By Malice Intended
Today would have been Malcolm X’s 86th birthday. The birthdays of fallen icons should not be simply be causes for celebration, but time of reflection and appreciation. They should foster contemplation of what that person’s life meant in their time and for future generations. Unfortunately, a recently released tell-all posing as piece of distinguished scholarly research casts a large shadow over what should be a day of remembrance.
Manning Marable’s Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention was released on April 4th of this year. It was supposedly the culmination of decades of research, and sought to correct many misconceptions and myths regarding the life of a man who has come to represent uncompromising black manhood to generations of African Americans.
As someone who came of age in the 1990’s, and was in high school during the Malcolm X craze that jumped off early in the decade, I was eagerly awaiting the release of the book. Alex Haley’s The Autobiography of Malcolm X is my favorite book of all time, and I consider Spike Lee’s biopic a national treasure. I preordered the book on Amazon being fully aware of the pre-release hype. It supposedly laid bare the truth about Malcolm’s homosexuality, as well details about his criminal career and his assassination. As expected, the media zeroed in on the material regarding his supposed same sex encounters to the exclusion of everything else.
Alas, that particular point of interest populates a negligible portion of the 500 page plus tome. Malcolm himself gave some insight into that lesser known side of the game in his autobiography, mentioning a hustle pulled off by a character named Rudy. Rudy would appease the sexual needs of an elderly man via talcum powder. In the space of a single page (page 66) Marable comes to the conclusion that Malcolm was describing his own encounters with an acquaintance by the name of Paul Lennon. Marable even admits that the evidence he has to support this claim is circumstantial. Malcolm worked for Lennon as a butler and a house worker in 1944. In Marable’s mind, that alone suggests that the relationship between the two men was something much more than friendly and/or professional.
The book is filled with dubious assertions like this. It claims that Malcolm’s career as a criminal was exaggerated to bolster the Nation of Islam’s rep as an organization capable of reforming the most wayward soul. Marable ascertains that Malcolm was in no condition to execute a series of well-executed burglaries seeing as how he was addicted to cocaine at the time. Perhaps Marable had never heard of legendary drug kingpin Frank “Black Ceaser” Matthews. Matthews lorded over a nationwide heroin operation while nursing a full blown cocaine addiction. Let’s not mention the scores of hustlers who indulged in pimping and other endeavors while also being addicts.
I see it as no coincidence that this book was released within two months of Malcolm’s 86th birthday. Malcolm has always been a troublesome figure for those who are frightened by black militancy and black intellectualism. The Motion Picture Academy begrudgingly gave Denzel Washington a best actor nod in 1993. It was the only nomination the film received. Malcolm’s likeness and message were everywhere in pop culture preceding its release, thanks to constant referencing by the most prominent rap stars of the day. Many of those performers, such as Public Enemy and Ice Cube, had majority white fan bases who were college age at the time. Those same students were likely being exposed to Malcolm’s philosophy in their African American Studies courses. That sort of mainstreaming of Malcom’s message did not go unnoticed by his critics. The same critics who routinely neglect the revelations he came to toward the end of his life.
Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention comes at a decidedly inopportune time. That is surely by design. Malcolm’s life was a testament to the inherent ability of Black America’s ability to transcend our circumstances and affect the world positively. A one time pimp, burglar and drug addict would grow to promote the importance of family. He went against the very organization that fostered his transformation; because he felt it better that his people know the truth. He did this knowing full well that the penalty was death. Whatever his flaws, Malcolm X was a paragon of strength. His enemies, who continue to soil his public image, hate this fact. No matter what they do, to me and many others, Malcolm will always be the shepherd who defends his flock zealously against the wolves. Happy Birthday, El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz. You have more than earned the right to rest in peace.
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