To say Munir Muhammad was blessed with the gift of gab is an understatement.
As the host of several self-produced TV shows on the broadcast arm of his Coalition for the Remembrance of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, or CROE, Munir Muhammad conducted more than 8,000 lengthy interviews over the last 21 years broadcast all over the world. His long list of guests includes three Illinois governors, two Chicago mayors, then-U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, Minister Louis Farrakhan, Sen. Dick Durbin, and actor Harry Lennix.
“He had a way of having these relaxed conversations,” said Mandene Muhammad, Munir’s assistant, and a CROE TV producer. “It would just flow.”
Mr. Muhammad considered himself an archivist — not journalist — but often functioned as one. Many of his shows centered on speaking with leaders and officials about city services or laws and how they affected the everyday lives of people living in marginalized communities, from explaining how to lower your water bill to the way the criminal justice system worked.
“It was more like a quest for information,” said his son, Jamil Muhammad. “There were lots of stories that didn’t make it to the mainstream media and he wanted to tell them. It was one of the ways he showed his love for the community.”
Mr. Muhammad’s final show was July 7. He died two days later at his home. He was 69.
Born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1950, he moved to Chicago more than one month after the Rev. Martin Luther King was assassinated. He got a job at DeMert & Dougherty, a hair care products and personal grooming company, and later worked as an assistant code enforcer for the city of Chicago.
Mr. Muhammad said his life changed in 1972 after listening to the teachings of Nation of Islam founder Elijah Muhammad for the first time. “Always, Mr. Muhammad was trying to get you to think. The ultimate goal was to try to get you to love yourself first,” Munir told the Chicago Crusader in 2018.
He became a member of the Nation of Islam at the age of 22 and soon served as an assistant minister to Farrakhan on the city’s West Side. But that changed one year later when Elijah Muhammad died of congestive heart failure in 1975.
Twelve years later, he co-founded CROE — a group separate from Farrakhan’s Nation of Islam — along with Halif Muhammad and Shahid Muslim. It started as a small organization that met at his home on the South Side but grew into a building near 71st and Western Ave. that housed historical artifacts of Elijah Muhammad and a television studio that soon begun broadcasting the show “Muhammad and Friends.”
On his show, Mr. Muhammad had on-air conversations with people of all stripes: from prominent elected officials to faith leaders, foreign dignitaries, doctors, lawyers, and more.
That gregariousness wasn’t simply an on-screen persona. He’d walk around Chicago and strike up chats with strangers — or vice versa.
“It didn’t matter if it was the shoeshine attendant,” said Jamil. “It was like he knew everyone.”
His ability to reach an alternative audience made him a popular ally for local politicians. Sometimes that also made him the target of controversy. In 2006, political opponents of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich made hay about Muhammad’s appointment to the state Human Rights Commission because of decades-old Black separatist views of Elijah Muhammad quoted on the CROE website. But Elijah Muhammad’s true message, insisted Munir, was “self-government, standing black people up, cleaning them up.”
Those controversies have faded and Mr. Muhammad has kept broadcasting his live show every Sunday and Wednesday until his death this week.
His son and co-host Jamil decided to go through with Wednesday’s broadcast, where he tearfully announced his father’s passing. He says he will continue in his father’s footsteps and take over the show.
“My father was extraordinarily committed to the defense of the legacy of Elijah Muhammad, committed to his family, friends, and community,” said Jamil. “Now I’m committed to keeping the show going and honoring his legacy. It’s what he would have wanted.”
Mr. Muhammad is survived by his wife, Aminah, sons Jamil and Carlos, and daughter Aginah.
A visitation is planned at CROE, 2435 W. 71st St., from 12-6 p.m. Saturday and funeral services area at 10 a.m. Monday at the House of Hope, 752 E. 114th Street.
