[Delivered to the Malcolm X Solidarity Coalition (an unofficial American Solidarity Party Facebook Group), 21 February, 2018.]
On this day 53 years ago, Malcolm X (el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz) was gunned down on cold blood by three members of the Nation of Islam as he took the stage to speak, ending a career dedicated to Black Liberation.
Some may assume I chose him as the patron of this group simply as satire of the ludicrous misappropriation of Dorothy Day by the sectarian integralist caucus that bears her name. They’d be incorrect. That was part of it, but certainly not all, because of my great respect and admiration for Malcolm X as a liberation leader. While I laughed at the satire, in a very real way I saw Brother Malcolm as someone ideal to hold up as a standard in this divided American Solidarity Party.
Here’s why:
- He was not a Christian, and he would point out that the zeal of the sectarian integralists of the DDC to oppress others for religious reasons comes from the same root that prompted him to say, “Who taught you to hate the color of your skin? Who taught you to hate the texture of your hair? Who taught you to hate the shape of your nose? Who taught you to hate yourself from the top of your head to the sole of your feet? Who taught you to hate your own kind? Who taught you to hate the race you belong to so much that you don’t want to be around each other? You should ask yourself, ‘who taught you to hate being what God gave you?’” As James Cone writes, “No one before or after him analyzed the role of Christianity in promoting racism and its mental and material consequences upon the lives of blacks as Malcolm did. He has no peer.” Though the ASP has its roots in the global Christian Democracy movement, though it draws much of its core orientation from a fusion of Catholic Social Teaching and Reformed Political Theology, it cannot, particularly in the American milieu, afford to portray itself as a “Christian Party”, a relic of Christendom and its triumphalist conquest orientation. Or, as Brother Malcolm said, “Peaceful co-existence!…Fine! But what have been the deeds of the white man? During his entire advance through history, he has been waving the banner of Christianity…and carrying in his other hand the sword and the flintlock.”
- He was 100% dedicated to the pursuit of truth and justice, and rejected the sectarian impulse which is itself an offense against truth and justice. Malcolm said, “I’ve had enough of someone else’s propaganda, I’m for truth, no matter who tells it. I’m for justice, no matter who it is for or against. I’m a human being and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” Likewise we, when we are at our best, reflect his statement. I wish we were at our best more often.
- He was always unswerving in his call for justice without delay, and without the “moderation” both he and Dr. King decried. Brother Malcolm said, “I don't believe in any form of unjustified extremism! But when a man is exercising extremism — a human being is exercising extremism — in defense of liberty for human beings it's no vice, and when one is moderate in the pursuit of justice for human beings I say he is a sinner.” And again, “You get freedom by letting your enemy know that you'll do anything to get your freedom; then you'll get it. It's the only way you'll get it.” It is my belief that we, as a party, while rejecting the tribal partisan divide of the Democrats and Republicans, must also be uncompromising in our demands for justice, and not in accepting the kind of “civility” urged upon us by those who would silence us.
So today, as we recall the murder of this great man, I urge us all to reflect on the legacy of Malcolm X, and really listen to what he had to tell us, making sure this observation from James Cone is not true of us ourselves: “Even today, whites do not feel comfortable listening to or reading Malcolm. They prefer Martin because he can easily be made more palatable to their way of thinking. That is why we celebrate Martin’s birthday as a national holiday, and nearly every city has a street named in his honor. Many seminaries have a chair in his name, even though their curriculums do not take his theology seriously. When alienated blacks turn to Malcolm, whites turn to Martin, as if they really care about his ideas, which most do not. Whites only care about Martin as a way of undermining the black allegiance to Malcolm.”
Read: Malcolm X’s final speech - After the Bombing
Read: Ossie Davis’ Eulogy for Malcolm X
Read: James H. Cone - Martin, Malcolm and Black Theology
