"I present one who is willing to put himself in the line for you a man who would give his life for you" With this ominous introduction, the speaker stepped up to the podium. Over his left, filtered sunlight poured over the booths silhouetting his body. Applause exploded from the audience, the catalyst that brought forth a dynamic smile from the speaker.
In a deep, powerful voice the speaker said, "As-salaam alaikum," his customary introduction (Gallen 251). The crowd energetically responded, " Wa-alaikum salaam."
Suddenly, deep in the crowd a commotion exploded between two men. These men violently jumped to their feet. "What you doing in my pocket man? Get your hand out of my pocket," one man hollered at the other (Carson 373).
Security quickly saturated the scene. The two stage guards, positioned to the right and left of the stage, left their posts and began to make their way towards the fight. The speaker stood alone on the stage. "Hold it, hold it, brothers, let's be cool," said the speaker with the intention of ameliorating the situation (Carson 402).A burst of ripping thunder exploded and chaos ensued.
The crowd began diving for cover, crashing into folding chairs, bumping into each other, screaming, and running for sanctuary; the room had become a scene of frantic human pinball. It was February 21, 1965; Malcolm X was dead.
"I present one who is willing to put himself in the line for you a man who would give his life for you" This introduction lives in tragic irony; Malcolm did just that. The burst of ripping thunder had nothing to do with the weather. The burst of thunder was the violent song of a sawed-off double barrel 12-guage shotgun fired from 15 feet away (Wood 114).
The .32 caliber bullets glided through the podium like a hot knife on butter and left a seven-inch circle of holes dead center on the speaker's chest (Wood 114). Malcolm lunged his hands into the air. He toppled over backwards, crashing into empty chairs, his head thudding hard on the floor.
The first shot killed the Malcolm fairly quickly. "Seven of the twelve slugs from the first blast destroyed the speakers heart; others shredded his aorta, punctured both lungs and burrowed into his spine" (Goldman 277).The man with the shotgun unloaded a second shot. Simultaneously, two men wearing overcoats joined in. One man had a Luger, and the other had a .45 automatic (Goldman 5).
They fired an absurd amount of bullets, squeezing in shot after shot into Malcolm's body (Carson 373). The assassins possibly intended to emphasize final humiliation, or their intense animosity with this dramatic overkill. Adding to the chaos, someone yelled "there's a bomb in here"(Carson 400), a clearly efficient bluff that caused the panic to skyrocket. Contrasting the fevered energy of the crowd, Malcolm's body lay limp on the floor of the Audubon Ballroom, 165 Street Washington Heights (McFadden 2). The immediate significance of Malcolm's assassination reflects tumultuous civil rights era. The death of another political leader during a time scared with intense suppression of rights, governmental abuse, social activism, and communist paranoia.
The significance after his assassination is the loss of a critical leader and the explosive birth of an icon.
In determining the significance of Malcolm's death one should examine the time frame and murder theories. Malcolm's death, February 1965, came during most vocal civil rights activism in United States history. The resistance to racial activism was meet with huge oppression. Fear of communism ran ramped, "there was a well-orchestrated, high priority program operating from the FBI to destabilize black organizations that were involved in the civil-rights movement and African- American struggle" (Chambers 41), civil rights leaders like Martin Luther king, Bobby Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, and Malcolm were assassinated (Gallen 83), and demonstration were being held all over the United States (Sales 113).
It was a time of upheaval, fear, and social revolution. The two most widely accepted theories expose a government conspiracy and assassination lead by Mr. Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam (Chambers 39).
Why would Mr. Farrakhan, Malcolm's mentor, want to Malcolm dead? The three-convicted gunmen- Thomas Hagan, Mr. Aziz, and Khalil Islam- were ardent Muslims, they did not act on their own violation (McFadden 2).
Mr. Aziz served 19 years in prison before being paroled in 1985 (Noel 19). The assassination followed a schism between Malcolm X and Mr. Farrakhan, the leader of the nation of Islam (McFadden 1). To Farrakhan dismay, Malcolm began to receive more political attention (Gallen 227). After a 1964 trip to Mecca, Malcolm was quoted as saying,
"I no longer subscribe to the sweeping indictments of any one race I am not a racist nor do I subscribe to the tenets of racism.
I can state in all sincerity that I wish nothing but freedom, justice, and equality, life liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all people" (Lester 13).During this trip Malcolm's political thought evolved. This revelation represented a huge change in Malcolm's ideology and came in direct conflict with Nation of Islam's rigid black nationalism, characterized by virulent anti-white theology (McFadden 2). Malcolm, once an ardent follower of Farrakhan began to diverge. He abandoned Farrakhan's obsession with black supremacy (Wood 52). Malcolm also accused Farrakhan of infidelity, a Muslim crime, calling Farrakhan a "charlatan with an appetite for teen-age girls" (McFadden 2).
Malcolm's views on woman also changed; he believed that woman had an equally important role in the human rights movement (Sale 151). The tension between Farrakhan and Malcolm escalated. On June 28, 1964, Malcolm founded OAAU, Organization of Afro-American Unity (Sale 84). Two months before Malcolm's assassination, Farrakhan wrote, "the die is set and Malcolm shall not escape.
Such a man is worthy of death" (Chambers 39), in the Nation of Islam's newspaper. If this theory is true it show that the Malcolm's change in ideology is the significant factor in his murder. Farrakhan still denies any connection with Malcolm assassination; however, he does concede to having "helped create the atmosphere" that spurred the killing (Noel 19). Betty Shabazz, Malcolm's widow, believed that Farrakhan in conjunction with some higher governmental power had direct connection with her husband's untimely death (Braun 18).
In 1998, after the death of Betty Shabazz, Farrakhan stirred up more controversy by appointing Mr. Aziz, released convicted killer of Malcolm, general and head of security for the Nation of Islam (Noel 19).
The second theory pins the assassination of Malcolm on the governmental institutions of the CIA, FBI, and New York Police. In the months before his assassination, Malcolm had become an international figure. According to this theory, Malcolm was considered harmless by governmental authorities; he was monitored by the FBI, but there was no real concern as long as he stayed in the nation practiced "narrow sectarian religion" (Goldman 361). When he split from the nation of Islam he became a threat to the security of the nation.
In his trip to Africa, Malcolm appealed to the U.N to bring the United States before the international court for violating the U.N human rights charter (Gallen 89). Malcolm was attacking the image of the United States. In Cairo, the CIA supposedly attempted to poison Malcolm, however French counterintelligence learned of this and barred him from entering France (Goldman 361).
On February 14, 1965, Malcolm's housed was firebombed. Six days later Malcolm tells his associates that he believes the FBI is responsible for the attack, stating that the Nation of Islam would not be capable of such an action (Gallen 23). Towards the day of his assassination, Malcolm requested Police protection, however, he received an insignificant amount. Police records say that Malcolm refused assistance, which all his friends also deny. The theory says that the government agencies conspired Malcolm's to kill Malcolm, covering their tracks with Muslim assassins that would draw the blame to Farrakhan.
Considering the Gustavo tactics of FBI president Hoover, this conspiracy theory is by no means farfetched. In a FBI memorandum, Hoover sets the goal of defending national interests against the rise of "black messiah" who could unify black nationalist groups and promote communism (Carson 16). The FBI considered Malcolm a threat to New York and the United States; the Nation of Islam was used as a tool to disguise his murder (Gallen 253). Days before the assassination, Malcolm was quoted to saying; "the forces who were trying to kill him were more powerful than the Nation of Islam" (Gallen 252).
The significance of this theory is the sad scare left of the history of the United States, due to governmental suppression of rights.
In death Malcolm gained mass recognition. A Newsweek poll taken in 1963 demonstrated that 40% of African Americans could not even recognize the name Malcolm X (Anderson 28). Presently, Malcolm X is considered one of the most significant Black civil rights leaders. After his death, Malcolm X became immortalized; he transformed from man to icon (Branch 29).
The death of Malcolm X was "the birth of a new black god. X is dead, long live X. He's like the Elvis of black politics." (Wood 185) His symbol appears on tee shirts and hats and Spike Lee's documentation of Malcolm's life soared at the box offices. Cut down in his prime, Malcolm remains eternally young; his charisma preserved though political martyrdom. (Lester 11)
But who is left to stir the hope of African Americans? Malcolm's significance comes from his dynamic ability to generate emotions, cultural power, community values, hope and pride.
Malcolm stirred the imaginations of all blacks, challenged them to remove "the constraints they found themselves in," to value their blackness and maintain their dignity. (Gallen 82). Malcolm's charisma stems from his ability to help blacks separate themselves from the "paradigm of ruling class thought" (Sales 207). Approaching the millennium, the Civil rights movement lacks this essential leadership. With its absence, the strength and unity of African Americans becomes fragmented, and the illusion that the Civil Rights movement reached completion develops. This false illusion is severely detrimental to human right's progress.
The agenda of the civil rights movement during the 1960s,the full range of fundamental human rights, has merely scratched the surface of achievement. The point seems dwarfed, or brushed aside. The significance of Malcolm Xs assassination still resonates as we approach the Millennium. His death along with that of Martin Luther King seriously deprived African Americans of essential leadership and severely stunted the Black Liberation movement.A major significance of Malcolm was his magnetic ability to empower and engage the attention of young black males.
His often radical and vibrant speeches captured and channeled the rage of African Americans, giving them a much-needed political outlet. He inspired Black pride and self-value with his powerful voice and statements asserted with such unwavering confidence. Malcolm gave a voice to centuries of repressed anger (Lester 13). In contrast to Martin Luther King and Farrakhan, Malcolm used rage as a tool (Wood 52). Malcolm had ability to channel black rage into a constrictive force, igniting passion and harnessing it into a political workable force (Wood 52). He spoke the words that other Africans Americans dared to say.
Malcolm's present appeal to hip-hop culture stems from his roots well-versed energetic oration, and radical philosophies. Instead of turning to crime, Malcolm impassioned youths toward avenues of escape and cultural pride. Malcolm was a positive role model for young blacks as a man who had also dealt with the pressures of ghetto life and became an educated black leader (Lester 12). Malcolm X stressed his rise from the ghettos and challenged every black youth to embrace their blackness and pursue intellectual, civil rights endeavors (Sales 207).
The untimely death of Malcolm X deprived the Black Liberation movement an irreplaceable, energetic leader.
The value of individuals who inspire cannot be measured. When considering the significance of his assassinations, imagine the position of civil rights if Malcolm still lived, remained active, matured, and continued unite African American with his unrelenting passion. He would be 80 years old. The United States would be a different place. The silencing of powerful leaders like Malcolm X and Martin Luther King has hindered the campaign of civil rights. Although Malcolm's murder may never be resolved, examination of his assassination remains significant as a link to turbulent American time era.
We are a long way from racial equality. Malcolm may have died, but his spirit lives on if his fight persists. As professor Lewis Machaux famous poem attests to his legacy,
Man, if you think Bro. Malcolm is dead,
You are out of your cotton-picking head,
And watch his fighting spirit spread,
Every good bye ain't gone.
(Goldman 375)
Bibliography:
