Thursday, February 21, 2008

IN HONOR OF MALCOLM X



Today is the 43rd anniversary of Malcolm X's assassination at the Audubon Ballroom in New York City. We have an election currently going on that has a lot of focus being placed on the spoken word and the way in which certain candidates deliver said words in their speeches. Malcolm X was who the word orator was created for. When he delivered a speech, he gave you more than just words and rhetoric - he gave you belief - both in him and his words. He died giving those words, but his words will never die.


PLEASE, I BEG OF YOU, TAKE A FEW MOMENTS AND LISTEN TO SOME OF MY FAVORITE WORDS FROM ONE OF MY ALL TIME FAVORITE MEN -

MALCOLM X
May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965











The best for last. This is a bit longer than the others, but truly worthy of your time. If you have it to give, take the time, and listen.



Below is, I think, one of the greatest moments ever put on film from Spike Lee and Denzel Washington's 1992 portrayal of Malcolm X in their biopic of the same name. We have all had those moments when a piece of art effected us in such a way that it stayed with us for life and from then on we were different, correction, better for having witnessed - The first time I heard Rakim Allah's "Microphone fiend", read James Baldwin's "Giovanni's room", heard Gil Scott-Heron, saw Clockwork orange - the list for each of us is different and I’m sure lengthy. The scene below is one of those that made me better. Enjoy.




P.S. It's been my dream for as long I could remember,since I first saw the photo above, to travel to this Mosque and recreate the image.



GVG
~the ballot or the bullet~

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for posting the speeches of the great Malcolm X. I needed it.

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