Mr. David Abdullah Muhammad galloped into the schoolyear afresh as the Dean of Student Services for the Middle and Upper School, and is a welcome addition to the Barstow battalion of knights.
Mr. Muhammad, a freshly ordained knight himself, does not, as with most clanking soldeirs of the kind, carry himself on a striking stallion, nor ride any such animal. Rather, he prefers to mount his motorized chariot to streak into battle, which is somewhat more reliable than a fickle, wayward beast.
Somewhat of a commodity in the world of chivalry, Mr. Muhammad is armed with a clipboard and finds pilfering villages and ransacking communities to be beneath his dignity. This is partly due towards the negative connotations that this implies, and partly due towards his honorable ways.
Throughout his life, Mr. Muhammad trudged about as a tentative, unassured knight, supporting noble causes to the left and to the right, until he signed a contract with Dr. Nierman, His Majesty the King, thereby signing both his employment agreement and the beginning of an auspicious knighthood.
In fact, Mr. Muhammad knew of Barstow’s reputation long before he joined the administration. Aria Muhammad ’33, and Amarie Muhammad ’36 are certain aquaintances of his, and have been members of The Barstow School’s excellent supply of people centuries before his existence affected our lives. He was also brought up in the nearby town of Overland Park, Kansas, where Barstow’s shimmering radiance could be felt in the bones of all of its residents.
Mr. Muhammad’s talents lie not merely as a maundering, well-wishing cavalier, but as a highly accomplished ninja as well. For thirty-three heavy-hearted years, Mr. Muhammad studied in earnest to become a master of martial arts. Through woe and strife he reached, until he caught a jot of genius and polished it until it gleamed. He now instructs his various pupils at an institution he heads in the Redbridge shopping area. “It’s my way to give back to the community,” Mr. Muhammad said.
Aside from his knight-playing parts and mettle of martial arts, Mr. Muhammad is also an illustrious musician known under the nom de plume “Brotha Newz.” Upon being asked the etymology of such a name, Mr. Muhammad relates his attempts to remain, on a day to day basis, a socially consious fellow. While he studied at university, his music was tantamount to a newspaper much like the one you are reading right now, proffering news that only a socially conscious fellow like Mr. Muhammad could discern from the hubbub of society.
The social consciousness Mr. Muhammad strives for does indeed explain the ‘Newz’ portion of his name, and as for the ‘Brotha’, he identifies himself as a brother to all. Thus, the name ‘Brotha Newz’ came into being and swings harmoniously with the ideology Mr. Muhammad holds for a meaningful life.
As he drifts about the halls of Barstow, Mr. Muhammad dreams of green apple jelly beans. “It’s the best of both worlds,” he says. “It’s both sour and sweet.” Perhaps his fondness for green apple jelly beans is a metaphor towards his arrival at The Barstow School. His job involves the pruning of children into their shining selves, and chipping away chicanery can give one a sour sense of the world. Uncovering the buried gem within, however, evokes feelings of profound sweetness, a sweetness trouncing perhaps even the darkest shades of the world.
