February 21, 1965

February 21, 1965:
The Assassination of El Hajj Malik El Shabazz, Malcolm X.

"It is a time for martyrs now, and if I am to be one, it will be for the 
cause of brotherhood. That's the only thing that can save this country." 
-Malcolm X, NYC, 19 February 1965


At that moment
When they shot Malcolm Little down
On the stage of the Audobon Ballroom,
When his life ran out through bullet holes
(Like the people running out then the murder began)
His blood soaked the floor
One drop found a crack through the stark
Pounding thunder-slipped under the stage and began
Its journey: burrowed through concrete into the cellar,
Dropped down darkness, exploding like quicksilver
Pellets of light, panicking rats, paralyzing cockroaches-
Tunneled through rubble and wrecks of foundations,
The rocks that buttress the bowels of the city, flowed
Into pipes and powerlines, the mains and cables of the city:
A thousand fiery seeds.

At that moment,
Those who drank water where he entered...
Those who cooked food where he passed...
Those who burned light while he listened...
Those who were talking as he went, knew he was water
Running out of faucets, gas running out of jets, power
Running out of sockets, meaning running along taut wires -
To the hungers of their living. It was said
Whole slums of clotted Harlem plumbing groaned
And sundered free that day, and disconnected gas and light
Went on and on and on ...
They rushed his riddled body on a stretcher
To the hospital. But the police were too late.
It had already happened.>

-Raymond R. Patterson
in "For Malcolm", p.69.



They Feared That He Believed

The press boys tried to erase
what he said. Smear it. Change it.
This meant that he no longer
trusted the lies of the times.
Too strong in his manhood.
This meant that reason was no longer reason.
What he said showed them
he did not see the world through
THEIR eyes. This frightened them:
And his death came.
Was not permitted by magic to take;
he was not here long enough
for the final exams- so
no showdown came: because the cops
and the lie still lived.

-Clarence Major
in "For Malcolm", p.6.



"I would like to point something out so that we'll understand each other 
better. I d on't want you to think in the statements I made that I'm being 
disrespectful towards you as white people. I'm being frank. And I think that 
my statements will give you a better i nsight on the mind of a black man 
than most statements you get from most people who call themselves Negroes, 
who usually tell you what they want you to hear with the hope . . . that 
will make them draw closer to you and create a better possibility of getting 
from you some of the crumbs that you might let fall from your table. Well, 
I'm not looking for crumbs so I'm not trying to delude you."  -Malcolm X, at 
Boston University, 24 May 1960

"Sitting at the table doesn’t make you a diner. You must be eating some of 
what’s on that plate. Being here in America doesn’t make you an American. 
Being born here in America doesn’t make you an American."  -Malcolm X, "The 
Ballot or the Bullet," April 3 1964, Cleveland, Ohio

"If violence is wrong in America, violence is wrong abroad. If it is wrong 
to be violent defending black women and black children and black babies and 
black men, then it is wrong for America to draft us, and make us violent 
abroad in defense of her. And if it is right for America to draft us, and 
teach us how to be violent in defense of her, then it is right for you and 
me to do whatever is necessary to defend our own people right here in this 
country."  -Malcolm X, Nov. 1963, New York City.


---
Eulogy delivered by Ossie Davis at the funeral of Malcolm X
Faith Temple Church Of God
February 27,1965

"Here - at this final hour, in this quiet place - Harlem has come to bid 
farewell to one of its brightest hopes -extinguished now, and gone from us 
forever. For Harlem is where he worked and where he struggled and fought - 
his home of homes, where his heart was, and where his people are - and it 
is, therefore, most fitting that we meet once again - in Harlem - to share 
these last moments with him. For Harlem has ever been gracious to those who 
have loved her, have fought her, and have defended her honor even to the 
death.

It is not in the memory of man that this beleaguered, unfortunate, but 
nonetheless proud community has found a braver, more gallant young champion 
than this Afro-American who lies before us - unconquered still. I say the 
word again, as he would want me to : Afro-American - Afro-American Malcolm, 
who was a master, was most meticulous in his use of words. Nobody knew 
better than he the power words have over minds of men. Malcolm had stopped 
being a 'Negro' years ago. It had become too small, too puny, too weak a 
word for him. Malcolm was bigger than that. Malcolm had become an 
Afro-American and he wanted - so desperately - that we, that all his people, 
would become Afro-Americans too.

There are those who will consider it their duty, as friends of the Negro 
people, to tell us to revile him, to flee, even from the presence of his 
memory, to save ourselves by writing him out of the history of our turbulent 
times. Many will ask what Harlem finds to honor in this stormy, 
controversial and bold young captain - and we will smile. Many will say turn 
away - away from this man, for he is not a man but a demon, a monster, a 
subverter and an enemy of the black man - and we will smile. They will say 
that he is of hate - a fanatic, a racist - who can only bring evil to the 
cause for which you struggle! And we will answer and say to them : Did you 
ever talk to Brother Malcolm? Did you ever touch him, or have him smile at 
you? Did you ever really listen to him? Did he ever do a mean thing? Was he 
ever himself associated with violence or any public disturbance? For if you 
did you would know him. And if you knew him you would know why we must honor 
him.

Malcolm was our manhood, our living, black manhood! This was his meaning to 
his people. And, in honoring him, we honor the best in ourselves. Last year, 
from Africa, he wrote these words to a friend: 'My journey', he says, 'is 
almost ended, and I have a much broader scope than when I started out, which 
I believe will add new life and dimension to our struggle for freedom and 
honor and dignity in the States. I am writing these things so that you will 
know for a fact the tremendous sympathy and support we have among the 
African States for our Human Rights struggle. The main thing is that we keep 
a United Front wherein our most valuable time and energy will not be wasted 
fighting each other.' However we may have differed with him - or with each 
other about him and his value as a man - let his going from us serve only to 
bring us together, now.

Consigning these mortal remains to earth, the common mother of all, secure 
in the knowledge that what we place in the ground is no more now a man - but 
a seed - which, after the winter of our discontent, will come forth again to 
meet us. And we will know him then for what he was and is - a Prince - our 
own black shining Prince! - who didn't hesitate to die, because he loved us 
so."





///
We declare our right on this earth ... to be a human being, to be respected 
as a human being, to be given the rights of a human being in this society, 
on this earth, in this day, which we intend to bring into existence by any 
means necessary. -Malcolm X
///

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