Biography
Sister Margaret Rose Murray Muhammad was born Margaret Rose King on June 20, 1931 in Baltimore, Maryland. She considered herself a “depression baby”, and from a young age she was “industrious,” had a strong work ethic, and an endless curiosity for knowledge. She met her husband, Kenneth Murray, at the age of 16, and after attending Morgan State University for a few years, birthed her first child, Rhonda K. Muhammad. The year was 1954 when her husband, Mr. Murray, came home after hearing a presentation from followers of the Nation of Islam. The story is, Mrs. Murray had just been grocery shopping and had bought a ham when Mr. Murray came in and threw the ham and anything else in the fridge away containing pork. According to their daughter, “My mother thought he had lost his mind.” Times were tough for African Americans in 1954, pre-civil rights movement, but after Mr. Murray took his wife to hear the teachings, she too began to accept this way of life.
In 1958, Mr. Murray moved to Durham, North Carolina, to help spread the word of the NOI, followed two years later by the rest of his family. At this point in time the teachings of Islam were infused with ideals of social consciousness, and this was not lost on the Murray’s. The Murray’s impact in the Raleigh-Durham area was immediate, they helped fund businesses bringing jobs to the community, they opened schools dedicated to emphasizing African American history and pride, something that was otherwise unheard of in public school systems in the US at that time, as well as opening several mosques in the area. Mrs. Murray was unafraid to work, ranging from the chicken factory, cleaning hotel rooms, and folding laundry. All at the same time as being the mother of three, and an active community member. Nothing was beneath her, and she was giving with her time and spirit.
By 1963, just 3 years after moving to North Carolina, the Murray’s were renowned not only in their community but on a national level. This is made clear through the speaking engagements of Malcolm X organized by Mr. Murray. Just a few years later they housed Muhammad Ali during his stay in North Carolina. Daughter, Dr. Rhonda Muhammad, explains this as “my parents were movers and shakers… People who were not Muslims would gravitate. And it was about supporting each other.”
Mrs. Murray throughout her life was dedicated to servicing her community. She had an emphasis on education and justice. Although her journey came to an end in January of 2023, her impact still radiates through her community and beyond.
Her Life Through Community
Mosque Building
The Murrays were extremely influential in their work in establishing mosques in not only the Raleigh-Durham area, but the state as well. In the 1970s, the Murrays took part in establishing the Al Razzaq Islamic Center, the first mosque of North Carolina. Over the next few years, the Muslim community continued to grow exponentially. Their work within an Islamic framework first began with their connection to the Nation of Islam, and later the Sunni Islamic practice. As leaders of the Muslim community in the Raleigh-Durham area, the Murrays accommodated prominent Muslim leaders in their homes including Muhammed Ali and Malcolm X, as well a visit from Louis Farrakhan at the Vital Link school. Dr. Judy Rashid, a close friend from Mrs. Murray’s time with the University of Islam, described Mrs. Murray as always proclaiming. From Dr. Rashid, “She had strong convictions and belief in what a Muslim was to do…She believed that really and truly if you wanted to do it, you could do it,” Rashid went on to say, “She was a believer. She was a believer in the unseen.”
Mrs. Murray remained an influential leader of the Muslim community, even in the last few years of her life. Rashid told the story of how she came to a fundraising event at NC State for As Salaam Islamic Center despite being brought in a wheelchair. Mrs. Murray had strong convictions, and her establishment of the first mosque propelled the Muslim community of the area, still having an impact in the present day.
School-Building
Within one year after transitioning the lives of her and her children to North Carolina, Margaret Murray opened aschool dedicated to emphasizing the history of African American schools independent of colonial educational norms. In her life she built three schools with the first school established in 1964 and the following in 1965 which would become the main Vital Link school located just behind the Murray house in Raleigh, North Carolina. Initially a preschool/daycare facility, the schools cater to primarily black and brown 18-month to 5-year-old children. Despite this young age, interviews of past students show the immense impact of being immersed in affirmative images of people who look like them. Former student April Adeeyo mentions“the positive reinforcement of what it meant to be black in society.” Her experience at Vital Link provided her with the encouragement and historical knowledge to challenge the perceptions of Black History in colonial schools in Nigeria, as well as predominantly white institutions she attended in the United States. Mrs. Murray from the words of her students “used to teach us to be not, not be nice, but you be respectful to everyone.
The Women’s Prison
Murray’s investment in community building extended to the NC Correctional Institution for Women, where she began working with women there in the early 1970s. She was known as “Sister Deen” to the women in the prison and became a mentor and counselor. Her work in the institution included helping women with their skill-building, providing hygiene products for use, increased literacy, and access to resources that allowed some women to take classes at Shaw University. Her work in the prisons began while her husband, Imam Kenneth, volunteered with the male correctional facility. They worked as partners in making a significant difference in the Raleigh prisons. The work in the prison began alongside her husband’s work as he began his advocacy to offer guidance and resources about Islam, but Mrs. Murray’s work was not mainly religious in the correctional institution. Further, the Murray’s both wanted to ensure that those who were in the prison, were being treated justly and fairly. Highly respected by the women in the correctional institution, Mrs. Murray also organized workshops that helped cultivate knowledge, including critical thinking and decision-making workshops led by Dr Paul Bitting. These critical thinking and other skill centered workshops intended to highlight problem solving and judgement techniques that would help the women once they returned to their lives outside of the institution.
Interviews with those that Murray knew all highlight that she never looked down on anyone and her intentions were purely about helping those around her. Murray’s purpose in volunteering at the women’s correctional institution was to help the women avoid becoming trapped by the revolving doors of the system. The connections that Murray made in the prisons did not end there, as she kept in contact with many of the women whom she met while volunteering after their release. In interviews with Janice Abdullah, a close friend and fellow volunteer at the correctional institute, Abdullah revealed that Murray’s goals were to teach the women how to become better people through care and love. Among her lessons included teaching about honesty and truthfulness and how being honest was different than being truthful.
“Sister Margaret’s goal was to help prisoners understand that they have life and their lives were not over…she introduced the women to college outreach programs connected to Shaw University. Not only did she…encourage these women who were institutionalized, she encouraged women who worked on the outside. Many of the women did [take courses] and some obtained their bachelor’s degree from…Shaw University and went on to live productive lives. She was a social justice person, social justice activist within the community at large.”
The Radio Show
Traces of Faces and Places was the radio show that Mrs. Murray ran for decades. Part of Shaw University’s radio show, the radio show was hosted by Mrs. Murray and others every Saturday morning from 9AM-12PM. The show often featured community leaders and activists that would share their own perspectives on community activities, as well as politicians who hoped to be featured on the show to appear in favor of the community. The radio show was a place where Mrs. Murray gathered guests to speak on various topics, including Black history and culture. According to Karyn Thomas, a close friend to Mrs. Murray, “everyone tuned into that show on Saturday mornings for three hours because you were gonna be informed, educated, entertained…it was a jewel in the community.”
The radio show was loved by many in the Triangle area, and it was listened to by those in the community and outside of it. The radio show allowed people to call in; often allowing people to discuss a topic or theme for that week. Dr Paul Bitting, former NC State Professor and mentee of Murrays, co-hosted the show with her for many years. Bitting shared how Murray would use the radio show to help others, noting an example of raising money for a family whose home had caught fire. Cash Michaels, the director of the station, worked closely with Murray in her show production. Michaels shared stories of Murray’s commitment to using the radio show as a way to keep her community informed. In 1988, Michaels recalled the story of when Jesse Jackson was set to announce his second bid for the presidency. In order to ensure that it would appear as though Murray was live, they had someone cycle back to the radio show from the convention center after they had conducted an interview.
The radio show was also an opportunity for Murray to invite doctors, activists, and judges that might help provide education to the communities. The radio show stood as a testament to Murray’s life, and it represented what she was passionate about. She can be epitomized with her ending phrase to her show every episode, “There is an art to living, but the foremost part, is giving.”
Entrepreneurship of the Black Community
The Murrays encouraged the cultivation and growth of Black businesses and entrepreneurship from the beginning of their time in North Carolina. The Murrays had a large intellectual investment in the growth and management of Black owned businesses in the Raleigh-Durham area. In interviews with her daughter, Dr Rhonda Muhammad, she recounted her mother as a businesswoman who strongly believed in community-building and self-sufficiency. Muhammad recounted moments as a child when her family was still getting started, where the Murrays would sometimes sacrifice their own personal utilities to ensure the utilities were always functioning at the businesses and places they owned. Dr. Muhammad remembers her mother working ardent jobs when they first moved to North Carolina: cleaning hotel rooms, working at a chicken factory, ironing clothes, doing income tax work, and more. Mrs. Murray had a strong belief that nothing was beneath her, and she had a strong ability to make things happen as a very business minded individual. One example included how she set aside funds every week to help with funeral costs for families that had suddenly lost someone.
Mrs. Murray opened her own school, presently the Vital Link, in 1964 which slowly expanded over the years. Over the years, the Murrays acquired properties including a car wash, bakery, fish market, car garage, and restaurant to name a few of the many. The businesses the Murrays created helped to employ community members, as well as increase community networking and influence. The Murrays invested the necessary capital to create the business institutions that would then become pillars of their community. Their business ventures in the 70s helped grow the community in the Raleigh-Durham area.
Aside from their own material investments, the Murrays proudly resided in the historic Black community of Method, located in Raleigh for a long period of time. The Vital Link school remains in the neighborhood and an important community institution. Both Mr. and Mrs. Murray were members of the Method Civic League, a league that helped maintain the community before the increase of gentrification. The Murrays would also help fellow community members who needed help to keep their homes, they would buy properties to maintain community integrity and to ensure it would be sold at an affordable rate.
Furthermore, Murray compiled a pamphlet dubbed the Green Light Pages. The pamphlet was a directory of black businesses in the community, and her intention was that people would call the businesses listed in the directory to ensure that money circulated in the community. Murray also created the Business Building Society of Wake County, a nonprofit organization that supported Black-owned businesses and development. In the 2010s, Murray also began an entrepreneurship workshop in partnership with the Durham-Housing Authority. This workshop intended to teach computer skills as well as constructive skills, this included how to find a job and how to have sources of income. Murray strongly believed in helping others and encouraged those around her to be the best versions of themselves, and her work encouraged economic development.
community activism
Margaret Murray was a prominent community activist, economically, educationally, and religiously. In addition to these aspects of community building, Murray was also an active proponent of social justice and African American History in the triangle. Murray was an instrumental member of the Memorial Garden committee, responsible for developing and fundraising for the Martin Luther King Jr. statue and corresponding garden in respect of the late Dr. King in 1975. She fundraised to bring community members to Atlanta to see Nelson Mandela in 1990.
Murray was also a longstanding vocal advocate for her community. In 1998, Crabtree Valley Mall lobbied local legislation to change bus routes with the specific intention of limiting access of black youths to mall grounds. Mrs. Murray was an instrumental part of the community response to these racist acts, not only educating her community on the matter, but in addition organizing members in a boycott of Crabtree Valley Mall and frequent outdoor protests. Friend and fellow community activist, Dr. Moses, describes this as one of the coldest North Carolina December’s she’d experienced to date.
Her Life Through the Words of Others
Throughout her life, Sister Margaret worked through and for her community. These aspects are best reflected and summarized through a series of interviews that show her neverending goodwill and industrious spirit. Mrs. Murray was a consistent proponent of education. In the words of Janice Abdullah, friend and fellow follower of the faith of Islam, “Margaret always talked about seeking knowledge from the cradle to the grave.” Through the words of her friends and family, Margaret Murray was not only continuously seeking knowledge for herself, but also supported and established organizations, programs, and service to educate her community, as well.
Reflection
After witnessing the true impact of Sister Margaret’s life, we can only hope to memorialize her endeavors through this digital archive project. We have clearly seen that she has been an influential member in the African American community and has touched hundreds of lives with her caring and willful spirit. From her work in the women’s prison to her commentary on the political arena, Sister Margaret has accomplished so much for the diverse communities she advocated for. Not only was she able to further her initiative in the African American community, but she was able to tie in her love for her religion in her advocacy programs. The Islamic framework she adopted spread throughout her community and touched many others who were experiencing similar stories to hers. Regardless of the hardships she went through, Sister Margaret and her family remained strong and held a positive outlook on life. To live and to love was enough to encourage others to do the same. In the interview with Dr. Rhonda Muhammad, she stated that “there was so much richness in our experiences, that [she] can’t count it as poor. Poverty, to [her], means poverty of spirit, poverty of the mind.” The experiences and people Sister Margaret encountered enabled her to enrich the minds of others and create opportunities for members in the community that would not have existed otherwise. She brought meaning back to people’s lives and encouraged them to seek out the best in themselves.
“There is an art to living, but the foremost part is giving.” Not only was this statement attributed to Sister Margaret, she also never failed to include it within her radio show. Her mentality was always to give and provide others chances she herself was not given. To her, giving was a part of her duty to the community and she truly never failed to significantly impact someone’s life trajectory. Her desire to help people in need and make a difference was felt by everyone who interacted with her. Every family member, friend, and colleague spoke so highly and fondly of Sister Margaret—emphasizing how revered she was in the African American and Muslim communities. Sister Margaret’s peers have continued to honor her memory through the preservation of materials and documents that depict the work she has accomplished throughout her life. From her advocacy against racism and community involvement, to her desire to spread the words of Nelson Mandela, Sister Margaret never stopped working to develop the minds of her community. Her goal was never to stop at the borders of the United States and instead educate the masses on the importance of African excellence all over the world.