Notable People I've Met or Came Across throughout My Life Part 3

Thanks for joining me again as we travel through this next phase of famous people I've seen and met. However, I want to explain to you the significance of me starting from the day after Hurricane Katrina: This was the day that my freedom was taken from me for a year! Whether you can relate to having your freedom taken or not, I'm sure you can empathize with the fact that it can't feel good. Well, I'm sure you can empathize a little more with it being falsely accused and imprisoned.

One thing about LIFE is, with you or without you, it keeps going. So...LIFE kept going. However, it didn't stop me from living. Nor did it stop me from meeting notable people 😁

Michael Lawrence "Mystikal" Tyler Was born September 2, 1970. He hit the rap scene in 1992 with his first album "Mind of Mystikal" and basically stayed on the radio until his last album "Tarancala". Most people probably remember him as a No Limit Soldier under Master P's record label. Mystikal was Teen Choice awards best male hip-hop artist. He was a Grammy nominee in 2003 for best male rap solo performance album Bouncin' Back (Bumpin' Me Against the Wall) on the album "Tarancala". He was a Grammy nominee in 2001 for best rap solo performance "Shake it fast". He went on to win a 2001 Soul train award for Shake it Fast.

Proclaiming to be the "Black Prince of the South" was very believable -- until he fell into some legal problems that dethroned him sometime around 2004. While hea was serving his time at Elayn Hunts Correctional Center, I would bump into him, in 2006, at visitation and would see him around the compound. He was neat, dressed to impress, but had a bald head. Now that wasn't the Mystikal I was familiar with -- but hey...you can't be "The Man with the Braids" in Louisiana's D.O.C. 😁

Since then Mystikal has gotten himself into other legal matters. I wish he could shake back, but it seems impossible at this point. Anyway, I still love your music brah! 😁

The Nation of Islam (NOI) Is a very important organization to me. Its core values, beliefs, and principles have helped to shape me while in the womb of my mother and have even served as a compass of life, guiding me through the seasons of fury and madness.

The people I'm about to name are very important members of the NOI. Within the NOI they are celebrity-like and have the hero/heroine type of feel to them. The reason they're being grouped together serves two purposes: (1) They're all similar in status and related to the same organization. (2) I met them all around the same time (2007-2008).

I've been blessed to attend quite a few NOI events in my lifetime. Therefore I've seen Min. Farrakhan, Mother Khadijah, as well as other key figures within the NOI, on stage. However, those are not the ones I'll be naming (that would be too many). I'll only name those whom I've been able to be close up on.

Bro. John Muhammad is one of those legends of the NOI not only because of the positions he's served within the Nation, but because of his endurance and consistency with the Nation. He was apart of what is known as the "1st Rise": Those brothers and sister who came under the direct leadership of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad (ending in 1975).

I was blessed to meet Bro. John Muhammad in 2007, during my own precarious situation, while living in Montgomery, Alabama. At that time he was the Student Minister of the Study Group in Montgomery. He was mentally sharp, always neat, and looked and moved great for his age! I was with him almost daily and learned a lot from him. The part that I am most pleased about: I feel he was as happy to meet me as I was to meet him. I think we both were a breath of fresh air to one another.

Bro. John, it was a pleasure meeting you Sir and I'll never forget you, nor what you taught me.

Bro. Rahman Muhammad -- If you have ever heard or saw a lecture of Min. Farrakhan and heard a loud, high pitched voice along side Min. Farrakhan bearing witness -- then you've heard Bro. Rahman  He was a "1st Rise" brother, joining the NOI in 1956. Then, after the NOI's fall in 1975, Bro. Rahman stood up again under Bro. Farrakhan. He has walked with Elijah Muhammad, Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X, Warith Deen Muhammad (Elijah Muhammad's son), Min. Farrakhan, and others. He's been a companion of Min. Farrakhan's for decades! I'm aware of a book that he wrote a while back but, I'm not sure of its name.

At some point in 2007, I was living in Montgomery, Alabama and attending the Study Group meetings there. Only a couple of hours from the regional headquarters in Atlanta, Ga. Bro. John Muhammad brought me there a couple of times. On one of those occasions I saw Bro. Rahman, neatly dressed, going to his car to leave the Mosque. I kind of wanted to stop him and say something, but I also didn't want to bother him. I ended up choosing the latter.

A few years ago Bro. Rahman made his transition. He is no longer among us physically but in so many other ways he lives on.

Bro. Sharrieff Muhammad attained the highest rank in the NOI that a FOI (Fruit of Islam) can attain -- the Supreme Captain. The FOI are the Muslim men within the NOI. Bro. Sharrieff Muhammad's rank gave him authority over thousands of men and women. Not only did he attain that position, but he held it for years!

On a few of the trips from the Study Group in Montgomery, Alabama to Mosque #15 in Atlanta, Ga. I saw Bro. Sharrieff Muhammad. I never got the chance to speak to him or embrace him because time and circumstances wouldn't permit. However, I did have a chance to check his demeanor out. He was always guarded by the FOI, but they gave him enough room to at least give him the feel that he wasn't being smothered. To me, he had that aura, that any great leader has: The type of aura that says everything for him. His aura resonated calmness, alertness, humbleness, and power. Bro. Sharrieff seemed to rarely say much, but I could tell that he was running the show.

I don't know what he's currently doing...but if I had to guess -- I'd say that he's doing the same thing I saw him doing 14 years ago 😁

NOTE:

Remember when I told you that the people I was about to name were members of the NOI. Well...I have one exception...and you'll see why he comes at this juncture. 😁

Patrick Leroy "Sleepy Brown" Brown In the summer of 2007, Muhammad's Mosque #15 in Atlanta, Georgia was hosting an event called a "Drill Competition". Now, for those of you who may be unaware of what happens at a drill competition -- IT GOES DOWN!!! This is the time of year when the FOI and MGT (men and women) from different Mosque compete by showing their best routine of marching and cadence. This activity fosters health, unity, fun, and discipline but at the end of the day its competition! 😁

Since the Study Group in Montgomery, Alabama was only a couple of hours away, plus everybody wanted to go, Bro. John Muhammad brought me and a fellow brother along with him. At some point before the "Drill Competition" event took place, the fellow brother and I went on Campbellton Rd. SW (which is the street in front of the Mosque) to distribute "The Final Call" newspapers. After a few minutes of soliciting to different drivers at the traffic light as they came and went, it happened: "Sleepy Brown" drove up and stopped at the light. He was in a black BMW with a male passenger with him. The car was clean, but it wasn't one of those "I'm stunting in my video" type of cars. It was just an up to date BMW. I was happy to see him! 😁 I smiled...but got right back to the very reason I was standing in the middle of a street, in a suit, with the temperature teetering between 90°-100°. I asked him, "Are you interested in supporting me and the Nation of Islam with a $1 donation for the latest 'Final Call' newspaper?" There was no doubt in my mind that he would support me and "The Final Call". He probably has millions of dollars and looks for the right people to help! So to see a clean, handsome brother like myself, representing a great cause with the minimum of $1 is a no brainer.

Sleepy Brown smiled back and politely said "Nah, I'm good but thank you." Truth be told...I felt a little played. 😁 But in reality, I didn't know his circumstances and everyone has an option to support or not. In the end, it was good seeing him.😁

Sleepy Brown is an American singer-songwriter and record producer from Savannah, Georgia. He is one-third of the successful Atlanta based production team of Organized Noize, which has created hits for acts such as Outkast (featured in The Way You Move), Goodie Mob, and TLC's "Waterfalls", a #1 hit single.

Bro. Jamil Muhammad has represented the NOI, as a Student Minister, in several cities: Baltimore, MD, Atlanta, GA, as well as New Orleans, LA; and those are just the cities I know of. He's been a Student Minister for probably 40 years. That should say enough! However, he's also been (and to the best of my knowledge, still is) a National Representative of NOI.

I ran into Bro. Jamil Muhammad a few times in my life. Nevertheless, the story I want to tell is of the 1st time I met him: The year was 2007, and I was in Baltimore, Maryland at the time. I was riding in the passenger seat of a Muslim brother's vehicle as he drove around the city running errands. In the middle of one of his errands he received a call from a fellow Muslim brother. The call revealed that the brother I was with needed to meet up with and give something to the anonymous person on the phone. As he turned around to meet up with the anonymous caller, the brother I was riding with told me that it was Bro. Jamil Muhammad. I was a little taken aback that he knew Bro. Jamil! Moreover that they had each other's phone numbers.

When we made it to the designated location the brother driving told me that I could get out. I was cool with that. So I got out, greeted Bro. Jamil, and let the two of them handle their business. After their affair was done, Bro. Jamil asked me my name, where I was from and who my family was? When I told him, he explained to me how he knew my Aunt Mildred and Uncle John personally. He spoke highly of them and told me that he'd eaten at their house on more than one occasion. After a few more words between the three of us we departed with the universal greetings of "As-Salaam-Alaikum" (Peace Be Unto You) and I left feeling happy to meet him, but prouder to be related to Auntie Mildred and Uncle John! 😁

Dr. Alim Muhammad is a Medical doctor within the NOI who has always advised it's members, Black people in general, and the world at large, of what to do/and what not to do to stay healthy. I've heard him many times on stage and via satellite. However, its a total different thing to have him as your personal doctor.

Sometime in 2007 I went to his clinic in Washington, DC to get a checkup and to experience the holistic approach to health that he was promoting. An aspect of his method dealt with reflexology. It was interesting too, because he would place little jars of various minerals in your hand and have you move your hands in certain ways to tell what minerals you were either deficient in, allergic to, or had too much of. Then, from the results of that process, he would prescribe and sell you dietary supplements. Well, I enjoyed the whole process!

Outside of family, Dr. Alim Muhammad was the best doctor I've had!

(Footnote: Dr. Alim was the only doctor I had 😁)

Sis. Claudette Muhammad is a sister within the NOI who's been around for decades. I'm not sure of her accomplishments within or without the NOI, but I do know that she has that VIP status.

I met her at a book signing event she held in Baltimore, Maryland that I either heard about through word of mouth or via radio (I forgot). At the time she had recently published a book entitled "Memories" and I wanted the book and the chance to meet her in person. I was able to accomplish both 😁 I don't really remember saying much to her because of what was going on. However, it was cool to purchase that autographed book.

Mustapha Farrakhan is the son of Min. Louis Farrakhan and the NOI's current Supreme Captain. I really don't know anything more about him other than him serving as Supreme Captain for about 20 years but what else needs to be known? 😁

I was blessed to meet Mustapha Farrakhan sometime in 2008. I was working in Washington, DC for a NOI based security company that secures local high-rise buildings. Mustapha Farrakhan was in town to support his son during one of his College basketball games. While in town, he came to check on how things were going with the security business.

I was able to introduce myself to him and chill with him for about 5-10 minutes. I found him to be humble and completely at ease. I guess since I always saw him on post -- with a stern face -- that I didn't consider him having any other attributes. 😁

That concludes my list of very important people that I met within the NOI. Now let's go back to the notable people I met and saw in general...

Felicia "Snoop" Pearson is an American actress who's mainly known for her semi fictional character on the HBO series The Wire. In the series, she is a young female soldier in Marlo Stanfield's drug dealing organization and Chris Partlow's earliest protégé. As one of the experienced leaders of Stanfield's crew, she commits many ruthless murders on their behalf. Later this year she seems to have a role in Ashbury Park.

While staying in Baltimore, Maryland I became friends and business partners with a brother named Mashari. He had the first and only mobile clothing store I'd seen. He converted a bread truck into a clothing store on wheels. It was nice! He had wooden floors put in it, clothing racks, a TV, a counter, the latest clothes -- the works! I truly enjoyed that experience and feel blessed to have been able to help him in that endeavor.

It was actually in that clothing store on wheels -- twice -- that I saw Snoop. Now, I've actually never seen "The Wire" therefore, I couldn't truly appreciate seeing her like Mashari had. Snoop was cool though. She came in the store with her girlfriend, looked around, and supported us by purchasing an outfit or two. On one of those occasions, Mashari asked her if she would take a picture with him. Snoop was very accommodating. She took a picture with Mashari then turned to me to ask if I wanted one too? I declined the picture, but let me tell you why: I didn't really know who she was. I mean...Mashari told me who she was, but since I couldn't appreciate her myself...I would've felt fake taking that picture.

I saw Snoop on 106 and Park sometime in 2009-2010 while in Orleans Parish Prison. At that point, nothing felt fake about seeing someone on TV who had bought clothes from me and offered to take a picture with me. 😁

I wish you much success Snoop, and it was a pleasure meeting you.

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Once again, I truly hope you enjoyed our time together. I did! 😁

2008's time frame is of great significance to me as well. Why? I was rearrested in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and have been incarcerated ever since. If you think that being incarcerated will stop you from meeting very notable people, then I'm here to tell you that you're wrong! I still have more!

I look forward to seeing you next week to conclude...

Much Love, Soul

PS Question: Think over your life for a second. How many notable people have you met so far?