Whenever there is a cultural assembly you will find people who are charismatic and infectious and the movement became “Self Generating” and Buddhism took on a life of its own. There will be some who will challenge me on my evaluation, but look around even today and you will find marriages that came about as a direct result of our Buddhist interaction. To this very day I can go to a Buddhist meeting and find many who have interacted with each other. This is natural and healthy. Even in the Christian religion this is prevalent and this explains human relations.

This is how the SGI cunningly and manipulative broke up the Black Buddhist culture in Memphis. Buddhism in Memphis was growing and leaps and bounds and the African/American membership was even overtaking the white and Japanese membership. Like a “Star Wars” Storm Trooper” Daisaku Ikeda came to America and purposefully broke the backs of the NSA cultural movement in America.

This is how Nichiren Daishonin writes about such actions in the Gosho on the Fourteen slanders; “Though a person may have been fortunate enough to be born as a human being and may have even entered the priesthood, if he fails to study the Buddha's teaching and to refute its slanderers but simply spends his time in idleness and chatter, then he is no better than an animal dressed in priestly robes. He may call himself a priest and earn his livelihood as such, but in no way does he deserve to be regarded as a true priest. He is nothing but a thief who has stolen the title of priest. How shameful and frightening!”
There was a great Buddhist meeting in Chicago where Daisaku Ikeda came like the “Trojan Horse” he came to America bearing gifts and he gave us a Japanese Trojan horse by the name of George Kusaba. We in Memphis were happy that Daisaku Ikeda would send a “Full Time” paid Japanese staff member to teach us Buddhism in Memphis.

It was George Kusaba who personally took down the NSA sign and he personally made a new SGI sign on our community center. George Kusaba broke up the South Chapter of NSA into small isolated groups and step by step he appointed his own leaders. In less than a years time African/Americans were speaking with Japanese accents and members became totally acculturated with SGI cultural manipulation and members were acting with fanatical cult like actions.

I screamed and I shouted and I tried to warm my brothers and sisters what was happening to them and to let them know that they were being “Blind sighted” and manipulated.” Mr. Thomas eventually stopped talking to me and I saw such manipulation take place all over America. Daisaku Ikeda used African/American women to carry out his agenda the way Whites have used Black women to carry forth an agenda. Most of these SGI women were dominate women who can rarely keep a man and fanatical. Many of these SGI women challenged me and I found rarely any African/American male who could challenge what I had exposed. Please click on this link to read a letter to the SGI in March of 1991.



 In 1996 I had the opportunity to make my first Tozan or visit to our Nichiren Shoshu Temple in Japan. There is even a picture of me in one of our official publications with my video camera documenting our visits. During my visits to Taisekiji in Japan my entire visits were behind a video camera and I had the opportunity to talk more diverse groups perhaps than any single person in Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism. I have hours and hour of interviews of Nichiren Shoshu Buddhist worldwide.

During my Buddhist practice I was never closely associated with our Nichiren Shoshu priests and it was only after my going to Tozan or pilgrimage in 1996 that I ever had a close connection with our Nichiren Shoshu priests, prior to my Tozan visit all of the information that I learned about a Priest was from my association with the SGI and their views. After visiting Taisekiji I reported to our SGI members in Memphis that they were being misled by the SGI regarding Priests and the relationships were wonderful. Please note that the spirit of interacting with Priest at Tozan is not congruent as dealing with Priest one on at our temples.

In about 1997 a young Priest from Japan by the name of Hodo Sugeno became Chief Priest of the Myogyoji Temple in Chicago. When this Priest came to Memphis he stayed in our home and when he did prayers to our Gohonzon or Object of worship this Priest passed on his spirit and he connected me to the spiritual quality of the Gohonzon and he told me that he knew that he had connected me to the Gohonzon. I have never experienced anything like this before and I have the highest gratitude for him connecting me to my Gohonzon.

Rev. Sugeno when he visited Memphis told me that he wanted to visit every single Buddhist person in Memphis and he called and personally visited everyone he could contact. In 1998 traveled to the opening of the first Nichiren Shoshu Temple in Africa and I was the official video documentarian in Ghana. And since 1998 I have visited Ghana over ten times and every year.

We have spent over 12 years documenting and writing about the history culture and background of Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism and the SGI as it relates to politics and culture and I am among those who would have a broad view regarding these matters.
In the process of developing and shaping the Nichiren Shoshu movement in America our Nichiren Shoshu Priests in an effort to protect shape and extricate the many misconceptions regarding the Nichiren Shoshu teachings in America as they were taught by the SGI such policies not only protects the Priesthood, but it also inhibits the creative spirit and strangles growth and development of Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism and this is in clear contradiction to Buddhism. The very mistake that Nichiren Shoshu is trying to avoid they are intern making the same error by not encouraging more independent growth and development. I must add that no Nichiren Shoshu Priest have complained about this website, however some African/American lay leaders in Nichiren Shoshu resent our independent thinking. The good side of this website is our honest and candid view and if Nichiren wanted an honest opinion regarding our practice we certainly will be open and honest and we encourage our Japanese Priest to evaluate our site and offer us opinions and suggestions. We would love to hear about Black Buddhist history.


Let me site a clear cut case of such errors or suggestion regarding Nichiren Shoshu. I once attended a Nichiren Shoshu meeting in Memphis whereas the Nichiren Shoshu policy prohibited lay leaders from lecturing about Buddhism. Nichiren Shoshu Chicago Temple administered a policy that only lectures and words of the Chief Priest could be read at meetings and I witnessed a stagnate and dull meeting without life whereas such policies killed the creative spirit of the meetings.  Even the current Hokeko meetings that I attended in Memphis lacked enthusiasm and cultural sensitivity became the leader could only parrot a canned speech for our chief Priest and the communicator lacked the confidence to articulate this wonderful Buddhist religion. Many Hokeko members will resent what I am about to say but I will say it "Straight Up:" African/Americans are some of the most articulate orators on Planet Earth.  African tradition genetically enhance us with great oratorical skills wrapping is a part of our genetic make-up.  You can go on any Ghetto corner U.S.A. and find great Preachers or orators.  If the Christian Religion and the Muslim faith can harness some of the most powerful speakers in the world so can this "Great Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism. The practice of reading can speeches is a Japanese Cultural Practice and African/Americans and others should begin to lecture about this wonderful faith. I would be happy to see and great Buddhist orators emerge however the way Japanese polices inhibit such growth only the revolutionaries will break out with a passion and get this Buddhism to our mass market.