Moorish Science- Cozmo EL

From the streets of Long Beach to building a Moorish American village in Hawaii, Cozmo El embodies the transformative power of cultural consciousness. As we explore his remarkable journey, we discover how hip-hop legends like Public Enemy and KRS-One first planted seeds of awareness that blossomed into his lifelong dedication to Moorish Science.

What makes Cozmo's perspective particularly valuable is his steadfast commitment to unity amidst division. While many spiritual and cultural movements fracture into competing factions, he helped foster California's unique approach to Moorish identity through Temple 43—a conglomeration embracing diverse lineages rather than "body banging" between rival groups. This commitment to bridge-building extends into his current work with the United Moorish Science Temple of America and the Moorish Times newspaper.

The conversation takes a powerful turn when addressing Prophet Noble Drew Ali's teaching that "Moors are rich." Rather than interpreting this solely through material wealth, Cozmo offers a profound spiritual perspective: "Power is not what we should be seeking. What we should be seeking is alignment with the force." This philosophy guides his approach to community-building and explains why he refuses to boycott his own people who may not yet claim Moorish identity—leading to both acclaim (including formal recognition from New York's government) and criticism from purists within the movement.

Most exciting is Cozmo's revelation about creating a Moorish American village in Hawaii, with a retreat center opening this August. This project represents the practical manifestation of his philosophy—creating tangible spaces where identity, spirituality, and community converge into lived experience rather than mere theory.

Want to dive deeper into Moorish history and philosoph

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:11

all right, what's going on? What's going on? Peace? This is ron brown, lmc, the people's fitness professional, aka soul brother number one, reporting for duty. We have cosmo L in the building. Islam to the more. Uh, thank you for coming out this evening. I really appreciate you. Um, I've reached out to you and you, we connected, and now you're here. Uh, there's some things I want to talk to you about. First off, let's go with. How are you feeling this evening?

Speaker 2: 0:44

Well, I'm feeling great, my brother, it's evening where you at, but it's still noon where we're at in the beautiful island of Hawaii. It's a beautiful sunny day, and so I'm just taking in the environment and being at peace.

Speaker 1: 1:01

That's peace, that's peace. So I want to start off with your history, and then we're going to build up to where you are now. So where did you first off? How did you get the name Cosmo?

Speaker 2: 1:18

So, before I begin, I want to give honors to you, brother, for extending the invitation and invite me on to your show to reach your viewers. So I want to give honors to you, brother, for extending the invitation and invite me on to your show to reach your viewers. So I want to give you honors and thanks for that. It's important for us to be able to reach a broad spectrum of brothers and sisters in the business that we're in of Uplift and Fallen Humanity. So honors for that. My brother, I appreciate that. You're welcome.

Speaker 1: 1:51

The name Cosmo actually came it came in a long story. All right, peace, peace, peace, all right. All right, peace, peace, peace, all right. All right, cosmo, you there. All right, we're having some connection issues. We're having some connection issues at the moment. See, what's happening, shouts out to everybody on the check-in. I just want to let everyone know before Cosmo comes back on. Maybe something's going on with his connection, I'm sure. I just want to let y'all know.

Speaker 1: 2:36

Nyptalkshowcom is the website. Nyptalkshowcom is the website website. Nyptalkshowcom is the website. Uh, we are going to be. Uh, we have a gofundme there. We have a uh, we have some merch there that you guys can check us. Okay, hawaii is okay, I got you. Yeah, he's in hawaii.

Speaker 1: 3:01

Let's see if the brother clicks back in. But you know, like I was saying before he comes back on, we have NYPtalkshowcom is the website. Go on there. We have a GoFundMe. We have some hats and all that kind of stuff on there you guys could purchase to. You know, support this platform, this platform. We're going to do in-person podcasts soon. We're going to travel, in fact, and show some of the guests and how they are and where they live and the things that they do real soon, and we would appreciate it if you support the brand, if you support the brand, if you support the brand also super chat, things like that. You know we also have um, I'm waiting for the brother to come back on, let's see what happens. Hold on y'all, hold on, hold on, let's see what's going on. Okay, let's see what's going on. Pardon y'all, let me make the call. That's one thing about NYP we're raw, you know. Sorry about that.

Speaker 2: 4:13

I'm logging back on now, my brother, my phone overheated.

Speaker 1: 4:17

Okay, okay, all right.

Speaker 2: 4:19

All right, I'm logging back in. Hold on.

Speaker 1: 4:21

All right. Yeah, that's the thing about NYP. We are raw, none cut, nothing fake over here. You know, sometimes mishaps happen. You know his phone overheated, as you heard. We were on the podcast the other day with Duke of Tears and his phone overheated as well and it went off and then it came back on. But at least I had um, at least I had mikey to have a conversation with. Now I'm sitting here just rambling on, talking to y'all I know y'all waiting for cosmo to come back on here. He is the man of the hour. All right, cosmo, you're back on yes, peace and love.

Speaker 2: 5:02

Sorry about that. Briefly, um, but to answer your question, cosmo Ill was a hip-hop name that I chose based on the information that I was studying at the time and getting into the studies of man and his relationship to the universe, and so I took the name Cosmo Ill, and it later became a pen name of mine as well. You know, I figured instead of me writing lyrics, I was writing books, and so it was fitting that I kept that name and then, you know, it kind of just stuck as I. As I created my YouTube and my Facebook under that name, people began to affectionately know me as Cosmo L.

Speaker 1: 5:51

OK, ok, so now, where did you grow up? Are you there? Yeah, you hear me, you hear me, you hear me Check, check, check. You hear me now.

Speaker 2: 6:12

I don't know if you can hear me. Can you hear me?

Speaker 1: 6:15

Yes, I can hear you. Can you hear me?

Speaker 2: 6:17

All right. For some reason I can't hear you.

Speaker 1: 6:21

OK, that's how the stream yard is. Let's see here. Let's see here.

Speaker 2: 6:38

Let's see. All right, are you speaking now?

Speaker 1: 6:40

Yes, yes, yes, you hear me now, hmm, you hear me now, hmm, you hear me now. Peace, peace, peace.

Speaker 2: 6:54

Peace, peace. I cannot hear you, brother, I don't know why.

Speaker 1: 6:58

All right, so this is what we're going to do. We're going to do this, All right I can hear you now, I can hear you now.

Speaker 2: 7:03

I had to turn my car off.

Speaker 1: 7:09

Okay, there we go. You hear me me now so where did you grow up?

Speaker 2: 7:11

so I grew up in uh, I was born and raised basically in long beach, california oh, hold on, hold up, man.

Speaker 1: 7:21

You're the. You're the third person from la I've ever met. Oh wait, hold on. Is that? Is that la? Is that la?

Speaker 2: 7:29

I don't know, I mean it's technically la county, but you know I did move from long beach to la at around 19 years old and then pretty much was in la most of the time after that okay, okay, so long beach.

Speaker 1: 7:44

How was that growing up in long beach? The only thing I know about long beach is is snoop dog yeah, I mean, uh, long beach was a very uh interesting place.

Speaker 2: 7:56

I went to polytechnic high school. Of course, you know I knew everybody who come from long beach that has a name now, and it was it was. It was interesting because around that time when I was growing up, things were just kind of we putting their carboards down on the street and break dancing against one another and then things took a little uh change when the police outlaw break dancing on the street and so people start either going into gangbanging sports or rhyming, and so I was one of those that went into rhyming and so it was Snoop and Domino and Radio and a bunch of other MCs that came about around that time. So it was a good youth. I actually got introduced to consciousness through hip hop, listening to stuff like Public Enemy and KRS-One and Rakim and so on and so forth. So it was, it was where I was born and raised, but also introduced to consciousness.

Speaker 1: 9:18

Well, let me say this is interesting that you took a completely different path, right that you took a completely different path, right then. Um, like, so you went hip-hop. What about the gangbanging? You know? Uh, culture out there. Did you ever get influenced by that? Did you deal with that? Because from what I know about the west coast, especially california, is that a lot of people are kind of like intertwined with the gang life. So I want to know that. Yeah.

Speaker 2: 9:52

I mean. No doubt, growing up in the hood you're going to be affiliated in one way or another, but I took my path into consciousness at an early age.

Speaker 2: 10:02

So, around 15 years old, I chose the path to study the path of Islam, and I went hard in the paint with that, and so the group of brothers that I linked up with were Muslims and Moors, and so, even though we weren't gangbanging per se, a lot of us still had that background and so and now we were our own group, and so people knew not to really mess with you, because you still had a crew with you.

Speaker 2: 10:32

It was just a conscious crew and you know we all had ties to different neighborhoods and so that pretty much people knew that we weren't with the business like that. They knew that we would. We would go to war if we had to, but it wasn't going to be over something that you know, over a color, over a rag or over some dope or anything like that, and most of the time brothers from the neighborhood respect that, and so there was, there was a lot of respect. Of course there were little altercations here and there, but we made it through here and there, um, but we made it through, alhamdulillah, indeed, indeed.

Speaker 1: 11:09

So you, you took a hold of islam at 15, and and then? So what was your household like? Did you come up out of a christian? A christian household, or what a islamic household?

Speaker 2: 11:21

I came out of a I guess you could say it was a christian household more, more like spiritual Baptist. It wasn't the go to church every Sunday type thing, but when it came to spirituality and rituals, you know my family would be involved. My mother was very educated and so you know she had she didn't just have your Bible, she had the Bible, the Apocrypha, the Nag Hammadi Dictionary, various scripture, dead Sea Scrolls and things like that. So we weren't just limited to the Judeo-Christian ideology as practiced by most of our people in the United States of America. It was a little more broad than that and she was always open and supportive of exploration of any type of knowledge.

Speaker 1: 12:17

OK and so. So how did you get into Islam? So how did you get into Islam? You said, through hip hop. But was there, like some, like a hub of like? Like you know, in New York you got the conscious community, so to speak, where you know you could go to 125th Street, walk down a block, you could see, you know, videos and things like that. Was there some kind of hub for consciousness or Islam out there?

Speaker 2: 12:51

In LA. There are more hubs In Long Beach. There really wasn't at that time. You really had to seek it out. I listened to Khalid Mohammed Farrakhan and Jamil Alameen, h Rat Brown, huey P Newton, all of these samples, and I got interested and just pretty much began my self-study. And one day I was.

Speaker 2: 13:15

I was walking through the mall and I saw this brother. It was me and a friend of mine, you know, we were calling ourselves cultural Muslims because we were practicing the culture but we didn't know anything about the religion. And so we were walking through the mall and I saw this brother, his name, I'll never forget his name. His name was Musa Askiya Mohammed. He was tall, he had some size on him and he just looked like a perfect brother, you know, and he was had on a kufi and he was just walking so dignified. So I went over to him and I was like brother um, are you a Muslim? And he was like yes, and so I started asking him questions, because it was the first Muslim I had seen in person, you know. And uh, he told me that, hey, you know, this is how you become a Muslim. You take Shahada. And so I was, I was with the business.

Speaker 2: 14:10

I said, can I do it right now? And he said yeah, and I took Shahada later on, hooked up with him and he gave me some books and stuff. And one day I called this masjid to get some more information and it happened to be a Morris brother staying there and we talked for a long time and then we met, set plans for him to come down and build, and that's kind of how I got introduced to Morris science. When he came and he built back then, you know, we had a program. It was like you went to the science circle and you had to memorize at least seven lessons before you could officially join. You know, and uh, I memorized my lessons and uh, I sat with the moors and eventually I just I went on ahead and proclaimed my nationality okay, and what?

Speaker 1: 14:56

what temple was that? Was that back then and what year was that? What year was that? What year was that?

Speaker 2: 15:03

So this was 1992. I took Shahada and proclaimed my nationality at an early age. In fact I founded at 16 the Morris Chess Club at Long Beach Polytechnic High School, as the only high school Morris organization that I know of that was founded. So I was really into it. The temple was temple number 43. And it was a temple, but it was also what we called a science circle back then, which was like a preliminary to the temple, and so it was temple 43, not to be confused with any other Temple 43. This was Temple 43 in Los Angeles at the time in 1991. And so that's who I was rotating with and pretty much rotated with that temple for years, and I'm still connected with the, the grand chic there oh, wow, wow.

Speaker 1: 16:05

That's peace. So, after you know, picking up moorish science and things in 1992, what was the moorish community, like you know, more specifically in the states around that time.

Speaker 2: 17:01

Yeah, I mean it was. It was interesting. I mean it was, it was, uh, the conscious community in general. You know, there was unity but there was always divisions. Um, for the most part there weren't a lot of mores. You got to realize it wasn't um, it wasn't internet. You didn't have internet back then. So you couldn't just go online and meet people and stuff. If you wanted to learn more science, you had to be with the temple, you know, and you couldn't just go online and buy circle sevens or literature, you like you. You really had to go to a temple to get a nationality card and to get this information. So it just wasn't. We've always been here but the communication wasn't really open and you know, I kind of rocked with the elders a lot more and as other temples started popping up, you had those divisions this temple wanted to be the one and that temple wanted to be the one. But we just kind of stayed away from all of that and just rotated our lessons.

Speaker 2: 18:09

We built a strong community and put in work in the community and you know, our community wasn't really separated. We were Moors but we still dealt with Panthers, we still dealt with 5%, we still dealt with everybody. A lot of times when people would come down, then they wanted security. They would come to the Moors. So we ended up doing security for, like Kwame Ture, you know, elaine Brown, erica Huggins, various diplomats from Africa and Brazil. So it was, it was there was unity, but amongst the Moors, especially between the Moors that were Muslim and the Moors that really weren't, weren't feeling Islam or didn't understand its place in the Moorish movement, divisions kind of grew there. You know there was one, one sheik I'm not going to say his name, but he kind of started this thing called Shahada Moor versus Temple Moor and to this day that still resonates throughout the community. But in our locale we did a lot of work to bridge those gaps and bring unity to California.

Speaker 1: 19:28

Wow, okay, I have so many questions to ask just on that alone, but we'll move on. So now, 92, 93, 94, 95, fast forward. Did you communicate with more? Okay, so I want to talk about this piece. So me, coming from New York City, I come out of Temple 54, which is through Temple 21 is a connection to Temple 21,. Temple 34 under the C Kirkman Bay faction. If you will, I've also been involved with the Emilio faction at some point. Now, what faction, so to speak? Would you come underneath?

Speaker 2: 20:19

So you know I have, being from California, it's a little bit different because the original circle that I came under we had grand sheiks from all of those bodies and there's been a unity movement in california for a long time and so we got lessons from all those bodies and we never, really we, we didn't what we call body banging, we didn't body bang like that, you know so. So we got lessons. You know, to this day I'm in good standing with you know, uh, temple number one, um, uh, I'm in good standing with uh, uh, whether you saw it, braswell Bay, ace Damu Hill, you know I'm in good standing with Brother Talik Hill from the E-Milli Hill. I'm in good standing with you know A Hopkins Bay and the Moors over there from the Jones Bay camp, the Inc.

Speaker 2: 21:17

I'm in good standing with the Federation because I've never really. You know, when I first started off demonstrating the consciousness online and to the public, I never accepted a grand sheet position. I moved under the minister of culture and so I just kind of stayed in that lane because it wasn't. Nobody was really worried about culture. Everybody wanted to be the top one when it came to more science. So I wrote books on history, you know. I made fezes, I made flags, I tried to make sure that anything that was Moorish we claimed for ourselves insofar as manufacturing and pushing, and it really wasn't only until I accepted a grand chic position that ones wanted to now try to come for me. You know, it was like they weren't threatened as long as I was the minister of culture. But once I accepted a grand chic position and I had such broad support from so many different bodies, then certain ones not everyone became worried that my influence might overshadow theirs and they began hating and whatnot. So, however, I do have.

Speaker 2: 22:31

Later on I was appointed by a Grand Chic that had come through this. Later on down the line, this later on down the line, I was appointed to a Grand Chic position by a Grand Chic brother, shahid Ali Il and they were under the Braswell Bay body and then there was obviously some split there with the Bailey Il and they end up going with the Bailey ill side. So I kind of have dual lineage, so to speak, when it comes through the ones who appointed me. But before I accepted that most recent post, it was just a universal demonstration. You know, if you know anything about Temple 43, it was a conglomeration of a lot of different bodies, some people who had been to the penitentiaries, who had come out and kind of like you know 5%. They came to the street and they opened up the temple and was just teaching the Moors and teaching the young brothers. So we didn't really have, we didn't have that body banging phenomena in the early nineties, that's.

Speaker 1: 23:46

That's interesting.

Speaker 2: 23:47

So you think the body banging, as you say comes from like maybe the early 2000s or Well, I'll tell you this there was, there was a guy up north and those who know will know he had started a temple up north and he's the one who created the Templemore versus Shahadamore thing. And eventually we came into confrontation not a violent confrontation, but confrontation and we end up signing a treaty that that this brother would no longer cause this division because it was, you know, division in the Moorish community. And this person end up moving to, I believe, atlanta or someplace like that and doing their thing out there and still causing a lot of division and being very rude and foul with the way that they do things. So it kind of was the mid-90s to late-90s that that division really started, but it definitely echoes throughout the Morris movement today and it's a sad state of affairs. But again, we've done a lot of work to bridge that gap and to bring forth the true teachings of Prophet Noble Juweli.

Speaker 2: 25:04

And I still have the treaty to this day, but I never pulled it out. But those who know and I still have the treaty to this day, you know, but I never pulled it out. But those who know know who this, this Mr Ill, is who, who, for actually now is more Shahada than he was Temple back then, ironically.

Speaker 1: 25:23

Wait, say that one more time.

Speaker 2: 25:25

The person who started the Shahada more versus Temple, more division end up being more Shahada than Temple in the very end. So, which was an ironic thing because again, it still echoes through the community today and now this person is more Islamic than than he was when he started the Temple. More Shahada, more divisions was when he started the Templemore Shahadamore divisions okay okay and the only reason I don't say names is because I just don't want to give energy to these individuals.

Speaker 1: 26:00

But those who know will know okay, I don't know who you're talking about and you know. You know it is what it is. You know I'm not trying to dig like who is. You know I'm not trying to dig Like who is it. You know what I mean. I'm not because neither here nor here nor there, but we do know that there is a divide, and I've never heard of Shahado Moors versus Temple Moors. I have heard of, I have heard of Renegade Moors versus Temple Moors. You have heard of what? Renegade Moors versus Temple Moors.

Speaker 2: 26:35

Yeah. So, that's another one.

Speaker 2: 26:38

That's a, you know, it's kind of in the same vein, but not because you have those. You have Moors who, since the advent of the Internet Now, you didn't have to necessarily go through a temple, you didn't have to necessarily have a genealogy where you were appointed by a grand sheik or actually learning a curriculum, where you were just gleaning from online and listening to other people. And so you know, in essence, some people get the message wrong, you know, and adulterate the message with a lot of different things and just not following the old protocols of, or I should say, customs and usages of how one actually becomes a part of the temple and usages of how one actually becomes a part of the temple and, as a result, this has caused a lot of confusion and has harmed a lot of people, because you have people that they buy them affairs, they glean some paperwork from somewhere and they're selling it for thousands of dollars to people, ruining people's lives, people losing their homes, people getting their children taken by social services so that would be what you might call a renegade more, and also someone who maybe was a part of the temple but then, you know, kind of ran off and just started doing you know their own thing without you know, having the proper genealogy, you know, as opposed to being appointed or something of that nature. So you know it's there.

Speaker 2: 28:22

But what we try to look at is the works, you know. You know the works is what's important. What are you, what are you doing and how is it impacting the community? And if it's impacting the community in a positive way, then maybe that was your calling, you know to do things the way that you are doing. But if you're impacting the community in a negative way, then that's when you know we have an issue. Then that's when you know we have an issue. That's where you know we look at someone as a renegade because it's impacting the community, at least, at least from where we come from.

Speaker 1: 29:08

OK, ok, so I'm just looking through my Facebook to make sure that I say on here what I say on Facebook, just to keep it authentic, real and uh, so you could address things that I say Um, so I said that, um, so this is something. I wanted to go more into your history, but since we're here, let's, let's, just I'll get into it. So I said um, uh, get into it. So I said um, uh, dear moores, five percenters, hebrews, rbg, etc. Data and statistics uh, ie violence. Data and statistics ie violence, business, education, etc. Show either the teachings don't work or the people in these groups don't have enough common sense to use them to make effective change within the so-called black community. How would you answer that?

Speaker 2: 30:00

Well, I mean, principles are perfect. The teachings definitely work. It's about who's employing those teachings. It's about who's employing those teachings and you know, it's about us In order to understand that there's, there's success throughout various states and throughout various local communities. So what you have is pockets of success based on those who are utilizing the tools properly.

Speaker 2: 30:29

The solution definitely remains the same, however, the unity that people expect. You know it's not going to be like how we were in the 60s, or where everybody comes together under one ideology and really it wasn't like that then ideology and really it wasn't like that then. Many people don't know that. You know the Panther Party had various factions that came together and united. So it's about us being able to unite on what works.

Speaker 2: 31:05

When you look at the Nation of Islam, when you look at the Moorish community, when you look at the 5% community some of the 5% community you'll see upliftment, you'll see food giveaways. You'll see, you know, food drives. You'll see classes, seminars, all you know teaching of the children. So, but it's not for everyone, it's for who, it's for. Everybody isn't going to wake up in mass and say, hey, this is what I agree with and because a lot of the people are benefiting from the system the way it is, and so their idea of success is what can you give me to replace what I'm giving up? I'm giving up. And so as long as that's the litmus test, then you're always going to have those that are going to be in opposition. You know, think about the mother and father that's been to the military and went through college and school and was successful, and now their son wants to, doesn't want to go to school, you know, doesn't believe in the system, and so they're going to be on him to to not go that way, and it just depends on the strength of their influence.

Speaker 2: 32:15

So I think we need to judge things. We have to look at things in the microcosm before we can look at it in the macrocosm. Find what works, be honest with ourselves and import and export what works to the different areas that need it. Each environment is going to need something different, so we kind of have to really be analytical about what we call success. But when you look at the Internet, which has been able to bring the Moorish movement together, because it was divided, I wouldn't have been able to really know Moorish movement together because it was divided, I wouldn't have been able to really know Moors in New York or Washington unless I traveled there. So who's using that to reach across borders and to create a greater unity?

Speaker 2: 33:02

And what I always say, the unity isn't going to come in ideology, it's going to come in unity of action based on the needs and unity of purpose.

Speaker 2: 33:12

So you know, we should be able to put aside our ideological differences to realize that, hey, we all need our own hospitals, we all need our own businesses, we all need our own educational institutions and be professional enough, as professional as we are when we go work for the European with each other, and we'll have success. We get to arguing with each other and doing all these things. But take a hospital and my mother was in the nursing industry for about 40 years Nobody in the hospital likes one another, like they all have issues. You got the Filipinos over here, you got the brothers and sisters over here, you got the Europeans over here, but yet they all maintain a level of professionalism to keep that hospital running and to keep those patients getting taken care of. So that's all we need is to maintain a level of professionalism for the things that we need as a whole and we can see we might be able to see greater impact on a broader scale.

Speaker 1: 34:17

Check, check, all right, all right. Now I'm going to mention something else I said that probably got more angry online. It put it in context before I even say it. The reason why I said this is because of prophet nobu joe ali saying more as you are rich, right, this is, this is. This is what he said, right. So can you? Can you quote what he said exactly?

Speaker 2: 34:44

yes, so obvious. The obvious answer is going to be that riches don't always relate to finance. You know, wisdom is better than silver and gold, and so rich and knowledge, wisdom and understanding is one layer of that meaning. And then, once we tap into that knowledge, wisdom and understanding and we really understand what we're doing, we should be able to alchemize that spirituality into financial independence as well.

Speaker 2: 35:21

Prophet Noble Juwali said the problems in life are social and economic and, in a more profound sense, moral and spiritual. So, uh, the richness is, is in the. In the there's a lesson that says uh, allah pointed to everyone a portion of understanding which seemeth good unto himself, and it refers to these as treasures. So when it talks about treasures, treasures. So when it talks about treasures and rich, then this is one of the layers that it's talking about. The other aspect that it's talking about is so-called black people are the greatest resource of the world. We're rich, we have the talent, we have the resources, we have the know-how, the talent, we have the resources, we have the know-how, we're the one that are inventing the inventions that make America great, like streetlights, cell phones, heart surgery, all these things. The problem is because we've been denationalized and because we don't have a national consciousness. We do the inventing and get paid pennies, and they own the patents.

Speaker 1: 36:30

Right. So this is why I don't mean to cut you up. You go ahead, go ahead, go ahead, go ahead brother so this is what.

Speaker 1: 36:37

So just, I just wanted you to break that down because, with that being said, I say, because I know this, I know this, I know this, I say mores you lack I'm talking about the moreish community you lack power and influence. Because I am disappointed, right, because we are so rich and we know that we are rich, we know we're rich. The blind, deaf and dumb, they don't know that they are rich, but we do, we do, but we lack power and influence. And I just don't understand it. So what would you say to that?

Speaker 2: 37:32

just don't understand it. So what would you say to that? Well, number one, power is an illusion. You know, power is a manifest uh forces, the will of our line is omnipotent. Um, there's a power in the wind, a power in the waves, a power in the lightning stroke, a power in the human arm. The ethers cause these powers to be in thought of elohim. Man and other thinking things direct the force, and when it's done its work, the power is no more. So power is a manifest. That's something that you exert, and as long as you're not exerting it, it's gone. So power is not the thing that we really should be seeking. What we should be seeking is to be in alignment with the force, and as long as we're in alignment with the force, then power is at our fingertips.

Speaker 2: 38:18

Again, we can't look at it in the broad spectrum, because there's so many microorganisms that make up the organization, and within some of these microorganisms they are able to manifest power, they are able to manifest influence. The influence is there, whether we know it or not. It just depends on what we're looking for. For example, what influenced all of these people to put Moors in their movies, whether it be subliminally or whether it be overtly. What influenced the people to start putting more in their music? I mean even Will Smith coming out of retirement talking about more in his music. So I mean, if that's not influence, I don't know what is. We have the influence. Everybody wants to be associated.

Speaker 2: 39:11

The problem comes in when you have the dirty ones out there and what we call. You know the so-called renegades that are doing can't really put their throw their hat in all the way, because they know the negative feedback that they're ability to demonstrate power. It's not like they're not opposed by one who has the greatest power right now with their FBI, their CIA. They have fouls on Noah Juwali in the FBI. They have fouls on the Panther Party. They have fouls on Martin Luther King.

Speaker 2: 40:09

They have fouls on Elijah Muhammad El-Hajj, malik El-Shabazz and if you study COINTELPRO, you'll see that they actually develop programs to malign and destroy these organizations. So if the organizations didn't have the ability to exert power, then these organizations would not need to do anything to destroy and malign them. So it's just a way of looking at it. How do we want that power to be expressed? Some people look at power as being able to gather a thousand people together to be able to mobilize. Some people look at mobilization as power, but in order to mobilize, you usually have a few that are organizing, and so organization is the real power. We're still here, despite all of the maligning, despite all of the destroying, despite all of the negative news, despite everything.

Speaker 1: 41:26

There are good, positive more standing up right, who are not only getting recognition inside their community but outside their community from other communities and even government. Ok, great answer, great answer, thorough answer, thorough, thorough, thorough. So now to fast. So we, we spoke about your life in la and how the body, how your, your um, temple 43 is like a conglomeration of, or, I would say, inspired by, different factions, if, if you will. So how, how do you, how do, how does this temple um, uh, get along, get along with people in the movement? Is it easy to get along with people in the movement, or or or? Of course there's some ups and downs and some some conflict. You know uh, uh, conflict, you know at times, I'm sure, but but overall, would you say, temple 43, you guys get along with everyone.

Speaker 2: 42:21

Well, the culmination of of Temple 43, which is is I won't. It's not an operation the way it was back then. Most of the people in that temple are very old and the youngsters kind of, even though keeping connection moved out to stimulate unity within California. And so an outgrowth of Temple 43 is the Khalifa Council, and the Khalifa Council is representation from the various bodies that have come to California to set up shop, so to speak, and through the Khalifa Council we handle the business of California and have representatives from any body of Moors that would like to participate in that. Another outgrowth of that is the United Moorish Science Temple of America, which is not a temple per se but more like a council of temples, where we have representation in New York, Hawaii, Oakland, Los Angeles, Arizona, Hagerstown, Baltimore, and so the unity movement was the outgrowth of that temple's initial demonstration and that stands working today.

Speaker 2: 43:40

And as far as how we get along with other temples and other groups, when I was in New York not too long ago I toured temples out there. I went to the Assistant National Grand Sheik of the Inc A Hopkins Bay Temple and was received very well. I was able to speak to the Moors there and bring a message of unity. I went to Temple 11-1 in Philadelphia, which is a Federation temple and is associated with the inspirational sellers and distributors. Who has picked up the paper?

Speaker 1: 44:38

So again, we don't Sorry the regional grand governor. Yeah, in Syracuse. What's his?

Speaker 2: 44:44

name Syracuse, new York, of the Federation Temples and so we don't have a problem with other other temples. Um, there are some who I don't really even consider themselves temples. I don't think they consider themselves temples. But there are more internet mores who have followings and you know that have issue with myself. You know, just based on past histories. But those are few and far in between. For the most part, we're all good with the temples.

Speaker 2: 45:22

There are some temples who like to go around and try to steal membership, you know, and say this temple's bad and that temple's bad, come join this temple, we'll give you a charter, so on and so forth, but that's the minority. The major bodies all know Cosmo Ill, they all know our temples, what we represent, and one of the elders in Los Angeles named Sister Janelle English-Eal God rest her soul appointed me California representative of the Morris Unity Summit, and Morris Unity Summit brings temples from all over together and I met a lot of Morris when I was out in North Carolina back around 2014 and have forged a lot of those relationships and have stayed in touch. So, like I said, there's only a minute few of people that I probably wouldn't deal with or recommend dealing with just based on their character, but for the most part the message of unity is received well from our body and across the United States of America.

Speaker 1: 46:34

That's peace. Now you received an award and I want to talk about that award. I want to talk about that award because when I saw I saw you with that award online, I saw someone complaining about it or something like that. I'm like looking and I says what's wrong with the award? I don't see what's wrong with the award and you know, I would like for you to talk about that, that award you received and you know, I would like for you to talk about that that award you received, yes.

Speaker 2: 47:08

So basically and this is again where I'm not going to mention names, but you have this one individual who I used to have dealings with in the past and I kind of backed up off of them based on their character, because this is important to understand when you, when you're a Grand Chic, an officer or even a member, it's expected of you to have nobility, to have high character.

Speaker 2: 47:29

That means in your words, your speech, your actions and deeds. So this is not something that we take lightly in the Moorish American community. I can't put on this fez and then curse people out, you know, and disrespect women or disrespect other Moors and disrespect other brothers, because we have covenants, so we have to remain civilized with one another. And when I saw that this character, this individual, was not willing to hold those covenants, I backed up. And ever since then they've kind of had it out for me and so you know, they've been spurned, so to speak, you know. And so this is the individual that that made a video trying to downgrade or complain about the awards, calling it a black award.

Speaker 1: 48:18

Now, there's no such thing as a black award in the world, I see a comment saying that right now, yeah, it's a black award. When the world, I see, I see a comment saying that right now yeah, yeah, it's a black award when he should be dealing with moorish nationality and birthrights, not black bs, all right so.

Speaker 2: 48:32

So now let's deal with it. Number one there's no such thing as a black award. But what you have these guys they do is they spend these narratives just to to keep the controversy going, because that's what most of their viewers like, and to try to downplay somebody else. You know so it was. The name of the organization was a non-profit, known as young, gifted and black. True, indeed, but what they have is an annual entrepreneurial award every year, which basically gives credit to the heroes of those people that aren't put out in the news and the work that they do for their community. So, yes, the name of the organization is Young, gifted and Black, and many of the people in there may consider themselves black.

Speaker 2: 49:18

But the first thing we have to understand, when we look at our divine constitution and bylaws Act 6, and when we look at our divine constitution and bylaws Act 6, it tells us that we are teaching our people their nationality, that they may know that they are part and parcel of this government, know that they are not Negroes, colored folks, black people or Ethiopians. Our bloodline doesn't change because we proclaim our nationality. We're not something different now. Those are still our people and we're duty-bound to teach them Now in the comment it said should be dealing with Moorish nationality. Well, guess what? I was the keynote speaker at that event and that's exactly what I did. I spoke about Moorish history and I spoke about Moorish nationality to the people that we're duty-bound to teach according to Act VI. I also had a table there where I sold various books and jewelry, and so I had a lot of heartfelt conversations with people at my table and after I spoke about Moorish nationality and identity, which is the reason why I accepted the award because, number one, I'm not afraid of my people. If my brother or sister has a business over here and it says black owned on it, I'm not going to boycott it because it says black owned on it. That's my bloodline. I'm going to spend my money with them before I spend it with somebody else. And what's ironic is, these same people will go out and put Europeans and all kinds of people as references on their videos and whatnot, and they'll quote Black history scholars like Ivan Van Sertema, george GM, james, ja Rogers All of these people wrote about our history and they all use the word Black. So it's really just ludicrous to think that I wouldn't accept an award and accept a keynote speaker position to teach and do what I do from those who are outside of the Morris community, when those are, when that's the self-same community, I'm duty bound to reach.

Speaker 2: 51:20

On top of that, it wasn't just an entrepreneurial award, but it was also an award for work in the Morris community and along with that award I received a proclamation from the House of Representatives of the state of New York. I received a resolution from the Senate of New York and also received a citation from the mayor's office, and when you read these, they don't say anything about Black. They all talk about my history as a Moor and what I've done for the Moorish community and the community that I represent. I'm one of the only Moors I know that have a proclamation from the House of Representatives and a resolution from the Senate. Most of those proclamations that are out there come from the city that you see floating around. So there's a very historical time and thing that was done.

Speaker 2: 52:14

But because we have these haters out there anytime you achieve something, and especially if it puts them in a bad light because they've been hating on you all this time, and now you're receiving all these accolades, it's only natural that they're going to try to find some way to make it appear that one is going back on their principles. But anybody who knows Cosmo Ill knows what I represent and the speech is on my Instagram. The speech I gave is on my Facebook. There's a copy of the proclamation that is on my Facebook, so if anybody really wanted to know the truth, it's there. But the sheep know the sound of their shepherd's voice, and so these ones who are putting the hate out there, they're going to attract people that want to hate and people that are going to mimic them, and I don't really pay them too much attention, because any logical minded person would know there's no such thing as a black award.

Speaker 2: 53:09

And if you're giving your money, paying bills to the European, you're putting gas in your car from the Arabs, you know you're dealing with everybody else, but you're going to boycott your own people because you feel superior to them, because you have a knowledge that they don't have.

Speaker 2: 53:24

Well, how are they going to get it if you're never around them? And the last thing I want to point out there's a chapter in the Holy Koran, circle 7, where Jesus was sitting with the thieves and the courtesans, and the people came up to him and they said oh, master of the wise, you know the public is going to shun you, as they shun and ask this is an evil day for you? And his response is a wise man never censors himself for the sake of reputation and fame. So I'm not going to censor myself for the sake of reputation or fame. I'm going to do what the small still voice tells me to do, and so far, allah has guided me to achieve things that many mores have not. And many mores have achieved many things, but I've achieved things as well, and some can downplay it if they wish, but history will tell the tale and we'll see who was the truthful and who was the liar.

Speaker 1: 54:27

Hey, you know what? We're going to end it right there. We're going to end it right there. Thank you for coming out this evening. I really appreciate you, Cosmo L. There's so many other things I would like to ask you. Hopefully you will come back up and build with the family again. If you have any closing statements, we have six minutes.

Speaker 2: 54:56

Most definitely. I'll definitely be back, my brother. Again, I appreciate you allowing me to use your platform to reach your viewers. I am an author. I've been writing books on Morse history for decades now, and you can find my books at amazoncom under Cosmo L-C-O-Z-M-O-E-L. I have various books, ranging from books on language, history, morse history, culture, Islamic sciences. You can also, if you want to know more about the United Moorish Science Temple of America, you can go to prophetnoblejuwaleeorg. You can see it on the screen right in front of you. All of our officers' bios are up there, so we're very transparent. We produce a quarterly newspaper known as the Moorish Times, and so if you're interested in selling, distributing or subscribing to the Morris Times, you can also find it there under services and products. So yeah, my brother, again much gratitude. I'll also be on the Morris Mondays this coming Monday.

Speaker 2: 56:02

I'll be on the Morris Mondays for that do the Bay show and, uh, talking with him on national consciousness and practical solutions. National consciousness, identity and practical solutions. You know, one of the things I'm doing out here in Hawaii is we're building a Morris American village. And um, we've been working on that for a couple of years now, and this August, uh uh, the retreat aspect of the village will finally be opening. So those who want more information on that, just check my wall on Instagram. On Facebook, dm me or inbox me and I'll send you some more information.

Speaker 1: 56:40

Indeed. On that note, thank you guys for coming out and checking out the show. We really appreciate you. Nyp talk show Remember, we just came out with a Web site. We have a lot of things we need to change on the Web site, so, but at least it's a professional Web site. You get to see what we're trying to do. This is basically a media company. It's just not a podcast, it's a media company. Media company it's just not a podcast, it's a media company. So, on that note, thank y'all for coming out and we are out of here. Peace, islam.