Black History Month
By Mohammad Yacoob
Hawthorne, CA
It was one of the days during the first week this month, February 2012, when I saw Kareem Abdul Jabbar on a TV show discussing his new book, ‘What Color Is My World?: The Lost History of African-American Inventors.’ The conversation turned to ‘Black History Month’ because February has been designated as the Black History Month. I had goose pimple all over my body; two young faces appeared in front of my eyes, faces of Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Leroy Ellis, another Los Angeles Laker basketball player. It opened up recesses of my interlaced memory strings to retrieve thoughts residing deep inside.
I started reminiscing about my first day in Los Angeles in September 1962. I had just arrived in the city to attend Northrop University located about four miles from Los Angeles International Airport in the city of Inglewood. I went straight to the Foreign Students Adviser Office per instructions I had received in Hyderabad, India, along with my Student’s Visa. The Advisor welcomed me and talked about engineering courses, books, college campus, student housing and immigration requirements. One cautionary statement he made startled and shocked me, scared the daylight out of me, and also made me fearful and nervous. He said, “Don’t go to Tijuana, the Mexican border city, south of city of San Diego, and don’t become friendly with the Black Muslims in Los Angeles.” The first thought that came to my mind was about being deported back to India. The advisor did not elaborate or provide an explanation for his warning. Almost 45 years later in 2007, I learned the truth about his statement. I learned that in April 1962 scores of policeman went to the Nation of Islam mosque in Los Angeles and wounded seven unarmed Muslims, leaving one paralyzed and another dead. There was tension in Los Angles in 1962 and the debate was continuing about whether it was a racially motivated assault, justifiable homicide, police brutality, or government repression. It seems the Advisor did not want me to get tangled in the web of the prevailing racial situation and tension in Los Angeles and end up in trouble with the immigration authorities.
During my college days, I tried to avoid meeting and or talking to African-Americans. Yet, one day, I really got a jolt, when I was greeted by a young African-American in a suit with the Islamic greeting of ‘As-Salaamu alaykum’ on the Market Street in downtown Inglewood. I became more inquisitive about Black Muslims, but still was scared to talk to any African-American.
My intrusive nature got a new push when I heard about the Championship fight between Cassius Clay and Sonny Liston. This Liston-Ali fight took place on February 25, 1964, exactly 48 years ago. Sonny Liston was the world heavyweight champion, having beaten Floyd Patterson by a first round knockout in September 1962. In 1964 I was going to college during day time and working part time at night during the weekdays. My colleague at work was a middle aged man from Greece. On the very first day on the job when I introduced myself to him, I told him that my last name was Yacoob and that it is Jacob. In his most beautiful Greek accent, he used to call me Ja-Khouf. On February 25, 1964, before the start of the fight, he told me, “Ja-Khouf, Liston is going to kill that kid.” After the fight, he came to me and expressed his astonishment about Cassius Clay winning the fight and felt sorry for Sonny Liston. Being a young man, I was in favor of Cassius Clay winning the fight. Cassius Clay later became a Muslim and changed his name to Muhammad Ali. One of the strangest feelings about this fight was that Cassius Clay is one of the African Americans the Internation Students Advisor at the University did not want me to meet.
In 1992 I wrote and article about Malclom X and Muhammad Ali entitled ’Islam’s impact
on American life’. The article appears below. The article was published in The Minaret Magazine, Los Angeles.
Islam’s impact on American life by Mohammed Yacoob
The FALL 1990 SPECIAL ISSUE OF LIFE magazine was published to honor the 100 most important Americans of the 20th century. The list includes two Muslims: Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali. The write-up along with Malcolm X’s picture says, “Then a pilgrimage to Mecca taught him that all whites did not hate.” The anger of Malcolm X coupled with the teachings of Elijah Muhammad worked as a catalyst in the civil rights movement for the African-American people. In the process, Malcolm X discovered that there is more to Islam than he had learned. To embrace the real world of Islam he made a Haj pilgrimage to Mecca. There he met Muslims of all colors and races. They displayed dignity, tolerance and morality of the highest order in their personal conduct. Malcolm X learned more about Islam from them. He learned that Islam is not based on race, color, nationality, ancestry and other human- made barriers that are part of Western civilization. He further learned that there is no room for racism in Islam, “An Arab is not superior to a non-Arab except for piety.” This Islamic perspective gave him an insight into Islam and provided him with a first hand experience that made him realize that all whites did not hate. The Haj pilgrimage to Mecca taught him that as a follower of Islam it is a sinful act to hate anyone.
The words next to Muhammad Ali’s picture in life read “the Boxing Champ Who Declined to Fight.” Yes, the boxing champ, Muhammad Ali, declined to fight in the ring. In 1964, he won the World Boxing Championship. Later, he declared that he was a Muslim and that his full name was Muhammad Ali. The news media gathered around him and tried to extract sensational stories about Islam from him. They continued to call him Cassius Clay. In November 1965, he was scheduled to fight Floyd Patterson in Las Vegas. He arrived at the boxing arena and noticed the names Cassius Clay and Floyd Patterson on posters. He was upset. Challenging the organizers, he said that unless he was called Muhammad Ali, he would not fight. The organizers were nervous. Within an hour, new posters were printed and posted all over the arena. Muhammad Ali won the fight against Floyd Patterson in the ring and against the organizers and profiteers outside the ring. Muhammad Ali has often made the comment, “I don’t have to be what you want me to be.”(The Minaret May / June 1992, The MINARET, 434 South Vermont, Los Angeles, California 90020, Editorial: (213) 384-4570).
I saw Muhammad Ali in 1988 or 1989 in Hawthorne Plaza signing his book. I saw him only from a distance of about fifty feet. That is the only time I saw him in person.
In April 1966, I got my engineering degree from Northrop University. At that time, I was working nights as a technician in National Cash Register (NCR) Computer Division in Los Angeles. I was promoted to full time Quality Control Engineer during day time. I talked to my new Manager and he helped me obtain a letter from the NCR Employment Department stating that I am a full time employee and my employment is of permanent nature. I sent this letter along with other documents to India for getting a visa for my wife and two children to come to the United States. In the meantime, I continued to search for a two-bedroom apartment. I was seeking help from anybody and everybody. The Human Relations Department of NCR informed about a two-bedroom apartment in Inglewood, a city that had 100% white population. The Watts riots of 1965 that took place in Los Angeles were fresh in the minds of the Californians; many cities were looking for diversity.
I went to the given address. The house was in the back and a new two-storied two-bedroom duplex apartment was in the front. I showed the NCR letter to Mrs. Ola Pacifico, the land lady, who introduced herself as a native American. Yes, she was an American Indian; I had a little smirk on my face – an East Indian meeting an American Indian. This was the first time I had met an American Indian; had only seen them in the cowboy movies and on horseback. Mrs. Ola Pacifico took me to the first floor apartment and talked with Nancy, the tenant lady. Nancy allowed me to see the apartment. I was surprised to see almost fifteen pairs of big shoes neatly arranged against the walls in one room; the other room was the couple’s bedroom. In her house, Mrs. Ola Pacifico told me that Nancy is the wife of Leroy Ellis, Los Angeles Lakers basketball player, who has been traded to a team back east and will be leaving by the end of May 1966 to join his new team. My encounter with Leroy Ellis’ family got me interested in Lakers basketball team because I had more time at my hand; no college studies, only work and the long wait for my family to arrive from my home town of Hyderabad in India. As soon as I saw Kareem Abdul Jabbar plugging his new book -What Color is My World? - Leroy Ellis’ face flashed in front of me.
I paid the deposit and first month rent to Mrs. Ola Pacifico and moved into the two bedroom apartment on June 1, 1966. In August 1966 my wife informed me that they are in the process of getting the US visa and if everything goes well, they will be arriving in Los Angeles in September. My wife Sajida and daughter Bilquis and son Sajjad arrived in Los Angeles in September 1966.
In 1968 many of my friends living in West Los Angeles and Culver City decided to rent a one-bedroom apartment for one month to perform the Taraweh – the evening prayers during Ramadan – at this apartment. The Islamic Center, at that time, was located in East Los Angeles, almost twenty miles from Culver City and no body was ready to go there every night during the month of Ramadan. Renting of an apartment for one month became a reality when one of the managers of the apartment buildings in that area agreed to rent the empty apartment near the University of California Los Angeles Married Students Quarters for one month. One day, Dr. Salahuddin Bryson, an African American, brought a tall young man and said that he will sit in the back and watch us pray. He added that the young man was doing his Masters Degree in Islamic Studies at UCLA. In 1969, the Islamic Center of Southern California moved from East Los Angeles to Wilshire District in Los Angeles downtown. It was early 1970 when I saw the same tall young man, who had watched us praying Taraweh in Culver City, in the Islamic Center. I was told that his name is Lew Alcindor and he is a basket player at UCLA. Later, he changed his name to Kareem Abdul Jabbar.
In the meantime more and more Muslim families started building new mosques in other parts of Southern California. A new mosque, Masjid-Ul-Islam, was established in the City of Inglewood and was located just two miles from the Forum, the home of Los Angeles Lakers. In the 1980’s Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Jamal Wilkes, the top players of Lakers, visited the Inglewood Mosque many, many times. I had the privilege of meeting Kareem Abdul Jabbar more than five times. He used to come for the Juma Friday Prayer at the Mosque. I met Jamal Wilkes many times. He started recognizing me by my face. Once I met Jamal in Los Angeles and he greeted me with a Salam and a handshake and said, “How are you doing my brother?”
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