The princely paradox of Malcolm X

[emad]

Forty years on, his legacy offers an example to people of all ethnicities

Jesse Jackson
Tuesday February 22, 2005
The Guardian

As I reflect on the life of Malcolm X 40 years after his assassination, I do so with a keen understanding of the political, social and economic condition in America. Like other great leaders, Malcolm - who later accepted the name Haj Malik El Shabaaz - was influenced by his environment and the social conditions of his time.
In 1903, WEB Dubois penned the Souls of Black Folk, in which he prophesied that the central issue of the 20th century would be race. Following the rise of domestic terrorism, represented by the cowardly nightriders of the Ku Klux Klan, the organised movement to resist racism began to flourish among African-Americans. By the end of the century, two paths of resistance had emerged, led by the Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X.

Although their paths had parallel ends, each was distinct. Dr King, having studied the philosophies of Jesus and Mahatma Gandhi, focused on non-violent direct action to achieve a shift in the paradigm of public policy. He employed liberation theology to frame racism as a national moral sin.

Malcolm X studied the philosophy of Marcus Garvey as a young man and developed a black nationalist perspective in response to racial bigotry. He viewed appeals to the US government for redress as "taking the criminal to his own court". He gained national notoriety as the no-nonsense voice of the Nation of Islam, imploring people to revolutionary change "by any means necessary".

Malcolm X's perspective had a great appeal among college students and those adults unwilling to "turn the other cheek". Yet his legacy centres not around his defiance and fiery oratory, but his intellectual evolution.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1419914,00.html

[struggle4progress]

1. Most of the coverage of MX has ignored his split with the so-called ...

... "Nation of Islam" and his conversion to genuine Islam, together with his realization at Mecca that all humanity could come together as brothers and sisters.