Remembering Malcolm X

 Yesterday I finished reading The Dead are Arising, by Les and Tamara Payne,  a 540 page biography of the Black American activist of the 1950's and 60's, Malcolm X. I was surprised to see on social media that it was the anniversary of the assassination of the man born Malcolm Little in 1965, the son of a Baptist preacher. How is that for serendipity?

When I was growing up there was a sense that Martin Luther King Jr. was to be admired because he was a Christian minister whose civil rights movement was rooted in non-violence. Today he is revered, even though during the 60's polls identified him as the most hated man in the United States. The FBI watched King's every movement and eventually he was assassinated by a white man.

Malcolm X was a different story.He identified as a Muslim and in those days Muslims were regarded with suspicion, sad to say. And Malcolm, a central figure in the Black Muslim movement called the Nation of Islam, literally believed that whites were the devil incarnate, never to be trusted. As with others in the movement, he gave up his "slave-owner" name and adopted X,  and he rejected Christianity as a religion which oppressed Black people.

Early on, Malcolm had great disdain for King and the notion of non-violent protest because he was convinced that Blacks needed to be ready for violent engagement with the enemy. The Nation of Islam trained young men as fighters in what was called the Fruit of Islam, which was a menacing force. Paradoxically, in an age of segregation he actually met with the Ku Klux Klan to see if there could be some accommodation for a separate state-within-the state for Blacks. Not unexpectedly, that conversation went nowhere. 

The Nation of Islam was headed by Elijah Muhammad, who was regarded as a semi-divine Messenger from Allah, but it was the eloquent, charismatic Malcolm whose tireless efforts turned a quasi-Islamic sect into a force to be reckoned with in America.

The irony is that eventually Malcolm converted to orthodox Islam, and began to separate himself for the NOI. He made a pilgrimage to Mecca and interacted with Muslims of every race and colour, changing his outlook on whites. Because of  visits to other nations where women were empowered he saw that the strength and advancement of cultures depended on women who were not relegated to subservient roles. 

Because of his personal transformation,  nurtured by his study of Islam with effective mentors, he began a new movement and denounced the NOI. He reached something of a rapprochement with Dr. King and the Civil Rights movement, although it was a wary relationship. 

This shift made Malcolm  a target to the organization he had effectively built, and at a public lecture he was shot and killed by NOI thugs, in front of his pregnant wife, Betty Shabazz (a remarkable woman) and their four daughters. 

I'm glad I read to the end of the biography because I didn't like the Malcolm of his NOI days. I came to understand why he has widespread respect in nations around the world. 

There is a curious Canadian twist to the story of Malcolm X. Only weeks before his murder he came to Toronto and visited one of the first mosques in the country, where he was met with acclaim. And he appeared on the CBC quiz show called Front Page Challenge. Go figure.