A Salute to Our Soldier

           A look at the Life of Dr. Khalid Muhammad 

                       By TeachingsofPtah 

                                                                           

        His words were poetic, his speeches prophetic and his presence felt in every movement he led. Dr. Khalid Muhammad is best remembered as fiery, militant in thought and effective in action. Today marks the anniversary of his birth and it’s fitting that this post examines the impact this Pan-Africanist revolutionary has had on our history. 

Muhammad was born Harold Moore on Jan.12, 1948. The second of six children, he quickly developed exceptional oratorical abilities,preaching at passerby vehicles from his front porch, relatives noted of the young Moore. 

A native of Houston,Texas, Moore attended primary and secondary schools in and around that area, standing out as a high school athlete and young minister in a Methodist Church. He continued his education at Dillard University in Louisiana. It was here that he met Minister Louis Farrakhan. Upon hearing the minister speak, Moore enlisted as a member of the Nation of Islam. With completion of his studies at Pepperdine University, Moore devoted himself to the tenets of Islam, representing the revitalized Nation of Islam domestically and abroad. 

He was awarded the name “Khalid Muhammad” from Minister Farrakhan, who termed him such after the ancient Islamic warrior Khalid Ibn Wallid. 

Muhammad was among the faithful few when Farrakhan decided to rebrand the then fledgling Nation of Islam in 1978. His devotion earned him guest positions in the palaces of  Ugandan ruler Idi Amin and Libyan leader Colonel Moammar Ghadaffi, being called to train the latter’s military. 

His strides for the millions of blacks in America and over the globe garnered him the mantle of National Spokesman of the Nation of Islam, a position only previously held by Malcolm X and Louis Farrkhan. 

His 2001 obituary in most mainstream outlets labeled him a “radical”, or “The Black Hitler”,but let me ask,did Khalid ever advocate stopping someone because their color didn’t match the car that was presumably stolen? 

Did his words cause us to enslave millions or compare an entire group of people to primates because of the color of their skin, which is what many of our athletes experienced at last year’s London Olympics? 

There are two areas of leadership that one can gain from observing the movements the late Doctor started: 

His Research Was Thorough 

His controversial Keen College Speech, when viewed in context, wasn’t controversial at all. However, like most revolutions that outlive the revolutionary, the debates about this speech outlive the day the speech was given.Its title was “The Secret Relationship between Blacks and Jews”.Muhammad used mainly Jewish references to validate his points about governmental subterfuge and analysis of history that had long been unchallenged as fact. 

With unbridled wit, he criticized the indolence of modern black movements. He remains the only private citizen that was publicly censured by the House of Representatives for his speech. This marked the beginning of the end of his tenure within the Nation of Islam as well. Though removed from his post and subsequent positions in the movement, he retained a following among the younger generation of blacks, especially the hip hop demographic. 

  He appeared on the highly remembered Phil Donahue show where he engaged members of Donahue’s audience over contents of his speeches. He survived an assassination attempt shortly after. 

               His Revolution was Truthful 

       Dismissed from the Nation, Muhammad participated in the New Black Panther Party, becoming its leader. The organizations first order of business was to chase out the Ku Klux Klan in Texas that had placed up mock effigies of the dragging death of James Byrd in 1998. 

He later led the Million Youth March in New York City on this concept of young black nationalism.Critics,namely then New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani assailed the demonstration as a hate march that promoted violence against law enforcement. 

Though his second march months later drew fewer demonstrators, Muhammad remained fervent in his resolve to help his people. If the revolution isn’t televised, why does television continuously sell us revolutions? The term revolution has now been co-opted, titled “uprisings” instead. 

At best, Muhammad was a strong Pan-Africanist,a disciple of truth and a scholar for our history, which remains largely untold. 

Though we’re taught to forget his name his impact supersedes a textbook. 

He passed away Feb.17,2001.His legacy represents pride, heritage and no compromise. He couldn’t be bought off to move his stances to moderation, because he understood there’s no moderation when you’re fighting for liberation.