Saved from Demolition
‘City of Roses'
Black Portlanders
Historic Victorian
makes its way
through the streets
o f north Portland
Memphis native
users her camera
to document life
in the city
See Page 5
See page 3
Volume XLIII
www.portlandobserver.com
Number 37
Wednesday • September 25, 2013
Estab I ¡shed I PI 1970 T
Committed to Cultural Diversity
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-
photo by
/ k s i/H t i
•'community
ommunitv se
service
D onovan M. S mith /T he P ortland O bserver
The Moorish Science Temple o f America was founded one hundred years ago by a self-proclaimed prophet named Noble Drew Ali. Members o f the Portland temple are working
feverishly to spread its five core principles o f love, truth, peace, freedom and ju stice and promote a true nationality for people o f African descent across the globe.
A Sense of Belonging
Moorish Science embraces African roots
D onovan M. S mith
T he P ortland O bserver
by
It’s not a religion, it’s not a cult, and it’s not a secret
society; it is a spiritual science, it is Moorish Science. The
Moorish Science Temple of America has slowly been build
ing a foundation in Portland whether it be through prison
ministries, a weekly Portland Community Media television
program or gang outreach.
Currently the temple is in its centennial year; it was
founded in 1913 by a 27-year-old man named Noble Drew Ali.
Bom out of ancient knowledge of Africa, the temple works
to instill five basic principles to black men and women in
America. Those principles are love, truth, peace, freedom,
and justice.
The Portland sect, referred to as Temple #2, holds meet
ings out of a small building located at 4725 N Williams. Since
establishing themselves as a 501 (c)(3) non-profit, they are
in talks with the Matt Dishman Community Center in north
Portland to relocate. Membership stands at 15 heads, five of
whom have joined since the beginning of the year.
Brother Stanfill El, who approximates he’s practiced the
science for about two years, has this to say about Ali, “H e’s
a redeemer.”
“He came to redeem a people that lost their identity. They
took the physical shackles of slavery and put it on our mind,”
El said.
While the group’s principles are not seen as radical, some
of their practices can draw controversy.
The M oroccan flag flies in tandem with the Am erican
flag every time a meeting is called to order. Why the
M oroccan flag? The temple believes that most blacks
brought to Am erica during the slave trade were of M oroc
can descent, whose inhabitants were once comm only
continued
on page 5