Proclaiming an
ByRo D .
February 21, 1965 EI Hajj,
Malik EI Shabazz, Malcolm X
was assasiaated in the Audubon
Ballroom in Harlem, New York ..
Born in 1925 n Omaha,
Nebraska as Malcolm Little,
1990 will mark the twenty-fifth
memoria year of his assasina­
tion, and Malcolm's sixty-ruth
birthday.
We should begin to build a
movement now to make 1990
the year to affirm May 19, as a
major African-American
Holiday. Not a government or
U.S. sponsored holiday, but an
African-American- designated
Holiday which we affirm and
declare as an act of our own self­
determination as a National
African-American Community.
'May 1�
ot a U.S.
spcnscred
holiday, but
one we affirm
and declare
as an act of
our own self­
determi nation.'
Vantag
Point
years after his assasiaatioii, it is
almost as if the National
He rose from a "hoodlum,
thief, dope peddler, and pimp to
become the most dynamic
leader of the Black Revolution."
Osie Davis eulogized Malcolm
as "Our Shining Blac Prince."
Yet in 1989, twenty-four
African-American community
suffers from a case of collective
amnesia. The life and legacy of
one of the most extraordinary
African-American leaders in
our history is not a significant
part of the active consciousness
of our people. And I hear no
notable national leaders speak­
ing of Malcolm's magnificant
. contributyion to our people,
and calling on African­
Americans to give appropriate
recognition to this brilliant man
of the people.
I In some respects this is not
. surprising. America's ruling
, I
A frican";_A
elites would defmitely like to'
suppress the memory of Mal­
colm X because he was totally
unacceptable to the white
power structure. Unfortunately
what's unacceptable to the
power structure often comes to
tacitly be unacceptable to many
African-American leaders who
feel that they have to go along to
get along.
Malcolm X was a militant
nationalist who was an uncom­
promising critic of the
American system of political
and economic hyproaisy and
contradictions.
Standing in the tradition of
Martin R. Delaney, A.M.E.
Bishop Henry McNeal Turner,
Marcus Garvey, and Nobel
Drew Ali, Malcolm -X espoused
the right of African people in
America and the world to con­
trol our own destinies, He urged
African people to struggle for
FREEDOM "BY ANY
MEANS NECESSARY".
(Radical ideas in an era of overt
white racism, white supremacy,
and European and American
colonialism.) I
In a time when Black people
were being blatantly brutalized
and victimized all across
America, particularly in the
South, Malcolm X was a
staunch proponent 0 ELF­
DEFE SE.
Though M lcolm was firmly
opposed to Black people initiat­
ing acts of violence or being the
aggressor ainst anyone, his
position on self-defense was dis­
torted by the media as a policy
advocating viole ceo
Sel - e ense was unaccep­
table to a nation which was
violently oppressig the aspira­
tions of African-Americans
through acts, deeds, customs,
traditions, and policy. Similiarly
Malcolm's outspoken leader-
•
an Hotida
,
ip was also popular amoog
some of the m re moderate and
conservative . can-American
l4aders. But mong the Black
masses, parti ly those lock­
ed up in the prawling urban
Rhettos of the orth, Malcolm
�theman.
Those gh s are still here
t day indeed bey ate growing
a an alarming rate. "The more
ings change t e more they stay .
the same." M lcolm's analysis,
philosophy, str tegies, and per- .
s nal exampl of struggle and.
achievement re as relevant
today as they ere two decades
a o.
Rescued fr m gangsterism,'
degeneracy, d prison life by
tHe Honorable Elijah Muham­
mad, and the ation of Islam,
Malcolm X int malizcd and ex­
panded the na on's philosophy
of self-help an self-deter min a­
(ion
Malcolm al
the STUDY a
vital ot our d
people. On t
. IDENTITY,
ys taught that
HISTORY was
elopment as a
e question of
alcolm's grasp
of our histoory learly lead him
to the conclusi n that we ARE
AN AFRIC N PEOPLE.
Hence he aim st always used
the term Afro American. He
consistently poi ted to Africa as
. base for 0 r identity and
velopment as people.
As a Blac ationalist, Mal-
colm X pleade with African
Americans to C NTROL TIlE
POLITIC AND
E ONOMIC OF OUR
COMMU
As second
America, Mal 1m argued that
HUMAN RI HTS super­
ceded civil righ He believed
that we, as Afri Americans,
based n tbe holocaust of
slavery and a I ng history of
deprivation in rica, should
take our case to he Unit Na-
'Malcolm's life
is a testimony to
what is posslble
give an
- Afro-centric
outloo and
'world vi tws and
a dogged,
unrelenting
commitment to
I .­
develop oneself
to fight tor the.
liberatidn of a
,
peop e.
-
tions and the Wor ld Court fo the
cr mes of genocide and the
violation of our Human Rights.
Malcolm al 0 believved that
th se crimes entitled African
Americans to be· paid
R PARATIOM for the reo­
turies of forced free labor which .
helped to build Europe' and
A erica.
Male 1m X was a PA -
AFRI ANIST and an INTER­
NATl ALI . He wa a
proponent fTHIRD W RLD
LI ARITY.
Mal 1m ch lien ed u n t
t see our. elv. imply s a ra­
cial min rity in America. He s­
scrted that the future f Afri . n
Arnericans i linked t mil­
Ii n Africans n the ntincnt
well as to the hundreds of mil­
li ns of Black, brown, red, and
yellow peoples wh constitute
the vast maj rity f the world's
people. He wanted Afric n
Americans to be on the right
side of the tide of hi tory and the
right side of future world
development.
Malcolm X was a remarkable
man. He came so f from where
he started from. As a son of the
ghetto, Malco m's life' a tes­
timony 0 what is possible given
an Afro-centric outlook and .
world views d a dogged, un­
relenting com itmebt to
develop onese to fight for the
liberati of a people.
No w cannot afford to f r­
get Malcolm X. H' legacy t us
is far too great to I e. A whole
generation of young pe ple,
many of whom are t thcrns I­
v need to disco er Malcolm
and take inspirati n from hi
lj.fe. In 1990 WE mu t dec) e
ay 19, Malcom X Dayan
African- erican Holiday.
That proce s must gin n w.!
I I