This month’s pick is inspired by notions of the radical and the events taking place across the globe, as the question of what is considered “proper” in movements of resistance and liberation is often centred to derail the legitimacy and need for these movements. A text that opened my eyes to how realms and work concerned with activism, resistance and liberation can be co-opted and bogged down by respectability politics is the Autobiography of Malcolm X. The text details the life, political and social perspectives of human rights activist and Black liberation figurehead Malik el-Shabazz (I shall be referring to el-Shabazz as Malcolm X for continuity and because the text focuses primarily on this part of el-Shabazz’s life). The text focuses on X’s life and his journey as a radical figure in the 60s Black liberation movement. The text is told in first person narrative, amassed over a series of interviews with editor and co-author Alex Haley. As a result, the transcripts of X’s and Healy’s conversations speak to you about the state of the world, the struggle between the political and the personal and overall I think questions what we in spaces of liberation and those watching define as radical.
When I first read this text I saw Malcolm X as a very radical figure, a militant, unbending icon and to me, at the time the face of Black Radicalism (alongside figures such as the Black Panther Power Group). Mostly this was because of how his life and views had been portrayed in wider and popular discourse. X stood and in many ways still stands as a radical militant counterpart to Martin Luther King’s benevolent humanitarian brand of resistance in the narrative of the American civil rights movement. Reading this text gave me a nuanced and relatable perspective that was needed. It also made me question how we are quick to brand people, thinking and movements as radical because they step outside of the respectability politics that often frame acts of resistance, and are often used to police and delegitimize them. The sentiments shared by X throughout the text left me questioning “What is the best way for the oppressed to gain liberation?” Because more often than not, from peaceful student protests; to direct action, practices of resistance are seemingly always under more scrutiny than the structured, systematic oppression and subjugation that sparks the need for them.
The text starts with X giving an account of his early life, as Malcolm Little growing up in North America in the early 20th century. From his childhood, through to adulthood and right before his arrest and subsequent prison sentence X describes the brutal realities of navigating life as a racialised being. Like many he became aware that the country he was growing up in, and living in was not for him and the exclusion he experienced was based purely on his race:
“What I am trying to say is that it just never dawned upon them that I could understand that I wasn’t a pet, but a human being. They didn’t give me credit for having the same sensitivity, intellect, and understanding that they would have been ready and willing to recognise in a white boy in my position … even though we might be with them, we weren’t considered of them” – pg 107
Relating to X’s personal experiences, maybe not the specific details but definitely in the way that being a target of discrimination and oppression often means sitting in defence mode as your character; your nature has already been perceived. X’s accounts of his early life, before becoming politicised during his time in prison through his turning to the Nation spoke to me. The realisation and then anger that follow, the anger from realising that you’re very much forced into these feelings; experiences and interactions not because of your actual character or nature but simply the colour of your skin. X talks in depth within the text about how the things he witnessed and the experiences that he had throughout his life shaped his views, and when reading the text you can see where his notable stance on Black liberation came from
“Four hundred years the white man has his foot-long knife in the black man’s back – and now the white man starts to wiggle the knife out, maybe six inches! The black man’s supposed to be grateful? Why, if the white man jerked the knife out, it’s still going to leave a scar!” – pg 376
Statements like this may seem radical and at the time that X’s statements were made they were vieseen as a hindrance to the civil rights movement. However, how radical are these statements in relation to America’s historical and contemporary history with racism? Black Americans were fighting for equal rights after Jim Crow laws proved to be more about separation than equality. Is it radical to question the state, the government, and the powers that be if you will, if they’ve had a consistent and long history of subjugation and oppression? Not mentioned in the text itself but X’s famed quote:
“We want freedom by any means necessary. We want justice by any means necessary. We want equality by any means necessary”
This was taken as the inciting of violence by the American government, however, I think the quote and text speak to X’s will, and the will of those seeking liberation, a declaration that you will no longer be subject to oppression and subjugation again. As described by X his outspoken and to-the-point perspectives on civil rights were received with critique, but often his choice of words, not their content was held to the fire. But when you get past the emotive language used by X, the question remains where does the radicalism lie in the desire to decentralise oppressive ways of thinking and navigating life and demand humanity, respect and safety for all? In my own experiences as someone who has been marginalised, but also in witnessing the discrimination, persecution and oppression of peoples both locally and globally, reading this highlighted to me the complexities that arise when in pursuit of liberation. How movements of liberation can shift and be impacted by the instance of the oppressor that one must ask for their rights respectfully. As stated by X, his language may be emotive but the point that the system is broken and flawed remains.
Tendai Lewis 
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