Who Is Dr. Malachi Z. York, What Has He Accomplished, Why Is He In Prison?
By David Menjor of the Liberian Daily Newspaper
As reported by the Liberian Daily Observer Newspaper over the months, and established by court records, Dr. Malachi Z. York is an African, a global nationalist, international icon, teacher, etymologist, author, songwriter, and record producer.
He has, for decades served and is still revered as a leader by a number of immigrants to the United States, including those who were born and have their ancestral roots there, the Caribbean, Canada, the United Kingdom and a host of many other countless nations in the world.
His works of over 1000 books on the great history of Africa, Africans, self-determination, and our story in antiquity has influenced millions the world over, has inspired change and influenced the lives of hundreds of thousands of not only those who closely support him but even those yet to meet him in person.
Dr. York is a naturalized Liberian citizen, Consul General, and Diplomatic Agent appointed in 1999 by former President Charles Ghankay Taylor and following his arrest and imprisonment in 2002 in Georgia, United States of America, his diplomatic status was later confirmed by a 2004 Declaratory Judgement in the Montserrado County 6th Circuit Judicial Court for the Republic of Liberia.
Montserrado Sixth Judicial Circuit Court, headed by Judge Yussif Kaba who served at the ECOWAS Courts and now appointed as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Liberia came down with the verdict after confirming Dr. York’s innocence of all charges levied against him in the U.S. Court said to have been predominantly managed by whites who, it is said, took no interest in the fact there was a lack of physical, medical or whatever other evidence against Dr. York who becomes 74 on June 26, 2019.
He was arrested in 2002 and sentenced to 135 years, by what his supporters believe was a biased court in Georgia on allegations of racketeering, money laundering and the Mann Act.
The Daily Observer has in its possession an Amicus Brief (Judicial Court judgment) that was filed in the United States 11th Circuit of Appeals on behalf of Dr. Malachi York by the Republic of Liberia in 2005 maintaining his innocence of all charges due to alleged witness tampering by the United States prosecutors.
Dr. York’s literature has influenced the likes of Jimmy Cliff, Afrika Bambaataa (known as the Godfather of Hip Hop), both of which have videos on Youtube proclaiming his innocence and influence, and he’s also said to have influenced Jay-Z (Dr. Yorks painting being held up in Jay-Z’s first video The Originators with Jaz-O), Musiq Soul Child, Erica Badu, India Arie, Nas (who mentions Dr. York on a song called Triple Threat featuring Nature and NORE), and many more prominent people as he developed communities and schools throughout the Diaspora.
He has received awards from the Key to the City in Brooklyn, New York by its former Mayor Ed Koch and awards and acclaim from the Mayors of Macon (Mayor C. Jack Ellis) and Augusta, Georgia in the United States, for his works.
In the 1980s he owned and operated his own Record Label and Recording Studio Passion Records & Passion Studios and York Records and York Studios, worked with various artists like Stevie Wonder, Blue Magic, and Lionel Richie, as well as being a performer himself. He was a part of a Trio called Passion.
Numerous foundations have been formed by Dr. York and his supporters and they still carry on his philanthropic work. The United Nuwaupian Nation, which is a conglomerate of indigenous African Tribes that are acclaimed to have been in the United States prior to European settlement stemming from the Yamassee and Creek Indigenous Nations, is a formidable team in the transformation of many lives of less fortunate across the world.
These various foundations are composed of tribal members who are Freemasons and Eastern Stars that continue the humanitarian and charitable works of Dr. Malachi Z. York.
Accomplishments in Liberia
In the year 2000 Dr. York founded the West African & African-American Educational Endowment & Humanitarian Foundation (registered in 2005) and erected a 9-classroom Elementary & Junior High School, a 12-room Clinic and a Church, in Bong County, about 70 miles from Monrovia to cater to the health, educational and spiritual needs of the people.
This Educational Endowment & Humanitarian Foundation was created by Dr. York and Cllr. Francis Y.S. Garlawulo as a not-for-profit and a non–political organization engaged in humanitarian (health & educational) services. It was founded principally in 2000 by Rev. Dr. York and formally incorporated in 2005 by Mrs. Serena F. Garlawulo and Dr. Richelle D. York, daughter of Dr. Malachi Z. York.
The Most Worshipful Nuwaupian Grand Lodge of Freemasonry Worldwide, of which Dr. York is a member, makes charitable donations to sponsor 100 orphans and supplement/subsidize salary payment and benefits for 19 staff members for the New Hope Foundation Academy in Zayzay Community of Paynesville, outside Monrovia.
Dr. York’s Foundation, the Dr. Malachi Z.K. York Foundation and the Dr. Malachi Z.K. York Foundation for the Disabled established in Liberia in January 2017 and operating in Ghana since 2007, is a not-for-profit and a non-political organization which focuses on providing humanitarian services to the needy in the areas of education, health, sanitation services, agriculture, and general construction.
The Foundation works alongside the New Hope Foundation Academy by sourcing donors and sponsors to help cover its annual rent, paying the annual school fees for its orphans, and facilitating educational and cultural field trips for the students. Last year the foundation covered a field trip on which the students were taken to see the international blockbuster movie, Black Panther and now is helping the school finance the construction of its new location.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is currently reviewing documentation from the Garlawulo Law Firm and the Kennedy Law Firm, Dr. Malachi Z York’s Liberian attorneys regarding re-engaging the Department of State for the United States to have him (Dr. York) released and repatriated.
The Daily Observer previously reported: The Malachi York Foundation has appealed to the Liberian government to reengage the U.S. Department of State to release and repatriate Dr. Malachi Z. York.
York came to Liberia in the late 1990s and took on Liberian citizenship by naturalization and was appointed as a Consul General and diplomat by former President Charles Taylor.
Charles A. Minor, former Liberian Ambassador to the U.S., previously told the Daily Observer that “as far as diplomacy is concerned, there is still a need for the Liberian government to revisit the York case.”
Minor wished he had sufficient information and the necessary backing from the backdrop of truth surrounding the case, while he was serving as a diplomat to help further pursue the York case.
“Information received from Liberia indicated that Dr. York, a Consul of Liberia based in Georgia, was also a naturalized Liberian citizen. We later received from the Ministry an official request, originating from the Ministry’s Legal Consul in person of (then) Jenkins Scott, informing the embassy that he and a lawyer for Dr. York would be coming to the United States and that the embassy should cooperate and assist, not only to release him, but repatriate him to Liberia,” Amb. Minor said.
He added, however, that the team which should had been headed by Cllr. Jenkins Scott (now deceased) to the U.S. never showed up and that derailed efforts to engage the State Department on York’s case.
However, he noted that he took few officials from the Liberian diplomatic mission in the U.S. to the State Department and made inquiries into Dr. York’s case; but the response he received complicated attempts to go on with a request to assist his release.
At some point, Cllr. Jerome George Korkoya, current Chairman of Liberia’s National Elections Commission (NEC), also tried to intervene on Dr. York’s behalf, but his effort did not yield any fruitful result up to date.
“I wrote a letter to the U.S. Embassy here in Liberia and cited all the relevant information I have gathered on the case, while making request on behalf of my client to the Liberian government to revisit the case,” Korkoya said.
It may be recalled that a decision by the Montserrado County 6th Circuit Judicial Court on July 21, 2004, established that Dr. Malachi York was a diplomat that represented Liberia in the U.S.
The mandate, which established that the order handed down by former 6th Judicial Circuit Court Judge D. Yussif Kaba (Now serving as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court for the Republic of Liberia), states: “As regards the issue of diplomatic immunity, the record in this case established the fact that Petitioner, Dr. Malachi Z. York, was duly appointed by the Government of Liberia as a Consular on December 15, 1999.”
Records in the possession of the Daily Observer show that former President Charles Taylor, in his letter of appointment to Dr. York, said, “I am pleased to appoint you hereby as Consul General of the Republic of Liberia to Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America.”
Key Witness Recants Child Molestation Testimony Against Dr. York
Following 17 years of Dr. Malachi Kobina York’s 135 years prison sentence at ADMAX maximum prison facilities in Colorado for acts said to be grave, the Daily Observer had received a documentary report presenting Habiybah Washington recanting her testimony she delivered in 2004 against Dr. York.
The official judgment from the Middle District Georgia Court has nothing depicting that Dr. York truly committed the act of child molestation. The judgment, as in the case of other relevant documents about the case, is in the possession of this newspaper and also is available for public record at pacer.uscourts.gov.
Washington, who was 28 years old at the time of her recantation and resided in Brooklyn, New York, made an open affidavit distancing herself from what she referred to as a “conspiracy” only intended to bring Dr. York to public disrepute and let him rot in jail.
“I was never molested by Malachi York.” she told Dwight Johnson a Dekalb County GA Notary Public on April 23, 2004, at her swearing before the notary.
In contrast to her testimony when she told the jury that she was molested at the age 13 by Dr. York, Washington said, Dr. York never forced her to have sex.
“I do not know of anyone he has molested. I do not know of any children he has ever had sex with,” she revealed, adding, “I never took children to him for the purpose of sex.”
It can be recalled that one of the counts against Dr. York for which he is languishing behind bars is “Conspiracy to transport minors in interstate commerce for unlawful sexual activity,” not child molestation, this count is otherwise known as the Mann Act established on June 25, 1910. This is the same charge given to Jack Johnson in the early 1900’s, of which he was just pardoned of by President Trump over 100 years later. This is also a charge known to at one point prosecute unlawful interracial marriages, the Mann Act has always been controversial and said to have been away to falsely incarcerate African Americans.
About what prompted the recantation (retraction) of her testimony in 2004, she said: “I do not believe that Malachi should be in prison for crimes he did not commit.
“My lawyer and Jonathan Marks, Malachi York’s lawyer, have explained to me that I am putting myself at risk by signing this affidavit. I know that but I want the truth to come out. I make this affidavit of my own free will. No one has threatened or coerced me to make it neither have I been offered anything of value in return for making this affidavit,” she said.
Washington further said that she has understood that in light of her previous testimony and statements to the Federal agents and Assistant U.S. Attorney she can be persecuted for perjury (lying under oath) and other crimes.
“In spite of the risk I am putting myself in, I am prepared to make this affidavit in order to make up for my previous perjury,” she boldly said.
Getting to the origin to what she called a “calculated plan to let Dr. York suffer and rot in jail, Washington pointed her finger at Dr. York’s son, Jacob York, for being the progenitor of the circumstances that led his father to the maximum prison center.
“In May 2001, I had a conversation with Jacob at his house. Jacob said he wanted his father to go to jail and that his father did not deserve to live. He asked me to go to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) with a set of false information against his father so that he could be arrested and taken to jail for acts he even though did not commit,” the witness said.
She said their plan took effect upon their return from Florida where she, Jacob and a number of other young girls and boys went for outing.
About the structuring money charge, she said Dr. York had no connection, at any point to acts contravening the federal law on banking transactions or any other financial transactions.
The Daily Observer’s research has shown that it is against the U.S. Federal law for anyone or institution to purposely deposit at any point in time less than US$10,000 to avoid federal reporting requirements; but the 2004 judgment against Dr. York said to have come from Washington and other witnesses’ testimonies that he was guilty of the offense, even though in all of the adjudication of the case, York’s supporters claim that there was no evidence to authenticate York’s involvement in any wrongdoing.
Washington said: “Malachi has never done the deposits with us. I do not know if he knew that we were breaking down the deposits.”
She added that she is sure that Dr. York never told her that anyone else deposited less than US$10,000 at the time for the sake of avoiding the payment of financial transaction taxes.
A sealed transcript on the trial of Dr. York, which is also in the possession of Daily Observer, presented the U.S. FBI agent, Jalaine Ward, as saying to Dr. York’s Attorney then Adrianne Patrick during cross examination at trial, that she had no evidence during her investigation into the case for which Dr. York is now languishing behind bars.
