THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS
January 6, 2022 - January 12, 2022 • 23
Religion & Spirituality Remembering Dr. Khalid Abdul Muhammad: The resurrector By AUTODIDACT 17 Special to the AmNews
(Azim Thomas photo)
This track’s music video depicted the crippling effects of the torrential crack epidem“Have you forgotic gripping Black communiten that once we were ties across the country then. brought here, we were It fit most appropriately with robbed of our names, “The Prophets of Rage” social robbed of our lanmessages and introduced guage, we lost our reKhalid’s insightful words to ligion, our culture, our millions of hip hop aficionaGod; and many of us, dos globally, further immorby the way we act, we talizing him. even lost our minds!” “Black people have been assessed Dr. Khalid robbed of a knowledge-ofMuhammad. self, they start to take on Wednesday, Jan. 12 the characteristics and the marks the 74th physinature of their oppressor and cal day anniversary of colonizer and his mind by the undiluted “Truth automatic systematic remote Terrorist,” Dr. Khalid control rule of our people,” Abdul Muhammad. Dr. Khalid noted. For a couple decades, he called Harlem head of the secular New Black Panther During the second half of the 1990s his home and made a significant impact Party (mid-90s to 2001), he motivated the Black History Hitman conducton area youths by nourishing their local youths to be productive leaders in ed many speaking engagements at minds prior to becoming an ancestor their communities. various college campuses and lecon Feb. 17, 2001, at 58 years old. His above quote was sampled on ture halls nationwide, disseminatWhether as minister of the Nation of the intro to progressive hip hop super- ing empowering information rarely Islam’s Temple #7 during the mid-1980s group Public Enemy’s 1989 hit single discussed, and often controversial, til late 1993, then at 2033 Fifth Ave., or as “The Night of the Living Baseheads.” such as, “Who is that mystery God?” Dr. Khalid Abdul Muhammad
Dr. Helen Chavis Othow Dies at 89 Dr. Helen Chavis Othow, the beloved author, college professor and sister of National Newspaper Publishers Association President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., died at the age of 89 on Jan. 1, 2022 in Oxford, North Carolina. A lover of reading, writing, and history, Dr. Othow received her Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin in Madison and majored in Black studies and African, African American, and Caribbean literature. She also studied Elizabethan and Medieval literature, and her dissertation, “The New Decorum: Moral Perspectives of Black Literature,” was published in the Library of Congress. Dr. Othow presented “Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali” by D.T. Niane, that illustrated her appreciation and knowledge of African culture. She expressed a desire to impart knowledge to all citizens of the world. “My sister was also a freedom fighter,” Dr. Chavis remarked. “The Chavis family has been fighting for freedom, justice,
and equality for 250 years in Dr. Helen Chavis Othow America and in Africa.” Born April 21, 1932, in Oxford, North Carolina, Othow was the daughter of Benjamin Franklin Chavis Sr., who was a Prince Hall mason and superintendent of African American child-care institutions, and Elisabeth R. Chavis, a writer and public school teacher for 65 years. A municipal park in Raleigh, North Carolina, bears the name of her ancestor educator, John Chavis (1763-1838). The beloved scholar Dr. Othow also received a bachelor’s degree from St. Augustine’s College, and she earned her master’s at North Carolina Central in the literary and other arts. Othow University. also taught at the following HistoriShe eventually became head of the cally Black Colleges and Universities English Department at St. Augustine’s (HBCUs): Howard University, JohnCollege. son C. Smith University, North Carolina She was also widely acclaimed and Central University, Hampton Universirespected as a conscientious schol- ty, and Jackson State University. ar dedicated to enhancing excellence Othow pushed for the understanding
of African American history, including educating her students and others about John Chavis, who fought in the Revolutionary War and became an educator who taught some of North Carolina’s most influential leaders. Dr. Othow is survived by her daughter, Ajulonyodier Elisabeth Othow, her brother, Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., and her sisters, Dr. La Rhoda Francine Chavis, MD and Carol Faye Paton, and a host of other relatives. Funeral services for Dr. Othow are scheduled for 1 p.m. EST., Saturday, Jan. 8 at the Chavis Family Cemetery in Oxford, North Carolina. Condolences can be sent to Wright Funeral Home, Inc. at wfhoxf@embarqmail.com, or by visiting the funeral home’s website at www.wrightfuneralhomeoxford.com. (Photo courtesy of NNPA)
By STACY M. BROWN NNPA Senior Correspondent
“Is the white man the devil?” as well as religion vs. spirituality, and “the secret relationship between Blacks and Jews,” just to name a few. He fearlessly walked the streets of a pre-gentrified Harlem dolo, without bodyguards, companions, nor much fanfare, always greeting those who recognized him. He made many optimistic that situations would soon improve, regardless how bleak they seemed to be, he’d breathe life into them. “Dr. Khalid was the epitome of Black manhood. An uncompromising Black Nationalist and messiah of our time!” reflected Kem-Neter, NBPP minister of information. “Brother Khalid Muhammad was dedicated and committed to freeing his people from the garnish they were undergoing because he had an undying love for them,” explained documentary photographer Azim Thomas, who initially met Khalid in 1993 at Temple #7. “He dedicated his whole life to the resurrection of his people.” In Khalid’s own immortal words: “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter!”
