Micah David Naziri was born Micah David Collins, in Cincinnati, Ohio. An observant, pro-Palestinian Jew, Micah’s religious name is “Mikhah ben David.”
The son of a multitude of peoples, Micah has Ashkenazi German and Russian Jewish, Native American and Melungeon background, from where the Anigilohi clan surname “Collins” was adopted by his father’s family. His paternal side is also a mixture of Anigilohi and Aniawi clan Cherokee, Creek/Muscogee, Choctaw and Chickasaw. With the Melungeons who came to American shores of “Turtle Island” being originally Moorish S’fardic Jews of Portuguese origins (who mixed primarily with the Anigilohi clan, but also in Micah’s case, the Aniawi clan and the aforementioned Creek, Choctaw and Chickasaw peoples, for centuries).
The name “Naziri” is a Judeo-Arabic form of both the port town of Nazare in Portugal from where the the Melugeon Sefardim set sail to Turtle Island, as well as a town today called Nazar, in Navarrah (today called Navarre), which was the surname of the Collins patriarch and co-founder of the Tennessee Melungeon community, Vardy Navarrah. The name Collins was used by the Navarrah family for purposes of land procurement. As such, the return to Naziri honors Micah’s Melungeon Navarrah roots, as well as his Indigenous Anigilohi and Jewish roots together, with the term “Anigilohi” mostly closely being approximated in Hebrew by the term “Naziri.”
Spiritually, Micah considers his understanding of Judaism to be “Judeo-Sufi,” or “Istislam” as described by Rabbeinu Bachya ibn Paqudah, in his Medieval Judeo-Arabic work “Guide to the Duties of the Hearts” (Al-Hidayat ila Fara`id al-Qulub), which quoted Muhammad and his son-in-law `Ali profusely, reference each with the designation of being “a great chasid,” while fully embracing the Torah as the framework of religious practice for the Jewish people.
Living in California, and Yellow Springs, Ohio, Micah Naziri currently resides primarily in an almost parallel art community of `Ein Hod, in Hefa, Israel where he uses his doctoral education in Near Eastern Languages, Religions and models of building bridges between Jewish and Muslim communities, to help reconcile and unite Jews and Palestinian Muslims. Micah continues to travel back and forth between Israel and Yellow Springs, to oversee work and activism in both nations.
Martial Artist
Micah David Naziri is a Lineaged Taoist Kung Fu teacher, with four black belts/sashes in Northern Shaolin systems of Kung Fu, as well as the military art of Xingyiquan, and Chen and Yang systems of T’aijiquan.
He is currently working on similar ranking in Filipino Escrima/Kali and Indonesian Silat.
Here’s the break down:
- Traditional Northern Shaolin Tao Jiao offshoot lineage (black sash)
- Chen Village Style Taijiquan Black Sash under one instructor followed by Chen, Qing-Zhou student giving Micah further instructor ranking; following this he became a direct student of Chen, Yaoze, the son of Chen, Qing-Zhou; and also a student of Chen Bing, the likely inheritor of the village system.
- Yang Style Taijiquan two Instructor level certifications; Second Instructor accreditation under Yang Jia family lineage (Black Sash).
- Xingyiquan black sash in Hebei style, former official military system under General Yue Fei (1103-1141).
- Instructor permission to teach, but no sash ranking in Cheng style Baguazhang, made famous by many of its founders kicking ass and taking names in the Boxer Rebellion.
- Working on instructor certification down the line in Silat and Kali, “but only at intermediate level in each of those two,” for the time being.
- BJJ training with Rickson Gracie’s top US student, but never tested, nor trained in formal gi settings.
- Krav Maga under two close family members who are instructors in the system, including his brother `Oseh Ben David.
Micah is considered a “lifer” in the martial arts community – believing the true martial artist never stops learning new approaches and refining the old.
Controversy and Activism
In Yellow Springs, Ohio, Micah became somewhat infamous – loved by some, hated by others – in large part, for teaching free self-defense classes, gun and knife disarm and defense training, marksmanship and tactics for all individuals from historically oppressed communities – who, in his words, were “concerned for the safety of themselves and their loved ones under Trump’s proposed Fourth Reich.”
Naturally, this put a huge bulls-eye on Micah by Trump supporters, fascists and Neo-Nazis. Most notably, the Neo-Nazi self-described fascist and “Hammerskin” Christopher Cantwell – featured in the Vice documentary on Charlottesville – was publicly called out and challenged by Micah after Cantwell publicly threatened to “stomp” Micah for his anti-fascist activity. Humiliated, Cantwell tried to scrub the challenge from the Internet, after Micah offered a charity full contact bout with a $10,000 purse.
Many rose to Cantwell’s defense, some creating completely out-of-context half-truths, and otherwise fabricating lies, as well as completely fictitious “interviews” spouting antisemitic claims that Micah was “funded by George Soros,” in order to try to silence Naziri’s in-your-face style of anti-fascist activism. Another, however, was the former owner of this site who had apparently known of Cantwell from his earlier years being a very public face of the decentralized Cop Block organization. The former owner, who will remain unnamed, was not aware of the turn towards overt fascism Cantwell was taking – a turn Micah had been seeing all too well in dealing with Cantwell’s threats.
This site was thus created originally as a domain to expose the horrible person Micah’s enemies had decide to present him as. But the former site-owner’s perspective changed after hearing the other side of things that were the perspectives of Micah and his supporters, and all of the carefully omitted details his detractors had made sure to leave out when spreading disinformation.
Today, the two have become friends, albeit new ones. Having buried the hatchet and reconciled, they plan on meeting up for dinner and spending time at the range together later this year.
Police Backlash and Targeting
Law enforcement have without question been the most hostile to Naziri, as he became a regular protester against police brutality and murder of unarmed African Americans. When other activists were arrested, Micah frequently told the police “you might as well not even bother, I will bail them out as soon as you lock them up.”
This earned Naziri the love and respect of not only fellow activists on the streets, but also the families of the murdered victims of police violence. But it also made him a lot of enemies.
In August of 2017, however, Micah was targeted by the Columbus Police Department, after he and a crew of his associates were asked to serve as armed security for a Native American-led protest against Christopher Columbus’s genocidal exploits, and the naming of the Ohio capital after him.
Micah was detained at gunpoint by dozens of officers, who – only once he was in cuffs and locked in a cruiser – proceeded to arrest and assault his oldest two son’s who had attended the protest with them.
Micah would shortly after this find police trumping up the most spurious of charges against him, each one dismissed – like those against his children. Micah has a pending civil suit against the respective cities and departments, as well as planning on filing Malicious Prosecution charges since every charge against his family was dismissed without prejudice and found to be the complete fiction of his enemies in law enforcement.
Micah also became well-known for confronting an anti-Muslim protester peacefully and reasoning with her outside of a Dublin, Ohio mosque. After nearly 45 minutes of debate and reconciliation, the woman embraced a Muslimah woman from the mosque, and went into the mosque with her and Micah for bagels, coffee and a tour of the house of worship. When she left, the Muslims there gave her a gift bag.
Micah has been equally as virally-known as an avowed anti-rape activist, who confronted the Stanford Rapist, Brock Turner at his home in Sugarcreek Township, Ohio, after he was released from his mere three-month jail sentence for raping an unconscious woman.
Some of the articles about this series of protests can be read below:
Stanford Rapist Brock Turner Greeted by Armed Protesters Upon Returning Home
Brock Turner’s mommy calls cops as protesters swarm house
Armed anarchists rally at Brock Turner’s home: ‘Try this again, we’ll shoot you’
Protesters gather outside Brock Turner’s parents’ home
Anarchists Threaten Brock Turner At His Home
These “militant feminist” protests earned Micah the respect of countless rape-victims who flooded him with letters of support. It also earned him the animosity of some members of law enforcement, who responded with spurious criminal charges, emanating from a “SWATting” call, that were dismissed without even going to trial. Unfortunately for those corrupt officers, Micah was out of the country, purchasing a home for his family in Israel, when the police alleged criminal activity occurred. Upon returning to the United States, he posted bond and then simply provided his passport, plane ticket receipts, and deed from `Ein Hod and all charges were immediately dismissed.
Academic
Micah holds an undergraduate double major History and Religious Studies, with Honors (Honors Thesis in Judeo-Sufi Rabbis). Following this, he received generous grants for his Masters in Humanities, with a Near Eastern Religions and Languages focus.
In 2019, Micah successfully defended his dissertation in Israel-Palestine high risk activism, and how activists and revolutionaries such as himself persevere in the face of threats from government, terrorist and even online disinformation campaigns waged by political adversaries. You can read his dissertation, Persistence of Jewish-Muslim Reconciliatory Activism in the Face of Threats and “Terrorism” (Real and Perceived) From All Sides here.
Author
Micah Naziri is a prolific author who has penned numerous academic articles, donating 100% of the proceeds to charities working towards social justice. He has served as an editor for works on Martial Arts and Eastern Medicine, transcribing and creating numerous titles for some of his teachers. He has himself authored several martial treatises using the pen name Seng, Hern-Heng – his Taoist lineage name given to him in 2006.
Micah has also authored science fiction fused with history and politics, in addition to also having his magisterial masters thesis on the religious milieu of Judaism in Muhammad’s life time, in Arabia. Considering himself “semi-retired” at this point in his life, Micah continues to write from his home in `Ein Hod, continuing to donate all of the proceeds of his writing to empower Israeli and Palestinian face-to-face dialog, and co-worship.
Charity Work, Philanthropy and Humanitarianism
Micah chose to donate nearly all of his income over the years, to several foundations he co-created, working towards social justice and peace between Jews and Palestinians, as well as a housing foundation that hires “at-risk” youth, for renovating, selling and renting properties, to revitalize impoverished communities – selling back to those from the areas, rather than raising the price and selling or renting to outside gentrifiers.
About This Page
Micah Naziri has always taken a stand and been there for the people, and now that fascist police and actual self-described Nazis have targeted Micah, in conjunction with corrupt members of law enforcement, utilizing COINTELPRO-type disinformation campaigns, we too are taking a stand for Micah.
When we told Micah about the disinformation being spread, he said only one thing, a quote from the great Sufi poet Jalaladin Rumi: “Forget safety. Live where you fear to live. Destroy your reputation. Be notorious.”
When asked what this meant to him, he said “the world is filled with a lot of evil and egos. When you challenge that, expect the most toxic of egos to rise against you and stoop to no level to besmirch your character. They will create stories from half-truths, and the gaps they will fill in with truths they wish existed, but do not. If you are taking a stand for what is right because it is right, and not to gain friends or become a popular person, then you should be utterly indifferent to this reaction from those defending the evil in the world. As they are evil people, evil claims emanate from them. In psychology this is called projection. As the Zen masters taught, I am not what you think I am, you are what you think I am. Some others get caught up in the disinformation, but in time, the full story reveals all truth, and if you are patient, good-hearted people who may have taken you as an enemy, will come around and see the real you.”
You make a lot of enemies when you take a stand on important issues, but you also make a lot of friends.