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Muhammad Speaks
CTL Thin Brief · CTL-TB-000085 · Published 2026-10-09
Thin Brief — a short evidence sketch, not a full research brief.
Muhammad Speaks sold self-determination by the bundle: Nation of Islam vendors on corners across America moved a paper that preached Black economics, covered Black politics, and at its peak outsold every Black newspaper in U.S. history. Its four-story Chicago printing plant was the message made physical.
What made a religious newspaper the biggest Black weekly ever?
Key facts
- Launched in 1960 as the official weekly newspaper of the Nation of Islam; national circulation from 1961. VERIFIED
- At its peak it moved 950,000 copies in a single week in 1974 — the largest Black-owned weekly in U.S. history. VERIFIED
- It was printed at its own four-story plant in Chicago, an unusual degree of vertical integration for a Black paper. VERIFIED
- Its successor, The Final Call, continues publication from Chicago as the Nation's twice-monthly paper. VERIFIED
Sources
- Final Call — Muhammad Speaks, a trailblazer in the newspaper industry
- Black Archives of Mid-America
- CultureTechLens knowledge graph — CTL-E-0272, CTL-E-0275
Evidence grades: VERIFIED — strong primary or multiple corroborating sources. SUPPORTED — credible, partly corroborated. PROVISIONAL — single source or general knowledge, uncorroborated.
Source: CultureTechLens
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