Had been and where he might have been headed. Well talk to his daughter, an africanamerican historian and a young activist to recall the malcolm x of the 50s, and 60s, and the way time changes the way we look at him half a century after his death. Its inside story. Born malcolm little in omaha in 1925, he left a stretch in penitentiary to become one of the best known black men in america. He left the scene. In urban rioting growing resistance, and assassinations of Martin Luther king, and edward kennedy. His daughter was a speaker at the memorial speeches. Id like to bring you to a moment of silence. It was around the time my mother was brutally assassinated, martyred in the blue light. Some 300 gathered at the autobahn bull room. The public figure malcolm x is compared to is Martin Luther king. It is tempting. Both family me, both 39 when cut down by assassins, when king throng the king memorial, hits birthday is a national holiday, and products associate themselves with his memory. No one uses malcolm x to sell hamburgers. When both were alive and active, there was less. Martin luther king led a group of preacher past source, voter identification, political pressure. Malcolm x looked at black people, enslavement, and concluded through much of his life that being a push over would project weakness to aggressors. Their treatment at the hands of White America gave black people every right to be angry. This force, that is visible in the community, creates a spirit of esentiment in every resentment in every negro. They think that the policeman is there against them and protect them, and these thoughts, frustrations, apprehensions are sufficient to make this maying the negros form means and ways to protect themselves in case the police themselves get too far out of line. In the last year of his life malcolm x broke with the nation of islam, started a new organization of African American unity. He was going somewhere new. We never saw where that would lead. To begin the look back, im joined by his daughter. Great to have you with us. Thank you. Thank you. Its an honour and a privilege. You were very young when the world lost your father. How did you put together a portrait of him for yourself . Do you feel like now as a middle aged person you have a good handle on who he was, what he was like . Absolutely. When i was growing up, when i was a child, my father was killed when i was 2. 5 years old. To my mother kept him alive in our home, and we knew daddy, we knew her husband, the values, you know, the things that he would like and not like. And she raised us as if his presence was very much alive with his clothes and everything in our home. When i went to college at 16, i studied the icon malcolm x who fought against injustice, violence systematic racism. And, you know, i fell in love with him, with his commitments, compassion, his integrity, impeccable integrity, righteousness. So i learned much about him, much about the icon for malcolm x through studies, and about the compassionate father, human being through my mother. The longer someone is gone, is it harder for the family to hold on to the control of his image, his words. Do people appropriate and shift and change who he was in ways that you cant necessarily have anything to say about it . Yes, its true. As long as we do our part. Especially we responsible, smartthinking adults do our part to make sure our children have the rightville u system, then, you know, theres not so much complaining we can do. Especially when we are responsible for what we are teaching our children. With the internet, its possible in a way it wasnt before to lack again at the speeches, at interviews, preaching that he did in mosques around the country. Its more possible now to confront him. Than it was in the 70s, request 80s. When you didnt have to go to a library or expense iequipment. Audience . It does. One of the things we failed to do is acknowledge the social climate. What was malcolm reacting to . He was reacting to the violence perpetrated to his people, nonviolent protesters, senseless human being. He had a profound reaction. That was the courageous strength, all the wonderful things. This has the opportunity to look at the internet to see all of the works of malcolm. To understand what the social climate as it is today, with the young people saying black lives matter, all lives matter. Womens lives matter. To have the different values. Its the young people who come and save the day and redefine our societys value systems. You know, a lot of people learnt for the first time in the 1990, that malcolm x of the end of spike lees movie was not the malcolm x of 1957 and 1958. A man capable of saying provocative by some peoples light, brutal things, that were hard to listen to. Do we have to take our malcolm wards and all, or do some People Choose to have him a la carte, choose the malcolm they like whether its the tough and provocative or the one in the midst of rethinking some of his earlier positions at the end of life. I think my father was consistent and being responsible. You know, again, looking at the social climate, looking at what he was reacting to. And then also especially understanding that the world learnt of malcolm x in his 20s. You have a young courageous bold captain, and then he was killed at 39, so he conditioned continued to evolve. He was a master teacher, learner, and continued to evolve. I dont think anything has to be taken out of who malcolm was, he was this man of compassion and courage. And then when you look at the at his audience when he was in his 20s, when he came on to the scene, most africanamericans called themselves negroes, they were werent considered a whole man, they were considered three fifths of a man. You had a man in his 20s, yelling or demanding the attention of his audience by telling them his history, having them stand up on both feet level, balanced, saying i am a man, i matter. When you see the posters during the protest and see them carrying a placard saying i am a man, we dont under that back then they were not considered men. So malcolm came and said not only are you a man, you are a man of, you know, with a history, a man with an identity, and, you know, so now you have people standing on their feet wanting to be independent. Wanting to participate in mainstream society. Thank you for joining us on inside story. Great to talk to you. Thank you. Well be back with more after a break. When we return, a professor of African American history, and a young act fist today. Stay with us on inside welcome back to inside story on Al Jazeera America im luis suarez, we are looking at the life of malcolm x. Its been 50 years since a group of men shot the leader and activist. Have americans of all races changed their mind. Is america any more ready than it was half a century ago to hear a man that told black americans that theyd only receive their freedom by seizing it, organising empower. Not by asking politely greg carr, an associate center of African American studies, and chair of africanamerican studies, and lucas owens, from youth against mass inkartion rations. Incarcerations. When a man dice theres a sense he comes frozen, he can no longer tell us who and what hes thinking. How has malcolm x changed . Hes been consistent. Hes one of the first voices we have to survive his death by virtue of the many speeches and recordings we have from him. In some ways this country may be also prepared to hear him now than they were at the time of his death. After all, he was a muslim. I wonder if it does not complicate things in ways which may not have anticipated the the voice of consistent. Im old enough to remember him in the papers and on television, to remember when he was killed. And i grew up in new york. It was a big deal when it happened. He was considered the hot one. Yes. Not the good negro. And there were other leaders who were more respectable. Respecteded, had the ear of the president , could call the government and expect the call to be answered. Malcolm x was not that. It was because of malcolm x they did that. Martin luther king talks about that. They played off of each other. The only time they met, they were observing the filibuster. How ironic 50 years later the Justice Department uses the same civil rights legs lace, unable to bring a charge against george zimmerman. Part of the reason Martin Luther king could be listened to was the other was malcolm x. They were really a political tandem. Its hard for me to believe when i see his face, see people wear, x caps, that he hasnt been made softer for us by time. Made a little more acceptable to us by time, than that muslim man who said some really tough things about what america was at the time. Absolutely. The last year of his death he broadened the scope, talking about internationalizing the struggle. That was frightening. What we see today, in some ways, let us prays him now that he is dead. Is a hope that perhaps that malcolm can be evaded. This country never wanted to air dirty laundry with the world. Lucas, how old are you . 25. This is all ancient history we are talking about to you. From . I remember reading the autobiography of malcolm x at 14, when i was a summer camp counsellor. I was almost fired, it caught me, i should have been walking a student to class, it made me feel more powerful and capable than before. From. For people in their 20s, is it an exciting modernizing imaging of a civil rights leader revere. I think it is. Malcolm was less concerned with being liked or given value. I think he was trying to speak to a black audience told you have less worth legislatively and de facto and focused on self love. Inspiring. Could we be at a moment where malcolm is coming full circle, where the answers provided by the successful and better known civil rights leaders in the 60s, and 70s, is found wanting by people your age, and its much more appealing than some of the take it easy, well wait for our shot advice . I think what i see a lot of youth movements is a melding of that attitude with an appeal to the conscience of the broader society. Hands up, dont shoot is an example of that, its an affirmation and an appeal to the conscience. Most people do not feel explicitly towards black lives and bodies, they have to reconcile an implicit bias making us think we have heard the stereotype, and i enter them with fear. How do i negotiate the implicit feelings i have with explicit feelings that im not racist. Today. That, professor, is some of what makes malcolm so weirdly contemporary and fresh. He was breaking it down the way people regard the black body. The way black men regard themselves. In a way that other guys who were appealing to the constitution appealing to the established order in the country to do right by black people they werent talking about the uses and abuses of the black history. Not in the same way. That appeal, ability yip, the focus on the black body, on the black community, to turn away from pleading for ones humanity unsettled the political dynamic, and appealed to young people. It affected the children. Coordinating committees travelled to new york. He can tured the imagination of young people. The black power movement, the young peopleled movement asserts itself in many ways because of dynamic of malcolm x and is grounded in the assertion of our right to live in this planet, not pleading for humanity for everyone. You mentioned islam in the conversation. Its important to remember how much the sort of middle of the road civil right movement was aligned with the church, and not just the black church, but the National Council of churns. Absolutely. Young people were on fire. Was malcolms status as a muslim leader something that put him just beyond the reach of a lot of that Civil Rights Movement . If it did initially, what it revealed was, and what he anticipated in many ways was the increasing number of folks not aligned with any tradition. Thats why the Prison Community gravitated to malcolm x. Experiencing his awakening relative to his grandfather in prison at the behest of the Prison Inmates converted to islam in part. As a rejection of religion in the united states, which is christianity revealing and tragic. Well take a break. When we return, a look at what malcolm x says to todays young people. Is his impatient style what is needed in the age. Wage gaps, education gaps and the need to remind America Black lives matter . Thats still ahead on inside between 1990 and 2003 nasa launched four satellites to photograph our galaxy across the spectrum of both visible and invisible light. They made up the agencys great Observatory Program and each orbiting telescope saw things a little differently, and now the youngest of the four satellites has just finished its mission. The spitzer space telescope is an infrared camera, it detects objects that our eyes cant see and it has taken 2. 5 million photographs over the course of almost 10 years in operation. 2. 5 million photographs stitched together into one big view, which allows you to zoom in incredibly far to see all the way out past the dust and so forth that blocks our normal vision and look through infrared through all of that dust out at stars that are all the way out at the edge of our known galaxy. And being able to see all of it in infrared means were seeing distant stars, stars at least 100 times larger than our own sun. The ability to navigate among these stars is invaluable to astronomers, but even to a casual observer its pretty mindblowing. [ music ] welcome back to inside story on Al Jazeera America. Im luis suarez. After the last malcolm x boom which accompanied the release of spike lees biopic, malcolm x was hot. People began to reread an autobiography, listen to recordings, and wear baseball caps with an x. How many of you have read the autobiography of malcolm x . Reporter in harlem, these children are at a special research institute. I think a lot are trying to find their place in america after education and college. That kind of struggle to find who they are. Reporter in your school, how often do you hear about malcolm year . Not at all. Actually, i didnt know really who malcolm x was. Among your classmates and private schools, what personnel x . Know of him, probably all, but know who he is and what he was about, id say few. Professor greg carr and Lucas Turner Owens is with me. 50 years after the civil right act and so much disappointment, is it a malcolm time again. Lucas, you were hearing the professor talk about a difference in approach, difference in opinion, of the various civil rights groups. Do you have strategy sessions, talking about what kind of approach is needed today. We do. Im in a room of a few friend who read the new jim crow, impassioned to say you have to do something. We had an approach saying we had to march and hand out pamphlets. We wanted it to feel radical. Since then we partnered with other groups, hosts of the nonprofits with different strategies to find we can achieve more together. I wanted to ask you about respectability politics. I hear from young people who are tired of the old heads complaining about their clothes, their hair, music, and staying, in effect, you have to come to the society with clean hanth before you ask for the do. Thats derided, dismissed. But when i think about malcolm x. He was about respectability politics. Theres a Straight Arrow flavour to the nation of islam, the crisp white shirts, ties, ram ride posture. Meb that wanted to project an image of a man to the rest of the world. Not only in black neighbourhoods, but to the rest of america. Its an odd respect ability politics of its own. I think it is. I think malcolm is allowed to demand the level demand people to hold themselves because hes seen as someone who lived on the margins, who has been living on the streets. His message of saying pull your pants up is received differently than coming from bill cosby. This is someone once coming from the communities and knows what its like, not someone too far removed to know what my experience is like. A lot of people dont selfpresentation. Thats correct. All the talk about what you have been told, and the nasty messages in popular music. He was a prude. He could be. Well, i mean, there has been a string of deep conservatism in any form of nationalism. I think, and i agree, as long as its turned internally and for the development of the community, i dont have a problem with that shade of the politics of respectability. You are right. Islam has not backed away from that. Neither has the black church. Some of the accommodation is not a concession to say this is where youll end up, but rather an invite agency into a space and saying once we get you in here, well get the pants up and get the hair changed. People have not given up on the politics, i dont think any human culture does. 50 years later, no one less than malcolm x will say take off the grills, cut it out with the video, cut it out with the smutty lyrics, lets be clean and upright. Would he have to come up with a 21st century spin . Thered have to be a 21st century spin. When i see someone with grills or designer hills, the broader society, anticipate ability standard, they dont give me my value, my peers, community, this is those are thats the credibility im hooking for. Im not looking to be told im ready for a job on capitol hill, im ready to be told that people think im cool. Hell have to adapt his middle. I dont know that he would. He might say thats a negro that is out of his mind. Thats what hed say. In the streets of ferguson, and oakland, new york, in florida, were we seeing a moment, an opening where people are ready to take a look at malcolm x, and what his take might be on the terrible events. I think so. Its hard to say. I think that theres sort of a divide right now between responses to what happened. Some folks are looking to pass, others to community resiliency, having take holders. Others say we need to reform splitsing. Malcolm and martin approaches in response to police killings. We can do that, take it a la carte, borrow some from here, some from there. Absolutely. Malcolm responded to conditions. He was brotha omar wale, but said ill be malcolm x as long as i can continue, and if you have the ingredients for an explosion, you have an explosion on your hand. Thank you both for being with us. Thank you for joining us on this edition of inside story, get in touch on facebook. Follow us twitter and watch us next time. In washington. Im luis suarez. Backing the president hadi the u. N. Security council describes him as the legitimate leader of yemen. Hello there welcome to al jazerra live from doha. Also coming up on the program. More spy revelations how south africa is spying on russia over their joint satellite projects. Following the death of a leading prosecute, he argentinas president reveals the changing face of the national spy agency. And as the french president presses for action to combat climate change, we look at how
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