Khalid Muhammad | |
|---|---|
 Muhammad,c. late 1990s | |
| Born | Harold Moore Jr. January 12, 1948 |
| Died | February 17, 2001 (aged 53) |
| Resting place | Ferncliff Cemetery |
| Alma mater | Pepperdine University |
| Occupations | Minister, activist |
| Organization | New Black Panther Party |
Khalid Abdul Muhammad (bornHarold Moore Jr.; January 12, 1948 – February 17, 2001) was an AmericanMuslim minister, black supremacist and activist who became a prominent figure in theNation of Islam and later theNew Black Panther Party. After a racially inflammatory 1993 speech atKean College, Muhammad was condemned and removed from his position in the Nation of Islam byLouis Farrakhan. He was also censured by both chambers of theUnited States Congress.[1]
After being removed from the Nation of Islam, he served as the National Chairman of theNew Black Panther Party until his death in 2001 from abrain aneurysm. He advocated Black independence and stated a personal practice ofanti-miscegenation.[2]
Harold Moore Jr. was raised by his aunt, Carrie Moore Vann, inHouston, Texas, where he attended Bruce Elementary School, E.O. Smith Junior High School, and all-blackPhillis Wheatley High School. After graduating high school, Moore went toDillard University inLouisiana, where he was known as Harold Vann, to pursue a degree in theological studies, but he did not graduate. At this time, he ministered at Sloan Memorial Methodist Church. In 1967, he was initiated intoOmega Psi Phi fraternity (Theta Sigma chapter). Later, Moore transferred toPepperdine University and earned hisbachelor's degree.
In 1970, while attending Dillard, Moore joined the Nation of Islam,[3] which was then under the leadership ofElijah Muhammad. He changed his name to Harold Smith or Harold 10X, then to Malik Rushaddin, became MinisterLouis Farrakhan's protégé, and was active as a recruiter within the organization. In 1978, Rushaddin was appointed Western Regional Minister of the Nation of Islam and leader of Mosque #27. In 1983, Minister Farrakhan named him Khalid after the Islamic generalKhalid ibn al-Walid, a follower of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, calling him the Sword of Allah.
By 1984, Muhammad had become one of Louis Farrakhan's most trusted advisors in the Nation of Islam. He traveled to Libya on a fund-raising trip, where he became well acquainted with that country's leader,Muammar al-Gaddafi. Muhammad's dedication to Farrakhan and to the message of the NOI eventually secured him the title of national spokesman and he was named one of Louis Farrakhan's friends in 1981. He served at Nation of Islam mosques in New York and Atlanta throughout the 1980s. A federal court convicted him in 1987 of mortgage fraud and sentenced him to nine months in prison.[4] After his prison term he returned to the Nation, becoming Farrakhan's national advisor in 1991.
In 1993, Muhammad gave a speech atKean College inUnion Township, New Jersey, in which Muhammad referred to Jews as "bloodsuckers" of the black community, labeledthe Pope a "no-goodcracker," and advocated the murder of any and all white South Africans who would not leave the nation subsequent to a warning period of 24 hours.[5][6] TheUnited States Senate andUnited States House of Representatives both voted overwhelmingly to support resolutions condemning the speech. MinisterLouis Farrakhan responded by publicly repudiating Muhammad's speech. However, Farrakhan specified that he opposed the "tone" of Muhammad's speech, while acknowledging the "truths" in it.[7] Despite this, Muhammad's remarks also resulted in not onlyCongressional Black Caucus (CBC) members distancing themselves from the Nation of Islam but also CBC chairmanKweisi Mfume ending his relationship with the Nation of Islam.[8]
The day after Mfume's break with the NOI in February 1994, Farrakhan demoted Muhammad and also removed him as the NOI's spokesman.[8][9] He was silenced as a minister and suspended from the NOI soon afterward. In 1994, Muhammad appeared onthe Phil Donahue Show. When asked how he felt about being condemned by theUnited States House of Representatives, Muhammad said: "As a freedom fighter and a revolutionary, it is one of the greatest honors that could be paid." During the show he participated in heated arguments with white Jewish and non-Jewish audience members, amid explanations of his public statements.
On May 29, 1994, Muhammad and five of his bodyguards were shot by James Bess, a former NOI member, after he spoke at theUniversity of California, Riverside. He survived the shooting. Muhammad himself, along with many others within the black nationalist community, believed the shooting was a part of a conspiracy.[10] Bess was convicted of attempted murder and three counts of assault and sentenced to 18 years to life in prison.[11]
After being stripped of his position as NOI spokesman, Muhammad became the national chairman of theNew Black Panther Party. On May 21, 1997, he delivered a heated speech atSan Francisco State University in which he criticized Jews, whites, Catholics and homosexuals.
In 1998, Muhammad organized the "Million Youth March" inNew York City which attracted an estimated 6,000 participants. New York mayorRudolph Giuliani denied the organizers a permit, calling it a hate march. A court ruled that the event could go on but scaled back its duration and size. At the conclusion of the rally, just as Muhammad appeared on the stage to speak, the demonstration was interrupted by a low-flying police helicopter. Muhammad alleges that was the signal for more than 3,000 police in riot gear, including some mounted on horseback, to come in and disperse the crowd. In response, Muhammad exhorted the rally participants to attack the oncoming police, to beat them with rails, and to shoot them with their own guns. Dozens were arrested, and 30 officers and five civilians were injured.[12][13] Mayor Giuliani said that the march turned out to be precisely what he predicted, "filled with hatred, horrible, awful, vicious, anti-Semitic and other anti-white rhetoric, as well as exhortations to kill people, murder people ... the speeches given today should not occur [at] any place."[12] Muhammad convened a second march in 1999.
In the year 2000, it was revealed that one of the contestants on theAmerican version of the Dutch television showBig Brother, William Collins (Hiram Ashantee), was a follower of Muhammad.[14]
As a prominentAfrocentrist and speaker on African history, Muhammad attracted interest from several hip-hop artists, who sampled him in their songs.Public Enemy quoted him in the introduction of its 1988 track "Night of the Living Baseheads" from the albumIt Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back:
Have you forgotten that once we were brought here, we were robbed of our name, robbed of our language. We lost our religion, our culture, our god ... and many of us, by the way we act, we even lost our minds.
He also appeared onIce Cube's albumsDeath Certificate (1991) andLethal Injection (1993) as a guest rapper. On the former album, Muhammad appeared in the tracks "Death" and "The Birth". On the latter, he appeared in the song "Cave Bitch", a song ridiculing white women. On the Scarface song "Hand of the Dead Body", Ice Cube also mentioned Muhammad, saying "Down with Kahlid Abdul Muhammad / Do he got a brother? I'm it now." OnMC Ren's 1996 albumThe Villain in Black Muhammad appeared in the track "Muhammad Speaks", where he spoke about the history of the rights ofAfrican Americans.
Musical references to Muhammad since his death include a quote of his "Kill the White Man" speech onThe Used's 2009 albumArtwork, a sample of his interview withLouis Theroux in theChase & Status song "Hocus Pocus" and in theDean Blunt song "MERLIN", and excerpts from a recording of one of his speeches concerning Jesus in theD'Angelo song "1000 Deaths" on the 2014 albumBlack Messiah.[15]
Muhammad had five children, includingFarrah Gray, who grew up inChicago's South Side. Although Gray saw his father only during occasional visits, he credits Muhammad for inspiring him with confidence. Gray rose from poverty to become a successful business entrepreneur, but did not join his father's political activities.[16][17]
In 2001, Muhammad died unexpectedly of abrain aneurysm inAtlanta,Georgia, at the age of 53. He was buried inFerncliff Cemetery inWestchester County, New York, near the grave ofMalcolm X.[18]
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