Brother Anthony Muhammad: Turning Recovery Into Service, One Step at a Time
By BLXCR | One Village, One Fight
Sometimes society can overlook the very people who helped build our communities—our elders. At BLXCR, we have covered a number of stories coming out of Potomac Gardens in Washington, D.C., highlighting the people and positive work taking place within the community.
During that coverage, we came across Brother Anthony Muhammad doing something simple, yet meaningful: giving his time to walk with seniors and encourage them to take better care of their health. Those who know Brother Anthony know there are many sides to this Brother. He is an artist, an advocate for agriculture, and someone whose heart has long been connected to community service. But his commitment to health and walking took on an entirely different meaning after his own life was interrupted by a serious health crisis.
With the assistance of Brother Frank Muhammad, who Brother Anthony credits with helping establish the effort at Potomac Gardens, Brother Anthony is now helping carry forward weekly walks with elders in the community. His reason for doing it is deeply personal.
Five Bypasses and a New Perspective on Life
Brother Anthony shared with BLXCR that he is approximately one year and nine months into his recovery from open-heart surgery. He underwent five bypasses after learning that his coronary arteries were severely blocked.
“I’m on my journey to healing. And I’m just trying to learn as much as I can about coronary artery heart health and do my part.”
Recovery became an education for Brother Anthony. He explained that Brother Frank Muhammad previously had a walking program that had fallen to the side and needed someone willing to take charge and get it moving again. Brother Anthony saw an opportunity to make his own recovery useful to others.
“I said I would be honored. In the way of recovery, it allowed me to share my story—my recovery.”
What happened to Brother Anthony could have remained a private health struggle. Instead, he decided to use his experience as a warning and source of encouragement for others. “I’m trying to sound an alarm,” he told BLXCR.
His message reaches across generations. Children need movement, adults need movement, and elders need movement. For Brother Anthony, one of the simplest places to begin is walking.
“The First Week After Surgery, They Said Get Up and Walk”
Brother Anthony remembers something very clearly about the early stages of his recovery. Shortly after undergoing such a major medical procedure, movement became part of the process.
“When I first started the recovery, the first week after surgery, they said, ‘Get up and walk.’”
That instruction stayed with him. Since his surgery, Brother Anthony says he has continued educating himself about coronary artery health, exercise, nutrition, and the lifestyle choices that can affect the heart. His experience has convinced him that people shouldn't wait until a medical emergency occurs before becoming concerned about their health.
He especially wants younger people to understand that message. Now 67, Brother Anthony recognizes that many people his age are already dealing with conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and other health challenges.
“We’re trying to get those younger than us and kind of prevent them from walking into some of the medical issues that will occur if you don’t pay attention to yourself.”
His point is not complicated: pay attention to your health while you still have an opportunity to do something about it. For Brother Anthony, his own experience has become part of the motivation to help someone else recognize that lesson sooner.
Walking, Talking and Encouraging One Another
The seniors Brother Anthony has encountered have responded positively to the walks, but the program is about more than physical exercise. Brother Anthony spoke candidly about what he sees as a lack of health knowledge within our communities and how easily people can take their bodies for granted until something goes wrong.
He also sees people dealing with diabetes, high blood pressure and other medical challenges who can benefit from encouragement. “We have really been encouraging one another,” Brother Anthony explained, emphasizing the importance of people supporting each other while trying to improve their health.
That may be one of the strongest aspects of what is happening at Potomac Gardens. They aren't simply walking around the block; they are walking together. For an elder dealing with illness, isolation, anxiety, stress, or simply the challenges that come with aging, having someone show up and say, “Come walk with us,” can mean something.
Brother Anthony believes the social component—the conversations, encouragement, laughter, and opportunity to get outside—can be just as important to the spirit of the program as the physical activity itself. Movement gets people outside, but fellowship can give them another reason to keep showing up.
Building the Program Takes Time
Brother Anthony is also realistic about the program's growth. “It’s gradual,” he explained, but he believes participation will continue to increase as more people become aware of what they are doing.
Reaching people requires patience, particularly when working in communities where residents may be dealing with economic difficulties, health challenges, or struggles with self-esteem. For Brother Anthony, that introduces another part of health that cannot always be measured on a scale or blood-pressure monitor: the self.
“Regardless whether it’s cardiovascular, whether for employment, any of that—the self is a great deal.”
Sometimes improving someone's health begins by helping that person believe they are worth taking care of. Brother Anthony also spoke about the depression and anxiety that can accompany physical illness, explaining that simply getting outside, walking, talking, and discussing ways to improve one's health can bring some happiness and encouragement into a person's day.
“How to Eat to Live”
Brother Anthony's recovery has also deepened his interest in nutrition. During our conversation, he repeatedly connected what he is learning today with the teachings found in How to Eat to Live by the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad.
For Brother Anthony, the connection is significant because he believes that understanding how and when we eat must be part of any serious conversation about maintaining health. He also discussed fasting and what is commonly called intermittent fasting today, seeing similarities between some modern conversations surrounding meal timing and principles he has studied for years.
Brother Anthony's larger message goes beyond any single dietary method. Food matters, discipline matters, and what we continually put inside our bodies can have consequences. That philosophy leads naturally into another important part of Brother Anthony's life: agriculture.
Putting His Hands Back Into the Soil
Brother Anthony is also one of the co-coordinators of the District Heights Community Garden. The garden includes approximately 18 beds, with volunteers and community participants working together to grow food throughout the year and share excess produce with the public when available.
For Brother Anthony, gardening serves several purposes at once. It keeps him physically active, provides food, strengthens community, and brings him peace.
“Going into the garden, to me, brings a measure of peace.”
Brother Anthony describes working with the soil as a way of grounding himself and reconnecting with the Creator. There is also something powerful about growing food in a time when many people have become completely separated from the process that brings food to their tables.
Brother Anthony wants people to understand that agriculture doesn't necessarily require owning acres of land. People can begin with containers, grow bags, raised beds, or whatever appropriate space they have available. The important thing is to begin learning and rediscovering a skill that previous generations understood very well.
Summer Ending Doesn't Mean Growing Has to End
During our conversation, BLXCR asked Brother Anthony about another misconception: that once summer ends, gardening is finished. His response was immediate because cooler weather does not necessarily mean the growing season has completely ended.
“Oh yeah. At this time now, you should be in the process of planting cool crops.”
Brother Anthony explained that a variety of vegetables can continue to be grown during cooler seasons and that people with limited space can begin with containers. That advice is particularly relevant in Maryland, where cool-season crops can extend gardening beyond summer when they are planted at the appropriate time.
His recommendation again comes back to something practical: don't allow what you don't have to stop you from using what you do have. If you don't have a large backyard, start with a container. If you can't run, walk. If you don't know everything about gardening, plant something and begin learning.
From Open-Heart Surgery to Community Service
When we stepped back from our conversation with Brother Anthony Muhammad, something became clear. The walking program, his recovery, gardening, nutrition, and community activism are not separate stories; they are different parts of the same journey.
Brother Anthony went through open-heart surgery and had five bypasses. During his recovery, he was told to walk, and he began studying his health more closely. That knowledge strengthened his desire to help others, and he took that experience into Potomac Gardens, where walking became an opportunity to encourage elders.
His interest in nutrition connects him to agriculture, agriculture connects him back to the community, and community service connects everything back to purpose. That is how a personal trial can become something useful to somebody else.
How to Join Brother Anthony
Brother Anthony Muhammad currently meets with participants at Potomac Gardens in Washington, D.C., on Wednesdays from approximately 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. The group walks around the block while promoting physical activity, conversation, fellowship, and healthier living.
Those interested in the walking program can contact Brother Anthony at 301-356-1843 or Anthony7Muhammed@yahoo.com.
Those interested in his agricultural work can also learn more through the District Heights Community Garden. Brother Anthony explained that the garden works alongside local officials and Maryland's Master Gardener program in supporting its community efforts. anthony.fiestaplacegardengardeninfo@gmail.com
BLXCR Editorial Reflection
There was something Brother Anthony Muhammad said during our conversation that stayed with us. After open-heart surgery, he was told to get up and walk. Think about how simple those words are, yet how much meaning they eventually took on in his life.
Brother Anthony could have taken that instruction and made it only about himself and his recovery. Instead, he took what he learned through one of the most serious moments of his life and carried it back into the community. Now he is asking others to walk with him, and there is something beautiful about that.
We often think community work has to be complicated. We look for large organizations, major funding, elaborate programs, and big solutions, when sometimes service is much simpler. Walk with an elder, grow some food, share what you've learned, encourage somebody struggling with their health, or simply give somebody a reason to come outside.
When life gives you another opportunity, there is something powerful about using some of that opportunity to help somebody else. Brother Anthony Muhammad's story reminds us that staying active can strengthen the body, while remaining useful to others can also strengthen the spirit.
At 67 years old, after five bypasses and open-heart surgery, Brother Anthony isn't simply talking about giving back. He's still walking it—and inviting his community to walk alongside him.
One Village, One Fight.
References
American Heart Association — Physical Activity Recommendations for Adults: The AHA recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity per week for adults and identifies walking as an accessible form of physical activity.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — Coronary Artery Disease: The CDC provides information about coronary artery disease, plaque buildup, and recognized cardiovascular risk factors.
University of Maryland Extension — Fall Vegetable Gardening: University of Maryland Extension provides guidance on cool-season vegetables that can be grown for fall harvests in Maryland.
University of Maryland Extension — Vegetable Garden Planning: University of Maryland Extension provides guidance for growing vegetables in traditional gardens, raised beds, and containers.
Medical information included in this article is provided for general educational purposes. Individuals recovering from heart surgery or managing cardiovascular disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, or other medical conditions should discuss exercise, fasting, and significant dietary changes with their healthcare professionals.
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