Malcolm
X was no doubt one of the most profoundly significant, famous, and
controversial African American leaders of our time. I cannot recall any
other MAN, except maybe Dr. King, whose impact was so overwhelmingly
felt by so many. The Minister Malcolm’s prophetic words spoken over
forty-five years ago resonate as relevant today as the day they were
spoken evoking the same emotions of truth.
February 21st is the
anniversary, for lack of a better word, of Minister Malcolm X’s
assassination at the Audubon Ballroom that has yet to be fully resolved
in the minds of most of us. What I can say is that we lost a champion
unlike anyone I have witnessed in my lifetime. Therefore, it would be
blasphemy to dedicate an entire month to the ghost of the greats and not
include the most articulate orator of our time.
I could go deeply
into the making of this man but so many people, agencies, institutions
and organizations have covered this great man’s brief life on earth in
much more detail than I can. As you know, there is a vast sea of
in-depth analyses, books, movies, and biographies on his life and
philosophies. I will not try to rewrite history rather simply pay homage
to the legacy of this great man as brief as I can, honoring him for his
contributions to the African American Diaspora.
There are facts
(known & unknown), suspicions and of course theories surrounding the
assassination of Malcolm X, the impact it has had on our culture and
the world the world. Like the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X
also had a dream. It began bathed in the tenets of anger and hatred,
fostering economic independence on the shoulders of retaliatory
separatism that ended with the swelling acceptance of a unified
brotherhood and the replacement of hatred with peace and with the
nagging thirst for international equality for all mankind.
As the
story goes, early in Malcolm’s life a white teacher asked him what he
would like to be and his answer was “a lawyer”. The teacher, who had
encouraged his white students on their career choices, told Malcolm,
“That’s no realistic goal for a nigger”. This statement discouraged a
bright student to not seek his full potential leading to a life of
crime. After being caught and arrested for carrying a concealed weapon
he was sentenced to prison. While serving more than six years he began
educating himself, converted to the Islamic faith and became a Black
Muslim in the Nation of Islam (NOI).
After his release in 1952,
Malcolm Little, now known as Malcolm X, went to Detroit and began to
actively preach to the frustrated African American population about what
Islam had to offer. It made no difference where he conducted his
sermons and teachings, whether on the streets or in a temple. He spread
the word to anyone who would listen.
It was not long before
Malcolm became a favorite of Elijah Muhammad, the leader of the Nation
of Islam. He was made a minister and began to travel from city to city,
preaching the message, founding new temples and converting thousands of
people to the faith. Two years later, Malcolm X became minister of the
famed Temple Number Seven in Harlem, New York.
In April of 1964,
Malcolm X made a pilgrimage to Mecca which led to his second conversion.
He met brothers of the faith who were from many nations and of many
races, black, brown, white, and all the sons of Allah. The reality
dawned on him that advocating racial cooperation and brotherhood would
help resolve the racial problems in America and, hopefully, lead to a
peaceful coexistence throughout the world. Malcolm X’s transformed ideas
and dreams reached full fruition and were ready for implementation. He
changed his name, this time to El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz and found
himself going against the system, but this time he would not be alone in
the fight for equality and justice.
It did not take long for the
reactionaries to strike out at Malcolm X. Members of the NOI resented
what they thought were his attempts to supplant Elijah Muhammad.
Government entities feared his involving the NOI in international
issues, as well as his starting to lean too far to the left, while law
enforcement officials looked upon him and his actions as radical,
criminal and detrimental to society.
Early on the morning of
February 14, 1965, Malcolm and his family were peacefully asleep in
their home in Elmhurst, New York. They were suddenly awakened by the
sounds of shattering glass and explosions. Several Molotov cocktails had
been thrown through their living room window, engulfing the house in
roaring flames. Malcolm and his wife, Betty, quickly gathered their
children and rushed out of the burning house. Once safe, they stood
outside in the cold air, watching as their home and possessions burned.
It was never determined who had tried to kill them, though Malcolm did
tell authorities he thought it may have been the NOI.
Just one
week later at a scheduled appearance at the Audubon Ballroom, which was
almost full on a cold February day with over 400 followers of Islam
anxiously awaiting Brother Malcolm X. No uniformed police were visible
inside the Audubon, but two were stationed outside the entrance although
it was common knowledge that an attempt on Malcolm’s life was a real
possibility. Inside the Audubon Ballroom, several dark-suited NOI guards
were positioned near the stage and towards the rear of the room. As
soldiers of the NOI, the militancy of the neatly dressed men was evident
in their demeanor, as they surveyed the room, quietly watching the
seating of late arrivals.
Malcolm X, his pregnant wife and their
four children waited as a tense and nervous Malcolm X ordered two of his
guards to take his family out into the hall to their seats in a box
near the front of the stage. Seemingly irritated and exhausted, Malcolm X
mentioned to his aides that he had reservations about speaking.
Malcolm’s misgivings were reflected in his taut features as his restless
eyes darted around the room as he listened to Brother Benjamin Goodman
making his opening speech.
At approximately 3:08 pm, Brother
Benjamin ended his speech and introduced Malcolm X, who walked out onto
the stage to a lengthy ovation. Malcolm stepped up to a wooden
podium and looked out at the audience. When the applause finally settled
down, he offered the audience the Muslim greeting and smiled when they
responded in-kind. Just as he began to speak again, a commotion broke
out near the rear of the ballroom. Two men jumped up, knocking wooden
folding-chairs to the floor, as one of the men yelled, “Get your hand
out of my pocket!” As Malcolm responded with cool it there brothers, a
loud explosion suddenly erupted in the back of the room, which began to
fill with smoke.
Malcolm’s bodyguards and aides hardly had time to
react as the well coordinated ruses effectively diverted their
attention from him, allowing unopposed gunmen to begin their attack. A
man rose from the front row and pulled out a double-barreled sawed-off
shotgun from under his coat and fired twice at Malcolm.
Simultaneously,
as Malcolm was falling backwards and clutching his bloody chest, two
more men jumped up and fired pistols at him as they rushed the stage.
Although Malcolm was down, the two men repeatedly fired bullets into his
body before turning and running to flee the premises. More shots were
fired as they ran.
Betty Shabazz shielded her children with her
body beneath a bench. As soon as the shooting ceased, she rushed toward
the still body of her husband as she screamed, “They’re killing my
husband! They’re killing my husband!” When she reached his side she
realized he was dead, despite the frantic efforts of followers trying to
stop the flow of blood from his bullet riddled body.
Upon
learning of the assassination of Malcolm X, the Reverend Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr. remarked that “One has to conquer the fear of death if
he is going to do anything constructive in life and take a stand against
evil”. We may never know all of the facts about who was behind the
assassination or who ordered his death. But we do know that these
assassins denied him the chance to act upon his newly formed
convictions.
Today, the man and the name, Malcolm X, are known in
America and throughout the world. He was a celebrated freedom fighter
and motivating force to those whose future he had the vision to see, the
will to stand up and fight for. Postage stamps and posters now bear his
image out of recognition and honor for his final crusade.
The
eulogy that actor Ossie Davis delivered at his funeral profoundly
impresses upon us that, “However we may have differed with him, or with
each other about him and his value as a man, let his going from us serve
only to bring us together, now. Consigning these mortal remains to
earth, the common mother of all, secure in the knowledge that what we
place in the ground is no more now a man but a seed which, after the
winter of our discontent, will come forth again to meet us. And we will
know him then for what he was and is a Prince, our own black shining
Prince! Who didn’t hesitate to die, because he loved us so.”
Malcolm
X was a man who fulfilled his place in history and stayed true to his
words: "It is a time for martyrs now, and if I am to be one, it will be
for the cause of brotherhood."
A collection of Malcolm X Speeches
And That's my Thought Provoking Perspective!
"Just a Season"
Legacy – A New Season
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