi dtoJ apa-nese Are I ndi cted, Neru York Times (September 15,1942) 1

4 Survey of Racial Condi ti ons i n theUni ted States(Washington, DC Federal Bureau of I nvest i gat i on,1943) [NHyF], 209, 578 A714-page report pre-sentedbyFBI D rector J Edgar Hoover t o PresidentFrankl i n Del ano Roosevel t i n the f a l l of 1943, thesurvey contai ns an i ndi spensabl e summaryof thebl ackpress, race re l at i ons program, i ndependentbl ackorgani zat i ons, as wel l as Soc i al i s t , Communi st,andpro-J apanesetendenci esamongAfri canAmeri -cans Basedupon rawFBI f i e l d reports , but unl i kesi m l ar materi al s obtained through theFreedomofI nformati on Act, the (i ndexed) copy l ocated i n theRoosevel t Li braryat Hyde Park i s f ree of redacti on

5 FBI ArrestsCl eri c for Conspi racy t o SabotageDraf tandH nder War, Chicago Defender (October 31,1942) : 3

6 Pro-J apanese Uni t Scruti ni zed, St Loui sG obe-Democrat (September 23, 1942) 7 I ndi ctment Names`Bl ack Dragon I l k , Neru York Limes (J anuary 28,

PAGE40

NOTES

AcknowedgementsChri sman, J ohnEHi ggi nson, andJ oyAnnJ amesgraci ousl y suggest ed i mpr ovement s t o t he ori gi naldraft

I n addi t i on t o al l of t he f oregoi ng, J ohnBracey, J r ki ndl y recommendeda number of addi -t i onal sources as wel l DavidW l l s pr ovi deda c r i t ical r ef erence t o Af r i can Ameri can rel i gi ous hi storyAmodes t grant f romt heFi ve Col l egeBl ack Studi esExecut i ve Commtteeenabl edme t o obt ai n mat er i al st hat ot herw se woul d have been beyond my reach Sara Lennox of t he Uni versi t y' s STPECProgramal so provi ded i nval uabl e suppor t And, f i n a l l y aspeci al thanks t o t he Freedomof I nf ormat i on A c tw t hout whi ch t h i s essay woul d have been i n f i n i t e l ymore specul at i ve

1943) 12; 3 I ndi ctedOn Sedi ti on Charges, St Loui s G obe- Democr at Qanuary28, 1943) 4 ChargesChurch Formed t o Keep I t s `Mni s ters ' Out of theArmy, St Loui s PostD spatchQanuary28,1943) 1 3Bi shop Erw nStands Tri al for Sedi t i on, St Loui sArgus (May 14, 1943) 1

7 Seven i n Gul t Seized as Draft Evaders, NewYorkl i mes (J anuary 14, 1943) 23 8 Survey of Raci al Condi ti ons, 361, 574 Fl orence

Murray, The Negroand Ci vi l Libert i es Duri ngWorl dWr I I , Soci al Forces, 24 2 (December 1945) :211- 12, reported that some 125 Afri can Ameri canswere convicted u1 such cases See al so Ameri canCi vi l Libert i esUni on, Freedomn Warti me(NewYorkACLU 1943) , 32-33 andAmeri can Ci vi l Li bert i esUnion, I n Defenseof Our L i ber t i es (NewYork ACLU1944) , 32

9 50 US. C.A 33, 34and50US. C. A Appendix301, 302, 311 Thef i r s t set of amendedcodes wasbased on the Espi onageAct of 1917 (40 Stat 217) ,which, under cond ti ons of warti me, appl i ed t o thei s sui ng of fa l se statements wth i nt ent t o i nt e r f erewth the operati onor success of the armedf orces,w l l f ul obstructi onof recrui tment i nt o the same, aswel l as conspi racy to commt such vi ol at i ons Thesecond, on the Sel ect i ve Trai ni ngandServiceAct of1940 (54 Staf 885) which, amongother measures,provided f or thepuni shment of thosewhoevadeddraf t regi s t ra t i on or m l i t a r y servi ce, or whocoun-sel ed or aided others al ong such l i nes

10 Report of (agent namedel eted], Washi ngton, DCJ une 19, 1942, FBI f i l e 100-6582- 37?] . Save for thedocument , Survey of Racial Condi t i ons i n theUni ted States, al l Federal Bureau of I nves t i gat i onrecords used i n t hi s studywere obtainedunder theFreedomof I nformati onAct 11 . ErdmannDoane Beynon, The VoodooCul tAmongNegro Mgrants i n Detr oi t , Ameri canJ our-nal of Soci ol ogy, XhI I l : 6 (May 1938) 903, 904,906-907 Hans J Massaquoi , El i j ah MuhammadProphet andArchi tect of the Separate Nati on ofI sl am Fl wny (August 1970) : 88 Li ndaJ ones, Na-t i onsApart, Mrhi ganmagazi ne, Detr oi t Ncr us ( J u l y

T BLACKSCHOLAR YOLU4I E24,NO1


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17, 1988) : 8 IntendedVoodoo Vi cti ms NumberS t i l l Mounti ng, Detr oi t Free Press (November 27,1932) : 1, 4 Cul t i s ts Ri ot i n court; OneDeath, 41Hurt, Chi cago Tri bune(March6, 1935) : 1 TedWat-son, TheRi se of Muhammad Temple of I slamPi t tsbur gh Couri er (Apri l 7, 1956) : 3 (mgazine sec-Li on) andBegi nni ngof Muhammad?, Pi tt sburghCouri er (February 22, 1958) 8Arna Bontemps andJ ack Conroy, AnypaceBut Here (NewYork Hi l l andWang, 1966) , 222, gi ve thedate of i nceptionof theChicagobranch as 1933orearl y 1934, whi chmayhavebeentruewth regard t o theATO, but not theNO, whi ch Detro t pol i ce reported t o be i n exi s-tepce i n Chicago as earl y as 1932 Essi en-UdomBl ackNati onal i sm 64, notesthat theAlahTempleofI sl amwasorgani zed i n Chicago i n l atter 1934, butal so f a i l s t o note the ear l y formti on Thequesti onas t owhether or notM Muhammadconvertedtheearl yChicagobranchNO t o theATO seemimm-ter i al , si nceEssi en-Udomeport s that the l atter wasso smal l at i t s i ncepti on that i t met at mmbers'homes

12 Thi s vi sion remins unchanged f or Mni ster Loui sFarrakhan' sNO, foundedaround 197813 For studi es of NO eschatol ogy, seeEUEssi en-Udom Bl ackNati onal i smASearch for an I dent i t y i nAmri ca (Chi cago Universi ty of ChcagoPress,1962) ; andC Eri c Li ncol n, heBl ack Musl im i nAmrica (Boston Beacon, 1973, seconded

14 El i j ah Muhammad Batt l e i n the Sky I s Near, i nMessaget o t heBl ackmni nAmri ca(Chi cago Muhammd' s TempleNo 2, 1965), 290-91; TheGreat De-ci si ve Battle i n the Sky, Pittsburgh Couri er(December 28, 1957) : 10, rpt inMessaget o t heRl ack-mn, 292-93; TheBatt l e i n the Sky, Pi tt sburgh Cou-r ier (December 14, 1957) : 10, rpt inMessage t o theBl ackrnan, 293-94

15 Report of [agent name del eted], Washi ngton, DC,J une 19, 1942, FBI f i l e 100-6582- [37?] I 6 Report of [agent namedel eted], (: hi cago, October

8, 1943, FBI f i l e 100-6582-13917 SeeErnestAl l en, J r TheNewNegroExporationsi n I dent i t y andSoci al Consciousness, 1910-1922, i n

AdeleHel ler andLoi s Rudni ck, eds 1915 7he Cultural Momnt (NewBrunswck, N : RutgersUni versi tyPress, 1991) , 48-68

18 Gunnar Myrdal , AnAmri canD l emm TheNegroProbl emandModernDemocracy (NewYork Harper &Row 1944) , 813 Senator TheodoreGBi l bo, AnArican Home for Our Negroes; he Li vi ng Age358:4485 (J une1940) : 328, 330 Ethel Wol f ski l l He-dl i n, EarnestCoxandCooni zationhi te Rac-i s t s Response to Bl ack Repatri ation, 1923-1966,unpubl i shed Ph.D di sser t at i on DukeUni ver si ty,1974), 112-70

19 Uni ted States v (cordonet al 7ci r 138 F. 2d 17420 Surveyof Raci al Condi tions, 57521 FiveFaceUS Sedi ti on Charges i n court Monday,ChicagoDefender (November 28, 1942) : 1 22 Grand J ury Probes Cul t i sts, The(Kansas Ci ty) Cal l(October 2, 1942) : 323 Pri sonLoomas US Tightens Gri pon Cul t , Chi -cago Def ender (October 17, 1942) : 1 ; Surveyof Raci al

Condi tions, 57524 Frederi ckHHRobb, ed TheNegro i n Chicago

1779-1927(Chicago TheWashi ngton I ntercol l egi -ate Club, 1927) , ci ted i n Chri stopher Reed, TheMani festations of Nati onali sm n the B ack Bel t ofChi cago, 1920-1929, unpubl i shedMA. thesi s

THEBLACKSCHOLAR f~7LUME24,NO1

(Roosevel t Uni versi ty, 1968), 21 [ I amndebted t oJ ohnHBracey, J r for cal l i ng mattenti on t o thel atter documnt] ; EUEssien-UdomB ackNati onal -i smASearchf or an I denti ty i n Amrica(Chi cago Uni -versi ty of ChicagoPress, 1962), 50, 162 GrandJ uryProbes Cul t i sts, ?he (Kansas Ci ty] Cal l (October 2,1942) : 3

25 Surveyof Raci al Condi tions, 173 Vernon BW l l -i am, J r toNAA . P, December 17, 1942, NAACPPa-pers, Secti on I I , Box 12 [DLC] [ I amndebted toJ ohnHBracey, J r f or providi ngmewthacopy ofthi s docurtl ent] ; `NegroAew Leader to SeekNewConverts Here, ChicagoDefender (March 14, 1942) :3 Chi cago Def ender (October 31, 1942) : 3

26 Triumh the Church of theNewAgewas an offshoot of TriumhtheChurchandKngdomf Godi n Ghr i st, tbunded i n Georgi abyElder ESmthi n theyear var i ousl y given as 1897, 1902, or 1906Accordingt o GayraudWlmore, Smth l ed the de-nomnati on unti l 1920whenhe mved to Addi sAbabaandnever returned Around 1921 or 1922thechurch underwent an eccl esi asti cal schi sm andabranchknownasTriumhtheChurch of theNewAgecam i ntobeingat Pi ttsburgh under thel eader-shi p ofDBarbour Leadershippassed t o B shopShel tonof Detro t fol l owngBarbour' s deathTheparent organi zation remined sml l unti l themd-1930s, af ter whi ch ti masi zeabl e mmbershi pbegan to accrue I n 1938aBi rmnghamnati ve, theRev J amsFrancisMari onJ ones, wassent t o Detro tby Triumh theChurchandKngdomof God i nChri st wth i nstructi ons to formanewbranch I n-steadhe founded a newdenomnati on, church ofUniversal Tri umph, theDomnionof God, andbe-cam knownt o theworld as Prophet J onesGayraudWlmore, Bl ack Rel i gi on andBl ack Radi ca l i sm AnI n-terpretati on of the Rel i gi ous Hi story ofAf ro-Ameri can Peo-pl e (Marykno l ,NYOrbi s, 1991, 2nded ) , 154 Ml esMark Fi sher, OrganizedRel i gi on andtheCul ts , i nMlton Sernett, ed Af ro-Ameri canRel i gi ous Hi story : ADocumntaryWtness DurhamDukeUniversi tyPress, 1985) , 391 HansA Baer, TheBl ack Spi r i tualMovemnt : ARel i gi ous Response t o RadsmKnoxvi l l e :Universi ty of Tennessee Press, 1984), 83, 147nCharl es EdwnJ ones, Bl ack Hol i ness: AGuide t o t heStudy ofB ackPart i ci pat i on i n Wesl eyan Perf ecti oni st andG ossol al i c Pentecost al Movemnts (Metuchen, N : TheAmri can Theologi cal Associationand the Scare-crowPress, 1987), 1812, 193-94; Val Test imonypp 703-706, Uni ted States v Pac i f i c Movemnt oftheEasternWorld, I nc No 15840 (E.D I l l . J une15,1943) [Nati onal Archives - Great Lakes Region]

27 ElmrTCi ark, t he Sml l Sects i nAmri ca(NewYorkandNashvi l l e Abi ngdon Press, 1949), 164, confusedHO dbctri newth that of the MSTA the i deal s ofwhi ch he bel i eved were i denti cal . Furthermore, i twas not the Abyssini an l anguage, as he claimd,but theuseof theHebrewtonguewhi ch thegroupchampioned See al so report of [agent namede-l eted], St Paul , March2, 1943, FBI f i l e 65-40879-286andSurveyof Raci al Condi tions, 559

28 For general but somwhat f l awed i nformti on ontheMSTA seeArna Bontemps andJ ack Conroy,Anyplace But Here (1945 rvsd NewYork : Hi l l andWang, 1966) , 205-208 I n thei r hi ghl y i nformtiveMssi on t oAmri ca hi ve I sl amc Sectar i an Commni ti esi n NorthAmrica (Gai nesvi l l e, FL Uni versi tyPressofFl ori da, 1993) , hi stor i ans Yvonne YazbeckHaddadandJ ane I dl emn Smth tend t o treat the MSTApri mari l yas an I sl amc organi zation PeterLamborn

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Wl son s Shoot-Out at the Ci rc le SevenKoran No-bl e DrewAl i and the Moori sh Sci ence Templ e,Gnosi s, 12 Summer 1989) : 44-49, on the otherhand, more convincingly t races the MSTAs I sl amcroots t o Masoni c i nf l uences See al so an ampl i f i edversi onof Lamborri s argument i n hi s recentl ypub-l i shed Sacred Dri f t : F, ssays on t heMargi ns of I sl am(SanFranci sco Ci ty Lights Books, 1993), 15-50 Att i n-s i ghtf ul , c 1940soci ol ogi cal studyof theMSTAPhi l -adelphi a templ e appears i n Arthur Huff Fauset,Bl ack Gods of t he Met ropol i s : NegroRel i gi ous Cul t s i n t heUrban North(Phi ladelphia Uni versi t y of Pennsyl va-nia Press, 1944), 41-51 See al so Ernest Al l en, J r Maki ng the Strong Survive TheContours andContradi cti ons of `Message Rap , i n Wl l i amEri cPerki ns, ed Droppin Sci ence Cri t i cal Essays on RapMusi c andHpHop Cul ture (forthcomng, Templ eUni versi t y Press, 1994)

29 Al i ' s of f i ci al causeof deathwas Tuberculosi sBron-Cho-Pneumonia Standard Cert i f i ca te of DeathNo22054, Timothy Dew i ssued J ul y 25, 1929, CookCounty, I l l i noi s (Of ice of Cook County Cerk)

30 Report of [agent namedeleted], Chicago, December 15, 1943, FSI f i l e 62-25889-22831 J ohn Edgar Hoover, D rector, FBI to the AttorneyGeneral , February 19, 1942, FBI f i l e 100-56894-44

32 I n cert ai n f undamental r espect s, the hi stor i cal si tu-ati onof A ri canAmeri cans has been l i t t l e di f f erentf romthat of other mnori ty popul ati ons i n theeraof the nation-state See, for example, GerardChal i and, ed M nor i dy Peopl es i n theAge of Nati on-St al es (London Pl uto Press, 1989) For the mostcomprehensi ve documentati on of A ri can Amri -can national i sm see J ohnHBracey, J r AugustMei er, andE l l i o t Rudwck, eds Bl ackNati onal i smi nAmri ca(I ndianapol i s Boobs-Merri l l , 1970) .

33 See, especi al l y, the Book of Revel at i on, but al sothoseof Ezeki el , Daniel , andMark ; al so Paul Boyer,When l am Shal l BeNoMore Prophecy Bel aef i nModernAmri can Cul t ure (Cambri dge,MBel knap/HaresandUni versi t y Press, 1992), 42

34 EJ . Hobsbawm P r im t i ve Rebel s : St udi es i n Archai cFormof Soci al Movemnt i nt he19t h and20th Cent uraes(1959 rpt NewYork Norton, 1965) , 57-58 AsShepperson has noted, themssiah neednot beapersonal one George Shepperson, TheCompara-t ive Study of Ml lenari an Movements, i n Syl vi a LThrupp, ed Ml l ennni al Deam i nActi on (NewYorkSchocken Books, 1970), 47

35 See especi al l y the conf essi ons of Ben (akaBenWool -fo l k ) i n W l l i e Lee Rose, ed ADocumntaryHi story ofSl avery i n NorthAmri ca (NewYork Oxford Uni versi t yPress, 1976),114 THgginson, Gabri el ' s Def eat ,Atl ant i c Mont hl y, 10 : 59 (September 1862) , 338

36 See, for example, Arthur Huff Fauset, Bl adeGods of t heMetr opol i s : NegroRel i gi ous Cul t s i n t heUrbanNorth (Phi l a-delphia Uni versi t y of Pennsyl vania Press, 1944) ; Ro-bert Wesi brot, hatherDi rr i ne (1983 rpt Boston BeaconPress; 1984) ; and J i l l Wat t s, ( ~ o r l , Harl emUSA : TheFat her Di vi ne Story (Berkel ey Uni versi t y of Cal i f o rni aPre

When Japan Was "Champion of the Darker Races": Satokata Takahashi and the Flowering of Black...

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