Malcolm X: Revolutionary

Scan page 16

Malcolm's courage, dedication, and vision set him apart as one of the single most significant figures in the struggle for Black equality and freedom. He understood that the "American dream" was an American nightmare for Blacks. He explained that this society was built on the proposition that all people must never be equal, and he exposed the lie of equality under this capitalist system with an elegance that is rarely seen. That is why the rulers of this country understood all too well the threat Malcolm X posed to their exploitative system.

Mob burns family home Born on May 19, 1925, the seventh of 13 children, Malcolm saw and experienced more tragedy by his 21st birthday. than most people do in a lifetime. Malcolm's father, Earl Little, was a traveling Baptist preacher and an organizer for Marcus Garvey's United Negro Improvement Association. A fighter for civil rights, Earl Little had lost four brothers and the eyesight in one eye as a result of racist violence. One night, when Malcolm was four years old, he awoke to the sound of his family's home in Lansing, Mich., being burned to the ground by racist thugs.

Two years later, Malcolm's father was run over and killed by a trolley car. It was commonly believed that this was no accident and that Earl Little had finally gotten what comes to many Blacks who fight back. A year later Malcolm's mother suffered a breakdown and was committed to the state mental hospital. Malcolm was later placed in a detention home.

On one occasion Malcolm was asked what he planned to be when he grew up. When he answered "a lawyer,' he met with a stern rebuff. "That's not a realisMuhammad became entangled in a scandal, their relationship suffered greatly. Not long after, Malcolm was silenced for suggesting that President Kennedy's assassination was a case of the "chickens coming home to roost?"

In 1964 his growing political conflict with Elijah Muhammad came to a head, and Malcolm broke with the Nation of Islam. Soon after he formed the non-religious Organization of Afro-American Unity with the purpose of bringing all Black leaders together in order to Malcolm X, born May 19, 1925 advance the fight for Black liberation.

Malcolm's world view quickly broadened. He compared the treatment of Blacks in the United States to those in South Africa, calling the United States government "cunning like a fox, and "even more vicious than the South African wolf"" He spoke out against the presence of U.S. troops in Vietnam and of imperialist-backed United Nations troops in the Congo.

Malcolm told the Young Socialist magazine shortly before his death that capitalism "can only suck the blood of the helpless." "As the nations of the world free themselves, he said, "then capitalism has less victims.... It's only a matter of time, in my opinion, before it will collapse completely?

Malcolm had predicted several months before his death that the government would have him killed. An examination of the police records and federal government files raises more questions than it answers. The files do tell us that Malcolm was despised and feared, and that the government wanted him out of the way. Whether they actually ordered him shot or simply stood by to let it happen, remains to be proven.

However, another kind of assassination has been proven-the character assassination of Malcolm X. Portrayed as a monster, Malcolm was in fact a kind and peaceful man, a loving husband and doting father, and intelligent and polite to a fault. This character assassination in the media victimized not only Malcolm and his family, but continues to victimize every young Black-American who has been told that Malcolm X was a violent and hateful man.

But the true legacy of Malcolm lives on in his speeches and writings. Malcolm × fought long and hard, armed with courage, dignity, intelligence, and truth. He was a revolutionary of the best type-totally committed to his people and ready to achieve liberation "by any means necessary.' Raymond Farmer is a former leader of the National Student Committee Against Racism (NSCAR). He is a founding member of the Atlanta chapter of the National Black Independent Political Party (NBIPP).