As we CONTINUE to honour the life and legacy of Prophet Omowale Malcolm X in his centenary year, it has to be stated that the meaning and location of that legacy remains a source of contention.

For some, the enduring narrative is one of transformation typified by his “change” away from separatism when he left the Nation Of Islam (NOI) and embraced Sunni Islam. (1) Similarly, the likes Manning Marable and Lynn Burnett even tied notions like “race-neutral” while “laying the… foundations for the Afro-Asian solidarity.” (2)

Yet, Omowale Malcolm X, in his own words during speech in on January 7th 1965, after having already described himself as a “Black Nationalist freedom fighter,” he stated his position explicitly:

“The first thing [when] I returned I kept being asked the question by some reporters, huh, ‘we heard you’ve changed.’… how in the world can a white man, expect a Black man to change before he has changed? How do you expect us to change when you haven’t changed? How do expect us to change when the cause that made us as we are has not been removed? Why it’s infantile, it’s immature, it’s adolescent on your part to expect us to change. To expect us to be dumb enough to change. When you have not yet gone to the cause of the condition that makes us act as we do. You got the wrong man!” (3)

Moreover, the post-Mecca Omowale even began to adopt Garveyite phraseology, to espouse the Black Nationalist philosophy:

“We have one destiny and we’ve had one past. In essence, what it is saying is instead of you and me running around here seeking allies in our struggle for freedom in the Irish neighborhood or the Jewish neighborhood or the Italian neighborhood, we need to seek some allies among people who look something like we do. It’s time now for you and me to stop running away from the wolf right into the arms of the fox, looking for some kind of help.” (4)

All of Omowale Malcolm X’s active political life was rendered through the framework of organization – the parental foundation of the UNIA-ACL, the grounding in the Nation Of Islam, the transitional Muslim Mosque Incorporated and finally the Organisation of Afro-American Unity (OAAU) where there was a clear orientation to reconnect the circle to the Garveyite foundations. (5) Thus, in spite of him being an international personality, he resolutely asserted that it was only through organization that liberation can be attained.

Grassroots journalist and educator Sam P.K. Collins, advocates achieving this through institution building that appears to be not unlike the structure that the Pan-Afrikan People’s Parliament is striving for, while warning against the consequences of not doing so:

“A failure to heed Malcolm X’s words in the decades after his murder have fermented the abysmal conditions of Our existence, including intra-community violence, police-orchestrated murders, food insecurity, and low educational attainment. When the time comes for concerted action, all We can offer is reactionary movement against forces impeding Black progress, when all along We should have been prepared to tackle Our current-day issues with an established Black-centered infrastructure, ran similarly to a separate government, or at the very least, a federation of Black governing bodies.” (6)

(1) Zameer Baber (10/05/96) From Malcolm X To El Hajj Malik El Shabazz – The Transformation of Malcolm X. https://www.unix-ag.uni-kl.de/~moritz/Archive/malcolmx/zameerbabermalcolmx.txt

(2) Manning Marable (2011) Malcolm X: A Life Of Reinvention. Viking. p. 339 “He became less intolerant and more open to multiethnic and interfaith coalitions. By the final months of his life he resisted identification as a “black nationalist,” seeking ideological shelter under the race-neutral concepts of Pan-Africanism and Third World revolution.” ; Lynn Burnett (18/02/16) The International Malcolm X. http://crossculturalsolidarity.com/the-international-malcolm-x/ “He no longer believed in Marcus Garvey’s black separatism. He no longer believed in Garvey’s notion that that the development of black capitalism would lead to black liberation… And through Islam, Malcolm was even laying the hopeful foundations for the Afro-Asian solidarity that Marcus Garvey taught would overcome global white supremacy, and the colonialism and neocolonialism it supported.”

(3) Omowale Malcolm X (12/04/64) The Ballot or the Bullet. http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/blackspeech/mx.html; Omowale Malcolm X (07/01/65) The Prospects for Freedom in 1965 (Audio). http://brothermalcolm.net/mxwords/whathesaidarchive.html

(4) Omowale Malcolm X (28/06/64) Speech at the Founding Rally of the Organization of Afro-American Unity. http://www.blackpast.org/1964-malcolm-x-s-speech-founding-rally-organization-afro-american-unity

(5) Kwende Ukaidi (2014) From Ajar to Omowale: The Spiritual & Garveyite Journey of Malcolm X. Ku-Amba Productions. p. 30.

(6) Sam P.K. Collins (15/05/18) We Failed to Fully Manifest Malcolm X’s Vision. https://alleyesondc.com/2018/05/15/malcolm-x-2018/

We ask the question

Where is Malcolm X’s legacy today?

1) Did Malcolm X really “change” after Mecca?

2) What was Malcolm X’s ideological trajectory at the time of his assassination?

3) What viable Nationbuilding efforts are we aware of?

4) How we clarify Malcolm X’s legacy for future generations?

Our Special Guest:

Bro. Ldr. Mbandaka: Resident guest who is Spiritual Leader of the Alkebu-Lan Revivalist Movement and an Afrikan-Centred Education Consultant. Bro. Ldr is a veteran activist of over 40 years standing, a featured columnist in The Whirlwind newspaper and author of Mosiah Daily Affirmations and Education: An African-Centred Approach To Excellence.

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