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Opinion Malcolm X 50th Anniversary Events “Challenging People to Shape a Better Future Now” B ERNIE F OSTER Founder/Publisher B OBBIE D ORE F OSTER Executive Editor J ERRY F OSTER Advertising Manager L ISA L OVING News Editor P ATRICIA I RVIN Graphic Designer A RASHI Y OUNG D ONOVAN M. S MITH Reporters M ONICA J. F OSTER Seattle Office Coordinator J ULIE K EEFE S USAN F RIED Photographers The Skanner Newspaper, established in October 1975, is a weekly publica- tion, published each Wednesday by IMM Publications Inc., 415 N. Killingsworth St., T he 50th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday, the Selma to Montgomery March, and the passage of the historic Voting Rights Act of 1965 and Dr. Martin Luther King’s role in these events is correctly capturing the imagina- tion of Black America. However, there is another set of events that should also receive attention of our people. This year also marks the 50th memorial of the assassi- nation of Malcolm X; it is also the year of his 90th birthday. It seems odd that very little attention is being devoted to the anniversary dates of the life and legacy of such an extraordinary leader. It is as if Black America is gripped by a case of historical amnesia. But this is not the first time we’ve suffered from the dis- order. On Feb. 21, 1990, more than 3,000 people jammed into the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem for the 25th memorial of the assassination of El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, Malcolm X. Another 1,000 or more gathered in the street to watch the program on a television monitor, hastily posi- tioned in a church window. Inside, C-SPAN broadcast live ringing tributes to the life and legacy of our “Black Shining Prince.” The audience rose for a pro- longed rousing ovation as Turner proclaimed, “Malcolm, we will never forget you!” Betty Shabazz, who had never attended a memori- al on the anniversary of the assassination of her husband, was visibly moved by the tremendous outpouring of admiration, love and affection for one of the great- NNPA C OLUMNIST Ron Daniels est leaders in the history of Africans in America. The commemoration was hosted by Rev. Calvin O. Butts, senior pastor of Abyssinian, and I had the honor of serving as moderator of this memorable occasion. Fortu- nately, the process of uplifting tifiably so, as a seminal leader. But, Malcolm was not seen on par with Martin in the popular con- sciousness. His legacy languished on the margins of memory of a young generation of Africans in America, progressive youth/young people and much of Black Ameri- ca. It was against this backdrop that a formation called the African American Progressive Action Net- work (AAPAN) resolved that 1990 should be declared “The Year of Malcolm X.” AAPAN created a National Malcolm X Commemo- ration Commission with James Turner as co-chairman, to coordi- nate the campaign. It is as if Black America is gripped by a case of historical amnesia Malcolm did not end there. On May 19 of that year hundreds of people from around the country gathered in Omaha, Neb., Mal- colm’s birthplace, for a national ceremony to celebrate his 65th birthday. This magnificent season of cele- brating Malcolm did not occur by accident; it was the outcome of a conscious strategy, a calculated plan devised by a group of leaders determined not to let the legacy of Malcolm be the victim of “histori- cal amnesia.” As the 25th anniversary of the assassination of Malcolm X approached in 1990, King was ascendant and celebrated, and jus- The goal was not to denigrate Martin Luther King but to seize upon the 25th anniversary of the assassination of Malcolm to wage a campaign to elevate his profile beyond the true believers to a new generation of young activists and to remind folks of the unique con- tribution of Malcolm X to the liberation of Black people around the world. Dr. Martin Luther King and Malcolm X are unquestionably the seminal leaders of the civil rights/human rights, Black Power, Nationalist/Pan-Africanist era that transformed the status of Africans in America. In a choice between Martin and Malcolm, it is clear that the power elite preferred Mar- tin. Hence, Martin has been sani- tized and elevated while Malcolm has largely been ignored, except in those periods when his devotees have refused to allow his contribu- tion to be relegated to irrelevance. Celebrating Malcolm X was not about diminishing Martin but enhancing the understanding of the life and legacy of Malcolm among the masses of Black folks. The campaign was highly success- ful. For years, the symbol X signified young people’s identifi- cation with Malcolm. Indeed, in 2005, on the occasion of the 40th memorial of Malcolm’s assassina- tion, another massive commemoration was held at Abyssinian Baptist Church. The current lack of major national recognition of the 50th memorial suggests the need for yet another campaign to prevent Mal- colm’s memory from being relegated to relative obscurity. It is not that programs are not being planned. As is the case every year, there will be commemorations in New York and cities across the country. In fact, I’m told that young activists/leaders are con- ducting an “X Speaks” online. My concern is that the various com- memorations are largely among the true believers and taken together they lack the public/visi- ble scope and scale commensurate to the occasion of the 50th memo- rial of the assassination of Malcolm and the year of his 90th birthday. I simply believe that Malcolm deserves better. P.O. Box 5455, Portland, OR 97228. Telephone (503) 285-5555. E-mail: info@theskanner.com World Wide Web site: http://www.theskanner.com Fax: (503) 285-2900 The Skanner is a member of the National Newspaper Pub lishers Associ- ation and West Coast Black Pub lishers Association. All photos submitted become the property of The Skanner. We are not re - spon sible for lost or damaged photos either solicited or unsolicited. © 2014 The Skanner. ALL RIGHTS RE SERVED. REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART WITHOUT PERMISSION PROHIBITED. To see The Skanner News on your smart phone go to theskannermobile.com or scan this QR code with your app. • • • • • • • • Local news Opinions Jobs, Bids Sports Entertainment Music reviews Bulletin board RSS feeds A Different Standard for Black Girls N early 40 years ago, a metaphor or fable, if you will, about “upstream- downstream” was created by healthcare practitioners to better explain and argue for the value of preventative health care measures. The fable describes a group of community members standing near a river who witness someone drowning. Some of the communi- ty members jump into the water and pull the person to the shore. As soon as they do so, they try to resuscitate her. Then, another drowning person floats down the river; and as the community recruits more life- savers, still more drowning people float past them. Eventually, some- one thinks to go upstream to find out what was causing so many people to be pulled into the river. More recently this fable has been used as a metaphor for those lost in the midst of a failing education- al system in an effort to get Americans to look upstream to see the sources of the problem; and to query why so many of the failing students are people of color. If we think of those upstream determinants as structural barriers, what happens when girls of color are pushed out of educational sys- tems that are supposed to support them? How can a path be cleared for them that serves as a bridge to economic stability, and optimal life outcomes? In a new report, Black Girls Matter: Pushed Out, NNPA G UEST C OLUMNIST LeConté J. Dill Over-policed and Underprotected the African American Policy Forum examines these concerns in New York City and Boston. The report breaks down data by race and gender, and its findings are disturbing. In New York, for girls did have this sense of frus- tration, that there is a different standard for girls’ behavior ver- sus boys. So boys seem to just get more looking the other way, or more tolerance of even the exact same behavior.” Girls of color are also experi- encing multiple forms of violence before they even walk through the school doors. They are ingest- ing trauma for breakfast. Its embedded in the pressures of serv- ing as quasi-mothers for younger family members, enduring physi- cal, sexual, mental, and emotional abuse at home, and leaving their Black girls were found to face a greater racialized risk of unjust punishment than Black boys instance, in the 2011-2012 school year, Black girls were disciplined 10 times more often than White girls. In fact, in some settings Black girls were found to face a greater racialized risk of unjust punishment than Black boys. Girls of color are often more harshly punished for non-violent offenses that educators have coded as “disruptive” and “disrespect- ful.” They are sometimes punished for behavior that would be viewed as innocuous for boys. For instance, one girl interviewed for the report explained: “Some of the Page 2 The Portland and Seattle Skanner February 18, 2015 homes with no safe route to school in neighborhoods that have literal- ly been disinvested in by city and corporate officials. Once they reach their schools, they often find the buildings and classrooms to be unsafe. Many schools that serve low-income youth and students of color have permanent metal detectors. These schools are coded as “dropout fac- tories,” known for graduating less than 60 percent of the 9th graders who attend them. In Black Girls Matter, the authors found that girls of color reported facing discrimi- natory and abusive comments from school security officers, and intrusive body searches as they entered the school and in the hall- ways. Rather than fostering a safe space these conditions at times made some girls avoid school alto- gether. Simply put, school push-out for girls of color can result in a kind of slow-death, and the absence of a genuine opportu- nity to succeed. Rather than serving to prevent failure down the road it is more likely to pro- duce failure. So, as we travel back upstream to see what is going on in our pub- lic schools, let’s do so armed with more data – both qualitative and quantitative – so that we can gain a better understanding of the roots of the problems that girls of color face. Let’s call for public policies and innovative programs tailored to their needs; and let’s acknowl- edge that when girls are pushed out of school lasting effects spill over into every aspect of their lives. Let’s lend a hand before the girls are forced to fend for them- selves in treacherous waters. LeConte Dill.is an Assistant Professor at the State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate School of Public Health, teaching and conducting community- engaged research related to urban health, positive youth develop- ment, and qualitative methods.
