MIAMI – Earlier this month, the national chairman of the New Black Panther Party Hashim Nzinga was at the Richmond Heights Women's Club in South Miami-Dade.
Members of the Israelite Church of God in Jesus Christ, known as "Yahs Enlighteners" were there to talk about the Torah. The founder of the Nation of Yahweh, Hulon Mithcell, Jr., was convicted of conspiring to murder whites as an initiation to his cult and died in 2007.
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Some 85 Facebook users like the New Black Panther Party Miami page, where there were photos of the event. Members wore black berets and called each other "comrades." One of their updates says, they "exercise defense against police brutality and the murder of black people."
Black separatist groups have a strong presence in Miami and Orlando, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center's report on hate and extremism released Wednesday.
According to the report, the five active groups in both cities were The Black Riders Liberation Party, the Israelite Church of God in Jesus Christ, Israel United in Christ, the Nation of Islam and the New Black Panther Party.
"Black separatist groups are more interested in demonizing 'the Jews' and whites than working for solutions to the very real racial problems in the country," the report said.
About 10 percent of the black separatist groups that were active last year in the United States were in Florida, according to the report.
The Israelite Church of God in Jesus Christ also had groups in Fort Myers and West Palm Beach.
Israel United in Christ was also in Tallahassee. The Nation of Islam was also in Fort Lauderdale, Gainesville, Pensacola and St. Petersburg. And the New Black Panther Party was also in Daytona Beach, Jacksonville, Tallahassee, Tampa and Vero Beach.
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