Khallid Abdul Muhammad

After unresolved differences with the Nation of Islam leadership, Khallid Muhammad lost his position as NOI spokesman, Khallid then became the national chairman of the New Black Panther Party.

In 1998, Muhammad organized the "Million Youth March" in New York City which attracted an estimated 6,000 participants. New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani denied the organizers a permit, calling it a hate march. A court ruled that the event could go on but scaled back its duration and size. At the conclusion of the rally, just as Muhammad appeared on the stage to speak, the demonstration was interrupted by a low-flying police helicopter. Muhammad alleges that was the signal for more than 3,000 police in riot gear, including some mounted on horseback, to come in and disperse the crowd. In response, Muhammad encouraged the rally participants to defend themselves against the oncoming police. Muhammad convened a second march in 1999.

This marked Khallid Muhammad's genesis with the New Black Panther Party. Publicly armed New Black Panther men with rifles and shot- guns held post on the sidewalk and inside the meeting. The young New Black Panthers received Khallid Abdul Muhammad very well. We arrived with our posse of armed Black Muslims, who were loyal to Khallid. and we talked extensively of uncompromising struggle; of Panther and revolutionary history; and of actions we could envision undertaking.

It was an historic meeting between Dr. Khallid and the New Black Panther Party. We now had an official armed, militant organization backing us. Soon, Khallid would become the national chairman of the New Black Panther Party and would subsequently accelerate the armed self-defense movement like a national wildfire. Dr. Khallid's alliance with the NBPP was due to Hashim Nzinga, who said that the help from the Panthers came precisely when Minister Khallid was without security and most vulnerable. At this time there were many threats on Khallid that he would be assassinated. But now we were no longer willing to face it without being able to kill in return.