The Legacy of Malcolm X

Many thanks to Ellis for his very hopeful and moving assessment of the true significance of Malcolm X.

I was a white, middle-class, suburban junior high school student who was fortunate enough to have had one teacher who was diligent and compassionate enough to pry open our minds, and joint by joint, repair the connections between emotion and intellect, thinking and feeling. Part of how she accomplished this was by helping us to appreciate the dignity, personal power and discipline of men like Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King.

We were allowed and encouraged (yes!) to be electrified by the passion of their words and works, and to find that passion and power in ourselves, to use it to be--and to help--better people. We were taught: Compromise without, but never, ever within. Work hard to muster every bit of dignity, compassion, insight and resourcefulness inside yourself, and do not hoard a crumb of it. What you hoard will only spoil, depriving us all.

ROBERT F. McRAE JR.

Burbank