On El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz
Muhammad Ali and El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz credit Bob Gomel I get particularly annoyed when everyone insists on calling him Malcolm X. Malcolm X was a phase in his life, when he rejected the concept of holding the surname of those who kept his ancestors in bondage. 50 years after his assassination, the biggest insult the public can do is being done. Call him Malik. Call him Shabazz. Call him El-Hajj. Just stop calling him Malcolm X. His true name, like his voice, for some reason terrifies people. An African American male who is not a declared pacifist, who to paraphrase bell hooks, "threw away the master's tools", 50 years on, is still considered dangerous. Most of this picture painted of the controversial figure is done by those who don't bother to read what the man wrote or listen to what he said. I do not mean quotes, or bits and pieces or inflammatory rhetoric spouted prior to his split from Elijah Muhammad. Have you ever just listened to him after he...