Remembering Malcolm X…

Malcolm X & Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center in Harlem (Photo: Emily O'Dell)

Remembering Malcolm X in Sudan (Photo: Emily O'Dell)

Today, on the 51st anniversary of Malcolm X’s assassination (2/21/1965), I’m giving thanks for the amazing opportunity I had to (quite literally) follow in his footsteps in the Levant and Sudan for my article in a Special Issue of the Journal of Africana Religions: “The Meaning of Malcolm X for Africana Religions: Fifty Years On.” Meeting Malcolm’s mentors and admirers in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia was truly a life-changing experience. Last year, when I gave a talk on Malcolm X’s connections to Africa and the Middle East at the American University of Beirut, I was overjoyed to see Lebanese, Syrian, Sudanese, Indonesian, German, and American students, professors, diplomats, and migrant workers gather together in his memory. I often find myself wondering how Malcolm would respond to current events in America and around the world — and I’m grateful for the opportunity to be able to ask his old mentors and friends. One thing we all agree on — there is still so much more work to be done…

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