Khalid Abdul Muhammad (born Harold Moore Jr.; January 12, 1948 – February 17, 2001) was an

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

minister and activist who became a prominent figure in the

Nation of Islam The Nation of Islam (NOI) is a religious and political organization founded in the United States by Wallace Fard Muhammad in 1930. A black nationalist organization, the NOI focuses its attention on the African diaspora, especially on African ...

and later the

New Black Panther Party The New Black Panther Party (NBPP) is an American black nationalist organization founded in Dallas, Texas, in 1989. Despite its name, the NBPP is not an official successor to the Black Panther Party.

. After a racially inflammatory 1993 speech at

Kean College Kean University () is a public university in Union and Hillside, New Jersey. It is part of New Jersey's public system of higher education. Kean University was founded in 1855 in Newark, New Jersey, as the Newark Normal School. Initially establi ...

, Muhammad was condemned and removed from his position in the Nation of Islam by

Louis Farrakhan Louis Farrakhan (; born Louis Eugene Walcott, May 11, 1933) is an American religious leader, black supremacist, anti-white and antisemitic conspiracy theorist, and former singer who heads the Nation of Islam (NOI). Prior to joining the NOI, h ...

. He was also censured by both Houses of the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

. After being removed from the Nation of Islam, he served as the National Chairman of the

until his death in 2001 from a

brain aneurysm An intracranial aneurysm, also known as a brain aneurysm, is a cerebrovascular disorder in which weakness in the wall of a cerebral artery or vein causes a localized dilation or ballooning of the blood vessel. Aneurysms in the posterior circ ...

. He advocated black independence and stated a personal practice of

anti-miscegenation Anti-miscegenation laws or miscegenation laws are laws that enforce racial segregation at the level of marriage and intimate relationships by criminalizing interracial marriage and sometimes also sex between members of different races. Anti-misc ...

Early life

Harold Moore Jr. was raised by his aunt, Carrie Moore Vann, in

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, where he attended Bruce Elementary School, E.O. Smith Junior High School, and all-black Phyllis Wheatley High School. After graduating high school, Moore went to

Dillard University Dillard University is a private, historically black university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded in 1930 and incorporating earlier institutions founded as early as 1869 after the American Civil War, it is affiliated with the United Church of Ch ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

, 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 into Omega Psi Phi fraternity (Theta Sigma chapter). Later, Moore transferred to

Pepperdine University Pepperdine University () is a private research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California. Pepperdine's main campus consists of 830 acres (340 ha) overlooking the Pacific Ocean and t ...

and earned his

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

Nation of Islam

In 1970, while attending Dillard, Moore joined the Nation of Islam, which was then under the leadership of

Elijah Muhammad Elijah Muhammad (born Elijah Robert Poole; October 7, 1897 – February 25, 1975) was an African American religious leader, black separatist, and self-proclaimed Messenger of Allah, who led the Nation of Islam (NOI) from 1934 until his deat ...

. He changed his name to Harold Smith or Harold X, then to Malik Rushaddin, became Minister

'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 general Khalid 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 Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, . Due to the lack of standardization of transcribing written and regionally pronounced Arabic, Gaddafi's name has been romanized in various ways. A 1986 column by ''The Straight Dope'' lists 32 spellin ...

. 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. After his prison term he returned to the Nation, becoming Farrakhan's national advisor in 1991.

1993 speech and aftermath

In 1993, Muhammad gave a speech at

in Union Township, New Jersey, in which Muhammad referred to Jews as "bloodsuckers" of the black community, labeled

the Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

a "no-good cracker," 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. The

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

and

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

both voted overwhelmingly to support resolutions condemning the speech. Farrakhan responded by publicly repudiating Muhammad's speech. However, Minister Farrakhan specified that he opposed to the "tone" of Muhammad's speech, while acknowledging the "truths" in it. Despite this, Muhammad's remarks also resulted in not only

Congressional Black Caucus The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) is a caucus made up of most African-American members of the United States Congress. Representative Karen Bass from California chaired the caucus from 2019 to 2021; she was succeeded by Representative Joyce B ...

(CBC) members distancing themselves from the Nation of Islam, but also CBC chairman

Kweisi Mfume Kweisi Mfume ( ; born Frizzell Gerald Gray; October 24, 1948) is an American politician who is the U.S. representative for Maryland's 7th congressional district, first serving from 1987 to 1996 and again since 2020. A member of the Democratic ...

, (D-MD), ending his relationship with the Nation of Islam as well.CQ Almanac Online Edition
/ref> In September 1993, Mfume announced a "covenant" between the Nation of Islam and CBC members to work together on strengthening the black community after he had invited Farrakhan to address the black caucus’ annual legislative conference. The day after Mfume held a press conference announcing his break with the Nation of Islam in February 1994, Farrakhan demoted Muhammad and also removed him as the NOI's spokesman. He was silenced as a minister and suspended from the NOI soon afterward. In 1994, Muhammad appeared on the Phil Donahue Show. He participated in heated arguments with Jewish audience members amid explanations of his public statements. Muhammad was shot by James Bess, a former NOI member, after he spoke at the

University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public land-grant research university in Riverside, California. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The main campus sits on in a suburban distr ...

on May 29, 1994. He survived the shooting. Muhammed himself believed the shooting was a part of a conspiracy.

New Black Panther Party

After being stripped of his position as NOI spokesman, Muhammad became the national chairman of the

. On May 21, 1997, he delivered a heated speech at

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different b ...

in which he criticized Jews, whites, Catholics and homosexuals. In 1998, Muhammad organized the "Million Youth March" in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

which attracted an estimated 6,000 participants. The march was controversial from its inception as New York mayor

Rudolph Giuliani Rudolph William Louis Giuliani (, ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 107th Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney General from 1981 to 198 ...

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. 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 tany place." In subsequent activism, Muhammad convened a second march in 1999. In the year 2000, it was revealed that one of the contestants on the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

version of the Dutch television show '' Big Brother'', William Collins (Hiram Ashantee), was a follower of Muhammed.

Musical influence

As a prominent Afrocentrist and speaker on African history, Muhammad attracted interest from several hip-hop artists, who sampled him in their songs.

Public Enemy "Public enemy" is a term which was first widely used in the United States in the 1930s to describe individuals whose activities were seen as criminal and extremely damaging to society, though the phrase had been used for centuries to describe ...

quoted him in the introduction of its 1988 track "

Night of the Living Baseheads "Night of the Living Baseheads" is the third single released by hip hop group Public Enemy, from their critically acclaimed album ''It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back''. The lyrics deal with the effects of crack cocaine on African-Am ...

" from the album ''

It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back ''It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back'' is the second studio album by American hip hop group Public Enemy, released on June 28, 1988, by Def Jam Recordings and Columbia Records. It was recorded from 1987 to 1988 in sessions at Chung Kin ...

'':

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 on

Ice Cube An ice cube is a small piece of ice, which is typically rectangular as viewed from above and trapezoidal as viewed from the side. Ice cubes are products of mechanical refrigeration and are usually produced to cool beverages. They may be produc ...

's albums ''

Death Certificate A death certificate is either a legal document issued by a medical practitioner which states when a person died, or a document issued by a government civil registration office, that declares the date, location and cause of a person's death, as ...

'' (1991) and ''

Lethal Injection Lethal injection is the practice of injecting one or more drugs into a person (typically a barbiturate, paralytic, and potassium solution) for the express purpose of causing rapid death. The main application for this procedure is capital puni ...

'' (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." On

MC Ren Lorenzo Jerald Patterson (born June 16, 1969), better known by his stage name MC Ren, is an American rapper, songwriter and record producer from Compton, California. He is the founder and owner of the record label Villain Entertainment. MC Ren ...

's 1996 album ''

The Villain in Black ''The Villain in Black'' is the second album by rapper MC Ren, released April 9, 1996, on Ruthless Records and distributed by Relativity Records. Background After the release and success of his critically acclaimed debut studio album '' Shock ...

'' Muhammad appeared in the track "Muhammad Speaks", where he spoke about the history of the rights of

African-Americans African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

. Musical references to Muhammad since his death include a quote of his "Kill the White Man" speech on

The Used The Used is an American rock band from Orem, Utah, that formed in 2001. The group consists of vocalist Bert McCracken, bassist Jeph Howard, drummer Dan Whitesides, and guitarist Joey Bradford. Former members include Quinn Allman, Branden Stei ...

's 2009 album ''

Artwork A work of art, artwork, art piece, piece of art or art object is an artistic creation of aesthetic value. Except for "work of art", which may be used of any work regarded as art in its widest sense, including works from literature ...

'', a sample of his interview with Louis Theroux in the

Chase & Status Chase & Status are an English electronic music duo composed of Saul Milton (Chase) and Will Kennard (Status). In addition, Andy Gangadeen is the drummer when the band performs live. MC Rage formerly performed as MC with the group, but left in Ju ...

song "Hocus Pocus", and excerpts from a recording of one of his speeches concerning Jesus in the

D'Angelo Michael Eugene Archer (born February 11, 1974), better known by his stage name D'Angelo (), is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He first garnered attention after co-producing the single "U Will Know" ...

song "1000 Deaths" on the 2014 album '' Black Messiah''.

Personal life

Muhammad had five children, including Farrah Gray, who grew up in

Chicago's South Side The South Side is an area of Chicago, Illinois, U.S. It lies south of the city's Loop area in the downtown. Geographically, it is the largest of the three sides of the city that radiate from downtown, with the other two being the north and we ...

. 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.

Death

In 2001, Muhammad died suddenly of a

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, at the age of 53. He was buried in

Ferncliff Cemetery Ferncliff Cemetery and Mausoleum is located at 280 Secor Road in the hamlet of Hartsdale, town of Greenburgh, Westchester County, New York, United States, about north of Midtown Manhattan. It was founded in 1902, and is non-sectarian. Fernc ...

Westchester County, New York Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population o ...

, near the grave of

Malcolm X Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an American Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figure during the civil rights movement. A spokesman for the Nation of Is ...

References

External links

Khallid Abdul Muhammad: In His Own WordsThe Hunt for Khalid Abdul Muhammed
{{DEFAULTSORT:Muhammad, Khalid Abdul 1948 births 2001 deaths African and Black nationalists African-American people African-American Muslims American Muslim activists Antisemitism in the United States Activists for African-American civil rights Afrocentrists American people convicted of fraud Converts to Islam Dillard University alumni Former Nation of Islam members People from Houston Pepperdine University alumni Deaths from intracranial aneurysm Journalists from Texas Discrimination against LGBT people in the United States Activists from Texas Burials at Ferncliff Cemetery American members of the clergy convicted of crimes 20th-century American journalists American male journalists 20th-century American clergy 20th-century African-American people