Plus ça Change, Plus C'est La Même Chose

[Eddie]

I read the Autobiography of Malcolm X in 1977 or so, probably because I read a review in the Last Whole Earth Catalog, which is what we had back then.


It wasn't the internet, but it wasn't bad. Like it was to Steve Jobs, who was my exact same age, the Catalog was a huge influence on me. So many lifelong pursuits of mine started with one of their book reviews. Those guys, Stewart Brand, Lloyd Kahn, and all the guys who wrote the Catalog, were my teachers and mentors, although I never met a single one of them.

I didn't know then that Malcom X's book was ghost written by Alex Hailey. Alex Hailey could make damn near anybody sound good, I know. But I think he stayed pretty true to the real Malcolm.

Because videos like this? They show he was......piercingly observant, and nobody's fool. Not at all. I really do wonder what he would have to say about the state of race relations in America today.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZjS0ZVa8oyI&fs=1" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/ZjS0ZVa8oyI&fs=1</a>

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[Surly1]

Because videos like this? They show he was......piercingly observant, and nobody's fool. Not at all. I really do wonder what he would have to say about the state of race relations in America today.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZjS0ZVa8oyI&fs=1" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/ZjS0ZVa8oyI&fs=1</a>

IMO, you have this exactly right. Malcolm was executed by TPTB as surely as was King. Even though they hung it on the Nation of Islam. Too much publicly uttered truth. NY will still not release the records. As usual, there remains a shitmist of lingering questions about the case.

“Just as a chicken cannot produce a duck egg, the system in this country cannot produce freedom for an Afro-American.”

Malcolm X assassination: 50 years on, mystery still clouds details of the case
Despite freedom of information act requests throughout the years, New York still will not release records to the public and claim files would endanger the safety of police officers and constitute unwarranted invasions of privacy
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/feb/21/malcolm-x-assassination-records-nypd-investigation

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