Acclaimed journalist debuts photo exhibit at new Muslim museum

By Michael Z. Muhammad | Last updated: Jun 20, 2007 - 12:51:00 PM

PHILADELPHIA (FinalCall.com) - The New Africa Center/Muslim American Museum & Archive—the first museum of its kind in the country dedicated to preserving the history of Islam in the West—located at 4243 Lancaster Ave., is currently hosting the Philadelphia debut of photographs taken by acclaimed author and photojournalist Askia Muhammad. The exhibit, “Western Sunrise, The Nation of Islam in the West,” opened June 8 as part of the 2007 Islamic Heritage Festival and Parade during the Archive’s open house, and will run for four weeks.

As the Senior Correspondent for The Final Call newspaper and head of its Washington, D.C. bureau office, Mr. Muhammad is also a poet, and radio and television commentator. He also serves as News Director at Pacifica Radio’s WPFW-FM in Washington and has been host of the station’s show Tuesday Morning Jazz, since 1979.

"The Comb" - Muhammad Ali with former Illinois State Sen. Charles Chew, taken in 1975 in Chicago.

Mr. Muhammad is a regular columnist for The Washington Informer; has been an occasional commentator on National Public Radio’s (NPR) All Things Considered and BET.com; and is the editor of the National Scene News Bureau, a freelance news agency serving broadcasting, editorial and photographic clients.

“Askia Muhammad is a personal friend and a superb political analyst,” wrote Congressman John Conyers (D-MI). “He knows both the players and the issues.”

A Washington correspondent since 1977, his reports from Capitol Hill, the White House and diplomatic events that date back to the second inauguration of Richard Nixon and span the terms of seven American presidents.

Author of the book “Behind Enemy Lines,” which was published in 1996, he is a winner of many of the most prestigious awards in journalism and the arts, which include his Soundprint.org documentary “Mississippi Becomes a Democracy” in 2004, hosted by the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), as well as winner of the Unity Awards in Journalism presented by Lincoln University of Missouri.

"Sunday Morning" - Taken in Vallejo, California in 1971.

Mr. Muhammad is the former Editor-In-Chief of Muhammad Speaks newspaper, and his articles have appeared in USA TODAY, The Washington Post, The Nation, Jet, The Baltimore Sun, The Chicago Tribune, and The Boston Globe.

Three times a judge of the National Newspaper Publishers Association Merit Awards, he has also served twice as a judge of the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Awards.

The Museum’s president, Raheem Muhammad is proud and pleased to host Mr. Muhammad’s work.

“This type of presentation is at the core of what the Museum is all about.” he states.

In its 15th year, the Islamic Cultural Preservation and Information Council (ICPIC), the most progressive Black Islamic cultural organization in the country, is the festival’s sponsor.

For more information on the exhibit, please call (610) 352-0424 or (215) 222-0520.

The Final Call