![]() ![]() Yet nearly none of them had earned marks equal to mine…. Ostrowsky’s advice to others in my class – all of them white…had encouraged what they had wanted. You need to think about something you can be… Why don’t you plan on carpentry?” Mr. A lawyer – that’s no realistic goal for a nigger. looked surprised… He kind of half-smiled and said…“You’ve got to be realistic about being a nigger. In their eyesight we were just things, that was all. When the state welfare people began coming to our house…hey acted and looked at, and at us, and around in our house, in a way that had about it the feeling – at least for me – that we were not people. The white police and firemen came and stood around watching as the house burned down to the ground. Our home was burning down around us…I remember we were outside in the night in our underwear, crying and yelling our heads off. My father had shouted and shot at the two white men who had set the fire and were running away. I remember being suddenly snatched awake into a frightening confusion of pistol shots and shouting and smoke and flames. …the nightmare night in 1929, my earliest vivid memory. ![]() In The Autobiography Malcolm reflects on his early memories: ![]() His mother was so distraught by her husband’s death that she was admitted to a mental health facility, leaving Malcolm and his seven siblings to wade through the welfare system. His father was frequently threatened by the Ku Klux Klan, who acted on these threats by burning down Malcolm’s home, and later murdering his father. Malcolm’s childhood was disturbing and traumatic. His mother was fair-skinned, her mother likely raped by a white man, and Malcolm Little was born with red-hued hair. His father was a radical Baptist minister and a Garveyite, follower of Jamaican leader Marcus Garvey, who believed that freedom, independence, and self-respect could never be achieved by blacks in America, and they should therefore return to Africa. Malcolm X was born “Malcolm Little” in Omaha, Nebraska on May 19, 1925. Malcolm X was indeed a revolutionary humanitarian leader. His story is fascinating, his metamorphoses illuminating, and his dream empowering. As the late Columbia University professor and historian Manning Marable wrote in his epic biography of Malcolm X: “He was a truly historical figure in the sense that, more than any of his contemporaries, he embodied the spirit, vitality, and political mood of an entire population – black urban mid-twentieth century America.” The influence of such an embodiment became evident in the success of The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Spike Lee’s Academy Award-winning film Malcolm X, and the abundance of literature, art, education, and social justice work that continues in the great man’s name today. However, before Malcolm’s tragic assassination, he broke from the NOI, and truly transformed his fundamental beliefs about humanity, equality, and justice. Malcolm’s approach to African American liberation was controversial, and his involvement with the Nation of Islam (NOI) was pivotal in shaping his thoughts and deeds. There was, without a doubt, something enigmatic about Malcolm X. Not unlike Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X dreamed of freedom for his people, for black men, women, and children all over the world. He was a powerful man, who treated his authority like a fine piece of music, lending his whole being – mind, body, and soul – to the task of realizing his dream. Malcolm X was immortalized as a “shining black prince” by Ossie Davis, a well-known African American actor, civil rights activist, and dear friend in his eulogy for the infamous leader. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |