Today Is The Birthday of Malcolm X

[RobertZ]

From "The Writer's Almanac:

Today is the birthday of Malcolm X [[books by this author), born Malcolm Little in Omaha, Nebraska [[1925). When he was four years old and living in East Lansing, Michigan, white supremacists set fire to the family's home. The East Lansing police and firefighters-all white-came to the house when called, but stood by and watched it burn. When he was six, his father was murdered. Police declared his death a suicide, which invalidated the family's life insurance policy. Little's mother never recovered from her husband's murder, and entered a mental institution when the boy was 12. When he was 14, he told his high school teacher that he wanted to be a lawyer. The teacher told him to be realistic and consider a career in carpentry instead. Little dropped out of school the following year.
He was arrested for larceny in 1946, and while in prison, an older inmate encouraged him to use his time to educate himself. Little began checking out books from the prison library, and when he found his vocabulary too limited for some of them, he copied out an entire dictionary word for word. He also began a correspondence with Elijah Mohammad, the founder of the Nation of Islam, and once released, became one of their most prominent organizers. He took the surname "X" to symbolize his lost African heritage.
But in 1964, Malcolm X broke with the Nation of Islam when he learned that his mentor was having multiple affairs, contradicting his own teachings. Seeking clarity, Malcolm that year made the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Here, for the first time, he related to people of all races, and returned to America with a new message. He stopped preaching the rigid separatism that had been his trademark, and instead called for people to work together across racial lines.
At the end of 1964, over many conversations, Malcolm X dictated his life story to the writer Alex Haley. The book was almost finished when, in February of 1965, Malcolm X was shot and killed while speaking at a rally at the Audubon Ballroom in Manhattan. He was 39 years old. A few months later Alex Haley published The Autobiography of Malcolm X [[1965). It has since seen over 40 editions and sold in the tens of millions.

[Jerry Oz]

This is one of my heroes. Not for the fiery rhetoric about separatism most remember him for, but for his vision and clarity in purpose. Both are what's missing for African-Americans today and the void of dynamic leadership is huge. People who only know him for his earliest teachings about Black power and nationalism do him no honor and should read his autobiography to learn about who he grew to become before his murder took him from us. How sad that the voices of Minister Shabazz and Dr. King were silenced by hatred. I wonder who they would have become if either or both had been allowed to live for another 20 years [[or more)?

[marv2]

Happy Birthday to Minister el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz aka Malcolm X! May your spirit live on eternally.....

[splanky]

This is one of my heroes. Not for the fiery rhetoric about separatism most remember him for, but for his vision and clarity in purpose. Both are what's missing for African-Americans today and the void of dynamic leadership is huge. People who only know him for his earliest teachings about Black power and nationalism do him no honor and should read his autobiography to learn about who he grew to become before his murder took him from us. How sad that the voices of Minister Shabazz and Dr. King were silenced by hatred. I wonder who they would have become if either or both had been allowed to live for another 20 years [[or more)?

The people of today are as far away from the visions of those two men as we are from
Jupiter. And not just in America, I mean worldwide. I try as much as possible to take my
people's culture the good sweet parts, the bullshit parts I throw them away...to paraphrase
Amiri Baraka...RIP all...

[RobertZ]

This is one of my heroes. Not for the fiery rhetoric about separatism most remember him for, but for his vision and clarity in purpose. Both are what's missing for African-Americans today and the void of dynamic leadership is huge. People who only know him for his earliest teachings about Black power and nationalism do him no honor and should read his autobiography to learn about who he grew to become before his murder took him from us. How sad that the voices of Minister Shabazz and Dr. King were silenced by hatred. I wonder who they would have become if either or both had been allowed to live for another 20 years [[or more)?

That's a wonderful and inspiring reply; I have [[finally) committed myself to reading "The Autobiography ..." based upon your words.