Malcolm was killed 54 Years ago. What Does his Death Mean?

Malcolm X and Mrs. Shirley Graham DuBois (widow of W.E.B. DuBois) walking in Ghana in 1964. Mrs. DuBois would help arrange for Malcolm to meet President Kwame Nkrumah the same way she helped arrange for Kwame Ture (then Stokely Carmichael) to meet Kwame Nkrumah and Sekou Ture four years later.

On Sunday morning, February 21, 1965, El Hajj Malik El Shabazz - Malcolm X - was brutally shot 16 times in front of his wife, daughters, and hundreds of supporters at the Audobon Ballroom in Harlem, New York, U.S.  We know that two of the three persons convicted for his murder were not even at the Audobon that day.  We also know that the only reason the third suspect was caught was because the people captured him at the scene.  Its also painfully evident that at least four of the persons responsible for Malcolm's physical disappearance were never captured.  And its reported that at least one of those persons still walks around Harlem today.  Who was the man known as Malcolm X who was viciously murdered on that stage in 1965?  What did he actually stand for?  And why did someone, or some people deem it necessary to take his life?

There has been so much speculation about those questions over the last half century that most everyone, including people who couldn't find a book on the subject if their life depended upon it, believe they are well informed on the subject.  As these head to pillow theories go, Malcolm believed strongly in the program of Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam in when he was killed.  According to these people, he was a broken man who was lost without his teacher - Muhammad.  And, he was killed because he dared exposed Mr. Muhammad's personal affairs.  Other theories concluded Malcolm was killed by the U.S. government, any number of agencies are implicated, because he was about to take the U.S. government to the World Court in Hague to charge it with crimes against humanity for its brutal treatment of Africans within the U.S.  

We question specific elements of each of these theories.  There is little to no evidence that Malcolm wanted back in the Nation of Islam.  The actual evidence indicates he had clearly separated from their program.  Even his analysis of the Kennedy assassination in 1963 provided clear proof that his perspective had broadened as his "chickens coming home to roost" analogy was correct, straight to the point, and far and away distinct from the position of the Nation of Islam who issued a condolence statement about the "loss of our president."  The belief about Malcolm being killed for exposing Mr. Muhammad's bedroom activities could be partially true from the standpoint of motivating some persons involved to participate, but there is overwhelming evidence that this issue was no more than a tool used to manipulate people into performing the desires of higher powers who wanted to see Malcolm dead.  Those higher persons were without question agencies within U.S. intelligence circles.  So, that portion of popular theories about Malcolm's death are certainly true, but the reasons they wanted him dead is what's up for dispute.

Today, particularly when the contributions of Pan-Africanist work are being attacked and efforts are underway to attack that glorious work e.g. trying to separate our best warriors from the Pan-Africanist ideals that guided them, its more important than ever to properly portray Malcolm's legacy with the respect and dignity that it deserves.

For anyone who studies Malcolm's development, particularly those last 11 months between when he left the Nation of Islam and he was assassinated, there's actually little drama and question about the direction he was headed.  He spent that time studying extensively throughout Africa and the Middle East.  Much has been written about his travels in the Middle East and his work to further entrench himself into Islam as a belief structure that would represent him on an individual level.  Many people who write about Malcolm's last year from this perspective attempt to suggest this focus on Islam was the driving force behind Malcolm's thinking when Malcolm's own words make it quite clear that this was not the case for him.  All one has to do is study two books; "The Final Speeches of Malcolm X" and "The Last Speeches of Malcolm X."  The first book is the last 10 speeches Malcolm gave in chronological order while the second book contains speeches he gave over that 11 month period.  Both books contain up to 20 speeches by Malcolm during that last year of his life.  If one studies his words, particularly the interviews he gave during this period. there's really little doubt of where his head was.  He made it clear that he saw his Islamic development as a personal journey that he carefully utilized in his involvement in our struggle for liberation and forward progress.  Malcolm spent the majority of his time as lead minister in the Nation of Islam criticizing Africans within the Christian church who permitted colonialist dominated doctrines to control how they interpreted the world.  He had no intention of falling into the same trap with Islam.  He said repeatedly that your religion is your personal business that should be used to bolster your commitment to freedom, not change and/or dismiss your understanding of it.  In fact, you cannot find much behind that of Malcolm even discussing his religious beliefs.  You can find plenty in those last speeches and other activities Malcolm was involved in to illustrate his focus on expanding the struggle of African people within the U.S. to the world arena.  As Malcolm said often "the safety switch for Africans in the U.S. is Africa and the same safety switch for Africa is us within the U.S.!"  Malcolm was so clear about this that one has to assume that anyone who still continues to deny it must be motivated by selfish egotistical desires to make Malcolm who they want him to be instead of who he actually was.  One also has to wonder why Malcolm spoke so much about his time in Africa, but never said much of anything about his repeated visits with Kwame Nkrumah, then in Ghana, and Sekou Ture in Guinea.  Even within Malcolm's recently released diary, this is still true.  Malcolm certainly didn't mince words when stating how much these meetings meant to him.  He cited his time with Nkrumah as "the highest honor of my life" in his autobiography.  Why would he label his connection with Nkrumah with such honor while saying virtually nothing more about it?  And, how was Malcolm paying for his expansive travel throughout Africa?  The Middle East proponents for Malcolm's life claim Saudi Arabia was paying for his travels, but its highly unlikely that that right wing government would freely sponsor Malcolm's travels to the most radical areas of Africa at that time.  

We believe the key is in what Malcolm was doing.  Immediately after leaving the Nation of Islam in March of 1964, Malcolm announced the forming of Muslim Mosque Inc. for those Muslims who wanted a spiritual focus that he believed would be more "authentic" then what he felt was happening within the Nation of Islam, but Malcolm also immediately made it clear that he knew that organization would not address the needs for activism to challenge this racist capitalist system.  So, immediately after his extended trip to Africa, he announced in July of that year the forming of the Organization of Afro American Unity (OAAU).  A high school student can deduce that the fact Nkrumah founded the Organization of African Unity (OAU) the previous year, and Malcolm had just met with Nkrumah and Ture before announcing the formation of his new organization, would logically mean that he saw his new organization as an extension of Nkrumah, Ture, and other efforts to bring about Pan-Africanism.  In other words, Malcolm saw his efforts as a means to connect Africans within the U.S. to the worldwide struggle for African liberation.  Malcolm could have called his organization anything he wanted, but he choose OAAU for a specific reason.  And his pronouncements about his growing Pan-Africanist consciousness made such a connection pretty clear.  Malcolm saw his mission as building international capacity to fight against the worldwide capitalist system which he understood was the primary source preventing Africans in the U.S. and around the world from ever having freedom and independence.  

The final point about why Malcolm was killed is important.  This is especially true with confusion circulating today about the relevance of Pan-Africanism in 2019 and beyond.  I had one person say to me, in response to an earlier piece written on this blog, that they don't have "the time to wait for Pan-Africanism."  Of course, when I asked them what their immediate solution was there was radio silence.  That's because there is no immediate solution to our oppression and anyone who suggests there is isn't being honest.  Our solution is connected to the power of the organized mass of African people.  There is absolutely way to hurry that process up beyond doing the work to build mass consciousness.  Anyone involved in the work Malcolm was doing understands that.  The only people who don't get it are those who aren't doing the work.  Not doing the work equals not understanding what it takes.

For those who claim Pan-Africanism is ill relevant.  We argue, successfully, that Malcolm was murdered specifically because of his efforts to build a Pan-Africanist building block within the belly of the capitalist beast.  Had he stayed in the Nation of Islam preaching against white devils, I would argue that given good health, he would a 93 year old preacher against white devils today.  His murder was linked to the almost one year to the day later illegal overthrow of the Nkrumah government by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Ghana on February 24th, 1966. Of course, our enemies made numerous efforts during that period to also assassinate Nkrumah and Ture, unsuccessfully, but the illegal toppling of Nkrumah's democratically elected government would do just fine. Its telling that one of the first things those international thugs did when stealing Ghana was close down the tire factory in Ghana which produced almost 100,000 tires annually for Ghana and other Africans through socialist development.  That factory was immediately provided to Firestone Company when the coup took place. Firestone promptly closed the factory to ensure its socialist production could not continue to compete with Firestone's efforts to bleed Africa dry.

Since that time, imperialism invaded Guinea in 1970 and then assassinated Amilcar Cabral in Guinea-Bissau in 1973 in an attempt to halt efforts to overcome Portuguese colonialism and build Pan-Africanism.  Then our enemies supported an illegal coup in Guinea in 1984 to topple Sekou Ture and the Democratic Party of Guinea's democratically elected government.  In 1987, Thomas Sankara was assassinated to prevent clear Pan-Africanist efforts in Burkina Faso and the 2011 destruction of the Libyan Jamihiriya also represents efforts to destabilize Pan-African unity.  There are many many more efforts imperialism is making to disrupt Pan-Africanist efforts including the almost 100 U.S. military installations currently operational in Africa.  All of that is quite a bit of work and resources to destroy a movement, that according to Pan-Africanism destracters isn't accomplishing much.  And since all of those efforts at building were all about creating bases from which to further entrench Pan-African work, including for Africans within the U.S. who have benefited from these efforts probably more than any one group of Africans anywhere, the arguments against Pan-Africanism clearly expose a serious lack of understanding of what true struggle actually looks like.

Malcolm's legacy, a glorious and shining example of Pan-African integrity, continues to shine bright.  This is why on this 54th commemoration of his great sacrifice for us, Malcolm rests firmly as the symbol not just of U.S. African resistance to oppression, but worldwide African dignity and self-determination.  This is why you will find more monuments and people who know of Malcolm's work throughout the international African community than you will find within the very U.S. where Malcolm was born and did his work.  If you truly wish to understand Malcolm's stamp on the world today, think about that for a moment.