Khalid Abdul Muhammad(1948-2001)

Black Nationalist, Nation of Islam, New Black Panther Party*

“I was born to give the white man hell, and I will give him hell from the cradle to the grave” Khalid Abdul Muhammad
”I am a freedom fighter, I have to be prepared every day that I open my eyes to fight the enemy in any way that the enemy presents itself.”
These are words of Dr. Khalid Abdul Muhammad, potentially, the most militant, aggressive black activists to come out of North America.

The Early Life of Harold Moore aka Dr Khalid Abdul Muhammad

He was born Harold Moore Jr. on January 12, 1948 in Houston, Texas, a state well documented for the atrocities of White supremacists to which the white population “turned a blind eye.” Moore was raised by his paternal aunt Carrie Moore-Vann who saw to it that he obtained a good education. He started his education at Bruce Elementary School, went on to E.O Smith Junior High School after which he was transferred to the Phyllis Wheatley High School which had an all black population. After graduation Moore pursued a degree in theology at Dillard University in Louisiana under the name of Harold Van. Despite the fact that he was not yet a graduate, Harold Van, aka Harold Moore, aka Khalid Muhammad was at that time a minister at Sloan Methodist Church. In 1967 he was also inducted into the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity; an international fraternity which was founded in 1911 by three Howard University students and their adviser. The core values of this group was: manhood, scholarship, perseverance and upliftment while their motto was “Friendship is Essential to the Soul.” Muhammad earned his bachelor’s degree (BSc) later after transferring to Pepperdine University in California; another christian institution. His academic prowess at Pepperdine earned him scholarships to some of the nations most prestigious universities; Harvard, Yale and Columbia, although it was during his time at Dillard in 1970 that Moore joined the Nation of Islam. His interest was aroused after hearing a speech by Louis Farrakhan. He started to research Islam, continued listening to Farrakhan and was hooked on the Islamic faith.

Nation of Islam

Coincidentally, although Harold Moore changed his name several times under the leadership of Elijah Muhammad and minister Farrakhan, he always retained his first name Harold, barring the time he changed it to Malik Rushaddin. Aside from Harold Moore, he was also known as Harold Vann and Harold X. The final change to Khalid Abdul Muhammad was not done by him but by his mentor, minister Louis Farrakhan, who took over the leadership from Elijah Muhammad. As Rushaddin, he became Farrakhan’s protege and chief adviser, also one of the most active recruiters within the organization. He was rewarded for his diligence and given leadership of Mosque #27 in Los Angeles, California. He was also appointed Western Regional Minister of the Nation of Islam. Recognizing his strong loyalty to Islam, Farrakhan renamed him after a follower of the prophet Muhammad, Islamic general Khalid ibn al-Walid Khalid. This marked the end of Harold Moore and the birth of Khalid Abdul Muhammad aka the Sword of Allah.

Khalid Muhammad exhibited good work ethics, in fact, he could be described as a zealot. His dedication to his ethnicity and to Islam was unquestionable and by 1981 he was listed as one of Louis Farrakhan’s friends and trusted National adviser. He became very good friends with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi whom he met on a fundraising mission to Libya. He was rewarded for his devotion and loyalty to the principles of the Nation of Islam with the respectable position of national spokesman within the party. Muhammad served at several NOI mosques and although he was convicted for mortgage fraud and sentenced to nine months in prison by a federal court in 1987. His standing in the organization was very strong and his prison sentence had no impact on the esteem in which he was held; in 1991 he was named national adviser to then leader Louis Farrakhan.

Unlike most black speakers who use euphemisms and other literary devices to get their points across, Khalid was very forthright. Khalid Muhammad was perhaps the most openly militant speaker in the history of Islam. He realized that subtlety was not getting the results he desired, also, it is very possible that he wanted an outright confrontation between black and white. He was eager to take back what was stolen from the black man; his land, his wealth, his cultural recognition and he wanted white people to know his intentions. In his interim as Regional leader, Khalid Muhammad made many speeches that were classified as inciteful, antagonistic and racially derogatory towards all white people, but particularly towards Jews and homosexuals. These speeches may have endeared him to the young black youths and his popularity rose to the level that he was mentioned in hip-hop music by then popular artistes Ice Cube and Public Enemy.

Dr Muhammad gained the respect of young black males as he was considered to be honest and straightforward in his speeches. Literally and figuratively, he did not “pull his punches” and his following grew not only locally but everywhere he went in the diaspora. In addition to his successful fundraising mission to Libya, minister Khalid Muhammad traveled to several countries on the African continent on fact finding missions in Egypt, Jerusalem. He also made several visits to the Holy City, Mecca and earned the title of El Hajj Khalid Abdul Muhammad. (El Hajj refers to the pilgrimage to Mecca, the Holy City, that all Muslims are required to make at least once in their lifetime. Depending on your location, this pilgrimage can be a bit costly, it also requires the individual to be in good health) However, after a speech he made at Kean College in 1993, his rhetoric was considered too inflammatory and his positions as Western Regional Minister and leader of Mosque #27 were revoked. Unfortunately, the man whom he considered to be his friend, whom he gave national advice, then leader Louis Farrakhan publicly denounced his speech and this was a slap in the face of the very proud, black minister, Khalid Abdul Muhammad. Not only was he being ostracized and persecuted by the white man; as both the United States Senate and House of Representative voted to have that particular speech banned, he was no longer allowed to speak publicly on behalf of his “beloved” Nation of Islam. To him this was betrayal and he later left the organization.

In 1994, after Khalid had left the NOI, he appeared as a guest on the Phil Donahue Show where he staunchly defended his viewpoints and Islam. Unlike Louis Farrakhan, he never sugar coated his words as his words were “sweet” to the black youths but bitter to white people.He actively defended the stance he took in his speech and was able to supply proof to support his arguments. During his speech, Khalid was accused of using “racist language” while making direct reference to some ethnic groups. He was accused of calling the Jews ”bloodsuckers”; the Pope a “no-good cracker,” he was also accused of advocating violence towards all white South Africans ( to include women and children) who choose to remain after they are given a 24 hour warning to leave.

His rhetoric might have seemed irrational and somewhat barbarous but his explanation for suggesting such an extreme action was quite rational in comparison to what was done to Africans during slavery. Africans were not given an alternative slavery, leaving their families and homeland, being beaten, maimed and killed. The wombs of black women were not cut open in order to save their lives or the lives of babies, they were cut open merely for the sport of white men in order to determine who had won a bet as to the sex of the unborn child. African lands were not bought but captured and the legitimate owners forced to live in squalid “settlements” elsewhere. When asked why he would advocate violence towards women, children and babies, his response was so on target that his white “interviewer” could offer no rebuttal. He mentioned that the bomb on Hiroshima was not selective as it killed women and babies, also the people were not given any warning to leave. In his mind he was being more humanitarian than white people were to Africans and other ethnic groups. Historical records will support the fact that this was merely a reversal of roles and Khalid was only trying to extend the courtesy the whites gave to the blacks during slavery and apartheid, only he was a bit more conscientious as he suggested that they be given a warning period regardless of how short. On May 19, 1994, after speaking at the University of California, Khalid Muhammad was shot by James Bess, a former member of the Nation of Islam. Khalid survived the shooting and it was rumored that the incident was orchestrated by someone in NOI who wanted to get rid of him.

The New Black Panther Party -NBPP

Khalid Muhammad became national chairman of the New Black Panther Party (NBPP) in 1998 as they appear to be more candid, more in line with his beliefs. The NBPP is a black nationalist organization which some classify as black supremacists, opposite to the white supremacists in ethnicity only. The NBPP emulated the format of the original Black Panthers, they are in no way affiliated. During his tenure as National Chairman, a position he held until his death in 2001, Khalid Muhammad organized and led various marches. He organized the Million Youth March in New York City in 1998. Rudolph Giuliani who was the mayor of NYC, vetoed the march from its inception and would not grant a permit as he accused the “march” of being a hate march. On appeal, a court approved a revised version of the march with less participants and shorter hours. This did not stop the “anticipated” riot as, angered by the appearance of a police helicopter, flying extremely low just as he got on stage to speak, Khalid incited the crowd to attack the police. He told the crowd that there were thousands of police in riot gear on their way, on foot, horseback and motorized and they were coming to forcefully disperse them. He told the participants to beat the police with the rails that were set up as barriers to contain the crowd and to shoot them with their own guns. In comparison to the sizeable crowd, only a few were injured, however, many were arrested. Mayor Giuliani gloated about being right in his prediction that the march would be “filled with hatred, horrible, awful, vicious, anti-Semitic and other anti-white rhetoric, as well as exhortations to kill people,——, the speeches given today should not occur any place—.” This begs the question; knowing Khalid’s temperament, could the helicopter have been ordered to fly that low just as he was about to speak so as to provoke his anger? However, Khalid was able to arrange another march the following year of which there  is no record of violence occurring during the second march. In Jasper, Texas he led the protest against the murder of James Byrd purportedly by white supremacists.

Although white supremacists were no longer as active or as blatant as they were in the 1950’s, their actions were not a secret, yet, based on the reactions of some sectors of the government, Khalid’s words were worse than the deeds, the cruelty meted out to blacks at the hands of some white people. During the airing of an American episode of Big Brother, a television show which was first aired in the Netherlands in 1999, one of the contestants revealed that he was a follower of Khalid Muhammad. This revelation served to vicariously introduce Khalid Muhammad to other audiences, some who had never heard of him until then.

Khalid Abdul Muhammad Quotes

The white race is absolutely disagreeable to get along with in peace. No other people on the face of the earth have been able to get along with white people since white people have been on our planet.
Khalid explained that after 500 years of trying and failing, this statement has been proven to be the truth.

I was born to give the white man hell, and I will give him hell from the cradle to the grave.
An honest man who did not hide his intentions.

There are no good crackers, and if you find one, kill him before he changes.

We kill the women. We kill the babies. We kill the blind. We kill the cripples. We kill them all…. When you get through killing them all, go to the goddamn graveyard and kill them a-goddamn-gain because they didn’t die hard enough.

I say you call yourself Goldstein, Silverstein, and Rubinstein because you’re stealing all the gold and silver and rubies all over the earth – and it’s true, because of your thieving and stealing and rogue-ing, and lying all over the face of the planet earth.

If one listens to or read the speeches of Khalid Abdul Muhammad, one will discover that he had a valid explanation for every “incendiary” quote he made. One will understand that regardless of how inflammatory his speeches were, he was only reacting to the negativity the black people experienced at the whims of the melanin- less people. He thought it only fair for black people to give back as much as they received.

Death

Khalid Muhammad like other unambiguous black nationalists activists who have passed on before, expired at the young age of 53 years. He died suddenly of a “brain aneurysm” in Atlanta, Georgia on February 17, 2001, leaving behind five children of whom the most well known is his son Farrah Gray who was given this name after the name of NOI leader Louis Farrakhan. Farrah Gray, whose given name is Farrakhan Khalid Muhammad is also a great speaker but unlike his father, his speeches are economical and not political, although he credits his father for his confidence. Khalid Abdul Muhammad is buried near the grave of Malcolm X, in Ferncliff Cemetery, Westchester County, New York, USA.

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Abibifahodie,

The AWS Team

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