The harrowing inside story of a Harlem school run by a hate group
NEW YORK — Ten years ago, “Daily Show” correspondent Jason Jones sat down to interview a pastor in the classic style of the program ― the correspondent played straight while talking to someone with ridiculous ideas. The interviewee, James Manning, had plenty.
Manning isn’t just an outrageous character, perfect fodder for a satirical late-night show and click-baity internet headlines. He also runs a K-12 private school at the church, the two units of which are called Great Tomorrow’s USA Elementary/Middle and Atlah High School. His persona there is anything but an entertaining spectacle.
Hassan, who had attended the church’s school since he was a young child, was in solitary confinement — and he said his parents had approved the abusive punishment. Last week, HuffPost sent Manning a list of over 60 questions regarding its investigation. He replied with only a short video clip from the most recent Atlah church service, during which he lauded the educational successes of the school’s alumni. He singled out Hassan’s mother, noting that she has two children in graduate school programs.
The sign is notorious for its hateful messaging such as “Jesus would stone homos” and “Obama is a Muslim. Muslims hate fags. They throw fags off buildings.” The private Atlah school, which the church’s website says was founded in 1995, openly touts an extremist and hateful educational philosophy. Thirty-eight students attended Atlah’s school in the 2015-16 school year, the most recent year for which data is available, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Tuition policies lack transparency, and families pay on a sliding scale depending on what they can afford, according to former teachers and students.
“[We] would encourage anyone that believes they may have been the victim of misconduct to contact us with the appropriate complaint information,” the official said. Tamar said her mother was furious when she found out about the physical nature of the relationship. She thought her daughter was too young to be having sex, and she brought the issue to Manning, hoping he could help.
A Vulnerable Community, And A Web Of ManipulationAtlah is more than just a church for many families. It is the center of their world. Manning decided a few years ago that congregants weren’t donating enough of their income to the church. That’s when he started imploring followers to give him access to their bank accounts, according to four former congregants. He told them they didn’t know how to manage their money and that he would take better care of it than they could.
He moved to New York after high school, and he worked as a marketing representative for Procter and Gamble. He gained a level of success, but he was disturbed by the suffering of fellow African Americans and decided to quit his job, he said during an interview posted on YouTube in 2015. “It doesn’t take much to become a basketball player. How many Jewish basketball players do you know? How many Jewish doctors, lawyers, and dentists do you know? THE MORE DESIRED PROFESSIONS TAKES DISCIPLINE,” says an old Atlah High School syllabus.
Former churchgoers say followers started dropping off when Manning took a hard stance against Obama during the 2008 election. More left after the pastor endorsed Trump in the 2016 election. He booked spots on “The Howard Stern Show” and appeared on Fox News. He orchestrated attention-grabbing stunts, like staging a faux trial against Obama for treason and sedition. He continued to make headlines, and he appeared in those segments on “The Daily Show.
Hassan would roam the city for hours at a time while his parents were praying — which was often. He was lonely, and he decided to beg his way back into Atlah before starting classes at a local college. Everything was too expensive. He said he stopped eating, and the 5-foot-4-inch young man went from weighing 120 pounds to weighing just 90 pounds. His health declined. He broke out in hives and found blood in his stool. He was only allowed to see his family in secret so Manning wouldn’t find out, stopping by for dinner occasionally. His relationship with Tamar began to suffer, and they began seeing each other more intermittently.
Then there were the weekly Wednesday fasts. Church congregants, including children as young as elementary school age, were required to abstain from food and drink as a way of showing devotion to God. In 2007, Manning started a campaign to combat gentrification in Harlem and banned congregants from shopping at local businesses. His crusade became the subject of numerous articles that painted him as a somewhat unconventional truth-teller. The media did not mention that children of Atlah were often forced to hand out literature about the issue, even during the school day, standing outside for hours on end in extreme heat or cold.
I was thrown out that church like a dog, homeless and all, with no diploma. That is what broke me the most. Derek Mills, former student Manning can be heard on the recording, which HuffPost reviewed, complimenting Tamar’s breasts and saying he wanted to pull up her skirt. He also says he first started having feelings for her when she started at the Atlah school. She was 14 when she first became a student there.
The Farr brothers still live with their grandmother, and they haven’t seen their parents in years. The forced estrangement still weighs heavy on their hearts and minds. “I was thrown out that church like a dog, homeless and all, with no diploma,” he said. “That is what broke me the most.” Hassan has not seen his parents or siblings in the years since. He said he has sent them messages them on Facebook and that they never write back. He said birthday presents he sends are returned after no one picks them up at the post office.
When given the choice between Manning and their children, the parents of both Hassan and the Farrs chose Manning. That was the year Atlah was almost foreclosed upon and put up for auction after failing to pay $1 million in bills and taxes. Then, in late August 2016, Manning was granted a Hail Mary. A judge vacated the foreclosure and punted the issue back to the courts, where it remains after years of delays. The city says Manning has a catalogue of unpaid tax and water bills, but Manning has argued the church should be tax-exempt and free from such fees.
Around that time, Joab Jenkins, whom Manning had recently thrown out of the church, filed a complaint with the sex crimes unit of the NYPD regarding the recording of Manning and Tamar. Jenkins told the police Manning was a danger to children. He was worried for the other female children. “Sharif Hassan’s friends have been led down the path of destruction by following him or perhaps even believing him,” Manning said from the pulpit as his wife silently sat behind him and nodded. “Many of you tonight do not have your children with you because of the lie perpetrated and false and doctored tape perpetrated by Sharif Hassan.”
Hassan, an aspiring professional musician who works as a barista in Oakland, struggles to process the years he spent admiring Manning. He stopped using his legal last name in an attempt to separate himself from his ugly past. He now uses Hassan, which is technically his middle name.
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