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", .