As expected, a multitude turned out at the Shabazz Center Friday evening to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the assassination of Malcolm X (El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz). Many late arrivals shivered together outside, waiting for what felt interminably long to enter the foyer where celebrities were being interviewed.
Dr. Ilyasah Shabazz, Malcolm’s daughter and chair of the center’s board, picked up where Dick Gregory’s daughter Ayanna’s thunderous recognitions ended, adding a family list of names to the fallen ancestors. “I am honored to welcome you here — as my sister Malaak coined, ‘the house that Betty built [noting the Dr. Betty Shabazz],” said Shabazz. She emphasized the importance of Black history and culture “for our young leaders to uphold and carry forward for generations that follow. It is so important.”
Her admonitions guided speaker after speaker, most notably when she cited some of her father’s values and moral strength. “I’ve learned that the lessons of self-love and empowerment are more than personal revelations,” she said. “They are the building blocks of social change. Self-love is not … self-indulgence. It is self-determination.”
Shabazz had the audience in the palm of her hands when she recounted the traumatic fire-bombing of the family’s home a week before in East Elmhurst that is so much of America’s terrifying and terrible history. “We need to make sure that our president, government, and everybody understands that. And in that spirit, the Shabazz Center is proud to celebrate six incredible and inspiring awardees.”
The powerful voice of Kenneth Kellogg, the first awardee, evoked passages from the “X Opera,” as he did last year in “Morgiane,” putatively the oldest opera written by a Black composer. His resonant baritone filled the ballroom and pianist Kyle Walker gave the aria additional gravitas.
Leonard McKenzie photos
The words of emcee Marc Lamont Hill continued the musical interlude and reprised some of Ilyasah Shabazz’s memories. “What Malcolm X and Sister Betty produced is a legacy and a blueprint for liberation through Malcolm’s honesty, his intellectual discipline, and — most importantly, his fierce, uncompromising love for us. Let me just say this” We are in a moment where a whole lot of people stand in front of us, but they don’t represent us.”
Underscoring this passage were the drums from the Afrikan Healing Circle.
Hill brought attorney Benjamin Crump to the stage, who reminded listeners that earlier in the day, he held a press conference focused on continuing to represent the family in its pursuit of justice and to declassify the files about Malcolm’s assassination. He then warmed to the topic of Black history and declared, in a comment aimed at you-know-who, that “if we don’t stand up and celebrate our Black history, nobody else is gonna celebrate our Black history.” It was greeted with sustained applause.
The other Vanguard Awardees included teenager Jordan Mendez, Caroline W. Wanga, and Linda Sarsour, who received their awards from Shabazz and Kennedy Lucas, Miss Black USA. Poet and performer Aja Monet, and Rev. Lukata Mjumbe also received Vanguard awards, along with attorney Lee Merritt, who has represented the families of Ahmaud Arbery and others. Merritt introduced Rep. Jasmine Crockett — they were law partners in Texas early in their careers. He said he is encouraged by the current state of America because it will galvanize people to fight back. He urges organizers to take advantage of the energy and be able to get work done.
“In 2016 is when we saw George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor and so many cases, and the reason we saw it during that period is not because that’s the only period that happened,” Merrit said. “It was because the nation was being pulled right, and people wanted to protest some of the more atrocious things that were happening, that are always happening.”
One of the evening’s musical highlights was vocalist Stephanie Jordan, accompanied by Victor Gould on piano, Eric Wheeler on bass, and percussionist Khalil Kwame Bell. In her bluesy rendition of “We Insist,” she embodied Abbey Lincoln (Aminata Moseka) and demonstrated that, as the saying goes, the fruit never falls too far from the tree: She is the daughter of versatile New Orleans musician Kidd Jordan.
When Crockett commanded the mic, she echoed some of Attorney General Letitia James’s remarks, delivered via video, about the current state of affairs, and coupled them with her insights about diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), all on Trump’s hit list. “I didn’t just pop up one day all of a sudden on the scene and somehow end up in Congress,” Crockett said. “I know that MAGA tries to pretend that I’m a DEI … but the reality is that there were people that had to fight so that I could have a seat at the table.
“It was the Voting Rights Act that was signed into law by … Lyndon B. Johnson, and it created Section 2 seats, which is what I currently occupy.”
Crockett added, moreover, that “without the work of fearless leaders like Brother Malcolm and Sister Betty, I don’t know that I would be standing as the 55th Black woman ever elected to Congress.”
The celebration was a long and bountiful evening, and only those not under the tyranny of the clock or other pressing concerns were there long enough to witness the closing prayer of Sheik Muhammad Ibn Heshaam Jaaber and the musical vibes of DJ Sir Charles Mixin’ Dixon.
It was wonderful to see the late Les Payne’s widow, Violet, and their children, Jamal and Tamara, so resourceful in completing “The Dead Are Rising,” about Malcolm’s life and legacy.
This was an exceptional turnout in Malcolm’s memory, although it will probably be surpassed on May 19, when the world celebrates the centennial of Malcolm’s birth. Better make your reservations now.
This appeared to be a fabulous and inspiring event. I was a senior in high school when Malcolm was murdered. That day, I was on a bus returning from a religious retreat with some of my (white) classmates. When Malcolm’s murder was announced (from a radio), that group of girls applauded. I’ll never forget that day.