In 1961, the Monroe Police Chief and 30 armed police officers, broke into the worship service of the local Black Muslim temple and beat the Minister, Troy X Cade, as well as men, pregnant women, and children. The police officers unsuccessfully attempted to hang Cade from the rafters of the temple using his necktie . He was sentenced to six years in Angola, but a racist mob was allowed to remove him from his Angola Cell. He was brought back to North Louisiana where the mob beat him and left him for dead thinking they had drowned him. Miraculously he survived by being able to fake his drowning. After the Monroe incident, his conviction was reversed, but Black Muslims began wearing bowties instead of neckties nationwide to avoid the ties being used as hanging ropes. Troy Cade is alive and well today and is 92 years old. He is another unsung hero of our struggle for freedom.
By Minister Verbon Muhammad
Minister of Mosque #99 in Monroe, La.
Minister Bey was born Troy Bland Cade in Little Rock, Arkansas, 1930.
Minister Bey picked cotton on a plantation at the age of five, became a Red Cross Lifeguard at the age of thirteen, and at the age of 17…
