Happy Birthday to minister, activist, and civil rights leader Malcolm X (b. May 19, 1925, in Omaha, NE), who combined history, politics, and religion to create his own version of liberation theology as a basis for social struggle. He encouraged people to look at African American history through a religious lens to understand the remarkable, liberating, and continuing resilience shown by Black people. He also advocated studying the history of African civilizations to understand the empowering global context behind Black freedom struggle. Malcolm X made clear that overcoming adversity both individually and collectively, both in the past and in the present, provides great strength. As he told a crowd of eager listeners gathered for one of his talks about African American history: [S]ince I was a little boy I learned that one of the things that make you grow into manhood are tests and trials and tribulations. If you can come through the snow and the rain and the sleet, you know you can make it easily when the sun is out and everything is right.”
Citations: Nancy Tenfelde Clasby, “Malcolm X and Liberation Theology,” CrossCurrents 38, no. 2 (Summer 1988): 173, https://www.jstor.org/stable/24459151; Malcolm X, Malcolm X on Afro-American History (New York: Pathfinder, 1990 [1967]), 11, 26-27, https://archive.org/details/malcolmxonafroam0000xmal; Herman Hiller, “Malcolm X at Queens Court / World Telegram & Sun photo by Herman Hiller,” photograph (location unknown, 1964), https://lccn.loc.gov/97519439.
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