Today, February twenty first, marks the sixtieth anniversary of the death of the Activistiness of a rights leader, who was assassinated at the Auderbonn Ballroom in Harlem, New York in nineteen sixty five. Malcolm was a vocal advocate for black empowerment and the promotion of Islam within the African American community,
of course and beyond. While a controversial figure to some accused of preaching violence, Malcolm X is also a widely celebrated figure of many Americans for his pursuit of racial justice. As I think about Malcolm X and what he stood for, I find myself wondering what he would think about today's culture, particularly when it comes to the modern athlete. But before I get into that, let me say this. Malcolm X was not a man that preached violence. We gonna put
that to bed right now. He preached an I FORO and I. He preached the importance of one self protection. He preached the importance of not turning to turn in the other cheek when somebody punches you, or slaps you, or kicks you or beats you. Last time I checked that self defense. That's not preaching violence. He certainly didn't propose instigating it and igniting it. He talked about defending oneself and not letting people abuse you and just standing by idly and doing nothing.
So let's get that out the way first.
Secondly, I thought it was important to bring this subject up today because.
We saw the Four Nations Hockey tournament.
Come to his conclusion last night in Boston, Massachusetts, where Canada beat the United States three too after Donald Trump gave a call to the team USA by the way, you know, encouraging them the victory before they lost.
But that's a different subject for another day.
Not his fault, but it happened, and after we saw that match, and even when we saw it Saturday, and we saw United States being boolled while the United States national anthem was being song, and we saw the Canadians come at us the way that they did. We beat them Saturday, they beat us last night. We have to remember what instigated that, what started that to some degree, Donald Trump talking about making Canada the fifty first state.
Obviously they don't take condy to that, okay.
And Trudeau Trudell rather president of Canada, he came, you know, he spoke about that as well, in the aftermath.
Of Canada's victory.
It's important to recognize that emanating off of that subject at the same time that hockey had elevated its profile exponentially because everybody was watching. Because of the friction and attention that existed between Team USA and Canada, it was an opportunity to also lament what we had witnessed for NBA All Star weekend and same for Cisco this past Sunday. We saw a new format institute. We saw players, new rules implemented because players hadn't been given effort and they
were walking around like they didn't care. Now, what would that have to do with the assassination of Malcolm X?
Directly? Absolutely nothing.
Indirectly, everything you see Malcolm X was about black empowerment. He was also about black economic empowerment. He wanted us he wanted equal opportunities and civil rights for US as a nation of people. He also wanted us to maximize those opportunities and achieve all we could. But in the process of that, uplift one another along the way. Become a coalition, not be collection of individual parts, but come together as one and understand the importance.
Of being together.
And how much that would serve to empower us in whatever agendas and missions we had moving forward. We just sat here and we talked about Donald Trump, and we talked about Donerald Trump talking about the president of Ukraine. We didn't talk about Donald Trump's position and purging parts of the federal government, including DEI. We didn't talk about
some of the things black folks fair. As my buddy Roland Martin pointed out when he said that there's a concerted effort to scale back every bit of progress we made since civil rights legislation came into play in nineteen sixty four.
We haven't talked about that. You know what else we wouldn't have to if we were together more not.
And that's why I thought that on a day like today, where we're acknowledging the sixty year anniversary of the assassination of Malcolm Xwell, was to remind people.
Of exactly who he was and what he would have hoped for.
Yes, Malcolm x evolved, Yes, as he evolved, he thought a little bit differently, and he was more embracing of a mosaic society as opposed to just a black one. All of those things are true. But he also preached about the importance of togetherness. And I think about so many things that professional athletes have, and the wealth they've been able to accumulate, to accumulate, the generational wealth that some have been able to acquire, and how there's so
many instances where we're nothing more than individual parts. I wonder, for example, when the George Floyd murders took place, the George Floyd murder in Minnesota, right around the time of COVID, I wonder what would have happened Instead of folks talking about taking a knee and locking arms with one another.
I wonder what would have happened if the athletes themselves have pulled their resources and used that money to funnel the lobbyists on Capitol Hill to push their agendas to the politicians who are legislating laws.
In our land.
Could you imagine what that would have done. Think about some of the things that we're questioning right now. Think about some of the things that are going on in our society. Think about the fear that's permitting through our nation, where you talk about people losing their rights, wondering what's going to happen to them, Think about entitlement programs, is going to evaporate before our very hours think about all
those things. Would we have to worry about it as much if folks had come together and pulled their resources to make sure to provide real influence.
So real things could get done.
When I think about Malcolm X, just like when I think about doctor Martin Luther King Jr. I think of that, and on a daylight today, not only do I think Malcolm X on the sixtieth anniversary of his assassination, I also think about doctor Martin Luther King Jr. And what the late great Harry Belafonte once said that Doctor Martin Luther King said to him in his waning days. A matter of fact, it might have been the day he
was assassinated. He said, I fear that I've led our people into a burning house preaching about the importance of desegregation and all that could emanate from it. He wondered whether or not he truly had led us into a burning house, that what he had wished for, that what we would ultimately capture, would lead to our fragmentation instead of our togetherness. I don't know if that's what happened. More qualified minds than me can speculate about that or
even edify you with their information. What I can say is that on a daylight today, it is appropriate to at least think about that, to at least ask yourself that question, how together are we, how together should we be?
And if indeed we.
Ever came together, how much beneficial would it be for all of us, not just the Black community, but America as a whole. It's just a thought that I thought I could leave y'all with for the weekend. I hope you appreciate where I'm coming from, and I thank you for listening.