Malcolm X is a hero of mine. He died before I was born but his book was part of my adolescence as a young, immigrant, minority kid with limited means in a less than salubrious neighborhood.
After being turned down for parole 16 times, Malcolm X’s only confessed assassin is about to gain his freedom.
Thomas Hagan has been held since moments after shots rang out in the Audubon Ballroom in 1965. He has been on work release for more than two decades, but he still spends two days a week locked up at the Lincoln Correctional Facility on West 110th Street in Manhattan.
On March 3, however, on his 17th try, Mr. Hagan was granted parole, the State Division of Parole said. His final release date is tentatively scheduled for April 28. The news was reported Thursday on The Village Voice’s Runnin’ Scared blog.
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/...
My only hope now, with his release, is that he would feel safe enough to tell us the truth about who ordered the plans to kill Malcolm X.
For me, Malcolm represented the strong defiance embedded in the human spirit. In a time when a black man was suppose to be subservient and yield to the white male power authority, he stood up proud and said no.
Malcolm X (pronounced /ˈmælkəm ˈɛks/) (born Malcolm Little; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965), also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz[1] (Arabic: الحاجّ مالك الشباز), was an African-American Muslim minister, public speaker, and human rights activist.[2][3][4][5] To his admirers, he was a courageous advocate for the rights of African Americans, a man who indicted white America in the harshest terms for its crimes against black Americans.[6] His detractors accused him of preaching racism, black supremacy, antisemitism, and violence.[7][8][9][10][11] He has been described as one of the greatest and most influential African Americans in history.[12][13][14]
Malcolm X was born in Omaha, Nebraska. By the time he was thirteen, his father had died and his mother had been committed to a mental hospital. His childhood, including his father's lessons concerning black pride and self-reliance and his own experiences concerning race, played a significant role in Malcolm X's adult life. After living in a series of foster homes, Malcolm X became involved in hustling and other criminal activities in Boston and New York. In 1946, Malcolm X was sentenced to eight to ten years in prison.
While in prison, Malcolm X became a member of the Nation of Islam. After his parole in 1952, he became one of the Nation's leaders and chief spokesmen. For nearly a dozen years, he was the public face of the Nation of Islam. Tension between Malcolm X and Elijah Muhammad, head of the Nation of Islam, led to Malcolm X's departure from the organization in March 1964.
After leaving the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X became a Sunni Muslim and made a pilgrimage to Mecca, after which he disavowed racism. He traveled extensively throughout Africa and the Middle East. He founded Muslim Mosque, Inc., a religious organization, and the secular, black nationalist Organization of Afro-American Unity. Less than a year after he left the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X was assassinated while giving a speech in New York.
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
They call me "a teacher, a fomenter of violence." I would say point blank, "That is a lie. I'm not for wanton violence, I'm for justice." I feel that if white people were attacked by Negroes — if the forces of law prove unable, or inadequate, or reluctant to protect those whites from those Negroes — then those white people should protect and defend themselves from those Negroes, using arms if necessary. And I feel that when the law fails to protect Negroes from whites' attacks, then those Negroes should use arms if necessary to defend themselves. "Malcolm X advocates armed Negroes!" What was wrong with that? I'll tell you what's wrong. I was a black man talking about physical defense against the white man. The white man can lynch and burn and bomb and beat Negroes — that's all right: "Have patience"..."The customs are entrenched"..."Things will get better.""
http://en.wikiquote.org/...
Selected quotes of Malcolm X
A man who stands for nothing will fall for anything.
Be peaceful, be courteous, obey the law, respect everyone; but if someone puts his hand on you, send him to the cemetery.
Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.
I believe in human beings, and that all human beings should be respected as such, regardless of their color.
I don't even call it violence when it's in self defense; I call it intelligence.
I'm for truth, no matter who tells it. I'm for justice, no matter who it's for or against.
If you have no critics you'll likely have no success.
In all our deeds, the proper value and respect for time determines success or failure.
My Alma mater was books, a good library... I could spend the rest of my life reading, just satisfying my curiosity.
Nobody can give you freedom. Nobody can give you equality or justice or anything. If you're a man, you take it.
Nonviolence is fine as long as it works.
Power in defense of freedom is greater than power in behalf of tyranny and oppression.
There is no better than adversity. Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance the next time.
Truth is on the side of the oppressed.
http://www.brainyquote.com/...
For what it is worth, I fully believe that the Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan is responsible for the death of the Prince of Harlem, Brother Malcolm.