hort of cash, alcolm
X CefJter struggles
to er".e community
DETROIT - M colm X's
. e to young people lives
,.. through efforts such Kwame
ICe '
Ken the Malcolm X
Community Center For Black
S • director, 13206 Dater
Blvd. plana year-round
prolrams livinl J\frican
AmaiC· :aDS a to deYelop
retiance.
A· of S
,
a former member of Ne
Yor '� B ct Panther Party,
• t the CCIl-
ter, the variety of adim:s
held reaularty invites every
African American to come by.
S DOW IWes in exile in
after beiDa broke of
Jeney jail in the earlY 70s.
. .. the buiIdiDg a
rich Africenbic learning en-
vir eat.iling volumes of
books ali n table and
boo .
Of course posters
of X are there
are those detailinl
PllllIOIOOID· es of .
25th aDIllJ\!enaJrv dIDDler'
'IRnafr
Obviously Wright and
Detroit ayor Young still
. 't reach an eeme be-
Wright oneced hi
reIlDIt·1oJl to a crowd of abo
1,000 the mayor and
IDCIDben of the musuem's ex
ecutM board the night of the
. ce bration - ich . 0
urprise.
The history of tbe control
over the m �aks for it-
self.
W· ed the uem
in 1965 in a comcrted ho
. formerly served his
meclllCal office.
Wright is a retired
etriciaDJgynecologist 0
tr � aDd acquired of
the m um' artifacts himself
tbro frie cis.
Then the museum as
operated by Wright and �
ben of the commuity who aided
. . foundation t a time n
city olli . re . different,
. d Agnes Miller, long-time
museum member.
I October article, the
-Michigan Citizen- reported
Wriaht cautioning th t the
mayor'� propoICd •. .
calleaders uch Marcus Gar
vey and Huey ewton.
"We put forth an effort to
teach our history . ch i the
history of the ld," Kenv.tt.
said. J��
The location of the center i
Detroi holds great cultural si&-.
nificance itself, Kenyatta said.
The city aloag . ODe in
cw York, ... Califor-
nia, AW.m. aad Georgia were
chosen ch29-31, 1968 the
Republic of New Afrika.
Naturally by � •
the A&ika PeopIca' Or
pnizatioD Detr . coordin'tOr,
the center has strong· to
• . which em •
African" American livin .
separ ely in a tWip'ted" ter
ritory - cw Afrika.
To help implement inde
pendence & a predomiDaDt
Iy hite oeiety the center
sponors food co-op, elf
defense classes, community
forums, youthl • train-
iD& said.
Also· the IIIDDcsa
Comm . Uaity Day"
is annually held the SaturdaY
cl to A 18, Ganey'l
pr
used to ·ilIllDUiIllUlDl
W·
tacks of him
hen- of the m
beiDg able to let it go.
HoweYer, lettiD&. SO iDto
the Iumds of the city ••
tion a p CODCCI'D for
many of the museum', ..
foundell.At the IDD1Ial •
Oct. 26 several members ex
pressed outrage over the p-'
pointmcnt of an almost eatire1y
city ofIicial board ad ex
cl • of the community •.
Detroit's Depart eat of
F"mance Director Bella Mar
hall erves as tre urer and
Department of plann;", Direc
tor Ronald Hewitt· vice chair
. e Department of Pulbic In·
formation Georgdla Muirhead
• secretary of the IDUlCUID'S ex-
ecutive board.
Members, maoy of bom
origiDally funded the m
before i . move to 301 Frederi
Douglass Drive in 1987,
charge4 • board IDCID-
ben for changi I by-Ia
. powaful
board· the '1 • ory
and enacting ne polici�'
witho their input
t Dater be �IIIH�
birthday.
The surrOUDdiag the
CCDtcr arc blocked off aDd the
youth beat up the atmosphere
with entertainment involving
diverse talents uch rappiag
and readiag poetry. '.
This type of freedom of -
pr · on al with profoUDd
exposure in forms of field trips
ioatills self-esteem and cultural
pride in youths ppreciated
. later in life en they go to be
successful, Kenyatta said.
"(Center staff) have in
fluenced the li\u of hundreds
of Black Youth,- Keoyatta .
-'t· important the center
remains a beacon oftigbt for the
The board has the power to
vote on items between the once
a-)aI'medinp.
• 1, board vice chair,
scrutiaized hen he tried to
push forward the idea of a
m expansion-move at the
ann meeting
. The members clearly didn't
want the location moved after
• abort y in the Cultural
Center.
Hewitt left the &DDual meet-
-- .''''_Iyl after the attacks.
cwember 28, City Council
man Mel Ravitz invited mem
bers of the executive board
IDClUOII. H . to meet .
had
queltiolll reprdiDg the fate 0
up.
However, Wright and
muscum staff alo with com
unity members did make the
meeting
Friday . n the mayor
and Wright met, reportedly,
Wright did not· ee � cur-
rent musuem property being
sold to the Center for Creative
Studies altd relocated to
aDOtIl.cr part of the city.
The mayor told W . be
the oaIy penon stood
·in the way of the fol-
_ ..... _. _that w· . resigned.
youth.-
Founded on May 19, 1984
Keayatta had high hopes for the
CCDter. .
But, in 1990, though
Kenyatta's center continues to
do revolutionary things with
community youth, it has suf
fered financially through the
years.
Funding- is . cal:1Y out of
the pockets of directors and the
community: he said, but the
staff will continue to provide
services regardless of the finan·
cial situation.
"We have not seeked other
funds (such from local or
federal entiti ): he continued.
'We feel that does n feed in
depe deuce,"
Total a ODOIDy is an eJ -
ment of bOeration, Keny tt
aid referencing Malcolm X
and Loui Farrakhan, ddiot..
land is the key to self-detet
minatioo.
CoinCidentally the building
in . ch the eeeter i housed !
up for sale.
ICcayatta •
buy the •• uocbed
-A dollar fo aelf-determinal
tio .. - campailn hich a Ita
people to donate one dollar
monthly to the Malcolm X
CeDter ad to any other AfricaJl
American institution.
If the eutire building· pur
chased the Center can expand
. services aod provide more
space for African American
b· .
DeIter Boulevard· right in
the middle of a predomiantly
African American community,
b m of the· are
either Asian or Arab 0 n,
ICcayatta said.
The community hould
reflect the residents, he said,
adding, he has lobbied city
council to change the name of
Dexter to Malcolm X
Boulevard for four year ."Mal
colm X is . gaiticant enough
and has taken his place in his
tory," KcDyatta said, dding, he
ould be commended just for
literally pulling African
Americana 0 of garbage cans
making diem proud Black Mus-
lims. .
The Street ren.ming requ
will be re-introduced to council
before the end of March,
Kenyatta . d.
Ron Daniels, President of
the Institute for Community Or
ganization and Deve opment in
YOUD&stO n, Ohio, recently
came to Detroit, in declar tion
-of 1990 -"The Year of Mal
colm X" calling for a national
move nt to co emorate the
African Ameri hero.
Mar· May 19, na ion-
al boliday high on Daniels'
agenda, s king resurgence
in comm.emoratio of Malcolm
XlocaUy.
If a street can be named after
a church or a South African in
vested company certainly one
can be named after Malcolm X
in a city which collected the
required amount of upport sig-
tures.
"No decisio made, - he
aid. -(The Community
Economic and Development
Committee member ) were
very bia e.d. They aid the
petitio ers did n live in the
area en in fact their ddres
ses indicated they did, Kenyatta
said.
"(The propo al) has been
laying dormant until now," he
aid, adding. the committee's
recommendation not to act
upon the request and conse
quently it failed before going to
the full city council .
A march and rally to raise
aw reness of the i ue is
scheduled for May 19 at the
center, but until then Kenyatta
urges people to write to City
Council upportiog the street
ren.mi", .