WHY WE CHANGE OUR NAMES

Lets get it straight. My SLAVE name is Clarence Neely. I love my first name because it means brilliant and popular. For those that really know me, knows that I have actually lived up to that. My last name Neely unfortunately I'm not proud of, let me explain. My fathers last name was Neely and My mothers last name was McNeely. Both my mother and father grew up in the same town of Long Branch, New Jersey. My Uncle(Donald McNeely) and I researched our family history all the way back to the Plantation. It was called the Neely Plantation in Concord, North Carolina. The Neely plantation was known for growing Tobacco. When Slavery was ended and the Slaves on the Neely Plantation decided to leave, the changed the name to McNeely thinking that totally disassociated themselves from the Slave Master. So the McNeelys left and headed north. Some stayed on the Plantation because they didn't no what to do. Ironically my McNeely side of the family is where all the entreprenures are, interesting. The Neely side of the family are the 9 to 5 workers. When I was 13 my older Sister Fatimah Abdullah Shakur aka Fatimah Shabazz (Iris Neely) introduced me to the Nation of Islam. We attended Mosque number 20 in Camden, New Jersey. I was a member of the Jr. FOI and was one of the TOP Muhammad Speaks newspaper salesmen. Its was sort of like my first job outside of playing in a band and a life guard during the Summer. During one of our Major Gatherings our leader the Honorable Elijah Muhammad came to town. After the event we all went over to the Shabazz steak and take to eat. When Elijah Muhammad walked in her notice me clowning in the back with another Jr. FOI. The Captain yelled attention. I immediately stood at attention. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad called me over, I was so nervous and he told me to sit down. I thought he was going to ripp into me. Instead he told me I had a beautiful and friendly smile. He said my smile and my friendliness would open doors. At that point he told me, I was Khalil. Khalil means friendly or good friend. My Older sister called me that every since. So I've had the name Khalil since I was 16. I was the only one in the Mosque at that time with a name given by the Messenger. Everyone else continue to use their first name and the X. When the Messenger departed, the Nation of Islam feel apart. The Mosque shut down, brothers went back to the streets, James Shabazz got shot in the Mosque in Newark New Jersey. It got Crazy. My father instructed me to leave and go in the military. Music was nothing but a drug invested world so that wasn't doing me any good either. So by GOD's grace, I joined the Coast Guard. Becuase of my love for the water, I fell in love with the Coast Guard. After Bootcamp I got stationed in Norfolk, VA. One day I was shopping on Granby mall and saw a brother selling the Bilalian News which was the Muhammad Speaks. I gave him the greeting of As Salaam Aliakum. He returned the greeting and told me his name was Bilal. He invited me to the Mosque in Norfolk which was Mosque number 57. When I got there. I was surprised to see the Minister or Iman was James Shabazz Jr. The son of Minister James Shabazz from Newark NJ who was killed in the Mosque. James Shabazz Jr. assistant Imans name was Dr. Naim Akbar (the famed Author). What a surprised. So I joined the Mosque in Norfolk under the leadership of Warrith Deen Muhammad, the son of Elijah Muhammad. I enjoyed the Mosque and learning the Sunnah (way of) the Prophet Muhammad of Saudi Arabia. One day, I saw a fl yer with a Picture of Minister Louis Farrakhan on it advertising him coming to a Church in the area. At that time I didn't know what to think. But I went and saw him speak. Minister Farrakhan had such a glow on him. I knew that something big was about to happen and I just couldn't wait to hear it. In his speech he ask for help rebuilding the Nation of Islam. I jumped at the opportunity and after his speech we met downstairs for dinner. The Pastor of the Church is a well known Freedom fighter in Norfolk VA, Reverend Milton Ried. At the dinner I met a Sister name Ida Sands another Freedom fighter. When I talk to the Minister at dinner I was trying my best to get him to remember me from New Jersey. Unfortunately he didn't remember me but he remembered my Sister. He told me My Sister is a Powerful women because she was with the Black Panther Party in Philadelphia and he had spoken with her several times about the rebirth of the Nation. After speaking with him I felt the need to tell every brother at my unit about the re birth of the Nation. I was excited. Minister Farrakhan assigned Larry X Spruill as the Minister to Norfolk and I joined in. My only problem was I was in the Military and I couldn't be a full fledged member like before. Nevertheless I soldiered, I sold papers, bean pies. This sharpen my sales skills again. I would sell the paper on the Navy base (smile). I loved selling the final call. I would form groups in the military for brothers that were interested but couldn't join. I started a group called U N I short for Unity. The white folks didn't like but they respected it because what I taught was good and made the men work harder. At that point I took on the name Rasul Malik Shabazz. Rasul Means the Messenger, Malik Means the King and Shabazz is the original tribe before Adam and Eve. So there you have it. Thats how I became Khalil Rasul Malik Shabazz, the short version is Khalil Malik. People often ask what do you prefer to be called? I prefer Khalil. I'm no longer a slave and I don't want anything tied to my former Slave master. Those of you with Johnson, Brown, Jackson, so forth and so on. Those are your former Slave Masters names. Trust me they respect you more when you decide to break that chain. Thank GOD President Obama's mother kept his name. Thank you for reading this any further questions please don't hesitate to ask.
ONE GOD!

Khalil Malik