Artifacts #3: RESEARCHING THE UNDERGROUND PRESS
Muhammad Speaks, a newspaper battling against the prejudice encountered by black people in America, was published in Chicago, Illinois, between 1961 and 1975 by Elijah Muhammad, Malcolm X and their followers. As the article, On Whites and Negroes describes, "We want what you want today, and that is independence, we want peace, and whether you want peace or not, we want peace and security from you." Additionally, the newspaper urges African American population to value Islam over Christianity and promotes it throughout the paper. As Edward Curtis mentions, Elijah’s thought “the idea that blacks had been poisoned by foods, liquor, and tobacco given to them long ago by white American Christian slaveholders.” The newspaper's headlines are highly straightforward and increase reader engagement. The publication is frank and offers convincing evidence to challenge its acquisitions.
What is Muhammad Speaks?
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Headline of Muhammad Speaks Vol. 2 -No. 18
WE WANT PEACE!
The desegregation of African Americans is a very prevalent theme throughout the Mohammad Speaks newspaper publication. There are countless stories bringing up instances where individuals were penalized or mistreated by the authorities. The pieces discuss the brutal and unjust ways that the government treats African American people by using facts and testimonies of the victims. This can be seen through the “Battle of Birmingham,” where more than 13 African American protestors were attacked by dogs, while others were drenched and bruised by high-pressure hoses by “patrolling policemen and heavily-armed highway patrolmen.” According to one story, the chairman of the Illinois Public Aid Commission ran into difficulties when he attempted to introduce a welfare program for African Americans. In a press conference, he made significant statements about how the Legislative prioritizes white people over black people, thinking that by bringing the truth to light, he could have salvaged the program. He later lost his job because of his comments, in which he referred to their behavior as "Hitlerism." They discussed the issue of starvation faced by black mothers and children in another article. The Illinois legislature voted to withhold $28 million, which caused thousands of people to go starving. I saw a lot of evidence that led me to conclude that the legislation was biased against them, and they had many difficulties.
A police dog attacks a black protestor
"THERE IS NO GOD BUT ALLAH"
The issues that Muslims face in America are also part of this publication. The headline on the Mohammad Speaks newspaper reads, “Will the Muslims Attack America?”. This conveys the hostility Muslims experience in the U.S. For example, there was a story describing how 14 Muslims were beaten and shot by Los Angeles police chief William H. Parker without any cause. Another spoke about how the police entered the mosque and used water hoses to attack its patrons and how the judiciary rejected their case as “no civil rights have been violated.” These cases revealed the inherent racism of even “liberal California.” Just because of the victim’s skin color, they were still “guilt by accusation” so long as the defendants were people of color and the jury was hand-picked to be white. Seeing these injustices happening in his community, Elijah Muhammad took it upon himself to try and create a revolutionary movement that attempted to overthrow the entire system and replace it with another – a newer, more just, and separate world. It is evident from Elijah Muhammad's writing that he deemed it necessary to create a separate country for black people since they could never mix with white people. The blatant racism and its effects that they have faced can never be rectified or washed over. As a claimed messenger of Allah, Muhammad inspired many young and eager men to join the revolution. He writes, “you see, I am between life and death, and I have to say these things in the way I see them. There was a time when I had no knowledge of them. But they have been revealed to me, and now Allah would punish me if I did not say them.” Former U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy stood alongside the Muslim community and said, “Muslims not 'Subversive.'” He stated that their movement was not breaking any laws, and he believed that one day America would no longer be a racist country.
Heading of the Comic Story
Advertisement of one of the many Mosques
The newspaper Muhammad Speaks has excellent visual appeal. The newspaper has a wide range of items that encourage multimodal communication. According to Kharram Hussain’s paper Dreaming Differently About Freedom: Malcolm X and Muhammad Speaks he mentioned “Malcolm X laid the foundation for the newspaper’s style, content and grassroots approach.” For Elijah's speech, the newspaper included a radio schedule, which made it easier to go from one way of acquiring the information to another. The newspaper's advertisements promoted the businesses and ideals of a certain population (African Americans). The fact that each piece was edited by a different editor gives insight into the size of the team, how far the issues expand into the African American community, as well as the different perspectives. A part of a poetry about slavery and freedom was also included in this edition. We can see that the newspaper's comics and cartoons section frequently criticize the government and the police. The publication contained numerous mosque advertisements, which were likely used to attract more people towards Islam.
More than an Underground Press
Advertisement of a Store owned by a Muslim Person
A multimodal project by Devansh Mohan Sinha for Dr. Sturm's ENGL 1102, Georgia State University Fall 2022