French Connection
The new face of Islamic radicalism in France claims his political and spiritual conversion happened
By John Lasker
Kémi Séba is the sharp-dressed, sharp-tongued, 25-year-old leader of a new French black radical group calling itself "Tribu Ka," coming on like a Black Panther for a new European struggle. Tribu Ka was founded in Paris in late 2004, a full year before France's 2005 suburban riots, wherein thousands of cars were torched following the perceived police-chase deaths of two Paris teenagers of African descent.
According to Séba's website, Tribu Ka is a "mystical political" organization consisting of African Muslims. They have clearly stated they are anti-Semitic, but they don't appear to be jihadists. Of late, they honored the 2005 uprising by clashing with police and marching with baseball bats through Jewish neighborhoods in central Paris. Membership tripled soon after, claimed Kémi Séba .
His story may also stretch back to Los Angeles, if only tangentially.
Séba's real name is Stellio Gilles Robert Capochichi, and his parents' roots are in the former French African colony of Benin. Some observers contend he holds a key to the fragile current stalemate between that city's white community and its marginalized communities of black Africans and Middle Easterners who've streamed into the country over the last few decades, particularly from former French colonies.
Moshe Terdman, who writes the Islam in Africa newsletter from Herzliya, Israel, has documented the rise of Kémi Séba's unusual cult of personality. His popularity, he says, is disturbing and outlandish on several fronts.
"A center point of their beliefs is that they are a superior race called Kemites who are destined to rule mankind," he says.
In a recent interview with French media, Kémi Séba said, "Whether you like it or not, we have given civilization to humanity, we have given the values of dignity, justice, and rectitude. Unfortunately, it becomes very Freudian: at some point the children [white people] wanted to kill the father in order to exist. They colonized these parents who had given them life and civilization. That's why it is time to reset our watches, to put things back in order."
Séba says this mission came to him as an epiphany, and the moment happened here, in Los Angeles. In multiple interviews, he has stated it was at Mosque #27 - the Los Angeles mosque of the Nation of Islam - during a sermon by firebrand minister Tony Muhammad.
Tears were streaming down his face, recalled Séba, when a female member of Mosque #27 approached him. Moved herself by his obvious response to Muhammad's teaching, she recommended he seek out the Nation of Islam branch in Paris when he returned.
How long he stayed in Los Angeles is unknown. But he was young, evidently still of high-school age. Upon his return to France, he became the youngest member of the Parisian branch of the Nation of Islam, but left the group not long after.
He and Tribu Ka have now risen in the aftermath of last year's riots, and have done so by espousing some of the more controversial theories of Louis Farrakhan, Elijah Muhammad, and Malcolm X, such as black supremacy and the need to break completely from white society. These beliefs are set in a context of black Egyptian (Kemetic) history and philosophy.
Tribu Ka does not, however, embrace the Nation of Islam's progressive agenda, such as reforming convicts and addicts, or improving impoverished neighborhoods.
The French government has banned Tribu Ka and shut down its web site, and Séba himself is due in a Parisian court on January 11, but his influence continues to grow. This has led some observers, such as Terdman, to speculate on whether Tribu Ka may have helped coordinate 2005's revolt, possibly through e-mail lists and text messaging. At the time, some French officials publicly insisted the nationwide rioting couldn't have been completely spontaneous. Later, French intelligence discredited the claim.
Western observers initially believed the rioters were radical Muslims with Middle Eastern origins. Several reporters onsite, however, reported the rioters actually had a distinctive American edge.
"They wear hoods, baggy jeans, and brand-name sneakers. Their heroes are American rappers like 50 Cent ... . They have a particular hatred for police and when they go to fight them they say they're 'dancing with wolves,'" stated Australian newspaper The Age.
Repeated calls for comment to Mosque #27 were not returned.
Published: 01/11/2007
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