Without understanding the central goals of the Nuwaubian Nation, the structural logistics behind the organization, administration, and propagation of the movement will be misunderstood. Delving into the details of the group’s 40 plus years of activity reveals a rather startling array of organizational changes rather than a consistent methodology. While a set structure may not be easily identified, this does not indicate that the group’s logistics were scattered or without intention. Focus and change are not mutually exclusive, and a study of the Nuwaubian structure shows in fact, a focus through change. A beneficial mindset to explore the group’s tactics is to view Nuwaubian strategy as a constantly developing approach in a movement toward a consistent goal.
Study of the movement reveals “that the Nuwaubian Nation’s mission, since inception, was to help inspire racial consciousness, solidarity, and racial communality among peoples of African descent which would enable them to resist racial injustices.”1 A major component of bettering the unity and state of their race was found in addressing what they viewed as the “mental enslavement of blacks.”2 Keeping these underlying focuses in mind, analysis traces much of the strategy employed by the group back to these central goals. In addressing the behavioral differences between the various doctrinal changes and between geographical location, it is helpful to remember that “[t]o [the Nuwaubians], the means of attaining these goals are less important than the end itself which is the ultimate goal.”3 In other words, Nuwaubian logistics are less concerned about creating the appearance of a coherent, standardized public image than disseminating methods of seeking the knowledge essential to liberate the black mind, aiding the progress of the race as a whole.
1 Emeka C. Anaedozie, Post Civil Rights Black Nationalism: The Nuwaubian Nation of Moors’ Model, 1967-2002 (Morgan State University, 2013), 85-86.
2 Ibid., 87.
3 Ibid., 85-86.