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The Wolverine Observer
February/March 1985
REMEMBERING MALCOLM X
MAY 19, 1925 -
FEB. 21, 1965
Malcolm X was one or the most militant voices of the 1960's. He is
shown here in Accra, Ghana, West Africa in 1964.
Photo by Alice Windom
KAPPAS
PAY HONOR
TO SLAIN
LEADER
by Michael Phillips
For the third consecutive year
the men of Kappa Alpha Psi
Fraternity, Inc. Beta Delta
Chapter paid tribute to the life
and memory of El Hajj Malik El
Shabbaz or Malcolm X, who was
assasinated in 196X.
On February 21, 198X, a
capacity crowd filled Viola Hill
Auditorium at 11:00 a.m. to pay
tribute to Malcolm X on the
twentieth anniversary of his
assasination.
The program was opened with
a welcome by Clarence White
and was followed by the singing
of 'Lift Every Voice and Sing’ by
Brownites Patrice Caines, Kim
Hooks, Louisa McCullough, and
Iris Orr in a cappella. The state
ment of occasion was read by
Ernest Vicks.
Guest speaker Faye Bellamy
then took the podium to speak
about her personal experience
with Malcolm X and his life.
Bellamy,a former member of the
Student Non-Violent Coor
dinating Committee (SNCC),
met Malcolm in Harlem and later
traveled to Tuskeegee to extend
an invitation to him to speak in
Selma, prior to his death in 1965.
Bellamy gave an inspirational
address that was filled with
invaluable information. She later
told the Observer in an interview
that Malcolm X represented
"The quality of leadership
among many people and not just
one (group). He didn’t think he
was the only leader who had
sense. He wasn’t hung up on
whether you believed like him.
He just wanted you to believe in
something."
The former student activist
added that she was glad to see
Malcolm X being recognized by
black students and pleased to be
a part of the program.
"I thought it was a positive
effort. I was glad to see the
college President there and that
he had knowledge of Malcolm.”
Bellamy also recalled the most
important thing that she
remembered about the militant
leader. "I think the most impor
tant thing (about him) is that he
didn’t sell out to anybody for any
reason. He didn't sell out to his
religion because he was a part of
it... He could reorient his thin
king.” .
She also described Malcolm as
very, very intelligent, peaceful,
and loving. Bellamy also told the
Observer that Malcolm was
planning to come to work with
civil rights organizations. "When
we were taking him to the
airport... he (also) said that he
wanted to come south and
organize. This was a special
dream of his and he now was
planning to move on it.”
Sham Sheppard then in
troduced the keynote speaker,
Michael Simanga. The Chairman
of the New Justice Movement,
began his participation in the
"movement" as a junior high
school student in Detroit.
"As a young boy,
Malcolm was taught
by whites that we
were less than
human, and rebelled
against it”
—Michael Simanga
The political activist speaking
at the tribute for the second
straight year, encouraged
students to see Malcolm’s life as
an example to follow. "Like
Malcolm X, black students must
prepare themselves and apply
themselves,” said Simanga.
Constantly relating Malcolm’s
life to the audience, Simanga
explained what he called the
four major stages of Malcolm X’s
development.
1) Rebellious Stage - "As a
young boy Malcolm was taught
by whites that we were less than
human and rebelled against it.”
2) The self-destructive stage -
"Malcolm became a pimp, dope
pusher, and led a life of crime,”
said Simanga.
3) The redemption stage -
"This is where Malcolm went to
prison and began to prepare
himself, improve his life and
discipline himself.”
4) The application stage-"This
is where Malcolm put into
practice what he learned.”
Simanga went on to talk about
the confusion dominant in the
Black community. “We must
recognize our national needs,
national interests, and national
identity," he said.
The activist closed by telling
student that the U.S. Govern
ment is largely responsible for
starvation on the African conti
nent. He went on to mention a
relief bill to send food to Africa
that was introduced in Congress
and how Reagan wanted to
attach a clause sending military
aid to the Contra forces in
Nicaragua to it. Simanga said
black students must fight against
this.
"External causes only in
fluence things, but internal
causes make things happen. It is
our responsibility to see to it that
Africa is allowed to redeem
itself."
After the address remarks
were made by President Dr.
Calvert Smith, Dr. Marcus Jones,
Chairman of the Social Relations
Dept., and Dr. Gloria Anderson,
Dean of Academic Affairs.
Dr. Smith told the crowd that
"unless it is translated into how
we act, how we think, how we
speak, and how we respond it
(Malcolm’s legacy) means
nothing.”
Student Government, Student
Publications, and Student Affairs
showed a film about the life of
Malcolm X that evening in
Cunningham Auditorium to
culminate the tribute.
MALCOLM X
Master Teacher
February 21, 1985 will be the
20th anniversary of the assassina
tion of Brother Malcolm X in the
Audobon Ballroom. His
assassination was a devastating
blow to the human rights
struggle, one from which it has
never recovered.
There are few losses more
deeply felt by a group of people
than that of Master Teacher, a
person who has devoted his or
her life to helping his people
fully develop their ability to
correctly analyze the country
and world in which they live.
More than anything else.
Brother Malcolm was a Master
Teacher.
No matter where or to whom
he spoke — in the streets, in
churches and community
centers, in the halls of major
universities or before gatherings
of diplomats and scholars —
Brother Malcolm used to teach.
He had the distinct ability to
analyze the policies and prac
tices of the United States and
other countries in a way that
made them clearer to all who
listened. With knowledge, skill,
vision, commitment and deter
mination, he dispensed wisdom
that was so much on target that
even if one totally disagreed with
his position, one still had to deal
with it. His analysis, especially of
the actions and policies of the
United States government, simp
ly could not be ignored.
Brother Malcolm, in most
every speech he made, urged
African-Americans to struggle
for group self-determination,
self-respect and self-awareness.
He strongly advocated com
munity control of schools, self-
defense, collective economic
ventures, and the inter
nationalizing of the human
rights struggle. He was con
vinced that his approach was
necessary if black progress in this
country was to be real instead of
window dressing. Brother
Malcolm was not the first leader
to advocate this approach but
due to the wonders of modern
communications and travel he
was able to reach more people
than any of his nationalist
predecessors.
The battle to decisively affect
the direction of the human rights
struggle has been an intense one
ever since the Africans were
snatched out of their homes and
into slavery. The Europeans and
their descendants have always
recognized the crucial impor
tance of controlling the minds of
captive people. Brother
Malcolm used to tell audiences
of three types of Europeans who
were involved in the enslave
ment of millions of African
people. One was the slae trader
whose job it was to secure
Africans by any method
necessary. Another was the slave
maker whose job it was to turn a
people with traditions, cultures
and religious beliefs of their own
into slaves by destroying all these
things. To accomplish this, the
slave maker used physical and
psychological brutality of every
kind, including beatings, killings
and denying the captured
Africans the right to speak their
own languages or to practice
their religions.
After the slave maker had
done his job as thoroughly as
possible, the Africans were then
shipped like merchandise to the
third member of the infamous
trio, the. slave owner.
Brother Malcolm said that the
most vile and vicious of the trio
was the slave maker. He was a
new addition to the centuries-
old practice of slavery, a condi
tion that many groups of people
had found themselves in during
their histories. The slave makers,
with their Western, more scien
tific approach to enslavement,
were the ancestors of the Nazi
doctors, scientists and scholars
who conducted various kinds of
inhuman experiments on other
human beingsduringWorld War
II.
It was the slave maker's legacy
of mind control that had the
most devastating, long-range
affect on African-Americans, too
many of whom still believe deep
in their souls that "white is
right." When a black person
describes another black person’s
hair as "good” (straight) or
"bad" (kinky), he or she is part of
the slave maker’s legacy. When a
black person’s selection of a
husband or wife, boyfriend or
girlfriend is based on how light
or close to white they are, that
person is perpetuating the slave
maker’s legacy.
It was this legacy that Brother
Malcolm, the Master Teacher,
spent the last years of his life
combatting. The fact is that he
was achieving some success in
doing so made him a most
dangerous threat to the modern-
day counterparts of the slave
makers. They know how impor
tant it is to keep control of how
black people think and act. Thus
the assassination.
Those African-Americans who
think this analysis is far-fetched
should remember what happen
ed to Patrice Lumumba. For years
the United States indignantly
denied being involved in this
assassination. Now, over 20 years
later, in a book Ike’s Spies,
Stephen E. Ambrose writes about
the role of former President
Dwight D. Eisenhower and the
CIA in Lumumba's assassination.
Someone, probably Eisenhower,
decided that Lumumba had to go
and the Congolese nationalist
was assassinated. Some day it will
be revealed who made the
decision that Malcolm X had to
go-
Meanwhile, the Master
Teacher’s approach to liberation
is still the most meaningful one.
A. Peter Bailey is a veteran
journalist and has written for
several newspapers and
magazines. He is also a con
tributing editor to the Black
Collegian Magazine.
GIVE THE UNITED W
WORKING TOGETHER IS WORKING WONDERS.