February 21 and Two Eulogies
Ossie Davis for Malcolm X; Harry Belafonte for Ossie Davis
Fifty-seven years ago today, February 21, 1965, Malcolm X was murdered, most likely by a combination of the FBI, the NYPD, and the Nation of Islam — each of whom saw him as a threat.
In my study of the literature on Malcolm X, the most powerful statement about his life and legacy are from the actor and civil rights activist, Ossie Davis:
“There are those who will consider it their duty, as friends of the Negro people, to tell us to revile him, to flee even from the presence of his memory, to save ourselves by writing him out of the history of our turbulent times.
“Many will say turn away—away from this man, for he is not a man but a demon, a monster, a subverter and an enemy of the black man—and we will smile.
“They will say that he is of hate—a fanatic, a racist—who can only bring evil to the cause for which you struggle!
“And we will answer and say unto them:
“Did you ever talk to Brother Malcolm?
“Did you ever touch, or have him smile at you?
“Did you ever really listen to him?
“Did he ever do a mean thing?
“Was he ever himself associated with violence or any public disturbance?
“For if you did you would know him.
“And if you knew him you would know why we must honor him:
“Malcolm was our manhood, our living, black manhood!
“This was his meaning to his people.
“And in honoring him we honor the best in ourselves.”
–Ossie Davis, Eulogy for Malcolm X, February 27, 1965
At the funeral for Ossie Davis, Harry Belafonte’s eulogy included:
“He embraced the greatest forces of our time — Paul Robeson, Dr. W.E.B. DuBois, Eleanor Roosevelt, A. Philip Randolph, Fanny Lou Hamer, Ella Baker, Thurgood Marshall, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Nelson Mandela, and so many, many more.
“At a time of one of our most anxious and conflicted moments when our America was torn apart by seething issues of race, Ossie paused at the tomb of one of our noblest warriors, and in the eulogy he delivered ensured that history would clearly understand the voice of black people, and what Malcolm X meant to us and the cause of the African and the African-American struggle for freedom.
“When many of our greatest warriors were most reviled, he championed to them and our cause. With history as witness, and his uncompromising allegiance to truth, Ossie Davis stands validated and revered.”
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