Tag: Malcolm X

Closing Thought–22Feb21

Yesterday, 21Feb, was the 56th anniversary of the assassination of Malcolm X in NYC…..I shared my thoughts on Malcom’s assassination about 2 years ago…..https://lobotero.com/2019/02/22/the-death-of-malcolm-x/ ……and now a letter has shown new light on the government’s role…..

Family members of Malcolm X say they have new evidence that shows that the NYPD and FBI conspired in the murder of the civil rights activist and one-time Nation of Islam spokesman, the Guardian reports. During a Saturday news conference at the site of the Audubon Ballroom, where Malcolm X was assassinated on Feb. 21 1965, three of Malcolm X’s daughters revealed a deathbed letter attributed to Raymond Wood, a former undercover NYPD officer. In the letter, Wood says that he was pressured to encourage members of Malcolm X’s security detail to commit crimes, which led to their arrests days before the assassination. The result was that there wasn’t door security at the ballroom. The letter alleges that the NYPD and FBI conspired to cover up details of the assassination and disrupt the Civil Rights Movement. “I participated in actions that, in hindsight, were deplorable and detrimental to the advancement of my own Black people,” Wood said in the letter, per Spectrum News.

“My actions on behalf of the New York City Police Department were done under duress and fear,” he wrote. Three Nation of Islam members were convicted in Malcolm X’s murder, per Reuters, which notes that some historians and scholars have said that they believe the wrong people were convicted. A 2020 Netflix documentary, Who Killed Malcolm X?, prompted Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. to review the case. And following Saturday’s new conference, the DA’s office said that the review is “active and ongoing.” In a statement, per the BBC, the NYPD said it “has provided all available records relevant to that case to the district attorney. The department remains committed to assist with that review in any way.” The FBI hadn’t publicly commented on the case. “Any evidence that provides greater insight into the truth behind that terrible tragedy should be thoroughly investigated,” said Ilyasah Shabazz, one of Malcolm X’s daughters.

Back in those days the government had its treacherous fingers in many of the events in the days of protests and demands.

Five years ago I shared with my readers something that Malcolm X predicted….https://lobotero.com/2016/05/19/malcolm-x-predicted-the-progression-of-racism/

Malcolm was far more insightful that Black leaders today….the last 4 or 5 years have proven his prediction.

Be Smart!

Learn Stuff!

I Read, I Wfrite, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–20May20

I apologize for the tardiness of this post….it should have been posted yesterday but since I was caught up with massive doctors appointments I missed the posting deadline….

On this day, 20 May 1925, Malcolm X was born in Omaha, Nebraska…..

His mother, Louise Norton Little, was a homemaker occupied with the family’s eight children. His father, Earl Little, was an outspoken Baptist minister and avid supporter of Black Nationalist leader Marcus Garvey. Earl’s civil rights activism prompted death threats from the white supremacist organization Black Legion, forcing the family to relocate twice before Malcolm’s fourth birthday.

Regardless of the Little’s efforts to elude the Legion, in 1929 their Lansing, Michigan home was burned to the ground. Two years later, Earl’s body was found lying across the town’s trolley tracks.

Police ruled both incidents as accidents, but the Little’s were certain that members of the Black Legion were responsible. Louise suffered emotional breakdown several years after the death of her husband and was committed to a mental institution. Her children were split up amongst various foster homes and orphanages.

Biography

For the younger generations that have not found reading informative…there is a short cut…..

As an angry young man he joined the Nation of Islam….and anyone with half a brain could understand is hatred….but then things changed after his Hajj….

A few of Malcolm X most notable quotes…..https://www.malcolmx.com/quotes/

A man that most Americans know but do not know the man.

We need leaders like him again for today we have spineless self-absorbed slugs leading the country.

Learn Stuff!

I read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Assassination Investigation

Closing Thought–19Feb20

Nope this is not some BS about some Iranian general…this is about famous assassination….that of Malcolm X in 1965……

In case you did not pay attention in history class….I can help….

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/malcolm-x-assassinated

Looks like there may be a new look at this crime and those that were convicted….

Three men were convicted of assassinating Malcolm X in 1965. One of those men confessed, but the other two always maintained their innocence. Now, after the release of a Netflix documentary, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office is considering reopening the case over what critics say was a botched police investigation. Coverage:

  • The trio: Three members of the Nation of Islam were sent to prison. Mujahid Abdul Halim (known then as Talmadge Hayer and Thomas Hagan), admitted he was one of the gunmen in New York City. But the other two men convicted, Muhammad Abdul Aziz (then known as Norman 3X Butler) and Khalil Islam (Thomas 15X Johnson) said they were innocent, per the Innocence Project. Halim backed them up.
  • Still fighting: Islam died in 2009, but Aziz is now 81 and hoping to clear his name with the help of the innocence group. He served 20 years in prison for a crime he says he did not commit.
  • DA’s office: The office is starting a “preliminary review” to decide whether the case should be reopened, reports WPIX. The six-part Netflix documentary, based on the work of historian Abdur-Rahman Muhammad, unearthed new evidence about the killing.
  • Who did it? The documentary suggests that Halim and three other members of a Nation of Islam mosque in New Jersey did the shooting, reports the New York Times. Halim and Islam (both known as “enforcers” of strict church doctrine) belonged to Malcolm X’s former mosque in Harlem. No evidence tied them to the crime and the documentary suggests they could not have been at the scene when the shooting took place.
  • Booker connection: One of the accused briefly appeared in a campaign ad for then Newark Mayor Cory Booker in 2010. Booker says in the film he had no idea about the assassination connection. “What got us hooked,” Rachel Dretzin, one of the film’s directors, tells the Times, “was the notion that the likely shotgun assassin of Malcolm X was living in plain sight in Newark, and that many people knew of his involvement, and he was uninvestigated, unprosecuted, unquestioned.” That man, now dead, denied involvement to the New York Daily News in 2015. The other suspected gunmen also are believed to be dead.
  • The background: Malcolm X was shot after splitting with the Nation of Islam and renouncing leader Elijah Muhammad, notes the Washington Post. Up-and-coming figure Louis Farrakhan wrote at the time that Malcolm X was “worthy of death,” and the civil rights leader’s home was firebombed only a week before his assassination.

A bit late…..by 55 years……

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

The Death Of Malcolm X

On 21Feb1965 Black leader Malcolm X was assassinated in NYC……..

In New York City, Malcolm X, an African American nationalist and religious leader, is assassinated by rival Black Muslims while addressing his Organization of Afro-American Unity at the Audubon Ballroom in Washington Heights.

https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/142725

The question still remains……why was he killed?

Malcolm X (El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, born Malcolm Little) was an influential and inspirational figure to the Afro-Americans in the United States.  A powerful orator, excellent debater and willing to preach “The price of freedom is death,” led for his personality and teachings to be printed across the U.S. and the world.

There are three possible answers.  Three—because each on its own isn’t satisfactory.  Examining the motives behind the killing inevitably leads for more questions to be asked and before you know it, you’re in too deep.

https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/142725

Many people do not like Malcolm X because of his supposed hate for white people….some of that is warranted but after he returned from the Hajj his tone changed for the better to include all people…….

I offer a few videos for those interested…..

https://youtu.be/iAgNk4LzbIw

This video is a long piece but should be seen to understand the man and the movement he inspired……

https://youtu.be/i7klC1zR60M

This one is a short video that was made for children to acquaint them with the man…..

https://youtu.be/lERbO006Ppk

Malcolm X was more than the negativity that is always bought up when his name is mentioned…….he should be required for any history of America.

Closing Thought–19May17

Remembering Malcolm X

On this day, 19May, in 1925 a great American civil rights activist was born…..

African-American leader and prominent figure in the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X articulated concepts of race pride and black nationalism in the 1950s and ’60s.

Born on May 19, 1925, in Omaha, Nebraska, Malcolm X was a prominent black nationalist leader who served as a spokesman for the Nation of Islam during the 1950s and ’60s. Due largely to his efforts, the Nation of Islam grew from a mere 400 members at the time he was released from prison in 1952 to 40,000 members by 1960. Articulate, passionate and a naturally gifted and inspirational orator, Malcolm X exhorted blacks to cast off the shackles of racism “by any means necessary,” including violence. The fiery civil rights leader broke with the group shortly before his assassination on February 21, 1965, at the Audubon Ballroom in Manhattan, where he had been preparing to deliver a speech.

Source: Malcolm X – Civil Rights Activist, Minister – Biography.com

A short vid about Malcolm’s last years……

Source: X: Malcolm’s Final Years

This country is a better place when we have people like Malcolm fighting for our rights……we need more Malcolms and less d/bags….

That ends my week……I will start my weekend with a smile and a song….

The Malcolm X Letter

We are celebrating Black History Month….that time when we all should be focusing on the contributions made to the American society by our African-American citizens.

Malcolm X had a letter, hand written letter, just before his death about a cure for racism…….it was written while on Hajj…..

Mecca, Saudi Arabia – April 26th, 1964

I have just completed my pilgrimage (Hajj) here to the Holy City of Mecca, the hollyiest City on earth, which is absolutely forbidden for non-Muslims to even rest their eyes upon. This pilgrimage is the most important event in the life of all Muslims, and there are over 226,000 who are here right now from outside of Arabia. From Turkey came the largest contagion, around 50,000 in over 600 buses. This refutes Westerner propaganda that Turkey is turning away from Islam.

I know of only 2 others who have made the actual Hajj to Mecca from America, and both of them are West Indians who also converts to Islam. Mr. Elijah Muhammad, 2 of his sons, and a couple of his followers visited Mecca outside the Hajj season, and their visit is known as the “Omra”, or Lesser Pilgrimage. It is con-

Source: THE MOST REMARKABLE REVELATORY LETTER EVER WRITTEN BY MALCOLM X | Moments In Time

This newly discovered letter is fascinating to read….most people do not realize that Malcolm after his hajj became more content in his own skin and became a orthodox Muslim as opposed to the Nation of Islam…..could this have lead to his assassination?

Personal opinion….yes it did!

Malcolm X Predicted the Progression of Racism

Today we celebrate the birth of Malcolm X…..a very astute observer of society and human nature…..he made many predictions that few heeded but the one that he was spot on was the progression of racism in the US even after the Civil Rights Act…..

This excerpt revisits a landmark law that was supposed to end racism and the outspoken activist who predicted it would not.

In celebration of Malcolm X’s birthday, we present this exclusive excerpt from Ibram X. Kendi’s new book, Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America. As racism endures, this excerpt revisits the landmark law that was supposed to end racism and the outspoken activist who predicted it would not. Malcolm X is closely bonded in history with the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Historians have rightfully hailed the myriad of ways in which this law brought on racial progress. But this excerpt reveals the reasons why this law did not stop (or even affected) the progression of racism — a progression that Black Lives Matter activists are currently fighting. No wonder Black Lives Matter activists look to Malcolm X for inspiration as much as any leader in US history. No wonder his speeches and insights remain relevant to progressives today on his birthday.

Source: Malcolm X Predicted the Progression of Racism in the United States – Linkis.com

A book worth reading……

Birth Of An American Hero

91 years ago today a true American revolutionary was born…..the country is better for knowing him.  Americans have always been proud of their revolutionary spirit and few others have exhibited that spirit as did Malcolm X…..

“Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.”

In 1963 there were deep tensions between Malcolm and Eiljah Muhammad over the political direction of the Nation. Malcolm urged that the Nation become more active in the widespread civil rights protests instead of just being a critic on the sidelines. Muhammad’s violations of the moral code of the Nation further worsened his relations with Malcolm, who was devastated when he learned that Muhammad had fathered children by six of his personal secretaries, two of whom filed paternity suits and made the issue public. Malcolm brought additional bad publicity to the Nation when he declared publicly that Pres. John F. Kennedy’s assassination was an example of “chickens coming home to roost”—a violent society suffering the consequences of violence. In response to the outrage this statement provoked, Elijah Muhammad ordered Malcolm to observe a 90-day period of silence, and the break between the two leaders became permanent.

Malcolm left the Nation in March 1964 and in the next month founded Muslim Mosque, Inc. During his pilgrimage to Mecca that same year, he experienced a second conversion and embraced Sunni Islam, adopting the Muslim name el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz. Renouncing the separatist beliefs of the Nation, he claimed that the solution to racial problems in the United States lay in orthodox Islam. On the second of two visits to Africa in 1964, he addressed the Organization of African Unity (known as the African Union since 2002), an intergovernmental group established to promote African unity, international cooperation, and economic development. In 1965 he founded the Organization of Afro-American Unity as a secular vehicle to internationalize the plight of black Americans and to make common cause with the people of the developing world—to move from civil rights to human rights.

The growing hostility between Malcolm and the Nation led to death threats and open violence against him. On February 21, 1965, Malcolm was assassinated while delivering a lecture at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem; three members of the Nation of Islam were convicted of the murder. He was survived by his wife, Betty Shabazz, whom he married in 1958, and six daughters. His martyrdom, ideas, and speeches contributed to the development of black nationalist ideology and the Black Power movement and helped to popularize the values of autonomy and independence among African Americans in the 1960s and ’70s.

He was an American hero and should be treated as such…..to ignore his contributions because of color or ideology is a dis-service to the nation and the man.

Damn!  He sure did know me…….