In the present day marks 100 years because the beginning of Malcolm X, one of the vital important figures within the historical past of Black America.
A century later, his enduring legacy is remembered not simply in america however throughout the globe. The impression of his radical activism continues to be honoured worldwide, particularly within the face of ongoing injustice. The ultimate two years of Malcolm’s life, following his break from the Nation of Islam, marked a pivotal shift towards internationalist and anti-capitalist values deeply embedded in his activism.
After getting back from the Hajj in April 1964 and endeavor intensive travels throughout Africa and the Center East, Malcolm concluded that “our success in America will contain two circles: Black Nationalism and Islam.” Black Nationalism, he argued, was important for connecting African People with Africa, whereas Islam served because the “religious hyperlink to Africa, Arabia, and Asia.”
His famed Letter from Mecca, written in the course of the Hajj, can thus be considered as a revelatory second foreshadowing the speedy evolution of his worldview and politics within the two years main as much as his premature dying.
The views expressed within the letter, which got here as a shock to his viewers again dwelling, not solely confirmed the finality of his cut up from the Nation of Islam but additionally revealed his newfound dedication to a extra common imaginative and prescient of brotherhood, humanity, and worldwide solidarity within the pursuit of Black liberation.
Upon returning to america, Malcolm X based the Organisation of Afro-American Unity (OOAU) as an extension of his earlier Muslim Mosque, Inc. (MMI). His eventual fusion of Black Nationalism and Islam efficiently introduced collectively secular activists and Black Muslims from throughout the nation, inside a framework that was more and more anti-capitalist, anti-colonial, and internationalist.
Malcolm drew inspiration from varied African and Arab nationalist actions that mixed socialism with beliefs of world brotherhood and solidarity, such because the rise of Nasserism in Egypt and Kwame Nkrumah’s anti-colonial efforts in Ghana. He additionally expressed assist for revolutionary actions in China and Cuba, and even personally met with Fidel Castro earlier than his departure from the Nation of Islam.
Whereas his travels via the Muslim world bolstered the insights he gained in the course of the Hajj, significantly that Islam is “the one faith that erases from society the race downside,” his journey throughout Africa additionally woke up him to classism and different systemic types of oppression inside Black communities on the continent.
These experiences deepened his conviction that European colonialism and exploitation have been inextricably linked to capitalist greed. He persistently voiced his anger at how European colonists had severely underdeveloped and continued to take advantage of African individuals, each on the continent and throughout the Atlantic.
Within the closing months of his life, Malcolm additionally traveled to Europe. He visited the UK twice, scathingly describing it because the birthplace of imperialism. In February 1965, shortly earlier than his assassination, he visited a city in England’s West Midlands after studying that native Black residents have been being denied the fitting to purchase or hire property within the space.
His first go to to the UK, just a few months earlier, was to debate on the Oxford Union, the place he argued in favor of the movement: “Extremism within the defence of liberty is not any vice; moderation within the pursuit of justice is not any advantage.”
Thus, whereas Malcolm’s break from the Nation of Islam mirrored a shift towards a extra internationalist method to Black self-determination, his dedication to justice remained as radical and as “excessive” as ever. 100 years since his beginning, the profound legacy of Malcolm’s “extremism” continues to encourage and endure.
If the liberation actions of right now are successors to the unconventional sixties, when Malcolm X nonetheless walked amongst us, then his fearless struggle for freedom stays an everlasting image of justice, transcending time.
SEE ALSO:
Op-Ed: What Would Malcolm X Say About America In 2025?
20 Malcolm X Quotes Each Black Particular person Ought to Know
Malcolm X’s Religious Shift: From The Nation Of Islam To Sunni Religion
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