On a given day, Brother Elijah Shabazz could be seen in his swimsuit and bow tie, promoting both The Last Name newspaper or bean pies on the streets of Harlem, a follow he calls “soldiering.” He’s generally with 4 or 5 of his younger college students within the Junior Fruit of Islam (FOI) and has turn into well-known to neighborhood members as a robust illustration of the Nation of Islam for greater than 30 years locally.
“When you might have one thing, and you understand it’s good for individuals, in the event you love your individuals, you wish to share it with them,” Shabazz stated.
Since retiring from his job in 2023, Shabazz, 55, has devoted his time totally to the Muhammad Mosque No. 7’s Okay-8 college, Muhammad College of Islam NYC. He instructs college students on varied topics together with Arabic, Islamic and Africana Research, and enterprise.
Shabazz was raised within the South Bronx in the course of the early days of hip-hop, and like many New Yorkers, he says that interval formed his life. Each of his dad and mom had been members of the NOI, becoming a member of the group within the Sixties.
His household took a step again from following the Nation’s throughout its temporary transition to Sunni Islam in 1975. However It wasn’t till Shabazz was a youngster within the mid Eighties when he selected to return to the Nation after being impressed by Minister Louis Farrakhan, who had turn into its main voice. Like his father, Shabazz says he was caught up within the hassle of the streets and realized it was a useless finish motivating him to show to the Nation. Since he was 16, he has been promoting the newspaper.
As a younger grownup, Shabazz was concerned in organizing and selling occasions in New York and New Jersey for the Nation together with occasions on the Apollo involving Dr. Khalil Muhammad and hip-hop stars like Public Enemy, Jungle Brothers, and Sister Souljah. In 1990, he and one other NOI brother of his, MCJX, launched a rap album Black In Time. Shabazz later served as managing editor of a short-lived journal, “Movie star Report,” based by Edward Funches, and featured interviews with Magic Johnson, Gayle King, and Yung Joc.
In 1989, Shabazz appeared in Public Enemy’s “Combat the Energy” music video which was shot in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn for the soundtrack of Spike Lee’s “Do the Proper Factor.” He fondly remembers it as one of many biggest experiences of his life. On the time, members of the FOI would work as safety for Lee, which included Shabazz, who was round 18 years outdated on the time. He explains that he and the opposite FOI safety weren’t simply showing within the video, however really working and securing the set.
“That entire surroundings was not staged in any respect,” Shabazz stated. It was within the filming of the video the place he says he realized how a lot respect the Nation commanded with the neighborhood for his or her good work. “These brothers weren’t listening to the police. But when I requested them to step again, they stepped again. It amazed me,” he added.
In 1996, Shabazz started his instructing for the Junior FOI as a volunteer at Mosque No. 7. Shortly earlier than COVID, he grew to become full time a couple of years later. Shabazz says that for a number of of the scholars he teaches at this time, he additionally taught their fathers through the years.
Together with promoting the Last Name paper, the FOI Drill group is one other one of many actions Shabazz leads for the youth on the college. These are supposed to enhance the psychological self-discipline of scholars and concentrate on serving to them towards their targets. Shabazz and his college students generally transcend Harlem with the paper, and have traveled to completely different cities with their “Savior’s Tour.”
“It makes the younger brothers really feel good that it makes them really feel like they’re doing one thing optimistic with themselves and with their life,” Shabazz stated. “It offers our youth … a greater picture of the black man.”
Since his highschool days, analysis and scholarship have been a spotlight in Shabazz’s life and he has spent a lot of his time within the Schomburg Library. Round 2010, he utilized these abilities, discovering his roots with the Fulani Tribe in West Africa. Lately, he has shared his journey towards turning into Fulani and instructing the historical past of the individuals on his YouTube channel.
Shabazz says it is extremely “humbling” to be identified and have made connections with the Harlem neighborhood over these a few years. “It’s a really attention-grabbing expertise how one can simply turn into common with a newspaper, simply principally speaking to individuals, and doing all your work,” he stated.
