Black Muslims and the Law: Civil Liberties from Elijah Muhammad to Muhammad Ali PDF
Preview Black Muslims and the Law: Civil Liberties from Elijah Muhammad to Muhammad Ali
BLACK MUSLIMS AND THE LAW Critical Africana Studies: African, African American, and Caribbean Interdisciplinary and Intersectional Studies SeriesEditor ReilandRabaka,UniversityofColoradoatBoulder SeriesEditorialBoard ChristelN.Temple,UniversityofPittsburgh MartellTeasley,UniversityofTexasatSanAntonio DeborahWhaley,UniversityofIowa The Critical Africana Studies book series features scholarship within the emerging field of Africanastudies,whichencompassessuchdisciplinesasAfricanstudies,Africandiasporan studies, African American studies, Afro-American studies, Afro-Asian studies, Afro-Euro- pean studies, Afro-Islamic studies, Afro-Jewish studies, Afro-Latino studies, Afro-Native American studies, Caribbean studies, Pan-African studies, Black British studies and, of course, Black studies. The Critical Africana Studies book series directly responds to the heighteneddemandformonographsandeditedvolumesthatinnovativelyexploreAfricaand its diaspora employing cutting-edge critical, interdisciplinary, and intersectional theory and methods. TitlesintheSeries DialoguesacrossDiasporas:WomenWriters,Scholars,andActivistsofAfricanaand LatinaDescentinConversation,EditedbyMarionRohrleitnerandSarahRyan RastafariReasoningandtheRastaWoman:GenderConstructionsintheShapingofRastafari Livity,ByJeanneChristensen UnderstandingtheBlackFlame,ByJuneCaraChristian ConceptsofCabralism:AmilcarCabralandAfricanaCriticalTheory,ByReilandRabaka QueerVoicesfromJapan:FirstPersonNarrativesfromJapan’sSexualMinorities,edited byMarkMcLelland,KatsuhikoSuganuma,andJamesWelker FrantzFanon,MyBrother:Doctor,Playwright,Revolutionary,ByJobyFanon,Translatedby DanielNethery FacingSouthtoAfrica:TowardanAfrocentricCriticalOrientation,ByMolefiKete Asante BLACK MUSLIMS AND THE LAW Civil Liberties from Elijah Muhammad to Muhammad Ali Malachi D. Crawford LEXINGTONBOOKS Lanham•Boulder•NewYork•London PublishedbyLexingtonBooks AnimprintofTheRowman&LittlefieldPublishingGroup,Inc. 4501ForbesBoulevard,Suite200,Lanham,Maryland20706 www.rowman.com UnitA,WhitacreMews,26-34StannaryStreet,LondonSE114AB Copyright©2015byLexingtonBooks Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedinanyformorbyany electronicormechanicalmeans,includinginformationstorageandretrievalsystems, withoutwrittenpermissionfromthepublisher,exceptbyareviewerwhomayquote passagesinareview. BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationInformationAvailable LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Crawford,MalachiD. BlackMuslimsandthelaw:civillibertiesfromElijahMuhammadtoMuhammadAli/Malachi Crawford. pagescm.--(CriticalAfricanastudies) Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. ISBN978-0-7391-8488-2(cloth:alk.paper)--ISBN978-0-7391-8489-9(electronic)1.Nationof Islam(Chicago,Ill.)--History.2.BlackMuslims--Legalstatus,laws,etc.--UnitedStates.3.Black Muslims--Civilrights--UnitedStates.I.Title. BP221.C732015 297.8'7--dc23 2014047065 TMThepaperusedinthispublicationmeetstheminimumrequirementsofAmerican NationalStandardforInformationSciencesPermanenceofPaperforPrintedLibrary Materials,ANSI/NISOZ39.48-1992. PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica Contents Acknowledgments vii Introduction ix 1 Law,Religion,andtheRiseoftheNOI 1 2 FightingintheCourts:EarlyNOILegalDefense 17 3 Women,DomesticWork,andSocialLegitimacyintheEarlyNOI 29 4 TheInterwarPeriod,1942–1957 43 5 APrisonMovementforLegalLegitimacy 65 6 TheNOI’sPressforSocialLegitimac 91 7 ClearVictoriesandMissedOpportunities 123 Conclusion 141 Bibliography 147 Index 155 AbouttheAuthor 165 v Acknowledgments Writingabook-lengthmanuscriptoranyworkofsimilarmagnitudeisnotan individual effort. There have been many people who have assisted me in getting to thispoint,andI simplymention themostmemorable andremark- ablehere.Asapointofdeparture,IwouldliketothankGodforbringingme throughthisperiodinmylifewithasenseofbalance,clarityandpurpose.If theselastfewyearshaveswiftlypassed,Iowethatblessingtoyou. Iameternallygratefultomyadvisorsandmentors,Dr.JeromeE.Drake- ford, Dr. Julius E. Thompson, Dr. Robert E. Weems, Jr., and Dr. James L. Conyers,Jr.,whohaveofferedencouragingwordsofsupportthroughoutmy collegiateandprofessionalcareer.Eachofyouconsistentlypresseduponme theimportance of sacrifice, responsibility,perseverance andthenecessityof lookingbeyondeverydaychallengesinmyprofessionalcareer.Icouldnever havemadeitthisfarwithoutyourguidanceandpatience. Numerous friends and professional acquaintances also lent their support in this endeavor. A “thousand thanks” to my best friend Paul Easterling for keeping me thinking, laughing, and sane. I will forever be indebted to the Bilalfamily,CarolandAhmosZu-Bolton,AlynthiaandCharlesWhite,Can- danceBentonand“Millie,”Malik,PiusNyutu,MableGrimes,PaulaRoper, Richard and Jamilia Butler, Dr. Andrew P. Smallwood, Dr. Mickie Koster, Dr. Bayyinah Jeffries, Dr. Wilma King, Dr. John H. Wigger, and Dr. Mark Carroll. I am also grateful for the assistance provided by Dr. Anthony Pinn, Dr. Aminah B. McCloud, and Dr. Abul Pitre, each of whom offered critical insightsthathelpedstrengthenmanyofthecontentionsfoundherein. There were also numerous professionals who played a pivotal role in bringing this work to light. I would like to personally thank Jana Hodges- KluckandtheeditorialstaffatLexingtonBooksforbeingsopatientwithme throughout this process. The research librarians and staff at the Library of vii viii Acknowledgments CongressandNewYorkPublicLibrary’sSchomburgCenterforResearchon Black Culture provided critical research assistance that significantly en- hanced the background sources herein. Joellen ElBashir, Interim Chief Li- brarian and Curator in the Manuscripts Division at the Moorland Spingarn Research Center, was simply a jewel to work with. For any who find the arguments and lines of thought presented in this work to be of value, please know that none of this would have been possible without the strong support and encouragement of Dr. Reiland Rabaka, senior editor of the Critical Africana Studies Series. Your belief in this work, my career and me as a personhasbeennothingshortofamazing.Ifmyexperienceshavetaughtme anything,itisthatyoursupportandselflessguidanceofscholarsinthisfield should be the rule and not the exception. I also thank the many visiting scholarsinAfricanAmericanStudiesattheUniversityofHoustonwhotook timetooffertheiradviceonhowIcouldimprovethisstudy. IofferaspecialwordofthankyoutoBrotherMuhammadBilal.Whatev- er I am doing, I know that I am not doing enough when I think about your constant words of encouragement and wisdom. Finally, thank you to Basil, Judah, Axelle, mom, dad, my nephews, nieces, aunts, uncles, grandparents, mother-in-law,father-in-law,brotherandsisters-in-lawswhoprovidedspiri- tual and material sustenance throughout my journey. As she has done on countlessotheroccasions,mymothercamethroughandofferedcriticalsup- portinmyfinalhoursoflaboronthemanuscript.Ofcourse,thisworkwould not have been possible without the strength, patience and steadfast faith of mywifeKarla,andtwodaughtersAminaandMakeda.
The list of books you might like
