Whitey Ford
08-24-2023, 05:35 PM
An Online Prophet With a Huge Following Has Been Convicted of Child Abuse
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBqgBfjrTa0
Rashad Jamal, a New Age prophet with a huge online following among esoteric Black communities, has been convicted of child molestation and cruelty to children. According to court documents obtained by Motherboard, a Georgia judge sentenced him to 18 years in prison and 22 more on probation, for a total of 40 years.
Jamal is among the most influential in a group of loosely affiliated spiritual influencers with large followings on Instagram and Tiktok. (Jamal has more than 84,000 followers on Instagram, nearly 176,000 on Tiktok, and 50,000 subscribers on YouTube.) As Motherboard has previously reported, several of his most ardent followers have themselves been arrested, sometimes in confrontations with police and the public stemming from their unusual beliefs, including two cases involving murder. His conviction has immediately generated new conspiracy theories among his most devoted followers, who insist that the case against him is designed to quell his spiritual power and reach.
Jamal is the latest in a series of New Age influencers who blend ideas about Black self-determination with unusual, sometimes bizarre beliefs. He claims to be a semi-divine being brought back to Earth to heal the planet, says Black and Latino people are gods and goddesses, accuses NBA players of being synthetic robots, says the government is modifying the weather, and repeats a variety of anti-vaccine talking points. His online platform, the University of Cosmic Intelligence, sells videos of his lectures as well as crystals and jewelry, and has marketed in-person mass meditations; it’s also a home for his rap videos.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/m7b99y/an-online-prophet-with-a-huge-following-has-been-convicted-of-child-abuse
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBqgBfjrTa0
Rashad Jamal, a New Age prophet with a huge online following among esoteric Black communities, has been convicted of child molestation and cruelty to children. According to court documents obtained by Motherboard, a Georgia judge sentenced him to 18 years in prison and 22 more on probation, for a total of 40 years.
Jamal is among the most influential in a group of loosely affiliated spiritual influencers with large followings on Instagram and Tiktok. (Jamal has more than 84,000 followers on Instagram, nearly 176,000 on Tiktok, and 50,000 subscribers on YouTube.) As Motherboard has previously reported, several of his most ardent followers have themselves been arrested, sometimes in confrontations with police and the public stemming from their unusual beliefs, including two cases involving murder. His conviction has immediately generated new conspiracy theories among his most devoted followers, who insist that the case against him is designed to quell his spiritual power and reach.
Jamal is the latest in a series of New Age influencers who blend ideas about Black self-determination with unusual, sometimes bizarre beliefs. He claims to be a semi-divine being brought back to Earth to heal the planet, says Black and Latino people are gods and goddesses, accuses NBA players of being synthetic robots, says the government is modifying the weather, and repeats a variety of anti-vaccine talking points. His online platform, the University of Cosmic Intelligence, sells videos of his lectures as well as crystals and jewelry, and has marketed in-person mass meditations; it’s also a home for his rap videos.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/m7b99y/an-online-prophet-with-a-huge-following-has-been-convicted-of-child-abuse