On Sunday, Nov. 19, several A-alikes and friends gathered at Harlem’s Erudite Academy to reflect on the legacy of street scholar and native Brooklynite Lord Graceful Malik Allah-64, who had returned to the essence on September 9 at his Bronx home.
Ever since the mid-1970s, he had devoted his life to researching hard-to-find info about Black heritage, and freely disseminating his findings to the general public.
For many years, he could be found at various libraries and bookstores in New York City, researching archived newspapers and magazines, as well as vintage documentaries, regarding Black history and heritage. He visited Harlem’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture consistently. That’s where he became acquainted with its national membership chair, poet Maya Angelou, during the 1990s, who was so impressed with his research that she called him the Chancellor of Black Journalism.
Lord Graceful was very unselfish with the info he unearthed, compiling and sharing it in his monthly no-fee journal, Food for Thought. At the dawn of the new millennium, he began conducting in-person lectures at Long Island University and similar platforms, speaking about numerous subjects ranging from Black history to conspiracy theories and current events.
“Graceful knew the history of the Garveyites, Moors, Nation of Islam, Five Percenters, hip hop, you name it,” recalled K.O.S. & Effect Allah. “He had knowledge on lots of subjects relevant to us.”
He’d often be found on Harlem’s 125th Street, engaging in lively conversations with people from various walks of life. He began his journey in Brooklyn’s Bedford Stuyvesant, educating many local youths during the late-1970s about the Islamic culture, which was prevalent in New York City’s ghettos at the time.
“Lord Graceful is my big bro, mentor, and educator in all aspects of life,” reflected Blackseed Allah, whose family grew up with Malik in Bed-Stuy. “He’s a great researcher of the 5% Nation of Gods & Earths, and a righteous Blackman.”
Malik collected volumes of literature on various subjects, including chattel slavery in the United States, cultures and religions relevant to Americanized-Africans, and the dangers of eating grafted foods. He also had respect from the halls of academia, thanks to building alliances with African scholar-warriors like Dr. Ben and Dr. Leonard Jeffries, among others.
Remembered in Perfection 7!