02/17/2026
In recognition of Black History Month, Congressional Cemetery highlights the story of Askia Charles Muhammad. Remembered by his family as "gentle, yet fierce and determined," his epitaph recalls him as "a journalist's journalist."
Born as Charles Moreland, Jr. in Mississippi in 1945, he was raised by his mother and grandmother in Watts, Los Angeles. He was a student of journalism at Los Angeles City College, and then of Black Studies and Journalism at San Jose State. In 1967 he became an officer in the U.S. Naval Reserve. A few years later, he received a discharge from the USNR after he filed conscientious objector documents over his opposition to U.S. operations in Vietnam. This followed the start of his heavy involvement in the Nation of Islam in 1968. In 1969, Charles Moreland, in keeping with the customs of the Nation of Islam, adopted the name Charles 67X. In the mid-70s, he was bestowed with the name Askia Muhammad.
With his collegiate studies and a Newsweek internship as part of his foundation, Muhammad became a journalist at the Muhammad Speaks newspaper published by the Nation of Islam. His obituary describes him as "a liberatory journalist" who covered people like activist Cesar Chavez and civil rights attorney Charles Garry. In a few short years, he became editor-in-chief of Muhammad Speaks and, in 1979, senior editor of the Final Call.
Muhammad also worked for the Chicago Defender, which sent him to Washington to serve as a White House correspondent in 1977, to cover the Carter Administration. In the ensuing decades he also worked at the Washington Informer, NPR, and the Black Journalism Review, among other organizations. For them he covered Democratic and Republican National Party conventions, the October 1995 Million Man March on the National Mall, the 2009 inauguration of Barack Obama, and many other political events. For 42 years, WPFW aired the jazz program he hosted, "Yardbird Sweets." He received numerous awards during his career, including the Washington Association of Black Journalists President's Award and the D.C. Mayor's Award for Excellence in Service to the Arts.
