James David Manning
Encyclopedia
James David Manning is chief pastor
at the ATLAH World Missionary Church on 123rd Street in New York City
. Manning grew up in Red Springs, North Carolina
, born to an African American
family, and has been at ATLAH since 1981. ATLAH stands for All The Land Anointed Holy, which is Manning's name for Harlem
. His congregation, "ATLAH Worldwide Missionary Church" is the former Bethelite Missionary Baptist Church. The church is also the site of the ATLAH Theological Seminary, which offers classes on preaching and prophecy.
Manning is fiercely opposed to the gentrification
of Harlem and calls for its residents to boycott
its shops, restaurants, doctors, banks and churches. That action, combined with a general rent strike
, would force all property owners out of Harlem
, he said, leaving the neighborhood to its rightful inheritors: black people
. Manning calls his plan "No Dew, Nor Rain," after Elijah's warning to Ahab, king of Israel
, of a coming drought. "When there's no dew, no rain, there's a drought – there's all kinds of suffering," said Manning. The whole of Harlem, he said, is to be a "drought zone."
where he was awarded a Master of Divinity
. Manning also holds a Doctor of Philosophy
degree from his own ATLAH Theological Seminary, an unaccredited educational institution.
As a younger man, Manning burgled homes, mostly on Long Island
. He spent about three and a half years in prison in New York
and Florida
for burglary
, robbery
, larceny
, criminal possession of a weapon, and other charges before his release in 1978. While in prison, he became a devout Christian
.
According to Manning, he attended the Oxford Round Table
in 2004.
after ATLAH posted several sermons of his that were harshly critical of Democratic
candidate Barack Obama
on the website YouTube
. Among other accusations, he called Obama's mother "white trash" for becoming pregnant by a black man out of wedlock, an issue he discussed during a press conference at the National Press Club
on December 8, 2008. Manning revisited this latter issue during a press conference at the National Press Club
on December 8, 2008:
Manning defended his sermons in an interview on Fox News, saying that "we also have to talk about his character."
The sermons drew the attention of the Americans United for Separation of Church and State
, which filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service
objecting to alleged violations of laws granting tax-free status to churches on condition that they refrain from certain forms of political activity.
, Manning asserted that Obama had chosen to befriend Muslims instead of Jews; he also offered praise of Meir Kahane
. Manning has said that Africa is cursed and also that African-Americans should not support Kwanzaa, the NBA or any major Black-owned business.
In responding to a comment by Bill O'Reilly
, a commentator on Fox News Channel
, calling birther lawyer Orly Taitz
a "nut", he and Taitz organized a protest outside Fox News headquarters in New York City
in November 2009, which drew an estimated 15 to 20 attendees.
Pastor
The word pastor usually refers to an ordained leader of a Christian congregation. When used as an ecclesiastical styling or title, this role may be abbreviated to "Pr." or often "Ps"....
at the ATLAH World Missionary Church on 123rd Street in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Manning grew up in Red Springs, North Carolina
Red Springs, North Carolina
Red Springs is a town in Robeson and Hoke counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The population was 3,493 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Red Springs is located at ....
, born to an African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
family, and has been at ATLAH since 1981. ATLAH stands for All The Land Anointed Holy, which is Manning's name for Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
. His congregation, "ATLAH Worldwide Missionary Church" is the former Bethelite Missionary Baptist Church. The church is also the site of the ATLAH Theological Seminary, which offers classes on preaching and prophecy.
Manning is fiercely opposed to the gentrification
Gentrification
Gentrification and urban gentrification refer to the changes that result when wealthier people acquire or rent property in low income and working class communities. Urban gentrification is associated with movement. Consequent to gentrification, the average income increases and average family size...
of Harlem and calls for its residents to boycott
Boycott
A boycott is an act of voluntarily abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with a person, organization, or country as an expression of protest, usually for political reasons...
its shops, restaurants, doctors, banks and churches. That action, combined with a general rent strike
Rent strike
A rent strike is a method of protest commonly employed against large landlords. In a rent strike, a group of tenants come together and agree to refuse to pay their rent en masse until a specific list of demands is met by the landlord...
, would force all property owners out of Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
, he said, leaving the neighborhood to its rightful inheritors: black people
Black people
The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
. Manning calls his plan "No Dew, Nor Rain," after Elijah's warning to Ahab, king of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, of a coming drought. "When there's no dew, no rain, there's a drought – there's all kinds of suffering," said Manning. The whole of Harlem, he said, is to be a "drought zone."
Biography
Manning graduated from Union Theological Seminary in the City of New YorkUnion Theological Seminary in the City of New York
Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York is a preeminent independent graduate school of theology, located in Manhattan between Claremont Avenue and Broadway, 120th to 122nd Streets. The seminary was founded in 1836 under the Presbyterian Church, and is affiliated with nearby Columbia...
where he was awarded a Master of Divinity
Master of Divinity
In the academic study of theology, the Master of Divinity is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America...
. Manning also holds a Doctor of Philosophy
PHD
PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
degree from his own ATLAH Theological Seminary, an unaccredited educational institution.
As a younger man, Manning burgled homes, mostly on Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
. He spent about three and a half years in prison in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
for burglary
Burglary
Burglary is a crime, the essence of which is illicit entry into a building for the purposes of committing an offense. Usually that offense will be theft, but most jurisdictions specify others which fall within the ambit of burglary...
, robbery
Robbery
Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take something of value by force or threat of force or by putting the victim in fear. At common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person of that property, by means of force or fear....
, larceny
Larceny
Larceny is a crime involving the wrongful acquisition of the personal property of another person. It was an offence under the common law of England and became an offence in jurisdictions which incorporated the common law of England into their own law. It has been abolished in England and Wales,...
, criminal possession of a weapon, and other charges before his release in 1978. While in prison, he became a devout Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
.
According to Manning, he attended the Oxford Round Table
Oxford Round Table
The Oxford Round Table is a series of interdisciplinary conferences organized and run by a California-based educational organization, incorporated until recently as a for-profit and a not-for-profit corporation in Kentucky, and currently as a not-for-profit in Illinois and England and Wales.The...
in 2004.
2008 presidential election
Manning came to public attention in the 2008 presidential electionUnited States presidential election, 2008
The United States presidential election of 2008 was the 56th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on November 4, 2008. Democrat Barack Obama, then the junior United States Senator from Illinois, defeated Republican John McCain, the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. Obama received 365...
after ATLAH posted several sermons of his that were harshly critical of Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
candidate Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
on the website YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
. Among other accusations, he called Obama's mother "white trash" for becoming pregnant by a black man out of wedlock, an issue he discussed during a press conference at the National Press Club
National Press Club
The National Press Club is a professional organization and private social club for journalists. It is located in Washington, D.C. Its membership consists of journalists, former journalists, government information officers, and those considered to be regular news sources. It is well-known for its...
on December 8, 2008. Manning revisited this latter issue during a press conference at the National Press Club
National Press Club
The National Press Club is a professional organization and private social club for journalists. It is located in Washington, D.C. Its membership consists of journalists, former journalists, government information officers, and those considered to be regular news sources. It is well-known for its...
on December 8, 2008:
"It is common knowledge that African men, coming from the continent of Africa—especially for the first time—do diligently seek out white women to have sexual intercourse with. Generally the most noble of white society choose not to intercourse sexually with these men. So it's usually the trashier ones who make their determinations that they're going to have sex."
Manning defended his sermons in an interview on Fox News, saying that "we also have to talk about his character."
The sermons drew the attention of the Americans United for Separation of Church and State
Americans United for Separation of Church and State
Americans United for Separation of Church and State is a group that advocates separation of church and state, a legal doctrine interpreted by AU as being enshrined in the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.-Mission:The guiding principle of Americans...
, which filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service
Internal Revenue Service
The Internal Revenue Service is the revenue service of the United States federal government. The agency is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury, and is under the immediate direction of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue...
objecting to alleged violations of laws granting tax-free status to churches on condition that they refrain from certain forms of political activity.
Views on Barack Obama as President
Manning has continued his criticisms of Obama after the election, comparing him to Hitler and frequently calling him a criminal and "long-legged mack daddy." He produced a video in summer 2009 in which he predicts that there will be a white backlash against Obama, complete with riots, and attending one of the first "birther" events. In an interview with Israeli radio station Arutz ShevaArutz Sheva
Arutz Sheva is an Israeli media network identifying with Religious Zionism. It offers online news in English, Hebrew, French, Spanish and Russian. Arutz Sheva offers free podcasts, live streaming radio, a daily email news update, streaming video and 24 hour updated text news...
, Manning asserted that Obama had chosen to befriend Muslims instead of Jews; he also offered praise of Meir Kahane
Meir Kahane
Martin David Kahane , also known as Meir Kahane , was an American-Israeli rabbi and ultra-nationalist writer and political figure. He was an ordained Orthodox rabbi and later served as a member of the Israeli Knesset...
. Manning has said that Africa is cursed and also that African-Americans should not support Kwanzaa, the NBA or any major Black-owned business.
In responding to a comment by Bill O'Reilly
Bill O'Reilly (political commentator)
William James "Bill" O'Reilly, Jr. is an American television host, author, syndicated columnist and political commentator. He is the host of the political commentary program The O'Reilly Factor on the Fox News Channel, which is the most watched cable news television program on American television...
, a commentator on Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation...
, calling birther lawyer Orly Taitz
Orly Taitz
Orly Taitz is an American dentist, lawyer, former real estate agent, and leading figure in the "birther" movement, which challenges whether Barack Obama is a natural-born citizen eligible to serve as President of the United States...
a "nut", he and Taitz organized a protest outside Fox News headquarters in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in November 2009, which drew an estimated 15 to 20 attendees.