Israelite School of Universal Practical Knowledge (ISUPK) is an American non-profit organization and black supremacist, [1] [2] [3] extremist religious sect [4] based in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania.
Israelite School of Universal Practical Knowledge (ISUPK) is an American non-profit organization and black supremacist, [1] [2] [3] extremist religious sect [4] based in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania.
The group is part of the Black Hebrew Israelite movement, [1] [2] [3] [4] which regards black people as descendants of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. [3] [4] The Southern Poverty Law Center has designated the ISUPK a hate group, citing its extremist ideology and black supremacist rhetoric. [1] [2] [3]
The group is a part of the One West Camp movement, an offshoot of the Israelite Church of God in Jesus Christ, [3] and uses a variation on the former name of that group. [3] Alongside numerous other sects and organizations within the Black Hebrew Israelite movement, [4] ISUPK expounds extremist, black supremacist, religious anti-Semitic, and anti-white racist beliefs, [4] as well as homophobic, transphobic, and sexist beliefs. [4]
In 2023, a woman of Palestinian descent [5] was arrested in Indianapolis after crashing her car into a building affiliated with ISUPK, having mistaken it due to its name for a school officially linked to the State of Israel. The ISUPK is actually opposed to the state of Israel. [6]
In 2022, The Real Black Sabbath was released. It is a documentary by British journalist Harry Robinson covering the beliefs and practices of the ISUPK, focusing on the Oklahoma branch of the school. [7] The film won the award for 'Most Inspirational Film' at the 2022 Oregon Documentary Film Festival [8] and 'Best Oklahoma Film' at the 2022 Southwest Center Film Festival. [9]
ISUPK has demonstrated many times at the corner of Seventh and H Streets in Washington, D.C., since 2004, [10] but residents complain that the group amplifies its open-air preaching to more than 90 decibels and that its message is offensive. [11] Some homeowners say that the group accuses white and gay people of destroying historically black neighborhoods, and at least one resident has complained of being called a "cracker, a slave owner, [and] a white devil," but they reiterate that the volume of the group's message, rather than the message's content, is the real problem. [12]
The ISUPK's volume and the volume of other groups prompted Washington's municipal government to consider passing an ordinance in order to "resolve the issue." [13] The measure would have limited the volume of daytime noncommercial speech to 70 decibels, but it died because of free-speech concerns. [14] ISUPK's regional director, General Yahanna, defended the group, saying that residents' real issue was not sound, but the content of the group's message. [13] The group identifies its message as saving local residents' souls and discouraging people from drugs and crime; it regards its separatist teachings as the real objection which residents have. [12]
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal advocacy organization specializing in civil rights and public interest litigation. Based in Montgomery, Alabama, it is known for its legal cases against white supremacist groups, for its classification of hate groups and other extremist organizations, and for promoting tolerance education programs. The SPLC was founded by Morris Dees, Joseph J. Levin Jr., and Julian Bond in 1971 as a civil rights law firm in Montgomery.
Samaritanism is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion. It comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Samaritan people, who originate from the Hebrews and Israelites and began to emerge as a relatively distinct group after the Kingdom of Israel was conquered by the Neo-Assyrian Empire during the Iron Age. Central to the faith is the Samaritan Pentateuch, which Samaritans believe is the original and unchanged version of the Torah.
The Israelites were a group of Semitic-speaking tribes in the ancient Near East who, during the Iron Age, inhabited a part of Canaan.
Black supremacy or black supremacism is a racial supremacist belief which maintains that black people are inherently superior to people of other races.
Kemp Mill is a census-designated place and an unincorporated census area in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. The population was 13,378 at the 2020 census.
A hate group is a social group that advocates and practices hatred, hostility, or violence towards members of a race, ethnicity, nation, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other designated sector of society. According to the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), a hate group's "primary purpose is to promote animosity, hostility, and malice against persons belonging to a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity/national origin which differs from that of the members of the organization."
Throughout history, various groups of people have considered themselves to be the chosen people of a deity, for a particular purpose. The phenomenon of a "chosen people" is well known among the Israelites and Jews, where the term originally referred to the Israelites as being selected by Yahweh to worship only him and to fulfill the mission of proclaiming his truth throughout the world. Some claims of chosenness are based on parallel claims of Israelite ancestry, as is the case for the Christian Identity and Black Hebrew sects—both which claim themselves to be the "true Israel". Others claim that the concept is spiritual, where individuals who genuinely believe in God are considered to be the "true" chosen people. This view is common among most Christian denominations, who historically believed that the church replaced Israel as the people of God.
African Hebrew Israelites in Israel, officially known as the African Hebrew Israelite Nation of Jerusalem, is a spiritual community which is now mainly based in Dimona, Israel, whose members believe that they are descended from the Twelve Tribes of Israel. The community now numbers around 5,000. They came from a group of African Americans, many from Chicago, Illinois, who migrated to Israel in the late 1960s.
Black Hebrew Israelites are a new religious movement claiming that African Americans are descendants of the ancient Israelites. Some sub-groups believe that Native and Latin Americans are descendants of the Israelites as well. Black Hebrew Israelites combine elements to their teaching from a wide range of sources to varying degrees. Black Hebrew Israelites incorporate certain aspects of the religious beliefs and practices of both Christianity and Judaism, though they have created their own interpretation of the Bible, and other influences include Freemasonry and New Thought, for example. Many choose to identify as Hebrew Israelites or Black Hebrews rather than Jews in order to indicate their claimed historic connections.
The Nation of Yahweh is predominantly a Black Hebrew Israelite religious movement which was founded in 1979 in Miami by Hulon Mitchell Jr., who went by the name Yahweh ben Yahweh. Its goal is to move African Americans, who it believes are the original Israelites, to Israel. The group accepts Yahweh ben Yahweh as the Son of God. In this way, its beliefs are unique and distinct from those of other Black Hebrew Israelite groups.
The Twelve Tribes, formerly known as the Vine Christian Community Church, the Northeast Kingdom Community Church, the Messianic Communities, and the Community Apostolic Order, is a new religious movement founded by Gene Spriggs that sprang out of the Jesus movement in 1972 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The group calls itself an attempt to recreate the 1st-century church as it is described in the Book of Acts. The group's origins in Chattanooga led to planted churches in surrounding areas. In the late seventies, the group began a community in Island Pond, Vermont. As their relationship with the Chattanooga community deteriorated, the group eventually left Tennessee and moved primarily to Vermont.
Ben Ammi Ben-Israel was the American-born founder and spiritual leader of the African Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem.
The Commandment Keepers Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation of the Living God Pillar & Ground of Truth, Inc. are a group of Black Hebrews, who believe that people of Ethiopian descent represent one of the lost tribes of Israel. They claim King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba as their ancestors, and believe the biblical patriarchs were black. They originated in Harlem, New York City, in 1919.
Stormfront is a neo-Nazi Internet forum, and the Web's first major racial hate site. The site is focused on propagating white nationalism, Nazism, antisemitism and islamophobia, as well as anti-feminism, homophobia, transphobia, Holocaust denial, and white supremacy.
The Israelite Church of God in Jesus Christ (ICGJC), formerly known as the Israeli Church of Universal Practical Knowledge, is an American organization of Black Hebrew Israelites. Its headquarters are in New York City, and in 2008 had churches in cities in 10 US states. The ICGJC is the second largest Black Hebrew Israelite organization in the United States, the first being the Israel United in Christ.
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Patriot Front is an American white nationalist and neo-fascist hate group. Part of the broader alt-right movement, the group split off from the neo-Nazi organization Vanguard America in the aftermath of the Unite the Right rally in 2017. Patriot Front's aesthetic combines traditional Americana with fascist symbolism. Internal communications within the group indicated it had approximately 200 members as of late 2021. According to the Anti-Defamation League, the group generated 82% of reported incidents in 2021 involving distribution of racist, antisemitic, and other hateful propaganda in the United States, comprising 3,992 incidents, in every continental state.
Frank S Cherry was the founder and leader of one of the early Black Hebrew Israelite groups in the United States.
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Black Jews in New York City comprise one of the largest communities of Black Jews in the United States. Black Jews have lived in New York City since colonial times, with organized Black-Jewish and Black Hebrew Israelite communities emerging during the early 20th century. Black Jewish and Black Hebrew Israelite communities have historically been centered in Harlem, Brooklyn, The Bronx, and Queens. The Commandment Keepers movement originated in Harlem, while the Black Orthodox Jewish community is centered in Brooklyn. New York City is home to four historically Black synagogues with roots in the Black Hebrew Israelite community. A small Beta Israel (Ethiopian-Jewish) community also exists in New York City, many of whom emigrated from Israel. Black Hebrew Israelites are not considered Jewish by the New York Board of Rabbis, an organization representing mainstream Rabbinic Judaism.