Considering the Impact of a History of Hype: Analysis of Media & Community Images of Malcolm X
by Marva Jackson Lord, first version printed (pre explosion of web culture) in the Spring 1994 issue of At The Crossroads
(Published by Karen Augustine)
(The article is based on my paper originally written for Toronto Cinematheque presentation exploring the significance of Malcom X, February 6, 1994. I was in my 30s when I first wrote this, I am now 56. I look back and am reviewing social developments since I first wrote this. Please note that I am an agnostic with a world view based in recognising the need for practicing compassion and loving kindness towards one’s self to establish a strong foundation for social change. I may write an update at some point.)
Media Presentation and Representation of Malcolm X
This weekend (Feb 6th, 1994) the Cinematheque has presented a loving and sometimes painful exploration of the public face of Malcolm X, with rare glimpses into his private, personal and vulnerable side. We cannot talk about his legacy without addressing the far-reaching effect of media representation and various stereotypes of Black people which have played into the development of public understanding of the legacy of Malcolm X. Consider we must the early representations of Malcolm X as an ethnographic curiosity, then dangerous and militant Black man; then a crazy, unfulfilled Black man; then the dangerous violent Black leader; then the myth and deity that has become Malcolm after death (possibly the only ‘spiritual’ icons in mainstream North American society that have been mythified and deified more are Jesus Christ and Elvis Presley, with Madonna running a close third — updating this comment to current time we could include Queen Bey☺), and in the final analysis there is always the striving for perfection and sanitation of ‘Malcolm on The Pedestal’.
In the films or the television videos shown does one get a sense of the agency of women’s impact on the life of Malcolm X? As a woman reading his autobiography, I recognised as particularly significant the roles of his mother, his sister, his family in general, his lovers (especially his wife), his contact with other women throughout the later years and how they affected Malcolm X’s developing critical consciousness. Within the accepted social script of daily living, women are often presented and perceived as victims, without our own sense of personal power.
Yes, I agree that Malcolm X was a man of his times, with beliefs that were entrenched in the social conditions reinforcing his struggle for liberation based on a system of male hierarchy over women. This doesn’t for me invalidate his importance. Malcolm X was no more sexist than many other men (of all races) of his time and even today his legacy is no more sexist than many but perhaps more honest about his views. And it is important to continually critique the role that Media plays in maintaining determinate stereotypes of Black male chauvinism.
Who are the women and men that are so often identified by mainstream media to represent Black people today? Since Malcolm X’s time how have media representations of women, in particular Black women evolved? Has there been greater public awareness, through the media, of the significance of women leaders of the Civil Rights movements impact on someone like Malcolm X?
The answers to these questions are complicated but a quick perusal of regular programming in the trusty TV Guide indicates a dim picture of expanded media representations of women or of Black people. From the speeches of Malcolm X, I believe that, prior to his death, he was beginning to understand differently the role of women as crucial to the development of a truly progressive human rights movement. Yet there is rarely any intricate analysis about these kinds of issues in media coverage of the life and legacy of Malcolm X. I do agree that there has been some different perspectives being voiced lately but we must move beyond an analysis that is too quick to accept the limitations brought about by unquestioning hero worship. Malcolm X’s legacy was also one that encouraged independent inquiry while supporting the growth of self-respect and compassionate collaborative effort.
How I first became aware of Malcolm X
I first read a brief note about Malcolm X in a magazine when I was a young girl. The note dismissed him as a crazy man. An adult in my community (I grew up in a predominantly white small town community in Ontario), responding to my question when I asked about him, described Malcolm X as an insecure man (ex-con) who lived with delusions of grandeur. The underlying tone was not to take him seriously. I hadn’t yet read the autobiography or any of his speeches. I found curiously this similar dismissive attitude applied to images of Angela Davis when I would ask about her. As a child I got the clear unspoken message that I had asked about some ‘bad’ people.
As I consider the current impact of Malcolm X upon me in my 30's, I think also of my teenage years, finding myself in conflict with my primary parent, my father, when I began to show an predilection for wearing an Afro hairstyle. I had always preferred my hair natural, even as a small child, but not until teenage years did I have the confidence to say that I wanted natural hair, braided or loose. I remember my father violently cutting off the handle of my black Afro pick. It was shaped like a fist, the Black power symbol. I remember him telling about the dangers that come with the Black Power symbol. That someone in town might see my Afro pick and want to hurt me as a result. I remember the fear and anger on his face, especially the fear for his child. Such discussions from the primary Black figure in my life where there were few other Black people in the town were critical in affecting my development as an individual and of the wider community.
Today I realise that although I began reading at a very early age and have read many books, until my father’s death I had felt unable to fully follow the path that I felt was mine. I was a Black woman who stuck to the rule which silences so many in the name of The Struggle. Meaning not to embarrass my father/family publicly while suffering physical and psychological abuse at home. These are things that a Black woman isn’t supposed to talk about in public or in private spaces, outside of one’s own mind that is.
You may be asking how does my childhood in south-western Ontario have anything to do with the legacy of Malcolm X. These things have a strong impact on how I see the legacy of Malcolm X today and the role that media representations have played the development of that legacy. A couple of years after my father’s death I read Malcolm X’s Autobiography. Before my father’s death I had read Angela Davis’ biography and other types of biography but the impact of reading those other biographies, at that time, served primarily to affirm my internalised understanding of the inhibiting factors of racism and, to some extent, sexism on my life. I didn’t relate to Angela Davis more deeply until after reading Malcolm X due to feeling inadequate to her academic background. Class is always an issue for me since I come from a middle class background, which I was constantly reminded that I had no right to be in. I also read Assata Shakur’s biography and Ghandi’s shortly after reading Malcolm X’s. I continue to read as many autobiographical and biographical writings about many people, especially Black people as I can. Malcolm X’s appeal to the poorer classes remains a steady force throughout his autobiography and the numerous film and video images that continue to remind us of his clarity of vision. Therefore the discussion about Malcolm’s legacy is not one that can occur in isolation from considering other factors that affect developing critical consciousness in today’s world.
Malcolm X and His Continuing Significance to Black Community
From various readings and speeches by women such as his sister Ella Collins, activist Angela Davis, social critic bell hooks, poet Jayne Cortez, his wife Betty Shabazz, and many others, Malcolm X seems to represent the quintessence of a certain accepted and necessary image of Black male leadership, in the 1960's and at other times, in the history of the liberation struggle for peoples of African descent living in the Americas. We respect his memory for as many reasons as there are women yet each has a clear understanding of Malcolm X’s limitations, particularly concerning his attitudes towards women. Reading his autobiography, and more so his speeches, we see changes in Malcolm’s attitudes towards women, along with so many other aspects of his life as he underwent tremendous changes throughout the intense period of political and intellectual growth he was experiencing in the years before his death.
As I’ve said earlier, interestingly Media and ‘mainstream-oriented documentarians’ such as many film and video makers interested in the man and icon Malcolm X tend to leave these kinds of issues out of any significant analysis of Malcolm X’s life — (again, why is this?). In part this is due to the social exotic that is Africanness, Blackness to many, despite the barriers that continue to separate people of African-descent and other marginalized groups from sharing real social, economic and political power. This is certainly a travesty in a time when we have so many contemporary media images of the poor starving, war-torn African. Yet most Canadians remain largely unaware that over 80% of contemporary continental African women are the backbone of subsistence farming in rural and suburban Africa, responsible for feeding their people. At this very moment Saharan Africa is still engaged in a dynamic struggle for economic and cultural independence from previous colonisers and neo-colonialist oppression. Very few of us ever have the opportunity to learn the full story about these issues. Few of us have the opportunity to travel so far beyond our borders to see the many ways in which we are linked with other nations.
Malcolm X’s legacy brought the importance of developing an international perspective home through his travels. Such knowledge significantly affects our attitudes and commitment to work towards helping to achieve equitable change for all people. Reading and listening to Malcolm X challenges us to do this work. Can commitment to Malcolm X’s principles lead each of us to take on more responsibility for learning and respecting the history and present day realities of our lives? Or for many is it enough to bask in romantic ideas of what Malcolm X was or wasn’t. To some extent I think this has been shown to be true (e.g Blackness fad continues to go through various new incarnations e.g.. ACID JAZZ, nouveau Black Style, mainstreaming of dreadlocks) but I think that we must look at such principles as a jumping off point, not the ‘be-all-and-end-all’.
The Autobiography of Malcolm X, and more importantly his later speeches and his work as a community organiser, has inspired and continues to affirm many of us. Malcolm X is representative of the possibilities for change in all of people, instructive in the importance of recognising the potential within each of us for powerful personal transformation which can allow us to be our complete selves (not about simplistic ideas of perfection but about struggle and inspiration and reflection followed by considered action). His life story shares important insights about the function of true humility, designated leadership, honest self-analysis, and outspoken creative spirit backing a social-political vision for liberation from all forms of oppression.
Malcolm X challenged ideas of leadership (never put another before yourself seemed to be an important realisation after his disillusionment with his mentor Elijah Mohammed). He challenged ways of organising, encouraging the radical idea that a person does know what she or he needs to enjoy a rich life and that we can work together, locally and internationally, for positive progressive change — self-determination, human rights. We must recognise that we are in this world together and not at the expense of each other — with respect for class awareness, difference, consciousness, aspiration, right to own agency — self-defence, right to self-defined social and cultural representation.
I’m not suggesting that Malcolm X’s legacy means that he had all of the answers but his growth in his work and words indicate all of the above. And most importantly he seemed to be open to changes within himself. He was relentless in his self-critique. One has the sense from listening to Malcolm X speak in the films and videos that we’ve seen this weekend that he was as hard on himself as he was on others, just like a lot of us.
He wasn’t afraid to express his humanity and accepting responsibility for his actions, whether embracing Allah or questioning his own vision, he brought forward always the best that he knew.
