Malcolm X - The Man Martyred on this day *Feb. 21* (1965)

Every year during Black History Month I always hate this particular day just a little bit; because on this very day back in 1965; a bold and gallant leader of the Civil rights struggle was gunned down by assassins bullets. For me he lived in the pages of his autobiography "Malcolm X" by Alex Haley - one of the first books that had changed my life & re-adapted my thinking for years to come. Through his social, political awareness I was made more aware of the world and just how it functions and interrelates racially and within class-systems. I watched the Movie by Spike Lee, and like so many others I was affixed by how daring and bold Malcolm X was, needless to say Actor Denzil Washington played the role of Malcolm brilliantly. I began from there to read other books, about other movements for change and revolution throughout the world. I became more community-centered because of this man, and deep down he was almost like a father figure to me, and one of my greatest examples of black manhood. When reading his words one felt as if they to could say "by any means necessary" just as he had done.

He addressed the frustrations of those times...


"Nobody can give you freedom, nobody can give you equality or justice. If you're a man...you take it" - Malcolm X

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History gives us the clues that can dispel modern misconceptions about Religion & Race

I'm up as usual...in the wee hours of the night doing some reading and researching, usually about different things; things that will engage my mind and make me think outside of the consumerism that we're all surrounded by on a daily basis (my blog has always been about more then just my opinions on fashion and music). I'm reminded of some words that I had read somewhere by Malcolm X and I quote: "...it's a crime what people don't know about their history. And we have not only to learn history, but I invite you to that other excitement, the excitement of unlearning history, unlearning the history that you learned". I remember those words hitting me in an unusual way because I had never known up until that point that one should "unlearn" something, and the process of unlearning became even more fun then learning itself.

I am quoting Malcolm X because in all honesty; his autobiography was one of the first books that turned the light bulb in my head on about various subjects like history, religion, philosophy, human rights etc. Now I'm about to get into a subject that's a bit sticky for a lot of people, and most people tend to avoid it whenever possible - that subject is Religion (but I'm unafraid to examine it). A lot of people think Religion is a waste of time, a dividing issue that isn't needed in an age as modern as the one we live in. To those people I say...Cool...if it's that bothersome or uncomfortable for you then by all means leave it alone. But for the people who wouldn't mind tarrying along, then to you I say WELCOME, and let's delve into it together. This is another quote by Malcolm X that sums up the theme of my blog post tonight, and it reads as follows:

"Do you know that if you and I know history we know the right religion? The only way that you can become confused, that you can become mixed up and not know which religion belongs to God, is if you don't know history. In fact, you have to know history to know something about God. You have to know history to know something about God's religion. You have to know history to know something about God's people. You have to know history to know something about God's plans and God's purposes."

Now...I'm of the opinion that Africa gave a lot of things to the world, one of those things is "spirituality" and like most of the other things that are African originated inventions; ideas fell at the mercy of those colonizers who came, snatched ancient African concepts and then CHANGED them to suit other customs for other cultures. This isn't an uncommon thing to do, it's been done with Music, Fashion, Culinary art, and it's no different when it comes to spirituality and religious doctrines; people will always clone what's popular and re-arrange it to make it look as if it's a newer original idea. But nothing new is under the sun; it's all been here before, just with a slightly different name, said in a slightly different way, and if done long enough the fervor associated with those beliefs will be long held traditions that some people would openly die for. Consider this blog post a PART ONE in the discussion about religion and history, and watch these videos below about the presence of Africans in the region known as Israel today, because that presence has a lot to do with who were the originators of many of the world's spiritual concepts.




My Concluding Point: In Ancient times and even up until this very day, the original Ethiopians, Egyptians and Israelis are virtually the same people. The biblical figure known as Moses was mistaken for an Egyptian (remember the story wherein Moses as a baby was snatched from the river Nile by Egypt's Queen). When Jesus's life was threatened when only a little boy, his mother Mary took Jesus and fled into Egypt where they could hide, if they were of any other racial delineation other then African then they would have been detected easily in that population. The ancient Egyptians and Ethiopians were the same people; the nations of Cush, Mizarim, Phut and Canaan are all Brothers.