Your Black Muslim Bakery
Your Black Muslim Bakery was a chain of bakeries opened by Yusuf Bey in California. It became the center of a local Black nationalist community and was held out as a model of African American economic self-sufficiency. However, it was later linked to widespread physical and sexual abuse, intimidation, welfare fraud, and murder. After Bey's death in 2003, the bakery fell into debt and declared bankruptcy in October 2006. In August 2007, in connection with investigations into the murder of journalist Chauncey Bailey and a number of other crimes, police conducted a massive raid on the company's San Pablo Avenue bakery. A concurrent health inspection resulted in its closure. Later that day a court ordered the pending reorganization converted into a liquidation bankruptcy.
Bey had converted to the Nation of Islam. The organization was not affiliated with the Nation of Islam, though similarities were evident. Nation of Islam minister Keith Muhammad, of East Oakland's Muhammad Mosque #26, stated that the two organizations are distinct and separate. The baked goods Bey sold were prepared in accordance with the Qur'an. Bey named the business Your Black Muslim Bakery on the personal recommendation of his spiritual guide, Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad.
