Black Mafia - History

History

Black Mafia membership continued to increase within the two years following its inception. Moving up in the Mafia's hierarchy was almost impossible without being a member of the Nation of Islam. Black Mafia members seemed to be involved in the religion because it was more of a symbol of their strength than a belief system. Many even joined the faith as a form of protection, as local temples were responsible for picking up protection money from members, and were taught in the criminal methods of the streets. Jeremiah Shabazz owned bakeries and food stores through the first Philadelphia NOI mosque or masjid. This masjid would later be publicly criticized by NOI leadership in Chicago for drawing too much attention to itself as a "gangster" mosque. Recent academic works in criminal justice are filling in the gaps using FBI, court, and police records to substantiate the long association of Shabazz (aka Jeremiah Pugh) with the growth of organized black crime in Philadelphia. Shabazz's west Philadelphia mosque boasted of the most prominent members of organized black crime in Philadelphia, members who were also high-ranking members of the mosque. The difficulty this precedent created would play out dramatically when the FBI overheard two high-level heroin dealers complain that they were being overly extorted by Shamsud-din Ali aka Clarence Fowler, the imam who had replaced Shabazz. That probe would land the drug investigation on the desk of then-mayor John F. Street, as Dawud Bey complained that the dealers "were out here hustling" while Shamsud-din Ali requested $5,000 to be delivered to Connie Little, former Democratic Ward leader, and John Street's Executive Secretary. "Cutty (Shamsud-din Ali's nickname, short for "cutthroat" for beating a murder rap of a well-known Reverend) ...be walking with kings," the dealers lamented. John Street escaped prosecution, but several of his key people drew successful federal prosecutions, ending their careers.