1987 Majied 'Nation of Islam' Map of the World w/ Uncle Sam as a Rattlesnake

A rare but famous persuasive 1966 / 1987 map of the world drawn by Eugene Majied for the Nation of Islam's magazine, Muhammad Speaks and, as here, The Final Call. The map consists of an oval world map around which winds an enormous rattlesnake with the head of Uncle Sam. The message is clear - the United States is poisoning the world with American culture.

The Map

William F. Buckley describes the piece,

…surely the longest rattlesnake ever depicted. You can see his rattles way over there on the right of the right-hand page, just touching but being routed form, 'Arabia, Garden of Paradise'. The coils move throughout Europe, much of Africa, loop over the Arctic Circle to parts, note parts of Asia - Japan, the Philippines, Thailand, Australia' the mainland of Asia is free of the venomous, constricting coils. The serpent's body slithers East again, getting thicker and thicker as it approaches its head. Up through South and Central America, around Canada, and then the final monstrous coils, terminating in the vicious snarling face of - Uncle Sam. (Nevada State Journal, Wednesday, August 17, 1966)

The Nation of Islam

The Nation of Islam (NOI) is an African American political and religious movement founded in 1930 that embraces a variant form of Islam as taught by founders Wallace Fard Muhammad and Elijah Muhammad. The movement reached its height under Elijah Muhammad in the 1960s and 1970s. The essential doctrine argues that the original 'black' man was created trillions of years ago. For most of human history, mankind was ruled by a group of black 'scientists.' Then, roughly 6000 years ago, a rogue scientist, Yakub, equivalent to the Biblical Jacob, created the white race in a cruel betrayal. He taught the white race to hate other races and believe in its own supremacy, then arranged that it would rule the world for roughly 6000 years, or until now. They believe that the Christian Bible represents ancient truths that have been corrupted and rewritten to affirm white power.

Publication History and Census

This map was drawn by Eugene Majied and first issued in the August 12, 1966 issue of Muhammad Speaks (volume 5, no. 47). The present example is from its reissue in the December 30, 1987 issue of The Final Call. We see no recorded examples of the separate map in the OCLC. We do note that several institutions hold partial or full runs of both Muhammad Speaks and The Final Call - although most are microfilm. No market history. Rare.