Remember: Malcolm X

The man was murdered forty-three years ago today.

NPR's News and Notes (great program, that) talks with Khalil Islam, who served twenty-two years in prison for Malcolm X's murder. Islam insists that he is innocent.

I want to urge you to stop whatever you're reading and pick up The Autobiograpahy of Malcolm X, as told to Alex Haley. It revolutionized my understanding of this man who is cartoonishly footnoted these days as the "angry black man" who, as the myth goes in the sort of community I grew up in, basically advocated shooting white people. My school teachers might've grudgingly admitted that he was a good leader or a good speaker, but he was too hateful to be taken seriously. So we didn't talk about him.

I knew nothing about Malcolm X when I picked up his book last fall. He was born and raised in Mason, Michigan. His father was murdered by white citizens of Lansing; his mother sent to a mental facility in Kalamazoo. Think he's noted as one of Michigan's proudest "famous" citizens? Hardly. We'll boast about Gerald Ford, Madonna, and a slew of Motown stars. When it comes to Malcolm X, though, our state has clean forgot him.

After reading the autobiography, I felt angry for learning, for the first time, how Malcolm X's thinking about social change evolved. After returning from his pilgrimage to Mecca near the end of his life, he began to believe in the possibility of true integration--he experienced it for the first time in that spiritual community. He regretted many of his words of past years, while at the same time recognizing that it was all part of his process of transformation. He wondered where that path would lead him next. We're all left to wonder that.

I couldn't believe that that significant change was lost in the cultural narrative of Malcolm X I'd grown up with. Why do we insist on holding him to a single identity? Why haven't we given space to his many dimensions?

I began to get that of course Malcolm X was angry; why shouldn't he feel such a natural emotion about the horrible violence he and his communities experienced? I began to get that this wasn't an emotion to be afraid of, but one to empathize with. Who admonishes, say, a rape victim for being angry? We understand, rather, that it is a human thing to feel when one experiences violence; we'd hardly dismiss the victim for expressing it.

I wish we'd apply the same understanding to Malcolm X. Instead, if acknowledged beyond his "hatefulness," he's remembered as a sort of low-class, criminal stepbrother to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (at least, he is in the community where I come from).

I was angry that Malcolm X has been written our of our historical understanding, dismissed as the astonishing leader that he was, as evidenced by the scant media coverage of today's anniversary. Exceptions include Newsday's piece on events in Harlem marking the day, and some random "today in history" mentions.

Why don't we honor Malcolm X for his spirituality, as passionate and sincere as King's?

Why don't we pay tribute to his remarkable discipline and intelligence, remembering that the man taught himself to read and write while he was in prison; that he never got past the eighth grade in school. The reason he wore those signature glasses was because he gave himself astigmatism from squinting at his books in his cell after lights-out--where is this story remembered?

Why do I sense so much lingering fear of this man, rather than unadulterated gratitude for how he catalyzed enormous numbers of people to respect themselves, to hold themselves to a higher standard?

Why don't we appreciate his  scathing--and absolutely valid--criticism of our racist society?

We should love Malcolm X for holding us accountable.

Comments

[Daniel]

Ah, well done Miss Anna. He is a great figure in American history.

[Elizabeth Clark]

I completely agree. How horrible is it that my knowledge of the civil rights movement was the peaceful Martin Luther King Jr. versus the angry black man Malcolm X. What I am able to recognize now is my ignorance on the subject, and take heart in the knowledge that I want to learn more about Malcolm X and his teachings on race in America.

[Anna Clark]

Let be known that Elizabeth and I passed the same copy of the book back and forth (well, we passed it over an ocean).

Anyone know if there's some collection of Malcolm X's speeches and interviews? Either on audio or in print?