Malcolm X Day

Today marks the birthday of el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz also known as Malcolm X. Being born into poverty, then growing up in the streets of Roxbury and later becoming one of the greatest leaders the world has ever seen, Brother Malcolm showed what it was to transform and evolve, to always becoming better than you were before. Taking a look at his name in itself shows the evolution of the man. From Malcolm Little a poor child in Michigan, to Detroit Red a hustler on the streets of Boston & New York, to Malcolm X one of the greatest black leaders in the world and ministers of the Nation of Islam, to El-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz a renewed humanitarian dedicated to speaking truth to power. A person like Malcolm is one to learn from. (And deserves a national holiday just as much as MLK).

It's unfortunate however, that some people like to infamously remember the "militant" who somehow championed violence against white people (which was never the case).

“We are nonviolent with people who are nonviolent with us.”
“Concerning nonviolence, it is criminal to teach a man not to defend himself when he is the constant victim of brutal attacks.”

Much more was the concern of being defenseless and open to the harm imposed by others. Of course shared with the firebrand, witty, fashion in which he spoke. And this resonates with today's problems with gross, brutal, police force on the poor and the minority class. The rise of a #BlackLivesMatter movement show the seeds of truth to power were planted by Malcolm. These seeds are sprouting with a new generation who too feel the need to stake their claim as a human with rights in the land of the free and the home of the brave, By Any Means Necessary.

At the end of the day it is with one quote that perhaps can encompass the person who was el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz:

"I've had enough of someone else's propaganda. I'm for truth, no matter who tells it. I'm for justice, no matter who it's for or against. I'm a human being first and foremost, and as such I am for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole."

But don't take my word for it, on the man who was taken far too soon;

In the words of Mandela,

In the words of Maya Angelou

And of course, in his own words:

The Ballot or the Bullet (April 12, 1964)

By Any Means Necessary (February 14, 1965)