“Always Down for the Cause, Never Down for the Count”: Remembering Texas Civil Rights Leader Thomas Muhammad

The passing of revered local Muslim leader, Thomas Ali Muhammad, who passed away in August at the age of 71, was commemorated by friends and family in a special memorial service last month.

“So many of our great leaders, once they pass they’re long forgotten,” said Muhammad’s widow, Ameenah Sabour Muhammad. “If we continue to keep the legacy alive, to keep the name alive, it is hoped that others who come along after them will pick up the torch and carry it along.” 

Often referred to as a man who did it all, Muhammad was vocal about the injustices Black and Brown people face in the United States while remaining steadfast in his faith.

The Dallas-born native was a practicing Muslim who made the hajj pilgrimage to the Holy City of Mecca in July 1990. His civil rights activism began as a teenager at James Madison High School, when he was a member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.

Muhammad was admired for his dedication to upholding human rights and advocating for policy changes to ensure equality. He put his boots on the ground and picketed as part of The Warriors, a group of activists that protested against social injustice.

He was the co-founder and board vice president of the South Dallas/Fair Park Innercity Community Development Corp., was on the board of the Black Academy of Arts and Letters and served as chair of the National Black United Front’s Dallas Chapter. 

Shaheed Khalid, former Imam of downtown Dallas’ Masjid Al Islam attended the memorial as a mark of respect for the man he met in the 80s. Imam Khalid admired Muhammad’s ability to bring together all sects of Muslims, Christians and political leaders. 

“Most of all he was a sincere dedicated, practicing Muslim and husband. He served on the Mosque board and was chairman,” said Khalid. “In my 70 years on this earth, I have never met anyone quite like him. He was a true legend and power broker locally and nationally among the community and political leaders.” 

The Imam recalls a fond memory of a packed birthday party Muhammad hosted with prominent Black political leaders, Black pastors as well as the Dallas Police Chief John Wiley Price and state senator Royce West. 

In the 1990s, Muhammad was tri-chair for the Dallas Community Leadership Luncheon with Chief Price and attorney James Belt, as they spoke out against police brutality, unfair hiring practices and racism. He also spoke out against the targeting of the Muslim community by law enforcement.

“He was an unflinching public defender of the Holy Land Foundation and their associates that were arrested, and held many press conferences over the years,” said Khalid. “A truly remarkable brother and a true legend.”

As a lifelong activist, Muhammad was passionate about honoring those who paved the way for civil rights and helped organize the annual “Selma to Montgomery” march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Alabama. He held an executive board position at the National Voting Rights Museum and Institute for over 20 years.

Like so many Americans Muhammad was scarred by the memory of Sunday, March 7, 1965, a.ka. “Bloody Sunday,” when 600 civil rights marchers were beaten and tear-gassed by Alabama troopers for asking for their right to vote. 

Muhammad was a student of Malcolm X and later created the 2017 Malcolm X documentary “Malcolm X: An Overwhelming Influence on the Black Power Movement”. 

Also in attendance at the memorial was the founder and curator of the Latino Arts Project, Jorge Baldor, who produced the film and says that as a historian he always enjoyed hearing Thomas’ stories.

“I got to know him as a person and the impact he had on so many people,” said Baldor. “So today’s memorializing of Thomas and celebrating his life is really important to take back the years he’s poured into the civil rights movements and trying to improve other’s lives, here’s a way to give back to him.” 

More than anything Thomas Ali Muhammad’s memorial, which was hosted by the Innercity Community Development Corporation and the Black Academy of Arts and Letters, was an opportunity for those who knew him to remember the humble essence of the man. 

“His walls at home are full of awards, but he was a sincere practicing Muslim and would regularly and always remind his many audiences, friends, associates and partners that his religion was Islam,” said Imam Khalid. 

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