Black Israelites host Peace Summit

The Celestial Federation of Yahweh (CFY), formerly known as the Nation of Yahweh, will host a Peace Summit on Saturday, Dec. 17th at the Hilton Miami Airport Hotel.

The Peace Summit consists of two components: a “Holy Meet and Greet” session in the morning which allow for networking and business eduction opportunities, followed by the actual “Peace Summit and Fellowship” in the evening. The summit will close with a CFY Dance Party.

“We are expecting CFY family members to come from California, Miami, Georgia, Carolina, Chicago, New York and Philadelphia,” said Elder Ambassador Sharrie Dean Collins, who helped organize the event.

The Celestial Federation of Yahweh, a denomination of Hebrew Israelites, is headquartered in Georgia. The current number of members was not available by press time.

However, Collins noted that the Peace Summit is for everyone regardless of their faith.

Throughout the day’s session there will be noted speakers featured including CFY Supreme Chief Elder Yahweh Ben B.; CFY Supreme Chief Advisor Elder Yahweh Nathtali; and CFY Chief of Production Elder Yahweh Boaz. But the most anticipated speaker will be Yahweh ben Yahweh ben Yahweh of the Third Day, whom the sect proclaims is the Holy Trinity incarnate and the successor to the founder of the Nation of Yahweh.

 

Evolving for a new day

 

In its previous incarnation as the Nation of Yahweh, the sect found itself steeped in decades of controversy. With accusations that it was a Black supremacist organization, the Nation of Yahweh faced further negative scrutiny when its founder, Yahweh ben Yahweh, was convicted of federal conspiracy charges related to several murders committed in the 1980s. He would go on to serve 11 years of his sentence before dying of prostate cancer in May 2007.

The organization formally changed its name from the Nation of Yahweh to the Celestial Foundation of Yahweh in October of this year, according to Collins.

As a sect of Hebrew Israelites, the organization subscribes to the view that they [people of color] are descended from one of the 12 tribes of Israel. They were later expelled in the year 70 a.m. and emigrated to West Africa before their ancestors were sold into slavery. According to their accounts, the Blacks and Indians of North America, Central America South America and the Caribbean are the descendants of this original tribe.

Members say that the church has reformed many of its ways and that many of their views have been misunderstood.

“Even through we may be calling God by different names we’re still the same people,” explained Brother Job Israel. “Now it’s not about skin color —it’s about morality.”

“I know that the beliefs used to be that it was just a militant black thing, but this is a new day a new time,” Collins said.

And while the Peace Summit represents just one of the handful times that members formally gather for an event during the year, sermons are dispatched through video links on their website daily, according to Collins.

The organization is dedicated to charity work and for members to develop self-sufficiency.

“Our global mission is to assist everyone,” she said.

By Kaila Heard
kheard@miamitimesonline.com