Honor hero Malcolm X for his life and who he was becoming

He is one of the most misunderstood figures in our nation’s history, and yet five decades after his death, Malcolm X must be considered no less than an authentic American hero.

Or as my friend, the late Ossie Davis, said in delivering his eulogy 50 years ago this month (Feb. 27, 1965), Malcolm was “a Prince — our own black shining Prince! — who didn’t hesitate to die, because he loved us so.”

Sadly, many people, including myself, didn’t come to know or really appreciate Malcolm until after he had been assassinated. Upon his death, he was instantly and grievously missed.

To this day, however, some folks just can’t see in this great man anything other than a menacing figure, one who was a trouble-making reprobate.

They talk about his being a high school dropout, a drug dealer, a convict and, of course, that leader in the Nation of Islam who they say preached hate, separatism and violence.

Many could not hear the truths he espoused through his powerful messages because they simply couldn’t get past the parts where, in teaching Elijah Muhammad’s brand of Islam, he referred to black people as superior and to white people as devils.

But Malcolm was an incredible force. An excellent junior high student who was class president in his otherwise all-white school, he dropped out when a teacher told him to be realistic rather than dream of becoming a lawyer.

As Malcolm Little, a man who had survived a traumatic childhood, he did pursue a life of crime that landed him in prison, the place where he was introduced to the Nation of Islam. He was an immediate success because of his loyalty to Elijah Muhammad, his courage and his oratory.

Under his leadership, the Nation of Islam grew at a phenomenal rate, and suddenly Malcolm was being talked about in some circles like Martin Luther King Jr. was talked about in others.

Both men, like W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington before them, had the same goals, but they had different methods of achieving them. The two only met once, briefly, in Washington, D.C.

But can you imagine what it would have been like if the two had united, something many think would have happened if Malcolm had not been killed. It’s a sad irony that both men were 39 when they were assassinated.

When Malcolm was killed, he had left the Nation of Islam because he found Elijah Muhammad to be a hypocrite. He had accepted the true Islam after taking part in the Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca) and was beginning to understand that there could indeed be a “peaceful revolution” in America.

Poet Carolyn M. Rodgers in her poem, “Jesus musta been some kind of dude,” advises black men who want to emulate someone:

“Be like medgar, a love rock like Jesus; be like martin, a love rock like Jesus; be like malcolm was be-coming, a love rock like Jesus.”

As we think of Malcolm today, don’t try to erase any portion of his life, but accept all of it. Most particularly, as the poet suggests, understand that part of Malcolm’s greatness — part of his legacy — was who he was becoming.

Ossie Davis perhaps said it best in the eulogy:

“And, in honoring him, we honor the best in ourselves. Last year, from Africa, he wrote these words to a friend: ‘My journey,’ he says, ‘is almost ended, and I have a much broader scope than when I started out, which I believe will add new life and dimension to our struggle for freedom and honor and dignity in the States. I am writing these things so that you will know for a fact the tremendous sympathy and support we have among the African States for our Human Rights struggle. The main thing is that we keep a United Front wherein our most valuable time and energy will not be wasted fighting each other.’”

This story was originally published February 24, 2015 at 5:43 PM with the headline "Honor hero Malcolm X for his life and who he was becoming."