Professional Documents
Culture Documents
1.) What are the Nation of Gods and Earths (Five Percent?)
The Five Percent began as an offshoot of the NOI (Nation of Islam) back in 1964 by
Clarence 13X who was a minister in Mosque no. 7 under the tutelege of Malcolm X.
The movement was started because Clarence 13X rejected the notion that Wallace
Fard was God Incarnate (see NOI). He began teaching that the black man himself
was god. Five Percenters also depart from NOI in their teaching of the Supreme
Alphabet and Supreme Mathematics, an arcane system devised by Clarence 13X
wherein each letter or numeral denotes a concept with an accompanying parable. "A"
stands for Allah, "B" is Be or Born, "C" is See and so on. This process is known as
"dropping science".
2.) Why do they call themselves members of the Nation of Gods and Earths
or Five Percenters?
This message was delivered as a street rap that mesmerized New York City youth.
They won converts by the hundreds. Today the group numbers in the tens of
thousands in NYC alone. This message was also well-timed, as the 1960's were
obviously a time of great struggle for blacks in America. This was a message [very
similar to the black supremacist doctrines of the NOI] that made black youths feel
superior in a world where they were viewed as wholly inferior.
The requirements of "official" membership in the Five Percent are unclear. They do
not have organized affiliation. A Five Percenter will frequently say that they simply
came into knowledge of self, or better yet, the "fact" that the "Asiatic Black Man" is
God... It is more a way of life and they would shun any reference to them being a
"religion". They do refer to "knowledging 120" (120 refers to their lessons which are
virtually identical to the Supreme Wisdom originated by Elijah Muhammed and W.D.
Fard). This question of whether they have knowledged (mastered/understood) these
lessons appears to be rather important because often you will hear them say: "I
knowledged 120 in [plug year in here]". In many dialogues or "builds" among
themselves, disagreements are usually met with challenges to a member's
knowledge of 120.
Suffice it to say that this step of absorbing the lessons likely separates the babies
from the seasoned, and at the same time can expose a perpetrator. As indicated on
a section of their homepage, they appear to really keep up with the rap artists level
of commitment to their teachings, regardless of whether or not they pepper their
lyrics with their lingo.
There are also, Parliaments and Schools that the members attend, which are
rallys/meeting places where lessons are distributed and members can listen to
speakers and meet others.
NGE/Five Percent concepts are often circulated as lessons. They are made up of the
following: