FIST leader pays tribute to Malcolm X
By
LeiLani Dowell
Published Feb 23, 2005 10:19 AM
Following are excerpts from a talk given by FIST (Fight Imperialism--Stand
Together) organizer LeiLani Dowell at a Feb. 18 Workers World Party meeting in
New York.
Feb. 21 will mark the 40th anniversary of the
assassination of Malcolm X at the age of 39. He was by far one of our most
dynamic leaders. His image is a symbol of revolutionary thought and action to
this day.
What always impressed me the most about Malcolm X was his
constant search for answers, and the ability to justify his actions, his
ideologies, with facts and in plain, popular language--language that would
galvanize a movement that continues to this day.
While he was able to
defend Black nationalism as a justified response to hundreds of years of
institutionalized racism, towards the end of his life he was seeking a more
internationalist approach to ending oppression.
He declared himself as
"one of the victims of America, one of the victims of Americanism," and
connected the struggle of Black people in the United States with all peoples
living under the gun of U.S. imperialism throughout the world.
Malcolm
brought pride to Black people. He made us feel that we were entitled to be
angry, to demand respect, to demand justice, in the face of the violence and
brutal oppression we had faced since the founding of this country.
He
told students at Oxford University, "I firmly believe that the day that the
Black man takes an uncompromising step and realizes that he's within his rights,
when his own freedom is being jeopardized, to use any means necessary to bring
about his freedom and put a halt to that injustice, I don't think he'll be by
himself."
Malcolm also pointed out the hypocrisy of a system that
practices violence every second of the day, and then preaches nonviolence to
those it oppresses. His popularization of the right to self-defense--with the
phrase "by any means necessary"--was an extremely important contribution to the
Black liberation struggles of the time.
He saw a movement for real change
building and growing. During one of his last speeches, he said, "You're getting
a new generation that is being born right now, and they are beginning to think
with their own mind and see that you can't negotiate upon freedom nowadays. If
something is yours by right, you either fight for it or shut up. If you can't
fight for it, then forget it."
In a Village Voice interview, Malcolm said,
"You have to wake the people up first, to their humanity, to their own worth,
and to their heritage--and then you'll see action." I'm sure in the last few
years of Malcolm's life, he would have taken the term "humanity" to mean the
humanity of all, throughout the world.
Both Malcolm X and Martin Luther
King Jr. were embracing a more internationalist approach when they were gunned
down. Malcolm X was preparing to raise the plight of African Americans to the UN
before his death. The UN was different back then than it is now due to the
presence of the former Soviet Union and the socialist bloc.
Malcolm had
traveled to many parts of Africa, and seen the revolutionary struggles there,
spoken with their leaders, and also traveled to Europe to speak with the youth
there.
So is it merely coincidence that Malcolm's and King's lives were
tragically cut short when their outlook was expanding to encompass the oppressed
the world over? I don't think it is. This is what the ruling class had the most
to fear from--the mobilization of forces on an international level, the fight
for the rights of all, connecting the war at home and the war abroad and
militantly supporting each other's causes.
We're living in an extremely
difficult and outrageous yet exciting time because I think we're seeing this
happen more and more here in the United States. On Oct. 17 of last year the
legacy of Malcolm X was clearly manifested in the leaders of the Million Worker
March.
And we're seeing it yet again with the Troops Out Now Coalition and
the mobilization for March 19. An active, working coalition has been built here
in New York with representatives from labor, youth and students, artists,
veterans, AIDS activists, tenants' rights groups, LGBT communities, Arabs,
Haitians, immigrant groups, groups in solidarity with Palestine, Venezuela,
Cuba, El Salvador, Korea and the Philippines--all coming together to build for
March 19, as well as support each other's efforts with respect to their
communities.
Ossie Davis said it best in his eulogy of Malcolm X: "In
honoring him, we honor the best in ourselves." So in the undying spirit of
Malcolm X, let's keep up the struggle!
Articles copyright 1995-2012 Workers World.
Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email:
[email protected]
Subscribe
[email protected]
Support independent news
DONATE