Happy Belated Birthday!
I always get a bit of comfort when positive coincidences occur in my life. It always makes me feel like I'm being guided, by some greater force and that I'm on the right path. Well, last night I was lucky enough to experience this feeling. One of the things that keep me really grounded and connected here in Copenhagen has been the wonder of the internet: connecting with others throughout the globe who share the same visions as I do. Sometimes I go on Youtube and search for everything from calypso to old school hip hop: Images that fortify me and sustain me. Last night was one such night: I decided to google El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (Malcolm X). I watched a couple of his speeches, and experienced the power of his words.
Can't explain the wonder I experienced when I visited Electronic Village today and read that yesterday was his birthday! Read the treat here: Electronic Village .
Enjoy the article!
Hugs,
Blackgirl on Mars!
Comments
I'm also grateful for the 'link-love' to my Malcolm X post. Amazingly, I wrote the post a year ago ... and simply updated it this year with the fact it was his 83rd (instead of 82nd) birthday...
peace, Villager
Dulce: Thanks for connecting! I am happy that you like my blog! Thanks for your support, it keeps me going.
hugs,
the lab
Malcolm was such an inspiration, he's one of those people that gives me goose bumps when I listen to him speak.
BTW, what on earth took you to Copenhagen?
I think Malcolm continues to be an inspiration. Never had a leader like him since--the timing of his murder always suspicious, especially when you think about the thoughts he was naturally growing towards. It's a shame, and quite telling, that he is not honored "officially".
This is my first visit to your blog! I saw the announcement on Electronic Village and thought I'd hop over!
The unfortunate thing about the videos of Malik El-Shabazz is that his ideology changed DRASTICALLY after his return from Mecca when he encountered white people who were devout Muslims. He returned a very, very changed man...so changed that he STOPPED calling himself Malcolm X in order to disassociate himself with his previous ideology.
Black people looooved the ideology of Malcolm X so much that they are still quoting it and still pretending that his ideology NEVER EVER changed from what it was when he called himself Malcolm X.
When we celebrate him...we must also present him truthfully...he was a man who had changed...and we must celebrate the evolution of the man.
Thanks for letting me blow my trumpet!
Lisa
You are invited to visit my house:
http://blackwomenblowthetrumpet.blogspot.com
BUT: I do think his previous speeches and ideologies are important to revisit as well because, at least for me anyway, it always warms me to see someone at that time capturing so eloquently the goings-on of many hearts and souls. His presentation should be balanced no doubt, but perhaps one of the reasons the "Malcolm X" phase is focused on so much is that the anger that he represented then still speaks to so many of us.
But again, what makes him so dynamic and so amazing to me was his continued growth, his ability to allow himself to be challenged and changed. I think that the message that he came to in his later years, is very important which is why I wrote in one of my comments: "the timing of his murder always suspicious, especially when you think about the thoughts he was naturally growing towards." The lesson here: It's just as important and vital to examine El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz as it is Malcolm. There is a range there, a growth beyond dualism that upon inspection, reflects the many goings on of humanity.
Thanks for stopping by!