Khalid Abdul Muhammad (1948-2001)

August 03, 2017 
/ Contributed By: Samuel Momodu

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Khalid Abdul Muhammad

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Khalid Abdul Muhammad was an African-American activist, a one-time member of the Nation of Islam, and national chairman of the New Black Panther Party. Muhammad was born Harold Moore Jr. on January 12, 1948, to Harold Moore Sr and Lottie B. Moore in Houston, Texas. Moore’s Aunt, Carrie Moore Vann, raised him while living in Houston, where he attended Phyllis Wheatley High School.

After graduating from high school in 1966, Moore enrolled in Dillard University in New Orleans, Louisiana, to pursue a theological studies degree, but he didn’t graduate. While attending Dillard University in 1970, Moore heard a speech by Louis Abdul Farrakhan, who was at the time the national representative of Elijah Muhammad, the leader of the Nation of Islam (NOI). After hearing Farrakhan’s speech, Moore joined the Nation of Islam and changed his name to Harold X, then to Malik Rushaddin. He eventually became Farrakhan’s protégé, helping to bring new recruits to the Nation.

Muhammad later received a B.A. from Pepperdine University in Los Angeles, California. In 1978, he was appointed Western Regional Minister of the NOI and leader of Mosque #27 in Los Angeles. In 1983, Farrakhan changed his name to Khalid after the Islamic general Khalid Ibn al-Walid. In 1985, at the age of 37, Khalid Muhammad was appointed National spokesman and Representative of Minister Farrakhan. In this role, he traveled to NOI mosques throughout the United States and eventually traveled to Libya to meet its leader, Muammar al-Gaddafi. In 1987, however, a federal court in Atlanta, Georgia, convicted Muhammad of mortgage fraud, and he was sentenced to nine months in prison. After his release, he became Minister Farrakhan’s national advisor in the NOI.

During his time with the Nation of Islam, Muhammad gave controversial speeches that usually attacked whites, especially Jews and homosexuals, while calling for Black self-empowerment and separation. Despite the controversy, Muhammad remained popular among the youth in the African American community and often appeared in hip-hop songs by Public Enemy and Ice Cube. In 1993, during a speaking engagement at Kean College in New Jersey, Muhammad called Jews bloodsuckers and used a racially derogatory word to describe Pope John Paul II. In response, the United States Senate took the unusual step of voting 97-0 to censure him for making the speech. The Nation of Islam also silenced him as a minister, a move which prompted him to leave the organization in 1993.

Muhammad would continue to make public speeches at universities and once, in 1994, appeared on The Phil Donahue Show. On May 29, 1994, former Nation of Islam member James Bess attempted to assassinate Muhammad. He was shot by Bess after making a speech at the University of California, Riverside, but survived the attack.

In 1998, Muhammad became the national chairman of the New Black Panther Party, a Black nationalist organization that modeled itself on the original Black Panther Party founded in Oakland in 1966. During his time with the New Black Panther Party, Muhammad organized the Million Youth March in New York City and led a march in Jasper, Texas, protesting the murder of James Byrd by white supremacists. Muhammad remained national chairman of the New Black Panther Party until his death from a brain aneurysm on February 17, 2001. He died in Atlanta, Georgia, at the age of 53. He was buried in Ferncliff Cemetery in Westchester County, New York, near the grave of Malcolm X.

About the Author

Author Profile

Samuel Momodu, a native of Nashville, Tennessee, received his Associate of Arts Degree in History from Nashville State Community College in December 2014 and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History from Tennessee State University in May 2016. He received his Master of Arts Degree in history from Southern New Hampshire University in June 2019.

Momodu’s main areas of research interest are African and African American History. His passion for learning Black history led him to contribute numerous entries to BlackPast.org for the last few years. Momodu has also worked as a history tour guide at President Andrew Jackson’s plantation home near Nashville, the Hermitage. He is currently an instructor at Tennessee State University. His passion for history has also helped him continue his education. In 2024, he received his Ph.D. in History from Liberty University, writing a dissertation titled The Protestant Vatican: Black Churches Involvement in the Nashville Civil Rights Movement 1865-1972. He hopes to use his Ph.D. degree to become a university professor or professional historian.

CITE THIS ENTRY IN APA FORMAT:

Momodu, S. (2017, August 03). Khalid Abdul Muhammad (1948-2001). BlackPast.org. https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/muhammad-khalid-abdul-1948-2001/

Source of the Author's Information:

“Khalid Abdul Muhammad,” The Talking Drum, http://www.thetalkingdrum.com/khallid.html; “Khalid Abdul Muhammad,” Pan African Alliance, https://www.panafricanalliance.com/khalid-abdul-muhammad/; “Khalid Abdul Muhammad, New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/18/nyregion/ka-muhammad-53-dies-ex-official-of-nation-of-islam.html.

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