Marvin X's love letter to gay and lesbian youth

Love Letter to Gay and Lesbian Youth

A Look Inside Baraka's play The Toilet

By Marvin X

"I used to think Marvin X was crazy, but after reading his little pamphlet on the need to transcend homophobia, I don't think so." --Mrs. Amina Baraka

"At his best, Marvin X is clarity of perception."--Gerald Ali

By definition a classic is a work that withstands the test of time, fad, beyond the ephemeral. A classic theme deconstructs one or more of the eternal concerns of humanity—love, hate, life and death, or the problems of life that never seem to get solved even when the solution is quite apparent. The simple solution to hate is love, so simple we must revisit the question and solution from time to time.

Almost forty-five years ago, Amiri Baraka examined the themes of racism and homophobia in his one-act play The Toilet. The set is a high school men’s room, wherein he gathers a group of young men to decipher the meaning of love and hate. Mostly black, the young men appear to be at an urban manhood training rite. We see a myriad of personalities expressing themselves in the rhythm and rhymes of the time—there are no pants sagging, no grills in teeth, but they are there seeking to discover their manhood, racial and sexual identity.

The tragedy of that time and this time is that their search for manhood and sexual identity is unorganized and haphazard, thus then and now young men must grapple with self discovery in isolated groups without mentor, elder or guide. No adult appears in the Toilet to give words of wisdom; thus the young men are adrift in their ignorance, seeking to find themselves in the midst of darkness. How ironic the setting is a high school where we assume learning is taking place, and yet learning occurs not in the classroom but the toilet. The toilet becomes the bush in African or primitive tradition, for there is terror, violence to bring transformation from hatred to love and interracial understanding.

A white boy writes a love letter to a black boy and the drama involves the resolution of this event. The white boy has crossed the racial line into the black brotherhood and suffers violence as a result—he his beaten into a pulp, bloody as a beet, half-dead when brought into the Toilet.

Gang violence is a natural happening in urban culture, senseless violence to express manhood; even sexual violence is a natural part of this oppressed society. And so the black boy is finally confronted by the white boy who loves him and the brother is physically overcome by the white boy to the chagrin of the black brotherhood. The white boy is again attacked by the toilet gang and all depart, including another white boy who had come to the defense of his white brother.

The Toilet ends with the black boy returning to embrace the white boy. Lights down.

What was Baraka trying to tell us forty-five years ago and what relevance has his message now? Since then gays and lesbians have come out of the closet, although the passage of California’s Proposition 8 denies them the right of marriage, and the gays are miffed at Blacks for supporting the proposition, although the president of the state NAACP in her role as a lobbyist opposed the bill, along with many black newspapers and several ministers who were probably paid to do so. Apparently a majority of blacks do not equate gay rights with civil rights. Are sexual rights human rights?

The question Baraka raised had to do with transcending hatred in favor of love. Proposition 8 denied gays and lesbians the right to codify their love in marriage.

Blacks are known to be sexually conservative, although they now have many children on the streets embracing the gay/lesbian lifestyle. Blacks are thus hypocritical and drowning in denial, in similar fashion to the black brothers in The Toilet who refused to consider that one of their own might have crossed the line, not only racially but sexually as well.

On my recent visit to New York to see Woody King’s production of my play (with Ed Bullins) Salaam, Huey Newton, Salaam, Baraka’s The Toilet and Hugh Fletcher’s Amarie, I was accompanied by two lesbian assistants. Of course, being a dirty old man, I tried to get at them. (See my poem “Why I Love Lesbians.”) And they were highly upset at my offensive language: something they should have known I am known for by those who know me. Although I imagined them to be young women, with whom I could talk adult talk, they were suffering arrested development, in search of their sexual identity, much like the brothers in The Toilet.

Nevertheless, I wanted them to spend some time with Amina Baraka who is still in grief over the lost of her daughter Shani and her lover Rayshan to homicide. I thought conversing with the young ladies, 19 and 25, would help Amina heal from the horror of losing her only daughter by Baraka. She did meet the young ladies at the theatre and immediately saw the physical similarity between one girl and her daughter, Shani. “I knew you would see that,” I told Amina. The girl, Raushanah, like Shani, had been a point guard as well. We agreed to come to Newark to spend time with Amina, but after my verbal insults, the girls declined to make the trip, even though we reconciled our issues as best we could.

I made the trip to Newark alone to hang out with the Barakas, who had me bar hopping after a wonderful dinner at the Spanish restaurant across from city hall. One of the bars we visited is owned by former mayor Sharp James, now doing prison time for corruption.

I hadn’t planned to spend the night but Amina had other plans, so she made room for me in the space they have preserved for Shani. On my last visit, she had told me that I was the first person to spend the night in Shani's room, filled with her artifacts, several basketball size trophies, numerous awards and proclamations to her athletic prowess and mentorship.

After the last bar, we headed home. Tired, I said goodnight to the Barakas and went upstairs to my room or rather, Shani’s room. I shut the door and looking around at Shani's  archives, something told me to say a prayer, so I did.

I got up the next morning early, way too early to disturb the Barakas, so I surveyed the room, and seeing the trophies were dusty, wiped them. I just happened to have a poem in my back pocket “When Thy Lover Has Gone to Eternity.” I placed it between the trophies as an offering. I said another prayer before departing. And then I heard Shani speaking, saying, “No, no, no, no to hate, no, no, no, no.” She said, “Yes, yes to love, yes, yes, yes, yes.”                            

I shut the door and made my way downstairs, passing the sleeping Barakas and out into the cold Newark morning. At South Tenth and Clinton Streets I hailed a taxi, telling him to take me to John’s Place, my favorite breakfast spot in Newark. I ordered Whiting, grits and eggs, with biscuits that melted in my mouth. After breakfast, I walked to the bus stop for the ride to Penn Station and the train back across the river to New York. As I stood waiting for the bus, Shani spoke again in the winter wind, “No, no, no, no to hate. Yes, yes, yes to love.”

Shall we not love our gay children, the many young men and women who have chosen the gay lifestyle for whatever reason: we can say they were born that way, or have an identity crisis from feminine or matrifocal socialization (lack of manhood rites or womanhood rites), or there was sexual assault by a gay or lesbian relative, or incest by father, uncle, brother, cousin who turned the girl against all men. We can catalogue all the possibilities yet not get to the end of the road on this matter: our gay children need help!

They need love and support as they go through their daily round. We cannot simply look at them and reduce them to social rejects, pariahs we must shun at all costs as if they are not natural but some kind of mutants from Mars.

In short, they need our help with their growing pains. All children need love, recognition and acceptance. Do you think the gay children are not suffering the normal white supremacy virus of parental abandonment, abuse and neglect? Even more so, our gay young men are suffering the highest rate of HIV infection. What shall we do—surely we can reach out and touch these young men on a suicide path—at the very least, we can educate them about the dangers of their unsafe sexual behavior.

Our lesbian children need our love and acceptance as well. Maybe some of them will return to the straight life (as if that’s anything to brag about until we evolve our spiritual consciousness from the patriarchal mentality of domination.)

Again, no matter the cause of the explosion of the gay and lesbian lifestyle, it is a reality we need to deal with. Those who want to be straight should be guided, others who want to be accepted as gay or lesbian should be shown unconditional love as well. 

It is wrong for anyone to hate another human being, and especially to hate a child. So let us put on the armor of God and exercise Supreme Wisdom. Either we are working with Divine power or we are on the animal plane, from which our actions are devoid of spiritual consciousness

The Toilet is a state of mind—toxic and transfixed. It must be flushed clean with pure water. There is a moment in the play when a brother goes down the row of urinals flushing each one and laughing with joy as the water flows loudly like a river. Let us flush ourselves with the royal flush of all the urine and defecation in our lives, in our minds that have a strangle hold on the eternity of love, for love is all there is that is precious and real, radical and revolutionary, love, the meaning of the morning, the essence of the night, the why we rise to try again the daily round, to suffer the pain and joy—only love makes the day possible and the night bearable.

In conclusion, moral propositions become just that and nothing more, a momentary thing, until the destruction comes, then we see some things are beyond mere propositions, thoughts, a consensus of the moral or the immoral, for who is moral today, who is immoral? Who are the good guys, bad guys? Who is without sin? You are against gays and lesbians, yet you are a child molester! You are against gays and lesbians, yet you are a wife beater, a murderer, a dope dealer, a wicked teacher, a corrupt banker. Who has the high moral ground? Is it he who does the most good—in the hood? Shall he or she determine the moral code, or is this a free for all, do yo thing, I do my thing—in the Arabic: lakum dinu kum waliyadin (to you your way and to me mine, Al Qur’an).

Unless there is a consensus, who is to say what is right or wrong? We must come to a consensus on the new morality, no matter what ancient mythologies have taught us. In Divine consciousness surely we can find the Way of Love in all matters. Let us search the ancient holy books, texts, inscriptions, for the sure path, since there is doubt persisting into the night. What do the holy books say?

Shall we be swayed by illusions of any kind, spirituality or physicality, mentality or sexuality? If we reinstituted manhood and womanhood rites of passage, we might go a long way toward helping our children cross the threshold of sexual identity and toward spiritual maturation as divine beings in human form. Sexuality and other illusions become secondary to the primary objective of reaching spiritual maturity, following our true bliss, as Joseph Campbell taught us.

Marvin X
November, 2008

Berkeley CA 

Marvin X, poet, playwright, essayist, philosopher, social activist, teacher, and now with his BAM poets choir and Arkestra, band leader, is one of the founders of the black arts movement and the father of Muslim American literature. His most controversial piece of writing is a pamphlet entitled The Mythology of Pussy and Dick, a manhood/womanhood rites of passage to salvage male/female relations or human relations. He has embarked on a 27 city tour of Marvin X and the Black Arts Movement. The BAM performance at Oakland's Malcolm X Jazz Festival on May 17, 2014, was, in the words of Umar Bin Hasan of the Last Poets (The Last Poets are part of the BAM tour), powerful and everybody knows it was powerful!

He is available for speaking and performing engagements. Write to him at 1222 Dwight Way, Berkeley CA 94702. Call 510-200-4164. jmarvinx@yahoo.com. www.blackbirdpressnews.blogspot.com.  Also see and www.aalbc.com. 

Cephus Johnson photo essay of Malcolm X Jazz Festival, Oakland, May 17, San Antonio Park

Black Bird Press News & Review: Marvin X and the Black Arts Movement Poets Choir and Arkestra Rock Oakland's Malcolm X Jazz Festival

Black Bird Press News & Review: Marvin X and the Black Arts Movement Poets Choir and Arkestra Rock Oakland's Malcolm X Jazz Festival

Report on the May 7 General Elections in South Africa

IN THIS MESSAGE:

1) South Africa After the May 7 General Elections -- by François Forgue (reprinted from Informations ouvrières)

2) Report from Tiyani Lybon Mabasa, president of the Socialist Party of Azania (SOPA)

3) Excerpts from the May 15 Statement by the Central Committee of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

1) South Africa After the May 7 General Elections

By François Forgue

[reprinted from the May 14-21 issue of Informations ouvrières (Labor News), the weekly newspaper of the Independent Workers Party of France (POI).]

This past May 7, 2014, general elections were held in South Africa. The elections took place at a time when tens of thousands of platinum mineworkers -- on strike since January 23 to demand a monthly wage of 12,500 Rands (about US$1,300) -- continued their strike, together with their union: AMCU.

The African National Congress (ANC) obtained 62.2% of the votes cast (with 59.3% of eligible voters turning out to vote) -- that is to say, 5 percentage fewer votes cast than in the previous elections in 2009. Jacob Zuma will thus return as head of state.(1)

It was only 20 years ago that the overwhelming majority of the population of South Africa -- the 90% of Blacks, mixed-race and Asians -- were granted the right to vote, hitherto reserved only to the white minority.

The ANC, the party of Nelson Mandela, was identified with this great upheaval. For an entire generation, the vast majority of Black people of South Africa gave their support to the ANC to lead the country.

But it's the policies implemented by the various ANC governments that are responsible for the current situation: these governments all accepted the dictates of the so-called "Kempton Park" Accords. This agreement, signed in 1994, preserved the status of property rights as it existed at the time of the political downfall of Apartheid. In other words, this agreement maintained the economic and social domination of the white minority, which in South Africa carried out the capitalist domination.

The ANC received the unyielding support from the leadership of the South African Communist Party. With the backing of the SACP, the ANC has been able to maintain its control over the main trade union confederation: COSATU.

The upheaval of Marikana in August 2012 initiated the political destabilization of the entire political system built over the 20 years since since the fall of Apartheid.

A few months before the legislative elections, the crisis ravaged the leadership of COSATU. The metalworkers' union, NUMSA, which is the largest federation in COSATU, and eight other federations joined together to call for a Special National Congress of the confederation and raised the question of COSATU breaking with the "Tripartite Alliance" -- that is, the ANC-COSATU-SACP.

It is in this context that Julius Malema -- the former ANC Youth leader who was expelled from the ANC after he called for the nationalization of the mines and took a stand in solidarity with the striking Marikana mineworkers -- formed a new political organization: the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).

Why this name?

Its meaning is clear in South Africa. When they overturned the Apartheid regime, Black people won their political freedom, but economically they remained bound to the system of exploitation and oppression that was the underpinning of Apartheid. This is what the EFF leaders wrote in their platform:

"South Africa is supposed to celebrate its 20 years of democracy and true freedom. The reality is that 20 years later, Black people are still not free! Black people are still shackled by conditions of poverty, lack of hygiene and lack of security! The Black majority is still landless and homeless, and its wages are still slave-wages. . . .

"Twenty years later, Black workers still receive miserably low wages, working in dangerous conditions in mines, farms, factories, shops and elsewhere!

"They still lack the most basic workers' rights!

"Twenty years later, the police still kill. They killed at Marikana, Mothutlung, Ficksburg, Relela and throughout South Africa! . . .

"What we demand is the nationalization of the mines, banks and other strategic sectors of the economy without compensation!"

The EFF also call for the return of the land to those who work it -- that is, to the Black farmers -- and the expropriation of the holdings of the large white landowners.

This EFF election platform was presented at a major rally attended by more than 50,000 people in the outskirts of Johannesburg. Lybon Mabasa, the president of the Socialist Party of Azania (SOPA), addressed the crowd, stating: "We are not afraid of associating ourselves with those who say that the land must be returned to its rightful owners and that the mines should be nationalized. The EFF can be assured of our support."

SOPA -- which participates in the campaigns of the International Liaison Committee of Workers and Peoples (ILC) -- fully committed itself to the EFF election campaign. In one of its leaflets, the SOPA leadership wrote:

"A vote for the EFF is a vote to expropriate the large land holdings and return the land to its rightful owners; a vote for the EFF is a vote to nationalize the mines. A vote for the EFF is a means to build a powerful force capable of expressing the aspirations of the Black working class, of the Black majority of this country, a force that is capable of putting the past behind us. This is the meaning of our vote on May 7, 2014 -- and the struggle for these goals will continue beyond that date."

These elections provide a somewhat attenuated reflection of the situation. The decline in the number of votes for the ANC may seem small at first glance, but it is an indication of what is ripening.

The Democratic Alliance -- the party that has its origins among the "liberal" white voters seeking to preserve their privileges -- received about 22% of the votes. The EFF -- which was established as an independent political force only this past April, on the eve of the general elections, and which was the target of repeated attacks -- received 6.3% of the votes, or about 1 million votes. The real total, was no doubt higher; Julius Malema denounced the election fraud in certain sectors as "mafia-type" actions.

Nobody could ignore the meaning and scope of this vote for the EFF, which even the mainstream media characterized as "surprising."

The New York Times, on May 10, wrote that "a new party, the EFF, was able to give South Africans a vision for the future."

That is what's essential.

- - - - -

Endnote

(1) The analysis of the election results by both the Democratic Front and NUMSA highlighted the growing abstentionism in South Africa's general elections -- from a 85.53% voter turnout in 1994, when Apartheid fell, all the way to a 59.3% voter turnout in 2014. In terms of votes cast for the ANC, this meant that 53.01% of all eligible voters cast their vote for the ANC in 1994, compared with 36.39% of all eligible voters in 2014.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

2) Report from Tiyani Lybon Mabasa, President of the Socialist Party of Azania (SOPA)

The general national elections in Azania (South Africa) have come and gone. It has been three months of work on the part of SOPA, which had taken a decision to support the EFF in the 2014 national elections. We supported the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) slate on four cardinal points:

1. Land expropriation without compensation;

2. Nationalization of the commanding heights of the economy, starting with the mines;

3. The building of a socialist project;

4. The struggle for the name Azania as the first symbol of a break with colonialism and imperialism that imposes restrictions on our country, including the repayment of the Apartheid debt and the subordination of the country into the clutches of the Bretton Woods financial institutions that have imploded many economies throughout the world.

We understood that the EFF was largely a product of among other things the aftermath of the Marikana massacre and the struggle of workers in the platinum belt. In our initial letter to the EFF we raised the need for a United Front to advance the struggles of the Black working class and the Black majority.

To show our support for this platform, many of us in SOPA were added into the EFF parliamentary lists. SOPA members also organized and addressed some of the rallies of the EFF.

The EFF ran a very credible election campaign and were largely able to draw a lot of young people. The EFF were given 6.37%, which translate to 25 parliamentary seats in a 400-person-seats parliament.

SOPA members shared a platform with [EFF leader Julius] Malema and AMCU [the new mineworkers' union formed in Marikana] on May Day organized by NACTU [National Council of Trade Unions] and we were able to pledge solidarity with the workers and also promised to galvanize local and international support for them.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

3) "There's No Turning Back!"

(Excerpts from the Statement of the Central Committee of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa [NUMSA] -- May 15, 2014)

Union Says United Front Not a Project to Improve the ANC or Provide Futile CPR on SACP/ANC

Introduction:

The Central Committee (CC) of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) met from May 12, 2014 -until- May 15, 2014. . . . The CC happened against the backdrop of national elections and the re-election of the African National Congress with a reduced and actually minority vote.

For the first time in 20 years of this neoliberal democracy, the ANC almost lost control of Gauteng, the industrial heartland of our country. This we say is the result of 20 years of our neoliberal democracy which has not decisively uprooted our colonial character of the South African economy and society, and its symptoms of mass poverty, deepening unemployment and extreme inequalities. . . .

The strike in the mining sector
The CC also took place against the backdrop of a four-month strike by mineworkers in the Platinum Belt, where workers are demanding nothing more than a living wage of R12,500 per month. This is happening when the CEO of Anglo Platinum and 11 other senior managers racketed bloated bonus payments. What is even more disgraceful is the fact that the ANC has after 20 years of democracy not done anything to break down the apartheid capitalist colonial economy which is based on super exploitation of Black and African labor.

The root cause of this strike is the capitalist imperialist ownership of our mineral resources and the persisting structural problem of this sector of the economy still being based on the supper exploitation of migrant labor which is a continuation of apartheid in our so-called democratic state by other means.

National and domestic situation
The African National Congress (ANC)-led government continues to pursue neoliberal policies, including deregulation, inflation targeting and privatization. We have also witnessed massive de-industrialization which has led to a jobs bloodbath in the key sectors of our economy, more especially in the manufacturing sector.

Between 2009 and 2012 we lost 271,000 jobs in manufacturing, and between 2007 and 2010 manufacturing declined from 17% of GDP to 15%. All of this is against the backdrop of high levels of unemployment, deepening inequality and mass poverty amongst the Black and African working class.

The results of this neoliberal trajectory are as follows:

- Widespread and now increasingly violent strikes, service delivery protests, including violent crimes of domestic and sexual violence;

- A strike by platinum mineworkers which is now in its fourth month;

- Increasingly tough responses by employers to industrial action, including suing unions for lost production during strikes;

- Racial polarization of the South African population; AND

- Massive concentration of wealth in South African banks, and increasing affluence of the White population.

- Mass poverty concentrated among the Black and African working class population.

These massive inequalities, widespread structural unemployment and national poverty inherited from our Apartheid past legacy continue to characterize and define the South Africa of today, post-1994 neoliberal political democracy. This is witnessed through the "real" story of South Africa's working class and the poor. To mention a few realities:

* 26 million people in South Africa today face abject poverty;

* In 2004, 48% of South Africans were living below R524 a month, in 2011 this increased to 52,3%;

* There are now more people in South Africa living in shacks than there were in 2009 (13.4% in 2009, 14.1% in 2012).

* In May 2008 there were 5.1 million unemployed people in South Africa, today there are more than 7 million;

* South Africa remains the most unequal country on the planet; our Gini Coefficient, which is a measure of inequality, increased from 0.66 in 1993 to 0.7 in 2008.

Analysis of the 2014 National and Provincial Elections and Outcomes

The CC reflected on the recently concluded national elections. An initial analysis was presented. The CC noted that while the ANC celebrates their 62% victory and lays claims that their support base has not shifted below 60%, this is both misleading and in fact completely fallacious.

While the ANC/SACP leadership will feel strengthened by this result, a deeper analysis presents something far more revealing than a short-lived celebration. Indeed, the ANC received 62.15% of the valid votes cast, but 64% of South Africans DID NOT vote for the ANC. Combined, out of the total potential and actually registered voters in South Africa today, analysis of election statistics confirms that the ANC has been, this year, elected into government by a mere 36% of all those who were eligible to vote.

Further, the 10% loss of votes in Gauteng and a mere 48.5% of the vote in Nelson Mandela Bay . . . demonstrates clearly that the working class are seeking alternatives to the failed policies of the ANC.

The CC mandated the NUMSA Economic and Research Institute to do a more detailed and through scientific analysis of the election results and what this means for building the Movement for Socialism.

Below we illustrate the glaring diminishing support for the ANC in the voting trends since 1994:

1994: Of the 23.06 million eligible voters, 85.53% voted, while the remaining 14.47% stayed away. The ANC received support from 53.01% of the eligible voting population.

1999: Of the 25.41 million eligible voters, 62.87% voted while the remaining 37.13% stayed away. The ANC received support from 41.72% of the eligible voting population.

2004: Of the 27.99 million eligible voters, 55.77% voted while the remaining 44.23% stayed away. The ANC received support from 38.87% of the eligible voting population.

2009: Of the 30.22 million eligible voters, 59.29% voted while the remaining 40.71% stayed away. The ANC received support from 38.55% of the eligible voting population.

2014: Of the 31.43 million eligible voters, 59.34% voted while the remaining 40.66% stayed away. The ANC received support from 36.39% of the eligible voting population.

We see that from a high of 53.01% in 1994, the ANC has disastrously dropped to 36.39% of the share of votes in 2014. This is the true story that reflects the reality of the loss of confidence by our people in the neoliberal capitalist ANC!

The United Front (UF) and the Movement for Socialism (MfS)

The CC affirmed the analysis that the current NUMSA moment is not a simple knee-jerk reaction or development, but that it is a product of a deep class analysis and understanding of the continuing colonial character of South African economy and society, and the profoundly worsening conditions of the working class. The CC was unambiguously clear that there was no turning back on the resolutions taken at our Special National Congress. There is no stopping this NUMSA moment.

The CC noted that the launch and building of the United Front and the Movement for Socialism would not be simple. It reaffirmed the basic principles which would guide the United Front and amongst these are:

- The United Front is a weapon for uniting the working class, in all walks of life. . . . The basic guiding principle shall be "Unity in Action" against the ravages of neoliberalism and in support of the full implementation of the Freedom Charter.

The CC affirmed that there are two legs on which NUMSA's work to build the United Front would stand; gaining support for our campaigns and building our concrete support for other struggles of the working class and the poor wherever and whenever they take place. . . .

The CC was clear that building the Front and the Movement for Socialism is NOT a project to improve the ANC, to carry on doing useless Cardiac Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) on the ANC and SACP, nor to resuscitate another neoliberal discourse. This engagement is about nothing else but the working class organising itself as a class for itself, for the war to win socialism.

COSATU and the Alliance

The Central Committee received a report on the current situation in COSATU. . . .

The CC confirmed that COSATU remains our fighting weapon, and we must struggle to reclaim it as an independent, militant fighting federation. We shall not be leaving the federation and together with the other 8 affiliates we have served court papers to compel the COSATU president to convene the Special National Congress. . . .

The CC is clear that the reactionary forces are determined in their campaign to expel NUMSA from our federation but we will remain resolute on our affiliation to a militant fighting COSATU in the interest of working class unity.

Happy earth day Malcolm X, El Hajj Malik El Shabazz

TODAY,MAY 19TH 

IS MALCOLM X DAY!

RESPECT, OBSERVE & CELEBRATE THE 89TH BIRTHDAY OF EL HAJJ-MALIK EL SHABAZZ - BRO. MALCOLM X 

MONDAY'S MAY 19TH - MALCOLM X DAY ACTIVITY EVENT SCHEDULE IN HARLEM, NEW YORK (10AM - 10PM)
_____________________________________________________________________

10:00AM - 2:00PM
50th ANNUAL MALCOLM X DAY CARAVAN PILGRIMAGE & ANCESTRAL CEREMONY TO BRO. MALCOLM'S GRAVE SITE 
PARTICIPATION GROWS AS MALCOLMITES READY FOR HIS 89TH BIRTHDAY ANNIVERSARY!(ASSEMBLE @ 9AM)


On Monday, May 19th, the Malcolm X Commemoration Committee and the Sons of Afrika will observe the 89th birth anniversary of Malcolm X with the Organization of Afro-American Unity’s Annual Pilgrimage to his Grave site!
At 9am, participants will assemble at the Harlem State Office Building located at 125th Street and Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard to prepare to caravan to Malcolm’s gravesite at Ferncliff Cemetery in Ardsley, NY.
Tickets for the buses going up to the Cemetery are $9 for adults and $5 for children. Families and groups wishing to ride should call in advance to make reservations at 718 512 5008 or 212 928 5165 or email at mxcc519@verizon.net.
The grave site ceremony was conceived and developed by the late Ella Little-Collins, Malcolm’s older sister who was with him in the OAAU, shortly after his death. The organization has faithfully maintained this pilgrimage on annual basis through Baba James Small for nearly 50 years! 
_________________________________________________________________________
1:00PM - 4:00PM
ANNUAL MALCOLM X DAY BLACK POWER "SHUT' EM DOWN" MARCH & RALLY ON 125TH STREET
(ASSEMBLE @ 12NOON)

  

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3:30PM - 5:30PM
ANNUAL MALCOLM X DAY PROGRAM AT THE MALCOLM X - DR. BETTY SHABAZZ MEMORIAL & EDUCATIONAL CENTER
(DOORS OPEN @ 3PM)
The Shabazz Center celebrates the 89th Birthday of Malcolm X/El Hajj Malik El Shabazz with Ilyasah Shabazz, author, activist, lecturer, and daughter of Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz, who will discuss her most recent book “Malcolm Little: The Boy Who Grew Up to Become Malcolm X”. The celebration will feature a unique exploration on his upbringing and experiences as a child.

Please join us for a special day commemorating the life and legacy of one of our greatest American leaders. All ages are welcome!

A book signing and reception will follow.

This event is free and open to the public. Registration is encouraged as seating is limited and on a first come, first served basis. 3940 Broadway, at Dr. Betty Shabazz Way, New York City, NY 10032
@ 165th Street

Please register to attend:  http://malcolmxday.eventbrite.com

  
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
7:00PM - 10:00PM
ANNUAL MALCOLM X DAY FILM SCREENING, BOOK FAIR & PANEL DISCUSSION AT THE HARLEM MAYSLES CINEMA & FILM INSTITUTE
(DOORS OPEN @ 6:30PM)

PASSIN IT ON: "CONTINUING THE MALCOLM X LEGACY THROUGH HIP HOP CULTURE"

Join special invited Hip Hop artists AFRIKA BAMBAATAA, SISTAH SOULJAH, IMMORTAL TECHNIQUE with other "politically conscious minded"  
HIP HOP PIONEERS for a Panel & open discussion on this most important cultural need in our oppressed Black, Latino and Indigenous communities. Hosted by Zulu Nation Queen Amber "Pepsi" Cartha; This dialog will immediately follow a film screening....