Another day another discovery...

I finally got a reply from the FBI regarding John Keehan's FBI record. I send them a copy of the birth certificate, which is in the name of Juan Raphael Dante and then, penciled in at an askewed angle, "Keehan." I thought I hadexplained myself properly, that Dante was not his real name and asked that they check both. Well what does bureacracy do, it follows the form. The death certificate is an official document and no one payed attention to my initial correspondence, So what did I get?

I get a reply to my email from a section chief of Records and Information telling me that they found they had a file on Juan Raphael Dante and no mention of John Timothy Keehan. They had a location for the file, but it was not in the location it was supposed to be in and could not be located. Then, "Following a reasonable waiting period another attempt was made...." They were unsuccessful and they said "...therefore, we are closing your request."

Well, duh, his real name is John Timothy Keehan. I bet it resides inside his John Timothy Keehan File as an alias.

Why did I contact the FBI? Because of the name "Black Dragon Fighting Society." The Black Dragon Society was a secret society and political organization, an arm of Japanese Intelligence inside America before World War II. It was lead by Satokata Takahashi, a retired major of the Imperial Japanese Army and member of the Black Dragon Society. According to FBI reports he was the instigator behind the Pacific Movement of the Eastern World. The Pacific Movement of the Eastern World (PMEW) was a North American based pro-Japanese movement of African Americans which promoted the idea that Japan was the champion of all non white peoples. It was founded in 1932 in Chicago, but really developed in St. Louis when its president Ashima Takis moved there in 1933. Elijah Poole, who was to become the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, was arrested for suspicion of conspiring with the Black Dragons because his brother Kallet had joined them and he lived a block away from a Black Dragon operative in Washington DC.

History forgets how European racism and colonialism were exploited by the Japanese to create allies among formerly colonized people of color. This was a carefully thought out plan that gained a number of followers in the US as well. Don't believe me? Check out Race War: White Supremacy And the Japanese Attack on the British Empire and Black Crescent: The Experience and Legacy of African Muslims in the Americas.

I am betting that the resurrection of that name, Black Dragon Fighting Society and Keehan's association with black martial artists sets off some alarms in J. Edgar Hoover's office between his dress fittings. (Sorry, I should not have gone there. That is so cruel of me. I should learn to more excepting of Hoover's transvestitism). This is some arcane historical data I am dealing with here. We will see it it makes the cut into the movie.

I will wait to see what else turns up from my appealed queries to The Office of Information and Privacy.

You guys sure are quiet. Is anybody reading this stuff???? I never get comments....

Comments

Anonymous said…
Floyd.

I read every post. Please keep them coming. Great stuff!!!!!
Anonymous said…
Mr. Webb
You are doing a great job on this project. As a student of a student of John Keehan I find this to be a most interesting project. I am learning a lot of history of my martial arts lineage. Much like you your work is bringing back memories of my youth. I am looking forward to the film. Keep up the good work. I check your site almost daily.

Respectfully
Verne Gilbert
Anonymous said…
i read your blogs on a regular basis and i can't wait to finally see the movie. interesting stuff.
thanks.
Anonymous said…
Mr. Webb,
I sure am reading this! This is so interesting to me because of my training with Bill Aguiar. He spoke of Dante often, but I never saw any pictures etc. I once brought in the Black Belt article (A friend gave me) from 1976 to show him. He said "When your ready we will talk about the Count" (I was a green belt at the time, just two belts away from Black) What ever that meant, he never talked with his students about Count Dante. I gave you a name a few months ago (Paul Sousa) who was a black belt with Bill while the Count was alive. He works at St Annes hospital in Fall River MA (Maintenance Dept), he would be a good person to contact as well as Steve Sowa another black belt of Bill Aguiar (He works at a Suzuki dealer in Swansea, MA). I look forward to the completion of this, and I agree it needs to be done.

Sincerely,
JR

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