More Than a T-Shirt
Melissa Harris Lacewell has an article at The Root on Malik Shabaz (Malcolm X).
I am part of the generation — the post civil-rights generation, post-black power generation — that turned Malcolm X into a T-shirt and cap. He was our symbol of racial discontent and political angst. Though we did not live through the brutal repression of Jim Crow, we knew for ourselves, in our own way, the effects of racial inequality. We saw the systematic destruction of urban communities, the incarceration of our peers, the violence and drugs that ravaged our neighborhoods. We knew that even the new opportunities and unprecedented accomplishments that previous generations made possible for us were often marked by racial isolation and insults.
We met Malcolm through the prism of popular culture, and we embraced him as a commodity, to signal our own disbelief in the American dream.
Read it all.
Much like Martin Luther King, many people project onto Malcolm what they want to see. Some conservative blacks claim to admire him and quote his criticism of white liberals as proof that he would have been a black conservative had he lived. Radical Leftists do the same and will cherry pick a quote to support their claim as well. He has become a near mythical figure.
I always felt that we should take lessons from his life and not try to project our thoughts unto him. (”If Malcolm were alive today, he’d be down with MY cause”)
As far as the t-shirts, etc are/were concerned, I ran into a great quote that fits my thoughts on this
“Every great cause begins as a movement, then it becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket.”
In other words, “the cause” eventually gets lost as the honorariums, magazines, book and CD sales become the cause. You will find this to be true with most movements today. For example, the Washington Post ran an article a few days ago about how the symbols of the Green Movement (of course Malcolm would have gone green) often overshadow and substance. There is a billion dollar industry built around the green movement that includes things that has nothing to the cause itself - like…t-shirts that proudly announces that one has “gone green”. (This is not to pick on the green movement as the right-wing has their own cottage industry)
The business becomes a racket when you find out that many of these people do not even believe in the original cause. They are only there to give you a pre-packaged message that sells books and DVDs/CDs. This is how a person that has been married 30 times can give a lecture on how to stay married. It’s a racket.
Perhaps this is why people believe more in figures like Malcolm. He didn’t make millions of dollars from a ‘brand’ built around him. He was a loving husband and responsible father. He actually believed what he preached (and only God knows what is in the hearts of others). It wasn’t simply a means to make some cash. No wonder everyone wants to claim him as their own…
Filed under: Black American Muslims | Tagged: Malcolm X
I wonder what would Malcolm think if he was around today? I imagine that he may be somewhat uneasy with their ideas of him.
The problem with some people is that they only know the pre- Malcolm X or the “green” Malcolm X( dollar signs).After the Jummah, I was talking with some brothers and sisters about our annoyance with baggy/saggy pants. Near the end of the talk one of there sisters said ” Well if Farrakhan or Malcolm X( we also got on the topic of racism . They had prob-black views) was around they wouldn’t be like this…..” I was like, man what make you think that Malcolm would side with you?”
It’s funny how people have these thoughts about him. One of his daughters( the author, I forget her name) vented her frustrations about being Malcolm X’s daughter. She would often get angry at people ’s expectations of her being pro-Black or racist. and if she didn’t meet there “standards” she was considered to be a sell-out.
It just seem that people only know one half of Malcolm’s X’s life. Perhaps if they learned the other half of it, they would reconsider their thoughts of him.
Surprisingly no one in the blogsphere really mentioned his birthday this year. I also didn’t hear anything about it on the African American radio stations where I live. I don’t like to bring it up cause I don’t want people to get it twisted with hero worship, but it will be interesting to see if any other bloggers bring up Malcolm before the end of the month. Thanks for posting the article.
I grew up in the mountains of the South and when we studied Malcolm X in high school, the teacher didn’t focus on the political parts of him as much. She instead looked at his significance to both racial and religious freedom in the country. His lessons crossed many different lines because of his very public journey through himself.
My mom always pointed to Malcolm X as an example of a “genuine hero”, because he was fallible and brought people along with him on his journey, whether intentional or not, because of his strong character. She had a lot of issues with Malcolm X when she experienced him growing up until she saw his intentions behind his movement…he really wished to make the American experience for everyone…he brought her into action and influenced her thoughts about race and religion.
Some people believe Malcolm X only speaks to specific groups, but I believe he speaks to all people.