Ollie Mohamed

Ollie Mohamed was born on February 7, 1925, in Shaw, Mississippi.[1] He was the oldest child and son of ethnically Syrian Lebanese-born Muslim merchant Hassan Mohamed and Ethel (Wright) Mohamed.[2][3][4][5] Hassan's original name was Hassan Mohamed Shouman; his last name became his middle name due to a transcription error when he immigrated to the United States.[4][6] Ollie and his siblings were raised as Baptists, their mother's faith.[4][7] Mohamed attended Belzoni High School in Belzoni, Mississippi.[1] In 1942, he was the first 18-year-old draft into World War II.[8][9] Mohamed was a merchant and a farmer, and by 1994 was running a department store in Belzoni.[1][8][10]

In 1957, Mohamed's political career began when he ran for the office of alderman of Belzoni.[10] He was elected to two terms in that office, ending in 1963 when he was elected to represent Mississippi's 30th state senate district.[10] He served the term from 1964 to 1968.[7] After the districts were re-districted, he then represented the 19th district in the Senate from 1968 to 1972.[11] In 1971, he sponsored legislation to create the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics.[9] Mohamed ran for re-election in 1971 after terms were redistricted, but lost by 32 votes to Buddy Grisham.[10] Mohamed ran for the Senate in 1975 as an Independent, but was not elected.[12][10] He ran in 1979 and won election.[10] He represented the state's 21st district in the Senate from 1980 to 1993.[1][13][14][9] In 1992, he was the President pro tempore of the Mississippi Senate.[14][8][9] When the districts were changed again in 1992, Mohamed lost for re-election in the new district to Barbara Blackmon.[10][6] Immediately after losing the election Governor Kirk Fordice made Mohamed a legislative lobbyist.[15] He died in his home in Belzoni, Mississippi, on April 6, 2008.[8][6]

Mohamed was married to Annelle Horne.[11][8] They had six children, and 10 grandchildren by 1994.[16][10]

• Taggart, Andy (2019). "Kirk Fordice (1992-2000): Cutting Against the Grain" (PDF). The Journal of Mississippi History. LXXXI (1–2): 133–143. ISSN 0022-2771.