Malcolm X (1925–1965)

Four speeches which, divorced from their time and intended audience, are baroquely surreal, deep and troubling. And proven, in that no, white liberals have in fact done little to change the reality for blacks in the US, and have used the black vote to attempt to maintain their own power. The idea that there is a god protected future for blacks when the whites are finished ruining their world is probably not going to be an accurate prediction, but then I'm a mere unbeliever.

“If Malcolm X were not a Negro, his autobiography would be little more than a journal of abnormal psychology, the story of a burglar, dope pusher, addict and jailbird—with a family history of insanity—who acquires messianic delusions and sets forth to preach an upside-down religion of ‘brotherly’ hatred.”

-Saturday Evening Post, Sept. 12, 1965

Sensationalist, yes? Reminiscent of certain responses to Twelve Years a Slave winning multiple Academy Awards at this year's Oscars, and show more this is nearly fifty years on. Within these pages, Malcolm X spoke of a hope that by the year 2000, the white-washing of Jesus and other Biblical figures would be ended, and the true unresolved question of their physical aspects would be reflected by portrayals ranging all across the spectrum. In the year 2014, certain groups had conniptions over suggestions that Santa Clause could be black. The world goes on, and popular thought appropriates.

What is especially telling about that editorial first sentence up there is the overt interplay between prose and reader perception. This is important to consider when imbibing any text, but here, in context with racism, in context with classism, in context with the institutional ideologies' demand that all resistance be nonviolent while weighing it down with "sign of the times" murder, rampant lynching then and shotgunning teenagers now for reasons of "too loud music", in context with the autobiography of Malcolm X, ask yourself if a criminal record puts you off reading about a person, and then ask yourself why.

Ask yourself what constitutes the "abnormal psychology", the "messianic delusions", the "upside-down religion of 'brotherly hatred'", the CEO, the politician, any belief that preaches intolerance for the non-believer. Ask yourself what half-hearted bullshit constitutes "If Malcolm X were not a Negro", passing off the enormous debt the US has to its history of slavery as an embarrassing pathos, a ploy, an "Oh, they kicked the puppy and now it's telling its story, of course it'll get attention." Ask yourself what your memories of this monumental figure in history are, the first time you heard his name, whether you wondered at his story, his X, or condemned him from the start.

My beginning was a mention of a footnote of violence in a summary of the 20th century. It took me more than ten years too long to extend my thinking beyond this roadblock.

“So as a black man and especially as a black American, any stand that I formerly took, I don’t think that I would have to defend it because it’s still a reaction to the society, and it’s a reaction that was produced by the society; and I think that it is the society that produces this that should be attacked, not the reaction that develops among the people who are the victims of that negative society.”

-From the Pierre Berton Show, taped at Station CFTO-TV in Toronto, January 19, 1965

It is interesting to note how soon after Malcolm's change of heart he was assassinated. It is interesting to note how his message as a living embodiment of hope for those who have slipped through the cracks of well-to-do society has been seen as a mark against him. It is key to observe the contentions over the non-fictional aspect of this work, when the existence of Columbus Day renders the controversy not only absurd, but obscene. Either do not discriminate in your pointing of fingers at act and advocation of physical violence, or don't do it at all.

Whatever your personal alignments with the beliefs conveyed in this book, it is and shall always be a gift to the world. While it may be true that I would have to be restrained from punching Malcolm X in the face for his deriding of women, especially his "any country's moral strength, or moral weakness, is quickly measurable by the street attire and attitude of its women", my disagreement does not impact my appreciation of his importance. What he believed in, he said, and the writing of this biography during the last few years of his life displays this dramatic evolution, all the more so because of Haley's keeping Malcolm X to his word of not changing the overarching message of any previous writing. It is his willingness to speak and question that led him on his pilgrimage to Mecca, it is this overhaul of both belief and character that led him from disenfranchised boy to city slick teenager to convict to minister to a crisis of conscience in full throes up to the point he was shot down. In his words, “I’m man enough to tell you that I can’t put my finger on exactly what my philosophy is now, but I’m flexible.” Patriarchal in delivery, admirable in gist.

There is no point to freedom of speech if you don't want to hear disagreeable things. Communication is worth as much as the controversy it provokes, and it is worth even more of the person communicating is willing to change in accordance to what is received by an open mind. In that, Malcolm X was a rare, rare breed, decrying the patronizing "equality" of the North as harshly as the blatant discrimination of the South, sometimes regretting his words but never recanting them. Just look at his main counterpart, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Even his proclaimed message of nonviolence doesn't save him from being condensed to a speech, a slogan, a "If Martin Luther King were alive today..." that ignores wholesale his indictment of capitalism, the Vietnam War, and so many other beliefs that don't fit in that image of a saint made comfortable for societal propagation. And this is how much the legacy of the "peaceful" civil rights activist has been twisted.

Before starting this book, I had a vague outline of race riots and Muslims. Today, I know Malcolm X to have been a reader, a thinker, a leader cut down in the midst of shifts from wholesale condemnation to broader platforms of acceptance, a man learning to hate the game of societal oppression, not the multitude of players. Thirty-six years and a wide variety of beliefs both religious and otherwise separates his lifetime from mine, but we share a desire for true and ubiquitous equality, as well as a love for James Baldwin. For that, I am glad to have finally made his literary acquaintance. show less

When I was half the age I am now I discovered El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, more commonly known as Malcolm X. I was captivated by him. Here was a radical. A philosopher. A man who saw death coming and faced it courageously. I studied the person, watched the film, read a speech or two, but like most teenagers I “didn't have the time” to invest more. I don't know what happened, but a few years after that I had practically forgotten Malcolm. Perhaps it was because I went through my Jesus phase. show more Maybe it was because I was busy discovering other radicals. Whatever the reason, I genuinely forgot how much I loved Malcolm X.

Fast forward to 2012 when I discovered this book is still unread on my bookshelf. It's been there forever. I browsed it a couple times when I was in my Malcolm X phase, but otherwise it has remained untouched. My feelings for X were so far removed that when I decided to read The Autobiography I did so more from a literary standpoint than as a believer. God how this book brought it all back.

Malcolm X's story is truly original and inspiring. Not only was Malcolm X a powerful force, but he was a person who went through significant transformation in his life, over and again, and this is what makes him most impressive. Witnessing the confused youth he had been, the minister he was, and the humble servant of the people he ultimately became proves that a person, with the right mentality and encouragement, can change. Drastically.

What I most got from reading The Autobiography of Malcolm X, as opposed to everything I had encountered about X before, was that while he was brave and brilliant, he didn't seem a very stable person. There are many underlying signs of mental illness—the mistrust of everyone, the unbridled devotion to whatever cause occupied him at the time, his lack of social skills, his severe restlessness—and I wanted so much to diagnosis him. I think it's true that many of the most charismatic leaders the world has known lived with a difference in mind that probably had more to do with the wiring of their brain than with social factors. For some, this possibility might make Malcolm X's power somehow less meaningful; for me it makes him all that more human and more compelling.

Another thing that captured my attention during the reading of this book were questions of “What if...” What if he had lived? What would he have become ultimately? What if I could travel back in time and convince Malcolm X of the future? What would I tell him? That things have gotten better? That racism, as he knew it, no longer exists? That a black man is one of the most powerful men in the world? No, because he would tell me, as I already know, that none of this is quite true. He would throw around phrases like “the Uncle Tom negro” that is “a puppet for the devil white man.” He would point me to the ghettos and ask, “What has changed but the expectation placed on the negro?” He would allude to the black man being forced into ignorance for more than four hundred years and now, suddenly, the white man cries “if they want out of that ghetto, if they want better, why don't they educate themselves and do something.” He would point to many of the black superstars of the day and call them part of the same minstrel show that has been going on for nearly two hundred years, a ridicule that is somehow meant to appease. I would have to tell him how frequently I hear, in 2013, terms like “nigger” and “monkey,” not spoken so boldly as in his time, but with just as much vehemence. I would tell him how many people offer me looks of pity, how many people refuse invitations to my home, because I live in “the bad part of town” (also known as “a prevalence of black men and women, standing in front of their homes, gassing their cars, walking to work”). And I would ask Malcolm, “but what I can do? What have I done?” And it is then I have no idea what he'd say. Somehow not knowing is disheartening, yet gives me some hope that I can do something.

I will not forget Malcolm X again. show less

The myth of Malcolm X has always been an enigma. For years, to my mind, Malcolm X was the physical representative of an earlier generation’s righteous indignation—Black rage personified—thus becoming a symbol (a mascot, a pet, a thing) for black supremacy, instead of the complex man who championed human rights for all, but specifically for people of African descent in the United States of America. It’s dangerous and ultimately pointless to reduce someone to a few words, a few show more digestible bits of information—but this does not prevent me from trying; subversive, idealist-activist, Muslim humanist. His careful critique of his on flaws and weaknesses is a refreshing departure to many hagiographies disguised as biographies floating around today. His dealing with the Nation of Islam and Elijah Muhammed is a case study of how quickly an idealist can be transformed into a fanatic and the many ways a cult and its leader gains and maintains control: through sociopathic manipulation of thought. I also wonder what are the origins of his subtle, underlying stream of sexism/misogyny in some of his views—from his own mother, to his older sister, through his intimately involved and platonic relationships with women of a different races in different societies—what was the cause of such mistrust, and I do not think his religious beliefs were the cause of them because he harbored such views before ever encountering the teachings of Elijah Muhammed and Islam. Overall, I think this book and the symbolism of Malcolm X is still pertinent is today’s post-racial delusion. As a man, El Hajj Malik El-Shabazz was thrust into being at the right time—he was not a man ahead of his time—he dealt with life mysteries/miseries accordingly and always kept an open mind even at times when he was not in his right one. show less