Nation of Yahweh

    I. Profile Report of the Nation of Yahweh

    1. Name: Nation of Yahweh; also Church of Love, Yahwehs, Black Hebrew Israelites

    2. Founder: Yahweh Ben Yahweh aka Hulon Mitchell, Jr.

    3. Birth date: October 27, 1935

    4. Birth place: Kingfisher, Oklahoma

    5. Year founder: 1979

    6. Why founded: To lead blacks from years of oppression to the promised land of Israel.

    7. Sacred text: Bible

    8. Classification: Cult movement. While building on Christian doctrines, the departures are too radical to be considered a sectarian movement.

    9. Beliefs: Fundamental beliefs include that Yahweh Ben Yahweh is the son of God, blacks are the true Jews, God and Jesus are black. Demands breaking from the "immoral world" and birth families. Yahweh demanded total loyalty and total control over his followers and for them to publicly state that they would die and kill for God Yahweh. Later, Yahweh's teachings became violent, supremacist, and racist. He prophesied a race war between whites and blacks, called whites "white devils," and that one day they would be driven for the face of the earth by killing them.

    10. Size: The homepage claims to encompass over 1300 U.S. cities and 16 foreign countries.

    11. Remarks: The Nation has had a very typical history involving a large amount of conflict with the people and government of Miami, Florida. On November 7, 1990 Yahweh Ben Yahweh and 16 of his followers were "brought to justice" following a series of Waco style raids by nearly 300 law enforcement agents. This culminated in Yahweh and some of his followers ultimately being convicted of "conspiring" to commit RICO (Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organization statute) although they were found not guilty of the original RICO charge. Now Yahweh is currently serving a 18 year sentence. Information on the current status of the group has not been located.

    II. Links to Nation of Yahweh Web Sites

    Universe of Yahweh
    The primary purpose of this page is to provide information. However, as one looks around there are requests for donations or an opportunity to order Nation products. On the opening page there is a copy of the mission statement. There is information about Yahweh himself and his persecution. Also a comparison between Jesus and Yahweh.(official homepage)
    http://www.yahwehbenyahweh.com/index.html

    United States Court of Appeals
    This page is part of the Emory Law school homepage. On the Eleventh Circuit part one can see decisions for this circuit from 1994 to present. This link is directly to the January 5, 1996 report on the appeal made by the Nation against the conviction of conspiracy to commit RICO. Gives a very informative report of the history of the Nation and the charges they were found guilty of committing.(other negative)
    http://www.law.emory.edu/11circuit/jan96/92-4773.man.html

    Cult's R Us
    A small and brief page. It is very negative and uses very stereotypical language. Gives brief history of cults on their "hit list." Is not very informative, but a good example of anti-cult propaganda.(anti-cult homepage)
    http://www.mayhem.net/Crime/cults1.html

    III. Selected References

    Books
    Freedberg, Sydeny P., 1994.
    Brother Love: Murder, Money, and a Messiah. New York: Pantheon Books.


    Articles
    Boyd, Herb., 1992.
    "Leader of Black Hebrews Found Guilty of Conspiracy." Amsterdam News 4:3.

    Freedberg, Sydeny P. and Donna Gehrke., 1991.
    "'Black Messiah' Leads Followers into Legal Trouble." Washington Post 7:2.

    Hamill, Pete., 1991.
    "Mr. God raises Hell." Esquire 115:34.

    Johnson, Terry E., 1986.
    "Yahweh way." Newsweek 108:31.

    Leerhsen, Charles., 1990.
    "Busting the Prince of Love." Newsweek 116:45

    Salaam, Yusef., 1996.
    "Yahweh loses appeal." Amsterdam News 19:1.

    Salaam., 1995.
    "Murder charges against Yahweh dismissed." Amsterdam News 6:1.

    Prepared by Franklin Devon Waddell
    Soc 247: New Religious Movements
    Spring Term, 1996
    Last Updated: 07/25/01