F ebruary 22, 1995 • T he P ortland O bserver
P age B ô
BLACK HISTORY
(ETje $ a rtla n h (©baerUer
The Assassination Of Malcolm X: It's Time To Heal The Wounds
(Part I)
February 21,1995 will mark the
thirtieth anniversary of the assassi
nation of Malcolm X, one of the most
tragic and painful events in the histo
ry of African people in America. El
hajj Malik Shabazz, our’ Black Shin
ing Prince” was felled by a hail of
bullets as he prepared to speak at the
Audubon Ballroom in his beloved
Harlem. One of the most extraordi
nary leaders African people have ever
produced was cut down in the prime
of his life and in the midst of a critical
period of evolution and growth as a
human being and leader.
Our memories of Malcolm are
marred by the unresolved questions
about his assassination. The FBI’s
recent charge that Qubilah Shabazz,
one of Malcolm’s daughters, was
plotting to kill Minister Louis Farra-
klian brought a lingering question to
the forefront once again. Who killed
Malcolm X and what role did Minis
ter Louis Farrakhan play in the mur
der of Malcolm? It is the question
which hangs over the head of Minis
ter Farrakhan standing as a barrier to
his full acceptance as the preeminent
African American leader on the scene
today. It is the question which the
U.S. government hoped to exploit to
provoke conflict and division within
the Black Nation when it brought its
bogus charges against Qubilah
Shabazz.
It is the question which must be
addressed if the wounds opened by
this terrible event are to be healed.
We must learn the lessons from this
painful period and move on deter
mined to heal the wounds and deter
mined not to repeat the errors which
were made as this tragedy unfolded.
We must heal the wounds so that we
can forge the kind of operational
unity required for the restoration of
the race into the Twenty-First Centu
ry. For the healing process to begin,
however, we must sum up what can
reasonably be concluded from this
Political philosopher and visionary, husband and father, dynamic orator, militant minister, Malcolm X
tragic moment in our history.
was both loved and despised, revered and feared-until an assassin s bullet cut him down in 1965.
In departing from the Nation of
Credit: AP/World Wide Photos
abile
Islam (NOI) and splitting with-bis
former teacher, the Honorable Elijah
Muhammad, Malcolm X did what he
felt he had to do. Malcolm was in
creasingly the victim of envy and
jealousy on the part of many within
the NOI who resented his growing
popularity with the B lack masses and
his special relationship to the "Mes
senger.” But Malcolm’s growing
ideological, religious and ethical dif
ferences with the Messenger were
the major factors in the rupture ofthe
relationship. When the Honorable
Elijah Muhammad silenced Malcolm
over remarks which he made about
the assassination of President John
F. Kennedy, all of the latent and
overt contradictions in the relation
ship between Malcolm and his men
tor were ripe to be exploited.
When Malcolm’s overtures to
the Honorable Elijah Muhammad to
lift his suspension were rebuffed,
Malcolm made the fateful decision
to leave the Nation and form the
Organization of African American
Unity (OAAU) and Muslim Mosque,
Inc. In leaving, however, Malcolm
also broke his silence about what he
had discovered about his spiritual
father, the Honorable Elijah Muham
mad. He lashed out at the Messenger
and revealed that he had fathered
several children by women in the
NOI. These damning revelations,
uttered no doubt out of Malcolm's
sense of rejection, hurt and pain,
infuriated Malcolm’s detractors with
in the Nation and provided the am
munition for them to inflame the
passions of the rank and file mem
bership and the dread Fruit of Islam
- the deadly military force which was
sworn to enforce discipline within
the NOI.
As Haki Madhubuti suggests in
his most recent book, Claiming the
Earth, Malcolm’s attack on the Hon
orable Elijah Muhammad was tanta
mount to signing his own death cer
tificate. It is reasonable to assume
that the Honorable Elijah Muham
mad wanted Malcolm silenced/elim
inated for good and that Malcolm s
enemies within the Nation were also
eager to be rid ot him. Minister Far
rakhan had been recruited into the
Nation by Malcolm and Malcolm
was Farrakhan’s friend and mentor.
Malcolm’s break with the NOI, how
ever, forced people within the Na
tion to choose sides. Many Malcolm
loyalists left the nation with him and
joined in the effort to build the
OAAU. Farrakhan elected to stay in
the Nation in support of the man he
perceived to be his ultimate teacher
and leader, the Honorable Elijah
Muhammad.
No doubt the departure of Mal
colm and many of his closest allies
created space for upward mobility in
thehierarchy oftheNOI. What better
way to prove one’s loyalty to the
“father” and advance up the ladder of
per in the NOI than to vehemently
denounce and vilify the “traitor
Malcolm X. Indeed, Philbert, one of
Malcolm's own brothers, joined in
the campaign to discredit and de
stroy him. lnjhis atmosphere Minis
ters throughout the NOI were caught
up in jockey ing to see who could
deliver the most damaging denunci
ations of Malcolm.
But it was the, youthful, fiery,
aspiring Farrakhan, the up and com
ing Minister from Boston, who
emerged as the point man in the
campaign against Malcolm. It was
Farrakhan in a highly publicized
speech who proclaimed that Mal
colm X, his former mentor and friend,
was “worthy of death.” Though there
is no evidence that Farrakhan was
directly involved in the assassination
of Malcolm X. His indictment of
Malxolm, along with the collec
tive utterances o f m inisters and
officials o f the NOI, provided
the sanction for the assassination
o f Malcolm X. To murder M al
colm would be a “badge o f hon
or." By his own adm ission, Far
rakhan contributed to the climate
which led to the assassination o f
Malcolm X.
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