by Bryan K. Bullock
May 19th was Malcolm X’s birthday. The man who was Malcolm Little, then Malcolm X, then El Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, is still an inspirational, important, giant figure in the black liberation struggle. Malcolm’s message and critique of the United States and the systemic nature of racism in this country is just as important and cogent an analysis as ever. Malcolm spoke for and to the African American 99%. His “field negro” analysis, was brilliantly designed to give voice to the poor, urban African American who was disenfranchised, unemployed, and unprepared to “turn the other cheek” from a society where African Americans were second class citizens.
An older friend of mine confided in me many years ago that many black people, including him, were afraid of Malcolm X. They were not afraid of him because he was wrong, but instead, they were afraid of him because he was right. He was feared because he openly, confidently, and boldly stated things that many black people agreed with, but were too afraid to say in public for fear of reprisal. But if Malcolm was feared, he was also loved for speaking truths that the masses could only whisper in private.
Malcolm was a teacher. He read voraciously and shared his knowledge with the masses of black people in a down to earth easy to understand manner. Malcolm was brilliant. A man who had never been formally educated, imprisoned at an early age, was able to debate with scholars and to speak to the masses equally. Another gentleman that I met many years ago said to me that he and Malcolm were walking through a university one night, when Malcolm stopped and pointed at a library and remarked that this is where he would, if he could, spend all of his time because that is where the seeds of black people’s liberation is contained.
Two giants of the so-called Civil Rights Movement, Wyatt Tee Walker and James Farmer noted, many years later, that Malcolm X”s analysis of racism and its deep roots in American society was more accurate than their own. By their own admission, they didn’t understand how deeply racism ran in America. Malcolm, they said, had a more realistic and cogent understanding of structural racism than did they. Malcolm remained, until his death, by his own words, a black nationalist freedom fighter. He traveled the globe speaking to leaders of the emerging African nations, who themselves were finally breaking the yoke of colonialism, impressing them with his intellect and his commitment to the struggles of black people the world over. Malcolm’s Pan-Africanism sought to unite the African diaspora, as well as other so-called Third World peoples, to form a united effort to fight colonialism and imperialism.
The popularization of the term African American is a testament to Malcolm who consistently said that black people in American were transported Africans and he used the term Afro-American. The Organization of Afro-American Unity that he founded, was meant to be an American wing of the Organization of African Unity which had formed among African nations. Malcolm spoke of taking the United States in front of the United Nations for its oppression of African Americans and characterized the black freedom struggle as an issue of human rights instead of civil rights. He was deeply suspicious of the motives and commitment of American politicians and black “leaders” to seek full rights and power for the black masses. Unlike many black civil rights leaders, he never differentiated between southern and northern politicians. Malcolm never saw the southern racist as an anomaly as many did. Instead, he viewed both southerners and northerners as part of a whole racist system that was designed and determined to keep African Americans in a subordinate status.
He frequently remarked that southerners were more blatant in their discrimination, but that black people faced just as much discrimination, although more subtle, in the north. Malcolm became a respected figure world-wide, and yet, in many quarters, he is still disrespected and under-appreciated. Here in my hometown of Gary, Indiana, the city council refuses to even name a street after brother Malcolm. A city that was at the heart of the emerging black political movement refuses to even name a street after a man for whom the black political movement owes much of its rhetoric, strength and courage. Gary, a city hardest hit by white flight (which Malcolm predicted would happen in many northern cities), one of the first major cities to elect an African American mayor, host to the black political convention, is too afraid and defeated to accept a Malcolm X Boulevard. But, then, it doesn’t have a Richard Gordon Hatcher Boulevard either.
Malcolm’s legacy lives on in the thousands of grassroots organizations who continue to fight for justice in their own majority minority communities worldwide. The organizational children of Malcolm, namely, the Black Panther Party, The Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, the Black Radical Congress, and others, are testaments to his influence. His life continues to be studied and his messages analyzed by a new generation of scholars and leaders. He continues to inspire me, personally, with his courage, intellect and oratory. Happy birthday Malcolm.
Bryan K. Bullock is a lawyer. He was habeas counsel for detainees imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He practices employment discrimination and civil rights law and is a resident of Gary, IN.
Thank you for writing this piece. Brother Malcolm deserves to remain in our memory. His legacy (as you so eloquently noted) revitalized our people. Your discussion in this article about covert Northern racism v. overt southern racism is particularly poignant.
Excellent work.
I have a great deal of respect for Malcolm X / El-Shabazz, but I would think it myoptic to praise the brother for his extreme intelligent while ignoring black seperatism (which was a big part of his discourse at least until diverging with the NoI).
Just curious as to your own thoughts, I’m fortunate enough to have many of his speeches from WPFW on CD, and I think they resonate as true today as ever in many senses – especially if you look at his analysis of the treatment of the poor. I just get a little skittish when it comes to the idea of separating people by race.
Best,
g
Racial planning may come off as black separatism, but one has to realize every group on this planet has a race plan. Some races even have race plans for other races. So I don’t see how or why you would find the idea of separating people by race irksome, when it is already the structure of the world we live in. To overcome racial group oppression you need to have some degree of racial group thinking. Both Malcolm X and the N.O.I have their birth roots in Garveyism. At no point in Malcolms life did he advocate integration, so being turned off by the very real categorization of race is empty speech. I’ll personally echo a general notion among nationalist that says, “A race that does not plan does not last.” and that “Two powers can not exist in the same space”. Among African people theirs much work to be done. We should look after ourselves and we needn’t worry about what any other group has to do for their people unless it affects us. We have to put our people and our future first before anything else. Malcolm echoed this in his speeches and only made exception to it when he came to realize their was a sea of other groups with the same enemy. With this realization Malcolm set out to create a beneficial consensus. Many people mistake (or reinvent) this event for him becoming Martin Luther King .Jr in his political life. Which conveniently fails to see it for what it was, and instead endorses it for what it was not (a move to humanism and away from “Black” nationalism). If you don’t believe me I encourage you to listen to “By Any Means Necessary” in it’s entirety and not just in the scattered sound bites of the day (Malcolm was not in the N.O.I. at that time). If the smatterings of Black Separatism give you pause,everyday White Supremacy should stop your heart.
Everyday white privilege and especially the white supremacy elements of our society disgust me. I guess I’m approaching the whole thing from both an irrational ideation of Malcolm (which you’ve quite properly steered me better on with regards to the black nationalism) and from my own anarcho-syndicalist politics.
I suppose I may be leaning too heavily on a sort of neo-Marxist analysis that capitalists keep race divisive because it benefits their class war to do so. No question that its been over 400 years of oppression and slavery; I understand the logic behind self defense, at any cost. BPP got that one right, for sure.
Thanks for your reply,
g
Real Talk. We need more understanding of who we are and most of all loving each other and basing our whole being and every system on that! We in the streets with you…http://www.streetsill.com