Remembering Malcolm X: The unsung hero of Black emancipation

Remembering Malcolm X: The unsung hero of Black emancipation

On February 21, 1965 — 50 years ago today — Malcolm X was assassinated in the Audubon Ballroom in New York City. His death prompted reactions from many Civil Rights leaders, including Martin Luther King, Jr. At the peak of racial abuse in the United States of Blacks, Malcolm X, advocated for black unity, self-respect, pride, separatism  and self-reliance.


Activists, actors, and politicians will remember civil rights leader Malcolm X with a ceremony at the New York site in Harlem where he was killed 50 years ago. About 300 people are expected to hear remarks Saturday from one of Malcolm X's six daughters, Ilyasah Shabazz, as well as U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel and other elected officials. The ceremony is being held at the Malcolm X & Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center in Harlem, formerly known as the Audubon Ballroom, where Malcolm X was shot to death, as he was preparing to address several hundred of his followers. 

In an interview with The Associated Press on the eve of the anniversary observance, Malcolm X's daughter Ilyasah Shabazz stated "One of the great things about Malcolm is that he redefined the civil rights movement to include a human rights agenda. So while we are focusing on integrating schools, integrating housing and all these other things, Malcolm said that we demand our human rights 'by any means necessary.' And that means ... that we have to address these problems. That we have to identify them, and absolutely discuss them."

Despite Malcolm's achievements in Black emancipation, his family and followers fear he is being getting written out of history. According to the daughter: “It was when I was watching the second Obama inauguration that I started to really worry that my father was being written out of history,”

Malcolm X and Dr. King

There are many reasons Malcolm X might be getting written out of history. Malcolm was a contemporary of Dr Martin Luther King Jr, but whereas Dr King adopted a passive and placating approach to their problem with his Civil Rights Movement, Malcolm adopted a more confrontational approach, which made the Whites uncomfortable. As a result, Malcolm X, who was commanding more power among the black community,  is hardly known as widely as Dr Luther King. Malcom X is one of the greatest and most influential African Americans in history and was courageous in advocating for the rights of blacks. He unequivocally indicted white America in the harshest terms for its crimes against black Americans.

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• Malcolm X famous speeches

In a telegram sent to Malcolm X's wife, Betty Shabazz, Martin Luther King, Jr. stated:"While we did not always see eye to eye on methods to solve the race problem, I always had a deep affection for Malcolm and felt that he had the great ability to put his finger on the existence and root of the problem."

Dr Martin Luther King Jr.'s telegram to Malcolm X's wife after his assasination

The telegram revealed the complex relationship between the two Black leaders. According to Vox the telegram was the coda to the complex relationship between two civil rights leaders who did not agree on how the fight for racial equality should be waged. Dr. King was known for his dedication to strictly non-violent resistance, while Malcolm X's philosophy was that equal rights should be obtained by "any means necessary."

Although Malcolm X at some point worked with King in his own way. In 1963, he invited King to speak at a rally in New York City, to speak to the group "before the racial powder keg explodes." A year later, Malcolm X sent King a telegram offering what was surely a much more aggressive form of resistance to the Ku Klux Klan than King was comfortable with:

Malcolm X telegram to Dr. King

It's common to view Malcolm X entirely in opposition to King. However, in a 1988 interview, King's wife Coretta Scott King lent a more complete perspective to the pair and their relationship, which she implied would have flourished if they had lived longer: "I think they respected each other. Martin had the greatest respect for Malcolm and he agreed with him in, and, in terms of the feeling of racial pride and the fact that Black people should believe in themselves and see themselves as, as lovable and beautiful. The fact that Martin had had a strong feeling of connectedness to Africa and so did Malcolm. Ah, I think if he had lived, and if the two had lived, I am sure that at some point they would have come closer together and would have been a very strong force in the total struggle for liberation and self determination of Black people in our society."

Despite what appears to be their opposing stance on the liberation of Blacks from the oppression of White Americans both men were assassinated in controversial circumstances, but only one man is strongly associated with Black emancipation in recent history, whereas the other remained largely unsung.