Malcolm X: The Legacy Beyond 100 Years

PLM has two phrases we use to acknowledge persons of great character, "Supreme Hero", and for men, a "Ma'atic Man". We honor the 100 year birthday of our great inspiration, the ma'atic man, Malcolm X. May our words represent a literary libation to his legacy and work towards Black nationalism, Pan-Africanism, and Black unity.

The biggest takeaway we can offer in this brief article is to emphasize the qualities he has exhibited towards building a movement, of which unity has been the focal point. So what has Malcolm demonstrated? When we review his life we see a man of great commitment. He was committed politically to his people, to his wife, his children, religiously to his religion, and socially to his organizations. Most of us know Malcolm as being the driving force to the growth and expansion of the Nation of Islam. When we think of strong black men in bow ties and suits, you think of the FOI, the security force initiated and trained by Malcolm. All of these feats require great commitment; one responsibility often removing some needed time and attention that can be placed to another. Still, Malcolm's presence was felt and his impact was made because he was fully committed to what he gave his word to. If taking Malcolm's level of commitment into a Race 1st orientation, we will obtain the unity we seek.

Unity is a systematic process consisting of three fundamental components. The first is to develop Black consciousness. The second is cultivating a genuine working togetherness and finally to institute coordinated efforts to facilitate the advancement of Black people. When we look at the growth process of Malcolm we see these three fundamental components. The ideology of the nation of Islam was used to develop Black consciousness. The remnants of it still exist in the phrase, "The white man is the devil". Once there was an acceptance of a shared ideology along with the attractiveness of the clean-cut style of the nation, more people we're interested in working with the Nation of Islam. As the membership of the Nation of Islam increased, more people were able to pool resources to develop institutions which perpetuated the nation's ideology. They produced an example similar to Marcus Garvey and the UNIA - ACL, who also exhibited the three fundamental components of unity as outlined above.

To conclude, the greatest feature of Malcolm which we should adopt into our everyday life is total commitment to the advancement of Black people. Once we have committed ourselves in thought and behavior, we will work tirelessly to produce the unity needed in our community. Through understanding the three fundamental components of unity, we can avoid skipping steps in the process or experiencing burnout because we have falsely romanticized what nation building work is all about.

Happy birthday Malcolm X, and as our leader Baba Imhotep stated previously, you were the whirlwind that Garvey mentioned years ago.