Clarence 13X

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Clarence 13X bigraphy, stories - Founder of The Nation of Gods and Earths

Clarence 13X : biography

1928/02/22 – 1969/06/13

Clarence Edward Smith, (February 22, 1928 – June 12, 1969) better known by his assumed names Clarence 13X and Allah, was an American religious leader who founded the Five Percent movement, a group that split from the Nation of Islam (NOI). He was born in Virginia, but moved to New York City as a young man before serving in the United States Army during the Korean War. After returning to New York, he learned that his wife had joined the NOI and followed her, taking the name Clarence 13X. He served in the group as a security officer, martial arts instructor, and student minister before leaving for an unclear reason in 1963. He enjoyed gambling, which was condemned by the NOI, and disagreed with the NOI’s teachings that Wallace Fard Muhammad was a divine messenger.

After leaving the NOI, Clarence 13X formed a new group with other former members. He concluded that all black men were divine and took the name Allah to symbolize this status. He rejected the belief in an invisible God, teaching that God could be found within each black man. In his view, women were "earths" that complemented and nurtured men; he believed that they should be submissive to men. He and a few assistants retained some NOI teachings but pioneered novel interpretations of them. They devised teachings about the meaning of letters and numerals: understanding the meaning of each letter and number was said to provide deep truths about God and the universe. Clarence 13X referred to his new movement as the Five Percenters, referencing a NOI teaching that only five percent of the population knew and promoted the truth about God. One way that he distinguished his group from his previous faith was by rejecting dress codes or strict behavioral guidelines—he allowed the consumption of alcohol, and at times, the use of illegal drugs.

Clarence 13X was shot by an unknown assailant in 1964 but survived the attack. After an incident several months later in which he and several of his followers vandalized stores and fought with police, he was arrested and placed in psychiatric care; doctors said that he suffered from paranoid schizophrenia. He was released from custody after a 1966 ruling by the Supreme Court placed limits on confinement without trial. Although he initially taught his followers to hate white people, he eventually began to cooperate with white city leaders. They gave him funding for a night school, and in return, he tried to prevent violence in Harlem. Clarence 13X was fatally shot in June 1969; the identity of his killer is unknown. The mayor of New York City and several other prominent leaders expressed condolences to his followers. Although the Five Percenters faltered in the immediate aftermath of his death, the movement eventually rebounded after new leadership emerged. The group took a non-hierarchical approach to leadership, and no single leader replaced Clarence 13X. He has been held in high regard by Five Percenters, and they have celebrated his birthday as a holiday.

Notes

Cooperation and conflict

In mid-1967, New York City mayor John Lindsay sought to develop closer ties with leaders of impoverished neighborhoods. Prompted in part by concerns voiced by the New York Police Department (NYPD), the mayor dispatched one of his aides, Barry Gottehrer, to meet with Clarence 13X. Belying his fearsome reputation, Clarence 13X had a congenial meeting with Gottehrer, during which he requested more bus routes and school funding. Clarence 13X subsequently attended a meeting of black leaders at Gracie Mansion, the mayor’s official residence. The city provided buses for Five Percenters to travel to a Long Island park, and with help from the National Urban League, obtained an abandoned storefront for use as a school. It became known as the Allah School in Mecca and aimed to prepare young people for college preparatory schools. Tensions soon formed between the Five Percenters and the school’s overseers; Clarence 13X desired more control over the curriculum and had difficulty finding qualified teachers. Police regularly visited the school to ensure that the students were not being radicalized. In 1975, Gottehrer chronicled his friendship with Clarence 13X in The Mayor’s Man. The book was well received by some Five Percenters, who republished portions of it after it went out of print. However, they have not reprinted the entire book, owing to a passage in which Gottehrer relates that Clarence 13X offered to allow him to sleep with his teenage daughter.