Young people give African American leader

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20 SOCIALIST ACTION NOVEMBER 1992 work, who are responsible for many of the portraits of Black heroes and heroines that grace the walls of the city's African American community.

The new mural, a portrait of Malcolm against a solid blue background, covers the side of a three-story house. The inscription reads: "Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today.— Malcolm X."

The day after the dedication of the mural, I set out to find what young African Americans in Philadelphia think about Malcolm X. As I interviewed people on the street, I found a wide range of opinions. But it was evident that almost all of the young people who answered my questions had thought a lot about Malcolm X and his message.

I first met Deborah, age 23, in a commuter rail station. She told me that she approved of the new mural about Malcolm X because, "that's the only way that we as young people can go back and say he was here. We can look at the way we're going to fight racism and oppression-and see that we can do it the same way he did. That means a revolution."

Deborah said that she thought Malcolm's ideas on the need for self-defense are still relevant. She said, "Young people look at history and then say, 'Non-violence didn't get us anywhere.' A lot of the things we got through the civil rights movement are now being revoked."

I met Sharon, age 16, and her friend Darnell, 29, outside a supermarket. They told me that they had heard about the new mural and they thought it was an important development to "help more people understand what Malcolm X stands for,» Darnell explained that "a lot of people wear an X on their caps, just like me, but they don't know what X stands for. They don't understand why Malcolm Little gave up his slave name. Malcolm was for our independence."

was opposed to Martin Luther King, who said we should use non-violence. But a lot of people got killed that way, too."

I met Rog, 21, at the corner of Germantown and Chelten Avenues in northwest Philadelphia. He was wearing a T-shirt from "Malcolm X University." Rog told me that Malcolm X was about "restoring our blackness." When I encouraged him to continue, he explained: "Lots of people are not treating their own race like they should. Rather than sticking up for what we have, they want to be on the other side of things. But Malcolm made us see where we came from, and what we had to do to get here."

A teenage woman on the same street corner told me that "Malcolm X is important to me. He tried to fight to Shana, age 17, who was visiting from Georgia, was likewise pessimistic. "I don't favor what Malcolm X stood for," she said. "He wanted the Black race to get together before they united with any other race. But today, Black people aren't going to get together. We'll never get together."

But her friend, Nova, also 17, didn't agree. "A lot of people don't realize that Malcolm changed in the last year of his life," she pointed out. "In the beginning, he was angry. He wanted to separate. But he matured at the end of his life. He gained more insight. He realized that with hate, you can't get anything."

Nova continued: "I think that many people aren't getting the whole picture. They're focusing on a small part-skin color. That breeds hate. But I think that everything is socio-economic. I have friends who are white or Hispanic. They're as good as me. People should give everyone a chance."

Finally, Donyesha, age 13, told me: "Malcolm X was a Black role model. That's what other people say. That's all I know about him."