See also:
• Civil Rights Activist Yuri Kochiyama Remembers Japanese Internment Camps in the U.S. and the Assassination of Malcolm X.
• Who Killed Malcolm X?
• COINTELPRO: America's war on Black people
Malcolm X delivered this speech under very difficult circumstances. Just a few months prior he is forced to break with the Nation of Islam. Subsequently, several attempts had been made on his life. On 14 February 1965 his house was firebombed. In this excerpt Baba Malcolm X says Elijah Muhammad has gone "insane" and that he "doesn't love black people." Less than a week after giving this speech Malcolm X was assassinated on 21 February 1965 in the Audubon Ballroom, Harlem New York.
The point of the post is to get clarity on the events that immediately preceded Malcolm's assassination. And, more specifically, to understand the context of his statement. I see the statement circulate--never with any contextual explanation. Further, there are to date still some very deep divisions between black folks who either sided with Malcolm or Elijah. Working through those divisions and misconceptions are important.
Elijah Muhammad had flaws; Malcolm had flaws--just like the rest of us. The Nation of Islam has done some fantastic things for black people. Malcolm X has done some fantastic things for black people. We have to figure out the good, pick those things up, learn from the bad so that we don't reproduce them and move forward.
Also, recall Malcolm's regret in the video--that two Black people are pitted against each other. We cannot keep falling for that trap. GI
To view click on video below or here.
tags: Malcolm X, Omowale, El Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, assassination, nation of islam, black nationalism,
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