Community Celebrates Malcolm X’s 100th Birthday

By Journalist Dr. Ms. Jones

PEEKSKILL – Civil Rights Leader Malcolm X would have been 100 years old on May 19th. The 100th anniversary of his birth was celebrated on May 17th at The Neighborhood Center at The Field Library. The community packed the event that highlighted Malcolm’s significance as a transformative figure for African-Americans. His personal transformation as well as commitment to community service set a standard for future activists.

“Malcolm was one of the two most important Black leadership figures in the second half of the 20th century. Along with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, Malcolm clarified the alternatives facing Black people in the Post-Industrial Period… Tens of thousands of Black people were energized by Malcolm to take action. He re-articulated their moods, feelings, and sensibilities in ways that helped them gain greater clarity as to who they were, what their problems were, and how they might go about building a movement to liberate themselves. Malcolm did this through a down to earth re-articulation of the Black Radical Tradition. Malcolm was also a model of personal transformation in the service of our movement. He was what we call an organic intellectual. Malcolm was not formally trained as an intellectual, but he was a working class, self-taught scholar whose insights developed in the arena of social struggle,” said Dr. William W. Sales, Jr, facilitator of the event, Associate Professor and Director of the Center for African American Studies at Seton Hall University, and author of “From Civil Rights to Black Liberation: Malcolm X and the Organization of Afro-American Unity and Southern Africa/Black America: Same Struggle, Same Fight.”

“Malcolm left us a model for personal development. It was rooted in the recognition that it is possible to change for the better and make a contribution to the liberation of our community… Malcolm taught us to be heroic, to face all of the implications of facts as they are revealed and to change, no matter how painful… His life and witness are not only a beacon to African Americans, but represent a standard of integrity and commitment from which all humanity can benefit.”

The Centennial Commemoration included singing of the Black National Anthem, poetry, and two guest speakers. Dr. Abdul Alkalimat, Professor Emeritus of African American Studies and Information Sciences at The University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, discussed why we all must continue to study Malcolm X, the progression of Black Liberation Movements, and the value of ideology, political struggle, and self-reliance, while citing Malcolm’s influence on global revolution as well as the need for critical thinking and education.

“He called on us to think for ourselves. Like Fidel had said, ‘Don’t believe, read.’ Malcolm was the consummate teacher. And again, I quote, ‘One of the first things I think young people, especially nowadays, should learn is how to see for yourself, listen for yourself and think for yourself. Then you can come to an intelligent decision for yourself.’ He taught us how to always defeat what might look like failure. Again, I quote, ‘Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance the next time,’” said Dr. Alkalimat, author of “The History of Black Studies, Dialects of Liberation: The African Liberation Support Committee, and The Wall of Respect: Public Art and Black Liberation in 1960s Chicago.”

Dr. Rosemari Mealy, author of “Fidel & Malcolm X: Memories of a Meeting,” was also a guest speaker. The Black Panther Party Member shared about the women in Malcolm’s life that helped shape his political views, including Maya Angelou, Yuri Kochiyama, Audley Queen Mother Moore, Ruby Dee, and his wife Dr. Betty Shabazz. The event concluded with a Question & Answer Session and refreshments. It was sponsored by The Sales Family Foundation, Sisters in Support, and the NAACP.

“This is the first time we’ve done something, particularly around the commemoration of Malcolm X’s birthday… It speaks to what we would say is the political tenor of the country. The relevancy of Malcolm X’s philosophy to our current political moment is kind of really the meaning. [We wanted] to bring this conversation to Peekskill and really [try] to invigorate that sort of idea of the relevancy of Malcolm X given the current political situation. I feel it’s more relevant than ever before… This [is] one of the, I would say, forms of history, or parts of our Civil Rights struggle, that gets highlighted the least… [We hear] Martin Luther King, way more than we hear Malcolm X. So, on this 100th year anniversary, given the current times that we’re in, it was kind of a need to really push this and make it at the forefront of our Spring activities,” said Micah Benson First Vice President of the NAACP Peekskill Branch and minister at Mt. Olivet Baptist Church.

Journalist Ms. Jones