Malcolm X: Speeches and Interviews (1960-65)
--FILE--Malcolm X, the Black Muslim leader, is shown in New York in this March 5, 1964 file photo. Farrakhan said he regrets his writings may have led others to murder Malcolm X in a ``60 Minutes"" interview to be broadcast Sunday, May 14, 2000. Attallah Shabazz later issued a statement thanking Farrakhan for acknowledging his role and said: "I wish him peace."" Shabazz, then 6, saw her father gunned down in the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem on Feb. 21, 1965. (AP Photo/Eddie Adams, File)(Photo: Eddie Adams, Copyright, The Journal News 1999;Yes)Buy Photo
Around 100 Rockland residents are expected tocelebrate the life of Malcolm X at a birthday party in his honor on Friday at the Nyack Center.If he were alive, he would have turned91 on Thursday.
But the primaryfocus of this event is youth.
The celebration is uniquely suitable for the times black youth and people find themselves in right now, said Rev. Weldon McWilliams, who is organizing the event along with the Nyack Center Teen Council and Black Lives Matter Rockland & Orange Alliance.
"Black Lives Matter is a very young movement," said Vanessa Green one of the chapter"sco-founders and another partyorganizer. "Itellyoung people, "This is not your grandmother"s civil rights movement."
Indeed.East Ramapo High School student Melissa Denizard is a founding member of the chapterand organizesevents such as "Books & Breakfast," which brings free food and reading material to community groups around the region.Nyack High School"sShaemalie Franck, another member of both the local Black Lives Matter chapter and the Nyack Center Teen Council, will greet attendees and otherwise help host the event.
"Were very happy to bring those voices on board," Green said.
McWilliams, a history professor at SUNYs Dutchess Community College said, "In a time when many black people, and more specifically black youth, feel that they have been systematically excluded from the possibilities of obtaining the American Dream and unfairly (and maybe even unlawfully) targeted by law enforcement, this celebration of Malcolm X is also a celebration that validates those feelings and will hopefully provide the creative inspiration needed to move toward viable solutions.
Green said that unarmed black women who died at the hands of police and other authorities in recent yearswill be recognized as part of the Say Her Name campaign.
The African American Policy Forum, along with the Black Youth Project 100 and other groups launched this national effort last year after the Black Lives Matter group. The groupwascreatedin response to the death of Trayvon Martin in 2012to raise awareness aboutthe injustices affecting black peoplehadbecome especially focused on the lives of black men.
Contemporary and African dancers will perform for attendees, who will share their own poems and thoughts about the late civil rights leader. The owner of food truck SoulFood Saturday will donate chicken wings and other goodies to the potluck feast as will BJ"s Wholesale Club.
Organizer Nikki Heinz said she identifies with Malcolm Xs comment that, You cant separate peace from freedom. That is so powerful and true.
Twitter:@ASKSanders
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Source: http://www.lohud.com/story/news/2016/05/20/black-lives-matter-celebrate-malcolm-x/84498088/
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