February 21 marked the anniversary of the murderous and most unspeakable abomination that ended the controversial but world-shattering life of Malcolm X. As you would most likely imagine, this sullen occasion has been disregarded by the main stream media outlets and has become an unfortunate after thought.
It’s so convenient for the consumerist spirited masses to neglect this essentially monumental tragedy that happened over 40 years ago but this despicable crime should be rattling around and stinging the moist tissue that inhabits our cranium. It’s not an often occurrence that an intrepid and audacious spirit such as Malcolm X graces this bigoted or hectically violent sphere called Earth, so when someone of his legendary stature is shamelessly executed we should take some notice.
When a minority leader throws caution to the gusty winds in a time of racial turmoil and sacrifices his life by antagonizing against a maniacal majority it’s important to find our own revolutionary spirit. I am not going to try to act as if I understand the perils and tribulations that African Americans were faced with when our country was harboring waves and waves of racism but we are all very familiar with varying degrees of discrimination.
With that being said, Malcolm X faced the horrifying reality that hatred and ignorance were spreading rampantly and these ignorant slobs who managed to set fire to any common sense or compassion that those vile and prejudice heavy hearts might have possessed. When walking down the street becomes a frightening endeavor in which you constantly put your life in danger and the color of your own skin is seen as an inferiority tip off , it takes a fearless profit to inspire many of his brothers and sisters to walk with him in order to get a piece of the American pie.
Malcolm X faced the cold hard reality of racism from literally the time he set foot on this planet to the time he met his maker but did not and more aptly would not let it get in the way of accomplishing his mission. Way before Malcolm became an iconic figure, his father was an outspoken civil rights activist and Baptist minister who drew the ire of the backwards thinking segregationists in the 1920’s. He faced many death threats throughout his lifetime from a white supremacist’s group called the Black Legion but did not lose his ferocious determination in the face of this uncanny amount of diversity.
Unfortunately, the monstrous amount of irreverent hatred compiled in this group the family’s home in Lansing Michigan is burned down to a cinder in 1929 and tragedy followed the family just two years later Malcolm’s father was found slain on the trolley tracks in town. Due to the savagery that was perpetrated on the family, Malcolm’s mother suffered emotional distress and had to be committed to a mental institution, while her children became split up among various foster homes.
Malcolm would go through many growing pains from that point on as he served six and a half years at a state prison. This set back actually was the life altering experience that started a chain reaction to inspire him to make the impact that would begin his historical legacy. He begins to make this soul bending transformation by converting to the Nation of Islam while serving his prison sentence and begins on the trials and tribulations of his hard journey that he would begin to embark on.
He completed the this conversion in 1953 by changing his last name from Little to X in order to escape the trappings of his slave name and in 1954 he became the Minister of the Nation of Islam’s New York Temple. He made it his inherit duty to preach to his people on how to break away from the oppressive nature of the bigoted society that took a disgusting grip on equality and human decency during those turbulent times.
He took pride as he was able to procure the apparent responsibility of wielding the sledge hammer of righteousness and dismantling the brick wall serving as a hardened barrier to a peaceful future. With the lack of remorse or human dignity contained inside the unholy and venomous adversaries, Malcolm X fought back with a fury and a raging spirit by inspiring hoards of disenfranchised black men and women to stand up to the arrogance of the ignorant mind set.
He sought to empower and to send shock waves through African American community by getting the community to work together and at the same time takes responsibility for the kind of person you will become or have already become. Malcolm X carried on with conviction, that self reliance and self empowerment is the first step a person has to take in order to be equipped to take on the ignorance of the society.
After organizing a huge Unity Rally in Harlem in June of 1963 and after many memorable speeches he performed to spread his progressive ideals through to his suffering followers, he began to make an indelible crack in the system as he gained some much deserved exposure. As he continued to truck on through he began to feel betrayed by the hypocrisy that was taking shape within his own organization and wanted to branch out his message to all races in order to shed his reputation as someone who was only interested in the liberation of black citizens.
Unfortunately for Malcolm X the hate and the anger did not extinguish even though Malcolm broadened the teachings and horrifically enough it tragically and eventually caught up to him as he would be assassinated at the all too young age of 39. He had begun to grow as a leader and as a person by understanding that just empowering one person can lead to a monumental change in the thinking of a nation.
It is simply criminal to think that someone who had the impact that he had on America would go unnoticed by the media on the anniversary of his death but for those who speak to power, he will not be forgotten.