Forty Seven years ago today, Malcolm X was assassinated. Activist, Journalist and Durham resident Lamont Lilly reflects on Malcolm’s enduring legacy in this piece, entitled: We are Malcolm X - This in Remembrance.

“It is incorrect to classify the revolt of the Negro as simply a racial conflict of black against white, or as a purely American problem. Rather, we are today seeing a global rebellion of the oppressed against the oppressor, the exploited against the exploiter.” - El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, 1964

Brief, yet exhaustive, this passage best represents the Malcolm X America doesn’t want you and I to know—the more complete post-Mecca Malcolm who could once again ignite an entire nation if only he were properly revisited. It seems like just yesterday, the life and times of Malcolm Little were resurrected through Spike Lee’s 1992 cinematic production, Malcolm X. Bold, vivid and vulgar, Spike’s production wasn’t only a history book for the hood; it was the artistic catalyst of a new cool: the infamous black “X” hat. It was also an introduction to Malcolm as a martyr of resistance.

How unfortunate, though, that such a revival was short lived for a generation of budding hip hoppers who were never lucky enough to meet George Wallace or Lincoln Rockwell, were never exposed to the White Citizens’ Council and never learned about Malcolm in school. Once I discovered Malcolm, I clearly understood why. Could you imagine all the Black men and political prisoners America has incarcerated converting into disciples of Malcolm X? Why, the oppressed would have their own nation by now!

Malcolm’s teachings were simple: Black is beautiful; love your roots, family and community; feed the mind; atone within; and know thyself and the rest will follow. Quite the gentle giant, Malcolm was “The Hate That Hate Produced.” He did possess an unwavering commitment to Black liberation. And what’s wrong with that? Was it true that Malcolm openly declared war against imperialism, colonialism and white supremacy? Damn right! But understand that Brother Malcolm wasn’t just a Negro leader, he was a global figure for the entire African Diaspora - for the working, poor and oppressed worldwide. Malcolm was a NOI (Nation of Islam) apostle turned international Pan-Africanist and Human Rights advocate. He wasn’t a racist, not even a “reverse racist,” as often depicted. He loved The People—his people and all people. Malcolm called out any institution, organization or government that wasn’t for The People. To Malcolm, one was either for the oppressed or against the oppressed, regardless of race or social class. He would tell you in a minute, “We got some Black devils running around here, too!” He was man so complex that, at times, he would even check himself. To Malcolm, NO ONE was exempt from being accountable to the masses. No one was exempt from being accountable to the truth. Malcolm Little was the story of true redemption. A man who hated, learned to love, and then learned to re-love. He was a mercenary for unadulterated justice.

In James Baldwin’s dagger of a memoir, No Name in the Street (1972), he meticulously dedicates five pages to Minister Malcolm—intimately reflecting upon their few interactions and the qualities he fiercely admired. Even in disagreeing with certain points, one couldn’t help but marvel at Malcolm’s tenacious and articulate “plain talk” - particularly from the lips of an ex-convict with no high school diploma. Malcolm was sharp—so sharp that long time veteran and Civil Rights organizer Bayard Rustin eventually refused to publicly debate with him.

Malcolm was an avid reader and an equally profound listener. Brother Malcolm would take the words of an opponent, and if they weren’t careful, hang them with their own rhetoric - especially when engaging enthusiastic integrationists such as James Farmer (founder of CORE). Yet, unlike many of today’s Uncle Tom Black spokesmen, Malcolm never spoke or wrote to impress folk. This self-proclaimed “field negro” would instead communicate in a language all could understand—from the highest to the lowest, and from the youngest to the oldest. What most formal academicians fail to realize, or acknowledge, is that Malcolm was The People’s Champ. He was a street prophet who could relate to Oxford University’s most esteemed professors just as sincerely and effectively as with Kenya’s Revolutionary Wing, the Mau Mau. Malcolm would extend the common street hustler just as much dignity as he would Jomo Kenyatta, Patrice Lumumba or Kwame Nkrumah.

Malcolm was ahead of his time. While the majority of Black political figures of his era sought freedom and liberation through social inclusion (through public toilets and white restaurants) Malcolm championed Human Rights over Civil Rights and Workers’ Rights over capitalism. He even championed Women’s Rights. For some, it was okay for our mothers and sisters march the Edmund Pettus, be sprayed with hoses and bitten by dogs, but not to have an opinion or be given a microphone. Not so to Brother Malcolm. In organizing his OAAU (the Organization of Afro American Unity), Malcolm systematically sought strong sisters who could play equal roles in planning, teaching, and helping to build a revolutionary movement. His adoration for women like Fannie Lou Hamer, Shirley Graham Du Bois and elder sibling, Ella Collins, was a personal denouncement of male chauvinism. Minister Malcolm would have loved Shirley Chisholm. He poignantly articulated upon his return from Ghana, Guinea and Algeria that “Africa will not be free until it frees its women.”

I state the above to say this, brothers and sisters: more so now than ever, it will be critical amidst our mounting struggles that people of all nations thoroughly re-explore the full range of Malcolm’s thoughts and analyses. His actions, deeds, personal evolution, stages of development and ideological building blocks are just as relevant today as they were in February 1965. While today we may have a ‘dark man’ in office, there are far too many in prison. Job loss and ‘Urban Renewal’ continue to wreak havoc, while pig brutality seems to have gone UP in the Black community, at least from Oscar Grant’s perspective. Not to mention, the NAACP is back fighting resegregation, right here in Raleigh, our state capital. This is what Brother Malcolm was trying to get us to understand almost 50 years ago.

The beauty of Malcolm was that only he could represent the truth of the Black experience with such fury and eloquence—only he could dissect the brutality of American hypocrisy with such fearless clarity and impenitent passion. With heart and mind, body and soul, he awoke the dead and led the army…from the front…into the street…through the rain…into the middle of the ghetto…and right in front of Mr. Hoover and his COINTELPRO. In the end, Malcolm was me and Malcolm was you. Malcolm was ‘The People’ and the beat of our hearts. He was the one who came and gave life as he went—our Black Freedom Christ who dared to stand tall. We didn’t lose Brother Malcolm; he was a shepherd of the sheep who gave himself. Thanks Brother Malcolm, Black lives on. I, too, am Malcolm X. The oppressed live on!

Lamont Lilly is a monthly columnist for Spectacular Magazine and contributing editor with the Triangle Free Press. In 2010 he served as an International Human Rights Delegate with Witness for Peace in Colombia, South America. He currently resides in Durham as an activist, organizer and writer.

I’ve taught courses at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill since 2009, but until this semester all of my courses have been in the Department of African and African American Studies. This semester I have the privilege of developing a new class just a few buildings down from Battle Hall in the Music Department. The course is a Beat Making Lab founded by music professor and budding DJ Dr. Mark Katz and internationally renown beat battle champion Apple Juice Kid. The curriculum covers three areas: practical beat making, a history of beat making, and entrepreneurship in the music industry. Students will learn how to use the open-source software Audacity, Reason 6 and Abelton Live, as well as engage career producers, beat makers and music industry professionals. If you’re interested in keeping up with the class, “like” us on facebook and follow me on twitter (@durhamite). Should be an interesting semester.

For those of you who tweet I highly recommend you follow Dr. Mark Anthony Neal (@newblackman) and Dr. Sandy Darity (@sandydarity). You’ll learn things like this: “@NewBlackMan: Unemployment Rises For Blacks As It Falls For Everyone Else @SandyDarity”. Dr. Neal linked a News One article, but I found another article via CNN, which doesn’t force you to click through an advertisement first.

Oh yeah, and don’t forget to follow me - @durhamite!

[Blackademics founder Pierce Freelon writes from West Africa]

Greetings from Accra, Ghana - my home for the next two weeks.

I’ve decided to submit “My View” from West Africa, to give you a glimpse into my experience on the road. I’m here shooting a documentary about black cultural production and migration throughout the African diaspora. I hope to premiere the film for several Hillside High School students at Movement of Youth’s sixth annual Hip Hop Symposium during Black History Month.

Movement of Youth (MOY) is an awesome Durham-based nonprofit, founded by UNC graduate Atrayus Goode. We collaborate every Black History month on a Hip Hop Symposium, and this year’s event promises to be exciting for Durham teens. I am privileged to be able to travel for my work, and feel a responsibility to bring my experience back to Durham.

I left town a few days ago and it’s been fun re-adjusting to Ghanaian cuisine. I had a belly full of Banh’s Cuisine’s spicy chicken wings, fried tofu and sticky rice when I hit the road. Now I’m getting used to Waakye (rice and black-eyed-peas), Red Red, plantains, Fufu (pounded cassava and yam) and fish. Not “fish,” as in a nicely-cut, seasoned tilapia filet from Whole Foods - I’m talking about a whole fish with 10,000 little bones that was swimming in the Atlantic ocean yesterday, now looking up at me with crusty fried eyeballs in a bowl of stew. Pure deliciousness.

This is not my first time in West Africa. Back in 2007, while earning my master’s degree in Pan-African Studies at Syracuse University, I traveled to Ghana to research hip hop in the Motherland. I spent three incredible months filming, interviewing and hanging out with musicians, historians, expatriates and emcees during Ghana’s 50th year of independence from colonialism.

This time I’m working with Brooklyn’s Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MoCADA) and their partners, MVMT on a film about Pan-Africanism and cultural production. The film follows Ghanaian-born emcee Blitz The Ambassador and Grammy-nominated French-Cameroonian vocalists, Les Nubians as they prepare for a show in Accra. The film also engages a group of Americans, mostly black, who are traveling to Africa for the first time, as they visit the WEB DuBois Center, Kwame Nkrumah’s grave, the Elmina and Cape Coast slave dungeons, and other historical/ancestral sites.

The flight to Ghana was very long. With stops and lengthy layovers at several airports I got the chance to look around, and in the process I developed a new appreciation for Raleigh-Durham International. RDU is a world-class facility - and I don’t just say that because my dad’s firm, The Freelon Group, designed it. RDU is aesthetically pleasing, convenient and well oriented, and frankly, makes the airports in New Jersey, Frankfurt and Accra look bad. Luckily I had an iPod full of J. Cole, Phonte and 9th Wonder to keep Carolina on my mind during the course of the 24+ hour commute.

And Ghana was well worth the wait.

I had forgotten how refreshing it is to live in a black country. To see billboards, commercials and magazines that reflect a healthy variety of images of blackness. To hear and see African music, perspectives and personalities on the radio and television. To see an intergenerational community of people living and hustling side by side. I look forward to bringing these images back to Durham and exposing our youth to a sliver of that experience.

I will be writing every day, and will report back with another article at the end of the trip to let you know how things went. We will spend one week in Accra and another week on the Cape Coast, before I return to the Bull City.

Until then …

[check out part 2 in the News and Observer]

The ad depicts a young clean cut brother chucking his curly counterpart - a beheaded doppelganger with full-blown afro and beard - into the distance. The caption reads, “LOOK like you GIVE a damn: RE-CIVILIZE YOURSELF.” Nivea is a German global skin and body care brand, whose name is derived from the Latin word niveus/nivea/niveum, meaning “snow-white”. Perfect.

Amid tremendous criticism and backlash about the ad, Nivea quickly issued a reconciliatory statement:

“We are deeply sorry to anyone who may take offense to this specific local advertisement. After realizing that this ad is misleading, it was immediately withdrawn.”

But is the advertisement misleading?

Efforts to “civilize” Africans through enslavement and colonization were justified by the likes of Englishman Rudyard Kipling (in his poem White Man’s Burden) as a necessary obligation. Several European nations, Germany included, embarked on campaigns to forcefully assimilate African people into what they professed to be advanced stages of social, cultural and moral development. This included coercing people into adopting and worshiping European religious beliefs, governmental structures and aspirations, while attempting to obliterate indigenous social, cultural and political mores. “Civilizing” missions also involved launching the decapitated heads of those who did not wish to assimilate into oblivion, as is depicted in this ad.

Beyond this historical correlation, the advertisement depicts a modern example of how an African man can go about civilizing himself. Nivea takes Kipling’s role by providing specific guidelines ushering black folk towards assimilation and modernization. Looking “like you give a damn,” presumably about your image, career or life is actually great advice, which is reinforced and institutionalized in schools, offices and police stations across America.

After all, 11-year-olds still get kicked out of school for wearing their hair in cornrows. Having a black-sounding name (or, indeed, being black) makes it harder to get a job and easier to get arrested. This is not Nivea’s doing. Their advertisement, simply provides a reality check - that looking, sounding, acting, or being black is a liability in the civilized world.

Nivea legitimately asserts that if you want to graduate, get a job, stay out of prison and be a productive member of this civilization - you should start by trimming your afro/braids/curls/locs into a clean-cut caesar (ladies get a perm), indicating to other civilized members of society that you give a damn about yourself. Furthermore, you should discard your former self by throwing his/her decapitated head into the snow-white abyss. To quote Charles Barkley, and to place this ridiculous ad in its proper historical context, “anything less would be uncivilized“.

North Carolina is emerging as one of the hotbeds of the international spoken word and slam poetry scene, with several nationally ranked slam poets residing right here in the Bull City.

I had the honor of conducting an after-school program with one of the area’s most talented poets, Durham native Kane “Novakane” Smego. A founding member of the Chapel Hill youth poetry organization Sacrificial Poets, Kane is simply one of the dopest poets and human beings I’ve ever met. His lyrical prowess and compelling delivery is exemplary, but it is the vulnerable authenticity of his stories that has made him one of the most respected, and feared, poets in the world.

The program we run together, Poetic Justice, combines two curricula: a series of spoken-word workshops that Kane designed for Sacrificial Poets called YouTh ink and a hip hop curriculum I developed in graduate school called Blackademics. The result is a new hybrid curriculum we’ve been conducting in the Durham Public Schools system for the past 30 weeks. The results have been stunning.

We started in October at Jordan High School, where we recruited close to a dozen students, all whom had failed ninth grade English. We met Tuesday and Thursday afternoons after school for 10 weeks. Kane and I developed a strong bond with the students and were proud to debut their poetry at Superintendent Becoats’ unveiling of his new strategic plan for the Durham public school system titled “One Vision. One Durham.”

Our young Falcons impressed a room full of teachers and DPS administrators, with thought-provoking and evocative poems that covered a range of topics including love, racism and Hurricane Katrina. Their final performance took place downtown at Motorco Music Hall, where they wowed a multi-generational audience of more than 300 enthusiastic Durhamites, as part of Durham Central Park School’s annual Save Our Arts benefit concert.

After the Jordan program concluded, we introduced Poetic Justice over at the Durham Performance and Learning Center. This alternative public school is a last stop for many Durham youth. It’s where many students are shipped when they are kicked out of other schools.

At DPLC we were able to expand the program to three days a week and develop the curriculum so that students could receive a creative writing credit for the course. This was a landmark achievement for Poetic Justice, and we have DPLC Principal Danny Gilfort to thank.

The DPLC students were just as talented as our Jordan group. We started with a classroom full of students who had little to no exposure to spoken-word poetry, and left with a tight-knit group of poets who are good enough to participate in national youth competition.

Kane deserves a tremendous amount of credit. He’s a natural educator with a good ear and a good heart. We tried to build trust in our classroom by creating a safe space where students and teachers alike could open up and be heard. The kids responded brilliantly.

They wrote about their families, sexual abuse, religious discrimination, enslavement, propaganda, the power of poetry and more. One student wrote a poem from the perspective of women revolutionaries in Libya, while another reminisced about their grandma’s home cooking in New Jersey. The wealth of emotion and vivid storytelling pouring out of these students was nothing short of amazing.

Their final performance took place at Flyleaf Bookstore in Chapel Hill. I was so delighted by what I heard that night, I could barely hold the camera in my trembling hands. I watched as five Durham youth stepped out of their respective cocoons and emerged monarchs, with wings forged of stunning creativity, confidence and clarity.

Durham, I wish you could have been there.

If you are interested in supporting the Triangle’s growing poetry scene, check out Durham’s monthly Jambalaya Soul Slam. You can also support the Sacrificial Poets’ monthly open mics and slams, or visit one of the poetry clubs at Northern, Jordan, Chapel Hill and Carrboro High schools.

You won’t regret the investment.

*UPDATE: read the Daily Tar Heel Review