Cults and Extreme Belief

Is it a group based on black empowerment or the exploitation

of children?

A&E investigates the United Nation of Islam.

My parents, they wanted the best for they children.

They were naive.

They just really put their trust them

to something that they thought was a religion, which

turned out to be a monster.

Do you have any idea how many kids

were trafficked by this group?

Their primary activity

is structured around the labor of young children.

It was slavery.

That's exactly what it was.

How could you send me off, dad?

As an eight-year-old, it's not like I can protect myself.

We've never really had the opportunity to come forward

to bring every single person that's

responsible for these children being abused to justice.

I was born in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Growing up, it was me, my parents, and my two siblings.

Carl, he's the oldest, and then Mary.

Mary is the baby girl.

My parents, they wanted their children

to be around the African-American mind

set of entrepreneurs.

They were in the Nation of Islam.

The Nation of Islam didn't work out for them.

So when they Royall Jenkins and the United Nation of Islam,

that's what they went for.

For Royall Jenkins,

Louis Farrakhan's movement of the Nation of Islam

was a failure.

African-Americans in his estimation,

have not gotten their fair share of the American Pie.

That is, a community and land of their own.

He sees himself as a viable alternative who can bring

these realities into being.

So Royall Jenkins started the United Nation of Islam.

I know we've talked about this before,

but we shouldn't confuse this group

with the controversial Nation of Islam.

Right?

That would be correct, John.

The United Nation of Islam has a well

documented track record of reviving blighted areas

and restoring hope.

Royall preached that he would

be the one to help minorities rise up from oppression

and we believe him.

We On this planet back.

Whether any white people, black people, or any people

come at all, we've got to get this planet back.

And it's already started back.

We've already started it back on its journey.

I guess the main thing that was interesting to my parents

was the fact that in a low income area

they produce businesses.

And there was young African-American people

who are doing something different besides getting

in trouble.

It was the opportunity for them to do something

positive with their lives.

So my parents started to participate

and my dad actually became the first minister of the study

class in Cincinnati.

Me and my two siblings attended the Academy,

which is the local school for the organization.

The first thing they taught us was that Royall Allah in person

is the creator of everything.

He is god.

Ryan Jenkins preached that he had

been taken on a tour around the universe by scientists.

They gave me a little knowledge

of everything in the universe and even

taking me into the sun.

Most people think, you know, they

made a joke of that and everything,

but it literally took place.

The United Nation of Islam,

they mythologize a sort of a history of black people

that did not originate with slavery,

but has a prehistory on other planets.

So I think Royall's experience that he claims

with the angel scientists cast him as Allah on this earth,

and it gives him a certain religious authority.

Elijah Muhammad, you were a member as a child

of the United Nation of Islam.

Why Royall Jenkins?

Why did people follow him?

When a person comes from the same background

as their following, the people tend to relate to him.

Sure.

You're like me.

Yeah.

When you have a person that say, well,

here's a person in the cold.

I'm willing to take my coat off and give it to him,

and he does it, everyone that's used to being more selfish,

so to speak, look at him and say, wow.

Absolutely.

These are things that make a person say,

I'm going to give my last dime to see that this

goes as far as it can.

It's clear to see why it might appeal

to some people who have been treated

as the bottom of the culture.

People who have very few opportunities

whose life possibilities seem fixed and limited.

And here comes this organization that

says you can be more than that.

In fact, you are more than that.

You're gods.

Well, let's be honest here.

Royall Jenkins and the United Nation of Islam

came into being at a time when there

wasn't a lot of other people willing to invest

in these communities. Sure.

Correct.

These were the ignored, neglected neighborhoods

that nobody wanted to go near.

Absolutely.

And here was somebody saying, uh-uh, I believe in you.

Here's some money.

You can do better.

We can do better. - That's right.

It's powerful.

Right?

The United Nation of Islam

is trying to bring hope back by doing right on Quindera.

Not to be confused with Farrakhan's group,

the United Nation is about making a positive change.

When I was 12 years old, my parents received a phone

call from Royall's first wife.

We were informed that my brother and I were ready to take

our next step into manhood.

And what that meant was, we were to go to the Community

of the United Nation of Islam.

The Community is known as heaven.

Now, if you got a bunch of negative things happening

in the community-- drugs, gang banging, violence, and then

you have a place that claims to be opposite of it, of course

you want our children to participate in something better

than what they're used to.

And so bags were packed that night.

We were told transportation will be here tomorrow to get you.

And so when tomorrow came, it was very scary.

We didn't know who we were staying with.

We didn't know who it was that was transporting us.

It was a semi truck.

It read on the side, The United Nation of Islam.

And we rode in back to be transported to heaven.

When the truck pulled up, me and my brother got off.

The first thing they told us was, this is the FY barracks.

So leaving your parents' house and transitioning

into barracks, it's a place where soldiers reside.

So we're no longer children.

We're expected to be soldiers.

We're expected to be men.

And that meant anything that came along with that.

You had to endure it.

You know, being young is one thing,

but being young and dumb and rebellious is another.

That is not tolerated.

Now, in our attempt to make sure that you develop properly,

sometimes you make us bring out unpleasantries.

We put our trust into something

that we thought was a religion, which

turned out to be a monster.

What does a person that was watching this program, what

do they have to--

first steps they have to make to start process of seeing Allah?

Because they not gonna see him just by looking

at your physical person.

True.

Like, I have met with many people that has been with me

and that still are.

They change their looks.

They change their thinking.

They change their bank account because of the discipline.

They learning of what truth produces.

So let's talk a little bit about your trip to heaven.

Maybe it's because I'm a mom of two

boys about the same age as you and your brother

were when you were sent there.

But that really got to me, watching

you talk about that and how scary and hard

that must have been.

How hard was it to leave home?

Oh, very, very hard.

Very hard.

Although, we were told this is family,

I didn't know the people.

You know, and naturally a young boy,

he misses his mom and his father.

And for me, it was hard.

You were homesick?

Oh, yeah.

When we arrived to the place where we lived,

I was 12 years old.