General Ahmed (born 1934) was an American black nationalist leader and the founding "General" of the People's Army movement in Watts, California during the 1970s. Ahmed was a leader of the Black Power movement who drew inspiration from the Black Panther Party and Martin Luther King Jr., and, in 1975, he was forced to retake control of his People's Army from a black supremacist and neo-fascist faction headed by his former right-hand man, Colonel Kojah.
Biography[]
General Ahmed giving an interview to the press
"Ahmed" was born in Watts, Los Angeles County, California in 1934 to an African-American family, and he adopted his African name during the Black Power era of the 1960s. Inspired by Martin Luther King Jr. and the Black Panther Party, Ahmed founded the People's Army as an inner-city charitable organization with a financial grant from the state, aiming to provide medical services to the impoverished Black community of Watts. Ahmed partnered with Dr. Lisk to establish a "detention center" (clinic) to treat drug addicts, and his girlfriend Marsha Brent helped him treat drug addicts at the clinic. However, escalating violence against the Black community by the local Mafia bookkeepers led to Ahmed' second-in-command Colonel Kojah founding a uniformed "Protection Squad" to retaliate against the Mafia and seize control of the neighborhood in a bloody gang war. Kojah drew inspiration from Adolf Hitler's Nazi Party and its SS paramilitary wing, and he also engaged in drug trafficking, prostitution, and gambling to make money on the side. Ahmed discovered Kojah's activities after the clinic was bombed at Kojah's behest, and he had his faction of the People's Army destroy a drug shipment which was to be sold by Kojah's lieutenant, Major Delmay.
Ahmed recovering from his wounds
The bombing incident led to Kojah deciding to eliminate Ahmed, who was kidnapped from his house in the middle of the night, driven to a desert roadside, and shot while attempting to run away from Kojah and his henchmen. Ahmed fell down the hillside, and Delmay convinced Kojah that either the bullets or the fall had killed Ahmed. However, Ahmed survived and was nursed back to health by Brent, and he assembled his remaining loyalists for an attack on Kojah's mansion. His men dressed in the Protection Squad's uniforms and stealthily killed several of Kojah's guards before Ahmed confronted Kojah in front of his swimming pool. Delmay jumped Ahmed before Ahmed could shoot Kojah, but Ahmed used Kojah's razor blade to kill Delmay before struggling with Kojah in the pool and stabbing Kojah dead. Kojah's death enabled Ahmed to retake control of the organization, but the deaths of most of its members and its involvement in drug trafficking led to the People's Army disbanding soon after.