A Negro policeman, who attempted to break up
the demonstration, was shot by one of Redding's followers. In the
course of the melee, a white storekeeper and a white soldier were
killed. Redding and another Negro were later executed for their
part in the affair.
In 1925 Noble Drew Ali came to Chicago and established the
Moorish American Science Temple. Actually, he had previously
attempted to organize other temples in New Jersey, Pennsylvania,
and Michigan. He claimed that American Negroes were of Moorish
descent and, instead of being really black, were olive-hued. His
movement had a banner which carried a Moorish star and crescent
on a field of red. He also claimed that American Negroes, being
Moors, had an Islamic heritage rather than a Christian one, and
he endeavored to spread his particular version of that faith
throughout the Afro-American community. By 1927 Ali had
established branches in Pittsburgh, Detroit, Philadelphia, Kansas
City, Lansing, and elsewhere. He wrote his own version of the
Koran which combined passages from the Moslem Koran, the
Christian Bible, and some of the writings of Marcus
Garvey.
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