Honoring the Legacy of Malcolm X

64 years ago yesterday on February 21, 1965, Malcolm X was assassinated. Many people know of Malcolm X after reading about his life's story in The Autobiography of Malcolm X. Others have perhaps seen the Spike Lee Bio-pic, Malcolm X. And for a few others, they may have actually had the honor of hearing Malcolm X speak--or perhaps they even knew Malcolm X.

Although Malcolm X is often figured as a radical, particularly in opposition to the way we have sainted Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the truth is, Malcolm X's message of black pride and black strength and black nationalism does not seem out of the ordinary at all--certainly not radical. The idea that an oppressed and disenfranchised minority would finally grow weary of mistreatment by larger institutional forces and would want to fight for basic rights and to assert their essential humanity. This is not a radical idea.

[Aside: One need only look to the recent uprisings in the Middle East to see that people the world over will always try to fight against tyranny when they have been pushed to a breaking point]

Yesterday on The Story with Dick Gordon (and NPR staple in my area) his special guest was Malcolm Shabazz, Malcolm X's grandson. I was, unfortunately, unable to hear the entire interview, but thankfully the entire show is available online (click here) and the part I did catch was apropos, for me, because Malcolm Shabazz recounted how, during his time in prison, friends of his grandfather reached out to him, reminding him of his grandfather's legacy and putting him in touch with other political prisoners--people fighting for justice. The first of his grandfather's friends to send him a letter was Yuri Kochiyama, a close friend of his grandparents and the first person besides Betty Shabazz to rush to Malcolm X's side after he was gunned down. In fact, she started CPR in an effort to keep him alive (this was recounted on The Story).

I had just been talking to my Asian American literature class that the field of Asian American literature and Asian American Studies owe a huge debt to African Americans, particularly those who took part in the Civil Rights movement. Asian Americans and African Americans have a history of shared struggle, which often gets ignored in more sensational and violent conflicts like the Red Apple Boycott or Latasha Harlins.

The legacy of Malcolm X--what his work and words meant--is larger than just his influence on African Americans. His words were for all of us--especially for any group of people who had been oppressed by a majority government and culture. And while it is fitting that I'm writing this post in his honor during African American Heritage and History month, we should be remembering and honoring Malcolm X's legacy every month of the year.

The relevance of African American Heritage Month

Today in The New York Times I came across this article, "California Campus Sees Uneasy Race Relations," which describes an escalation of racial tensions, beginning with the celebration of African American heritage month, followed by students who wanted to protest and parody this recognition of African Americans to U.S. history and culture by hosting a "Compton Cookout" on February 15, asking people in attendance to

"don gold teeth in the style of rappers from the Los Angeles suburb of Compton, eat watermelon, and dress in baggy athletic wear."

[Aside: I should note that for anyone who thinks that the stereotype of African Americans eating watermelon is a relic of the past--clearly, the fact that young 20-somethings are drawing on this in order to make racial mockery of African Americans demonstrates that stereotypes persist, whether we want them to or not and whether they are completely asinine or not]

What next followed were protests by African Americans and their allies of all racial backgrounds, enflamed by a campus new segment parodying the protest of the cookout by using the racist "n" word, followed up by a noose found hanging in the campus library, and then by students who had it up to HERE at this point with all the racist b.s. occupying the chancellor's office and holding a number of protests, class walk-outs, and teach-ins.

For anyone who thinks that we are living in a post-racial age where racism is no longer a factor, let me just say, if nothing else convinces you of the gross inaccuracy of this belief, you need to understand the noose. You need to understand that the noose--a symbol of lynching--a reference to lynching black bodies--is in no way funny or innocent or parodic. It is racist. And I know I have said that we should try not to use the "R" word because people don't hear us. But let me repeat:

The noose is a symbol of racism. It is a racist symbol. It is a symbol that conjures up centuries of racial violence enacted against African Americans in this nation by white supremacist forces. It was used, quite literally, during the reconstruction and post-bellum era as a means of domestic terrorism and violent control.

There is an entire history behind the symbolism of the noose in American history directly tied to the experience of being black in America that means if you didn't know this history, well, you should. Your education is far too incomplete.

Which is why there is a need for February to be recognized as African American history and culture month. It is why if I were ruler of the world, there'd be a mandatory black studies class at some point during every K-12 student's life.

But I don't want to end on too hopeless a note. Because despite the ugliness at UCSD, the students did not let the racist statements, spoken and unspoken, go unchallenged. They pushed back. They spoke out. And they did it as a multiracial student body. I'll just leave you with the words of one UCSD African American student, Richard Louis Kizzee, who said that

"he took heart at the protest’s cross-cultural flavor. “I knew the minority population was low here, but I didn’t think racism was so high or rampant,” he said. “But now, in response to what happened, this is what we should see.”"

[Update@6:10pm: There is a really fantastic letter by UCSD Literature professor Jody Blanco advocating for cross-racial alliances and allies of all colors (particularly Filipino but I think he would definitely call on all ethnic and racial allies) to protest the racist attitudes at UCSD. It is reprinted in full here. Tip of the hat to Angry Asian Man, who also calls on Asian Americans to act as allies for African Americans]