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“You best to free your mind before I free my nine / and stop fu**ng with me boy, or pop, feel my hot rocks / bang-bang, boom-boom, ping-ping, I’m the Black / white boy’s got a magazine and don’t know how to act / I’ll attack and make you vomit, down with Khalid Abdul Muhammad / do he got a brother?  I’m it now!”  — Ice Cube on Scar Face’s ‘Hand Of A Dead Body’.

This February 17th marks a full decade since the uncompromising Truth Terrorist has made his transition on to the realm of the ancestors.  Although he continues to live on through the many lives he’s touched and videos of his lectures still circulating, and he also has been further immortalized in various Hip-Hop artists’ music – Dr. Muhammad’s physical absence has left a void which has yet to be filled.  Not only within the ranks of the freedom struggle, but also amongst the conscious segment of the Hip-Hop generation as well.

“One man’s Freedom Fighter is another man’s terrorist!” Dr. Muhammad once assessed.

Not since Malcolm X has a presence enamored the Hip-Hop collective so deeply.  Dr. Khalid Abdul Muhammad’s profound impact on the youth is most evident as his militant messages have been sampled by, and/or influenced, some of the most rebellious voices Hip-Hop has ever heard: Public Enemy, Ice Cube/N.W.A., KRS, X-Clan, The Coup, Tupac, Scarface and dead prez; just to name a few.

In 1985, at the on-set of the U.S. government-sponsored chemical warfare waged on inner-city youth in N.Y.C. – otherwise known as the torrent crack epidemic – which not so coincidently happened to be at the time of high levels of conscious messages in Hip-Hop – Dr. Khalid was appointed National Spokesman and Representative of the Nation Of Islam, the third man to hold that position behind Ministers Malcolm X and Louis Farrakhan.

Around this same time he was the Supreme Captain of the Fruit Of Islam, the N.O.I.’s security force, and Minister at Harlem’s historic Temple #7.  This position afforded him the opportunity to reach many youths who walked through those doors as they attempted to resurrect themselves.

“Have you forgotten, that once we were brought here, we were robbed of our names, robbed of our language, we lost our religion, our culture, our God… and many of us by the way we act, even lost our minds!” – Dr. Khalid Muhammad on the intro to Public Enemy’s ‘Night Of The Living Base Heads’.

It was a well known fact that the Black Power General was helping to educate and organize the inner-city youth to combat against police terrorism and corruption which was running so rampant.  He combined forces with Hip-Hop’s First-Family – the Universal Zulu Nation – which were also doing similar work.  Video copies of his lectures were must-have items by the studious youth who were mesmerized by this bold, courageous and powerful Black man with the shiny bald head.

“We had a great relationship with Dr. Khalid Abdul Muhammad.  He was a true Hip-Hop Youth Minister who was able to reach the youth, helping them to alleviate the problems they were facing in the communities.  He motivated the youth to be activist in their hoods,” reflected Afrika Bambaataa – the Amen-Ra of Hip hop culture and founder of the Universal Zulu Nation.

Dr. Shaka Zulu – War Chief for the Universal Zulu Nation added:

“He was a great influence and motivator in developing self defense strategies.  He said that we need our own lawyers and investigators as opposed to the ones who look like us, but are actually our enemies.  He empowered us with information and we introduced Ice Cube to him.”

During this alliance, N.W.A.’s Ice Cube integrated the Drs’ message into his militant music:

“Give me a Black Goddess Sistah, I can’t resist her!  No stringy haired, blonde hair, blue eye, pale skinned, buttermilk complexion, grafted recessive, depressive, ironing board backside, straight-up and straight down, no frills, no thrills, Ms.  6 o’clock, subject to the itch, mutanoid,  Caucasoid, white cave bi**h!” – Dr. Khalid, on Ice Cube’s – ‘White Cave B**ch’.

Following his ouster from the N.O.I. after delivering a lecture at Kean College in Union, N.J. on November 29th 1993 titled – The Secret Relationship between Blacks & Jews’, Dr. Khalid beat the streets.  During that dissertation Khalid revealed how the pope was a homosexual, that Caucasian so-called jews were behind the Afrikan holocaust, and a few other controversial subjects.  The attention garnered by the main-stream media thrust Dr. Khalid into the spotlight for those who were not already aware of him.

He continued to be a staple in the Harlem community, as NBA power forward, and fellow Texan, Larry Johnson donated a house on Striver’s Row for him to do his community work.  Also at this time, Muhammad led the New Black Panther Party.

Khalid was now in high-demand as a lecturer, as he traveled across North Amerikkka visiting college campuses, delivering his no-holds-barred messages, which further impacted the youth.  He aligned himself with other stalwart scholars such as Pro. James Small, Dr. Leonard Jeffries, Dr. Molefi Asante and many others – helping to further expand the minds of the next generation and helping to heal their fractured consciousness.

Dr. Khalid’s positive impact was not just made within Harlem, but throughout the entire Afrikan Diaspora.

“On one of Khalid’s DVD’s, he taught us that Afrikan cats have been trained to think of themselves as dogs, and that those cats are running with the dogs.  Khalid said that situation will prove fatal to the cat,” explains Tark Haskins – from the original Black Panther Party.

Knowing this, Khalid strove to teach us exactly who we are: we are persons who deserve to love ourselves, persons loved by other people, persons who are intelligent, courageous, decisive, loving, strong, and most importantly… we are beautiful Afrikan human beings!  We must never stop reminding ourselves of these facts – like Malcolm X and Marcus Garvey.  Afrikan people are fortunate to have had Khalid Abdul Muhammad on this Earth.  Khalid I love you!”

R.I.P. Dr. Khalid Abdul Muhammad

To hear more lectures by Dr. Muhammad, log on here:  http://www.ea17.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1_11