Malcolm's
on a Stamp, and We Got Licked
Yemi Touré, Editor, HYPE
A
tear rolled down the face of Attallah Shabazz, Malcolm X's oldest daughter,
as she spoke in Harlem, N.Y., at the unveiling a U.S. postage stamp
with the image of her father. Also present at the Jan. 20 ceremony at
the Apollo Theatre were Shabazz's five sisters; Ossie Davis, who eulogized
Malcolm in 1965; and many other well-known persons.
While Attallah Shabazz shed a tear, I wonder if her father was shaking
his head at the turn of events.
I wonder if Malcolm was saying, "If you stand up to this society,
it will either crush you and/or co-opt you. And with this stamp, they
now have done both to me."
subtle
disses:
- the shape
of Malcolm's head has been "guessed." the original picture
had a dark background that made it difficult to distinguish his
head from the background. so it was terribly "cut-out."
- his left
ear is missing (he does, indeed, have two ears)
- of all the
great photos and pictures of Malcolm, they picked one that --
basically -- sucks
-
nomes |
CRUSHING
OR CO-OPTING
Crushing or co-opting are two of the weapons that American culture uses
against powerful voices of dissent. A classic example is Malcolm's transformation
in the media:
Right after Malcolm was assassinated in 1965, major newspapers -- The
New York Times and the Washington Post among many -- denounced him in
editorials as a "preacher of hate" who got what he deserved.
But when the film "Malcolm X" hit the screens in 1992, these
same media outlets printed another set of editorials, this time praising
Malcolm almost as a saint. Why were the editorials so different? Did
Malcolm change his politics from the grave? No. The reason: Malcolm
would not die. His words and power continued to stir many of us, and
his message continued to spread. So after some years, the strategy in
the media and in the culture in general changed. "We have crushed
his body, and that did not stop his influence, so now let us co-opt
his words and image."
LIES
AND MANIPULATION
I actually prefer the lying words that the media told about Malcolm
in 1965 to the manipulating words they told about him in 1992 and since.
Why? The lies are easy to see. But the manipulation? It's like those
chemical flavors they put in food: They taste good, and you won't notice
the harm they are doing to your insides.
But the manipulating words that spewed out when the Malcolm X stamp
was unveiled in New York are enough to burn a hole in your stomach.
The Postal Service's S. David Fineman called Malcolm "a modern-day
revolutionary who openly fought for the end of oppression and injustice.
He was a visionary, a man who dreamed of a better world and dared to
do something about it.''
Let me stop before I throw up. I am upset not with the words, mind you,
but with the context around them -- Do you believe this society has
changed, transformed, overturned, revolutionized, so much, that Malcolm
would smile down on it? I don't think so.
Which Malcolm X was Fineman talking about? Surely not the earlier Malcolm
who called white people "devils by nature" with such convincing
arguments. So was Fineman talking about Malcolm's later years? Let's
see.
Fineman was repeating the popular idea that Malcolm had "grown"
in his last year.
But if the Postal Service, the federal government or this culture in
general, were really interested in the "growth" of our leaders,
why is there no focus on Martin Luther King's "growth" in
HIS last year? We hear almost nothing about King's Poor People's Campaign,
about his opposition to the federal government's war in Vietnam, about
his critique of capitalism and exploitation in his last year, of his
calling the American mainstream "polluted."
No. Popular culture focuses on King's EARLIER, more "conservative"
years. And for Malcolm, the focus is on his LATER, more "conservative"
years. And that is the key -- the federal government is not interested
in Malcolm's "growth," but rather in his perceived "conservatism."
(Malcolm actually didn't turn conservative, but that's another story.)
FILES,
NOT STAMPS
The government can issue a stamp, but it has not issued all of its voluminous
secret files on Malcolm, beginning way back in 1953. The issuing of
a stamp draws attention away from the same federal government's still-hidden
role in illegal spying on Malcolm, the disruption of his activities,
and its role in his death. Scholar Clayborne Carson writes in his book
MalcolmX: The FBI Files: "The FBI's interest in Malcolm
did not end with his death."
I say, give us the files, keep the stamp.
But, you say, all six of his daughters endorsed the stamp, and all were
present at the unveiling ceremony. Well, that does not take any deep
explanation -- you can't tell what part of you that your children will
pick up.
MALCOLM
STOOD APART
There is another part of Malcolm that did not get respect from that
Apollo stage:
Malcolm stood apart. Malcolm stood on the edge. Malcolm broke the rules.
Malcolm went against the grain. Malcolm yielded not to temptation. I
can still hear his voice ringing in my ear -- "No sell-out!"
Malcolm did not sell out and he did not integrate in. What he did was
resist.
Malcolm resisted co-optation into this society. He saw past all the
flash and cash, all the way to the racist, corrupt, exploitive, aggressive,
manipulative, violent heart of this society. He was able to see that
because he was an independent voice. He was able to shoot darts or bullets
at this society, as the situation demanded. "His life was spent
mainly as an angry, though insightful, critic, hurling challenges from
the margins . . ." says scholar Carson.
So this stamp is not just for mailing letters. It is an attempt to bring
Malcolm "in." It is a cultural symbol, a conferring of status,
a mark of acceptance.
"Come
in, Malcolm," American society is saying. "Stop looking out
that window and put down that rifle. Take off your shoes and have a
seat. Make yourself comfortable."
The last thing Malcolm would want would be to get "comfortable"
with America. If Malcolm was alive, could you see him comfortable enough
to get up on that stage accepting some kind of award? No. So a stamp
ain't gettin' it. And only when we defend this righteous legacy of Malcolm
as an outsider, as someone separate and apart, can he remain strong
and valuable to us.
SPEAK,
BROTHER
It is difficult, nearly impossible, to stand up against all of Malcolm's
own daughters, against Ossie Davis, against the media, against the sweet
and easy temptation of washing Malcolm white as snow. So I won't; I
will sit back and watch Malcolm stand up for himself --
"No,
I'm not an American. I'm one of the 22 million Black people who are
the victims of Americanism. One of the 22 million Black people who are
the victims of democracy -- nothing but disguised hypocrisy . . . I
don't see any American dream; I see an American nightmare."
Nobody quoted that from the Apollo stage. And this was not the "old"
Malcolm, during his Nation of Islam years. This was part of a speech
on April 3, 1964, during the last phase of Malcolm's life, when he had
less than a year to live.
"People
involved in revolution don't become part of the system," Malcolm
said to A.B.Spellman in an interview in May 1964. "They destroy
the system; they change the system."
Nobody quoted that from the stage.
Malcolm said revolution "means the destroying of an old system
and its replacement with a new system."
Nobody quoted that from the stage.
"I'm
for the freedom of . . . Afro-Americans BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY! BY ANY
MEANS NECESSARY! I'm for freedom. I'm for a society in which our people
are recognized and respected as human beings, and I believe we have
the right to resort to ANY MEANS NECESSARY to bring that about."
This is Malcolm in an interview with Claude Lewis in December, 1964.
(Emphasis is in the original.)
Nobody quoted that from the stage.
"BY
ANY MEANS NECESSARY!"
Nobody quoted that from the stage.
Author and critic Bell Hooks' words apply well: "Gone is the icon
who represents our struggle for Black liberation, for militant resistance,
and in its place we are presented with a depoliticized image with no
substance or power."
Do you think Malcolm would want his face on a stamp when he knows that
in Riverside, Calif., Tyisha Miller, 19, was killed in a hail of 27
bullets by cops who are as brutal as Klansmen?
Do you think Malcolm would want his face on a stamp when he knows that
Clinton's Welfare-to-Work program has moved hundreds and hundreds of
thousands of people to desperation, because they are forced into minimum-wage
jobs with no health coverage?
Do you think Malcolm would want his face on a stamp when he knows that
parts of the Voting Rights Act, which protected some Black people's
right to vote, may expire in a few years?
Do you think Malcolm would want his face on a stamp when he knows that
this is a culture so racist that Black people even need a Voting Rights
Act in the first place, when other people don't?
Do
you think Malcolm would want his face on a stamp when he knows that
the federal government one week bombs Iraq, supposedly because of its
weapons of mass destruction, then the next week issues a permit for
a South Carolina plant to produce titanium, which can only be used to
make weapons of mass destruction?
Do you think Malcolm would want his face on a stamp when he knows that
the same society that hounded him and had a hand in his killing, may
today try to snuff out the lives or our modern-day freedom fighters,
Mumia Abu-Jamal and Assata Shakur?
Do you think Malcolm would want his face on a stamp when he knows that
the U.S. is the leading executioner of people who were under 18 at the
time of the crime? It has now executed 19 child offenders since 1990
-- 10 more than the rest of the world combined.
Do you think Malcolm would want his face on a stamp when he knows that
Bill Gates gets filthy rich while you and I have to hold down two and
three jobs just to feed our families?
Do you think Malcolm would want his face on a stamp when he knows that
the conditions that produced the Black uprisings of 1965, 1967 and 1992
still exist?
Or would Malcolm most likely say, in that rich voice of his, forceful
as thunder and bright as lightning, "As long as my people are not
free, don't identify me with ANYTHING having to do with this government."
I still hear that voice. I still feel that presence. The least I can
do, out of respect for Malcolm and his enduring legacy, is not buy any
such stamp.
Media
critic Yemi Touré runs HYPE,
reach him at mediablacks@hotmail.com