CLICK HERE for Tribute to Our Fallen Warriors - Part II

CLICK HERE for Tribute to Our Fallen Warriors - Part III

Services For: Capt. Kojo (Timothy Loude)

Saturday, August 11, 2011 Family Hour: 12:30 p.m. Funeral: 1:00 p.m. Clora Funeral Home 5801 E. 7 Mile Detroit, MI Per John Loude (brother): 248 948-0032

Tribute to William "Capt. Asaabu" Singleton - 6/11/2012

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Celebrating Gloria "Major Mukunda" Aikens

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To Major Mukunda:

When I was about 13 years old I was invited to a church on the eastside of Detroit on Mack and Burns, called The Shrine of the Black Madonna #2. I had never heard or seen such a thing and to see Black people doing things together...but what struck me the most was this group of young Sisters my age looking good, with their jeans crisp, jean shirts starched to a tee, sleeves so sharp if you touched it you might get cut, black boots so shiny you could see your face in them, and afros, styled to perfection being lead by this Strong, Tall, Determined, Beautiful, Together Sister. This Sister had on a uniform that was so bad, I could not stop staring, calling out cadence to this young group of Sisters, and they following her every command, I remember it like it was yesterday. These young Sisters drilled with precision and grace My GOD where did this woman come from? I saw Queen Nzinga, I saw Pharaoh Heshepsut, I saw Harriet Tubman I saw all of those strong Sisters who fought hard for our freedom, right beside our Brothers, and it brought tears to my eyes and right then I knew what I wanted to do and what and who I wanted to be, it came clear to me at the age of 13, it changed my life, right then I knew I wanted to be, a Sister Maccabee, I wanted to be just like her. I am speaking of my Major Mukunda, so tall so statuesque, when she entered a room she would turn heads, she was the Major, she was the epitome of what a Sister Maccabee was suppose to be, always together, all Sister Maccabees donned themselves after her style and her movements, uniform so crisp, galee so tight. Whoooooweee, Major Mukunda had to whole package; I thought she was the best, and to top it all she had a family that she cared for with that same tenacity, My GOD where did this woman come from? So Strong, so Tall, so Determined, so Beautiful, so Together, Sister, every time that I saw her, she carried herself with style and grace. I joined this group of young Sisters and got me one of those uniforms, and learned all that I could so that she would one day pick me to be apart of her elite Drill team, then that glorious day came and I was chosen. I thought that I was going to pass out; I cried for an hour, I would leave school and take 3 buses to get to practice every evening. I was on the drill team now with my jeans crisp, jean shirts starched to a tee, sleeves so sharp if you touched it you might get cut, my black boots so shiny you could see your face in them, with my afro, styled to perfection being lead by this Strong, Tall, Determined, Beautiful, Together Sister. Listening for her cadence commands and looking and feeling on top of the world, man you could of bought and sold me for a nickel as my Grandmother use to say. Yes I have nothing but good memories, I never got a chance to tell her, but she changed my life, she was one of the reasons that I became a member and then a Sister Maccabee. Even today she has not changed she still has that style and that grace, so Strong, so Tall, so Determined, so Beautiful, Together Sister. My GOD where did this woman come from? I KNOW! SHE CAME FROM YOU.

Peace Be The Journey My Sister Maccabee. My Major Mukunda I love you and I will miss you, but most of all I Thank you.

Much Love and respect….Furaha Taha

Tribute to Cpl. Ainka - 4/14/2012

Tribute to Cpl. Ainka (slave name Foysteen Mobley; see portrait beginning at 2:06) by the Holy Order of the Maccabees (HOM), the disciplined security force of the Pan African Orthodox Christian Church (PAOCC), Shrine of the Black Madonna #1, 7625 Linwood Ave., Detroit, Mich., April 14, 2012.

DYNAMO

After joining the "Mother Shrine" in the mid-1970s, Cpl. Ainka became a fervent believer in the PAOCC's Black Christian Nationalist (BCN) creed of collective, rather an individual, salvation and loyally served its program of self-determination for "black" people.

One of the PAOCC's all-purpose dynamos, Cpl. Ainka served as a Christian Outreach (COR) volunteer, bearing witness to BCN and recruiting for the church; a group leader, helping to bond members to one another and to their church in the service of "black" liberation; a legal secretary in the Shrine #3 law office; a Maccabee, who trained other Maccabees; and a Missionary Outreach (MOR) volunteer, raising funds for the building and maintenance of the PAOCC, including its large Beulah Land Christian Center farm near Calhoun Falls, S. C.

She also worked with the children before the establishment of Mtoto House and Alkebulan Academy youth programs.

Friendly, engaging, with a winning smile and an easy manner, Cpl. Ainka could always be counted on to stand for right and do right, particularly in behalf of those in need.

She made her transition on March 31, 2012.

TRIBUTE

The HOM tribute to Cpl. Ainka was more somber than others, such as the 2005 salute to Central Region Commander Maj. Kokayi Enaharo, which included drums and the stirring "Song of the Maccabees." The latter could be heard in a video tribute to the HOM, beginning at 1:14:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBRW5AGU1ls

The tribute to Cpl. Ainka is followed by a closing prayer from Shrine #1's pastor, Cardinal Mbiyu Chui (s/n William Moore).

DEDICATION

This video is dedicated to Ayoka (who could be seen seated at left beginning at 2:40) and Anima Shawn, Cpl. Ainka's children, and to the rest of her beloved family, friends and sisters and brothers in the Black Nation, who honor her service, celebrate her life and cherish her memory.

Roll Call of Our Fallen Warriors

Video tribute to the Holy Order of the Maccabees (HOM), the professional, highly disciplined security force of the Shrines of the Black Madonna of the Pan African Orthodox Christian Church (PAOCC), originally screened at a special commissioning ceremony honoring 19 fallen warriors, at Shrine of the Black Madonna #1, Detroit, in November 2007. The video begins with a portion of "My Glorious Brothers," a sermon on the history of the biblical Maccabees, which PAOCC founder and First Holy Patriarch Jaramogi Abebe Agyeman, formerly the Rev. Albert B. Cleage, Jr., delivered at Shrine #1 on Jan. 26, 1969.

Protecting the Black Nation:

A Tribute to the Holy Order of the Maccabees

ABC News interview with Jaramogi Abebe Agyeman, pastor of Shrine of the Black Madonna #1, 7625 Linwood, Detroit, Jan. 28, 1968. It was conducted in the church's lounge (now the Black Theology room).

Excerpted from "Two Societies, 1965-1968," Episode 2 of "Eyes on the Prize II," PBS, Jan. 22, 1990.

At the time, Jaramogi Abebe, as he's known by the faithful, was still the Rev. Albert B. Cleage, Jr., who founded the Black Christian Nationalist Movement (BCN) in March 1967, which later became the Pan African Orthodox Christian Church (PAOCC).

For a brief biography of Jaramogi Abebe and an overview of the evolution of the PAOCC, CLICK HERE to view "A Nation Within a Nation: Jaramogi Abebe Agyeman Explains 'Black' Self-Determination".

CELEBRATIONS

This year, the PAOCC celebrates the centenary of Jaramogi Abebe's birth.

However, it's also the 40th anniversary of the Holy Order of the Maccabees, the highly disciplined security force formed to protect the persons and properties of the "Black Nation," as members call the church. Because of the imperatives of security, this unique story is both an integral part of, yet separate from, the PAOCC's.

By at least 1966, Jaramogi Abebe was receiving regular death threats. Church member Beverly Williamson volunteered as Jaramogi Abebe's bodyguard, but the threats became so serious after the 1967 Detroit Rebellion that male church members, including several of Jaramogi Abebe's nephews, formed the Order of Chaka, which was posted at church services and meetings and accompanied him around Detroit. Several could be seen in the video, wearing square-neck tunics.

HOLY ORDER OF THE MACCABEES

According to Presiding Bishop D. Kimathi Nelson, Jaramogi Abebe's successor, the Order of Chaka was succeeded by the Holy Order of the Maccabees in June or October 1971.

"The Maccabees were established because Jaramogi wanted a more disciplined and ideologically committed security force," Bishop Nelson recalls. "He felt that the Order of Chaka was made up of brothers who, while well-intentioned, were rather rough hewn and could not be controlled. Education, family stability and demonstrated commitment were key elements in choosing the first Maccabees."

As the late Masai Balogun (James R. Dismukes), the fist general of the Maccabees, emphasized, "The quality of the group is a more important criteria than its numerical size."

Recalls Chimba Chui (Alfred Kelly), the second Maccabees general, "The Holy Order of The Maccabees began ... when Gen Masai announced to a handful of brothers that we would be 'Building Security' on Sundays during church service. ... "We evolved from that group in January of 1972 when the church purchased the building at 700 Seward known as the National Training Center. We provided 24-hour security. We became the Maccabees. The group grew and grew.

"Some of the early names that I remember: Bros. Kojo [Timothy Loude], Sekou [Bruce Landers], [Chiri] Karega [Marvin Roby], Menelik [Nelson], Taha [Michael Thomas], Uhuru [Harold Carlock], Kali [David Watts], Ndegwa [Norris Aikens], Oluwa [Donald Clark]."

Karega succeeded Chimba Chui in August 2005.

Mbiyu Chui (William Moore), pastor of Shrine #1, remembers "Jaramogi Abebe calling for 100 men to step up to the plate. ... I recall asking Jaramogi why I could not sign up to be drafted, and he told me I had to be 18 years old (I was 16 at the time). After much persistence, he finally agreed to allow a group of youth [to] be drafted into the Maccabees, hence the origin of the first BCN Youth Corp!"

According to Cardinal Muthamaki Kimathi (Gary Bennett), "Cardinal Nilaja [Diana Stewart] and I were in a National Council meeting ... when Jaramogi announced the beginning of the Order of the Macabees. I am sure that he and General Masai had many preliminary conversations and meetings about the decision before the announcement." Masai "was pronounced by Jaramogi as Captain Masai. Captain Masai was wearing a brown British military officers' [uniform] with no insignia on it."

Masai, Bennett recalls, "named me as the first Macabee training group leader." The first cycle included Sekou and Captain Cabral (Oliver Milton). The second cycle included Nelson, Karega "and other wonderful brothers. The sisters came later."

SISTERS

"Jaramogi felt that including women in the Maccabees would ensure that it would become the kind of well-rounded force that he had in mind," recalls Bishop Nelson, drafted in July 1972. "My group included Makunda [Gloria] Norris and Shahida [Judy] Hougabook. Makunda became the first female with the rank of Major and also the first female on the Command Council. In 1976, Jaramogi decided to create a Women's Division in order to be more considerate of sisters' needs and concerns. Major Makunda was its commander also."

Happy Anniversary, Maccabees, past and present! Thank you for all that you have done, do and will do for the Black Nation!

Text Content submitted on October 13, 2011 by Bro. Paul Lee ~ Detroit, Michigan