New Panthers Mark MYM Anniversary

by ‘little Red’

 New York—

            Last Saturday, the New Black Panther Party brought in the fall season by marking the anniversary of the epic Million Youth March (MYM) and celebrating the life of its fiery, controversial convener the Khallid Abdul Muhammad at their Harlem headquarters.

The Million Youth March, a national youth rally which boldly called for the return of Black Power, an end to police brutality, reparations, PanAfricanism, the release of political prisoners, independent Black schools and a reconsideration of Black Liberation Theology, was first held on September 5, 1998 in Harlem. Despite its controversy and unquestionable militance, it attracted tens of thousands of young people from all around the country. Its convener, Khallid Abdul Muhammad, called for two successive MYMs that were marked by the young people who had since joined his New Black Panther Party (NBPP). Muhammad, who was the national chairman of the NBPP, died suddenly from a brain aneurysm on February 17th, which ironically was the birthday of the late Huey P. Newton, the founder of the original Black Panther Party. 

The anniversary was an uptempo, multidimensional and intergenerational all-day affair. It began around noon with the audience being treated to vintage stock video footage of the fallen nationalist leader in “raw” form.

After two hours of video treats, local Panther leader Bruce Karriem, opened the program for tributes.

Runako Gamba did a strong poem by The Last Poets called Been Done Already dedicated to his late leader.

Conscious rapper Nitebreed, who performed at last year’s MYM, said, “you can measure how Black you are by how close you come to Khallid Muhammad.” He then treated the audience to an original rap, which will be featured on his new, soon to be released independent cd ‘Uncle Sam Is Satan.’

Azeem Muhammad, a photographer with the National Action Network’s Photo Club, recounted how Muhammad stood down a confrontation with the police at the last MYM.

            “The police were in riot gear and it looked they were getting to move on the Panthers as they were marching towards 125^th Street and Khallid said ‘the hell with that, get in the damn streets!’ Then Khallid got out front and started running right at them.”

            The photographer, who has what is bound to become a classic photo of Muhammad from that last MYM, then called for a pictorial memorial for the late nationalist leader.

            Elder Delois Blakely acknowledged Khallid’s love and reverence for the late Queen Mother Moore, another Harlem legend of African nationalism, who was considered by many “the mother of the reparations movement,” and for African women as mothers. 

            The Party’s NJ chairman Divine Allah, who brought five busses from Trenton to the first MYM, captured his leader’s brilliance as a communicator.

 “He knew how to assimilate everything we have amongst our people that is good.”

            Zayid Muhammad, the Party’s regional chief of staff, went further and said that with his restatement of the 10 point platform and program for the NBPP, Khallid “synthesized most of what was valid and good of our people’s contributions to 20^th century African nationalism in a fresh and original way.”

            He also made a point to stress the Muhammad was also an organizer of the highest order in the nationalist tradition. He said that Muhammad was not only one of the few leaders not to “abandon” Black youth on the streets “at a time when crack was being dropped on us like napalm, he ran to them in true FOI fashion” and perhaps did more to rebuild the Nation Of Islam for Louis Farrakhan than anyone else. He also said that when Muhammad was brought into the New Black Panther Party by its founder Aaron Michaels and made national chairman, he then “transformed” that organization, which was “then a Texas-based southern organization, into a full-fledged national organization that would confront the Klan in Texas after they ripped James Byrd’s head off of his shoulders” while the other so-called Black leaders were “on their knees.”

            Perhaps the most touching and culturally informed of all the evening’s tributes came from Paterson-based journalist Kamau Khalfani who analyzed Khallid’s legacy in traditional African terms.

            “In the Yoruba language and tradition, Khallid Abdul Muhammad was a ‘bologun,’ a people’s general, a warrior supreme who has the love of the people.”

            At around 7p.m., the Party’s national leadership stormed in fresh from a press conference in Washington, D.C. at the Jewish National Holocaust Museum where they issued a call for reparations for  “the Black Holocaust our people faced for 400 years!”

            Attorney Malik Zulu Shabazz, the “national representative of Khallid Abdul Muhammad,” then announced that there would be a Million Youth March and Rally in 2002 “so get ready.”

            “We are the children of Khallid Abdul Muhammad. As long as we are around, they will not write Khallid Abdul Muhammad out of history,” he finished heartily.

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’ Bro. Zayid’ Kazi Angaza Kikongo Muhammad

9/3/01