Malcolm
X, the fearless leader that the actor and
activist Ossie Davis described as one of
Harlem’s “brightest hopes”, the “stormy,
controversial ad bold young captain”, and most
movingly “our own Black shining prince.” would
have been 100 years old on May 19. People
commemorated that birthday in Harlem, at the
Charles Wright Museum in Detroit, at Malcolm X
College in Chicago, in his Omaha birthplace,
and in many other places. Our icon is best
known for his love for Black people, his fiery
rhetoric, his unwavering commitment to Black
liberation, and his unwillingness to
compromise his principles.
Assassinated
at 39, his influence has increased, not
diminished, since his death, and given these
tumultuous and threatening times, his
influence may be needed now more than ever.
Malcolm X passionately advocated Black
self-sufficiency, a timely message as we
manage the challenges that come with these
times.
Where
did Malcolm’s fire come from? I say it came
from his fearless mother, Louise Langdon
Little, a woman born in the South Caribbean
island of Grenada, who emigrated to Canada,
married Garveyite Earl Little, and worked
alongside him establishing divisions of the
United Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) in
Omaha, Milwaukee, and Lansing, Micihigan. The
Grenadian Louise was appropriately prideful of
her lineage and shared that pride with her
children. She was a fighter, resisting the
prevalent myth of white supremacy, debriefing
her children when they came home from school,
pointing out the flaws in the biased teaching
they were receiving. She also fought the
powers that be, whites who would remove her
and her husband from property they bought in
an area that had a restrictive covenant. She
resisted the orders and edicts of neighbors,
judges, teachers and social workers. The
survival of the Little family was a
provocation to the white powers who were used
to bullying and bludgeoning Black people who
colored outside the lines.
I
was privileged to be part of a pilgrimage to
Grenada May 14-18. Organized by the Institute
of the Black World, led by its President Dr.
Ron Daniels, about forty of us visited the
site of Mrs. Little’s home, which is being
developed into a monument, and also laid a
wreath at Fort Rupert, where Prime Minister
Maurice Bishop and eighteen others were
martyred. Grenada (which includes the islands
of Caricou and Petit Martinique) is a small
country, with about 115,000 residents. It is
island-typical except for the remarkable
history of resistance, with a Prime Minister
and his cabinet assassinated because they
would not bow to US influences. The United
States has apologized for assassinating
Bishop, but his body has never been found.
Malcolm X was indelibly
influenced by his Garveyite parents. The
UNIA’s motto – One God, One Aim, One Destiny – is an assertion of Black
unity. Earl and Louise Little, traveling
missionaries for the UNIA, made the cause of
Black unity a foundation of their lives and
indeed, of their marriage. Even when they
experienced marital challenges, they were able
to come together for the cause, Earl as an
organizer and speaker, and Louise as a writer
for the Garvey weekly publication, The Negro
World. She modestly signed her articles,
Louise Langdon Little, reporter, and not only
reported the work of her husband, but also
shared ideas about the direction of the
movement. In addition to being an accomplished
writer, she was also a riveting speaker. She
aspired to be a teacher, but she did not have
that opportunity. Instead, she taught her
children, and she taught them well.
After
Earl Little was murdered and Louise was unable
to collect on the insurance policy that they
painstakingly purchased, she struggled with
poverty. Her poverty was seen by racist social
workers as child neglect and she was
incarcerated in a mental institution from 1939
until 1964. Her children never forgot her, and
her eldest, Wilfred, petitioned the courts
multiple times to release her. Malcolm X wrote
to his Brother Philbert in 1949, noting that
Louise had suffered at the hands of the state
because the authorities knew she was “not
deadening our minds”. Instead she stimulated
the minds and encouraged the critical thinking
that is so abhorred by white supremaists.
Was it Louise that Malcolm X had
in mind when he said that the Black woman was
the most neglected, disrespected, and
unprotected on the planet? Certainly he was
aware of the many ways white supremacists broke up his
family. Still he had much appreciation for his
mother. He told brother Philbert, “My
accomplishments are ours, and yours are
mine, but all of our achievements are Mom’s,
for she was a most Faithful Servant of the
Truth years ago. I praise Allah for her.”
Louise
Langdon Little was the force that lit Malcolm
X’s fire. He was the embodiment of her
resistance, her resilience, her intelligence,
her writing and speaking ability. If he was
our “bright shining Black prince”, she was our
Queen. In the words of the poet Mari Evans,
look on her and be renewed.
