By Jimmy Lee Beason II, Osage Nation
In 2021, I had the honor of being flown out to New York City along with other Natives to be interviewed by Spike Lee. It was a quick trip where I left home at 3am, arrived in NYC, did the interview, then returned to Kansas in time for dinner. Spike was putting together a documentary about Colin Kaepernick and within the film he wanted to bring awareness to the issue of Indian mascots.
We discussed the matter, and how the KC Chiefs is a racist organization that relies on disrespectful Native American tropes (i.e. the tomahawk chop, headdresses, war paint, etc.) to bolster their image, which he agreed. He also had me read on camera from an article I wrote back in 2014 about the Chiefs and their origins. I must’ve been reading it a little too fast, and he told me to slow down and re-read it yelling “action!” I remember telling my wife how stoked I was to get “directed” by Spike Lee!
Toward the end of the meeting, I told him how I grew up watching his film Malcolm X and read Malcolm’s autobiography and how both the movie and book had a huge impact on me in my development of becoming politically conscious and although I’m Native, that Malcolm’s approach to speaking out on racism and uplifting the Black community inspired me in many ways to speak out on racism and try to uplift the Native community.
Malcolm Little aka Malcolm X, was born on May 19th, 1925 to Earl and Louise Little. They had eight children and lived in Omaha, Nebraska. Earl was a preacher and supporter of Marcus Garvey and his ideas of Black nationalism. However, due to his political involvement, he was subjected to threats from the local Ku Klux Klan. They would ride up to Malcolm’s home in the middle of the night, yelling for Earl to come out while showing off their guns. When Malcolm was 4 years old, they busted out all the windows of their house. Of course these cowards would always be hiding underneath the bed sheets their wives sewed together for their midnight outings of racial terror.
Earl eventually moved his family to Michigan where they, unfortunatley, found a more potent form of racism. Not long after they moved in, a violent mob of white barbarians set fire to their home while the so-called “fire department” just watched and refused to put it out. They moved yet again. This time to a house Earl built in East Lansing. However, in 1931, Earl Little was found dead sprawled across the town’s streetcar tracks. White supremacists were more than likely the murderers, but the racist police ruled his death an “accident.”
This subsequently voided the life insurance policy that would have provided much needed money for his family. His wife Louise was grief stricken and she eventually ended up in a psychiatric hospital for 26 years. The children were sent to foster homes and became separated.
Malcolm navigated the racist public school system, and was sent to a juvenile detention home where he lived with a white couple. According to Malcolm, they treated him well enough, but viewed him more like a “pet” than a human being. While in high school Malcolm did very well with his schoolwork, was admired by other students and wanted to become a lawyer. However, instead of supporting this idea, his underhanded weasel of a “teacher” told him he should focus on becoming a carpenter instead as it was a trade more “suited” to a Black man. The following year, Malcolm dropped out of school at the age of 15.
From there he went to live with his sister Ella in Boston. She was older than him and a proud Black woman who loved her dark skin, which Malcolm stated was “unheard of” in those days. Malcolm worked a couple of odd jobs, such as a shoe shiner and a member of the kitchen staff on a train that ran between Boston and New York. He eventually descended into a life of crime, drugs, and colorful zoot suits, hanging out at nightclubs and essentially became a professional thief. However, at the age of 20, he was caught and sent to Charlestown State prison for 10 years on charges of burglary. While locked up, Malcolm spent his time constantly reading books and became a member of the debate team after he was transferred to Norfolk State prison.
Around this time some of Malcolms siblings visited him and talked about becoming members of the Nation of Islam. According to them, Black people needed to separate from Whites in order to truly achieve freedom and justice.
Malcolm eventually joined the Nation of Islam while in prison and after he was released in 1952, he was employed as a minister with the organization. His communication and speaking skills were used to start a newspaper and he participated in national televised debates. Malcolm’s speeches were fierce, articulate and factual. Using examples from his own background in the criminal underworld, he was able to offer anecdotes of introspection that inspired his audiences to make changes for the better in the face of systematic racism by “any means necessary.”
While giving a speech in Manhattan at the Audubon Ballroom, on February 21st 1965, Malcolm X was assassinated by gunmen. He was only 39 years old. However, his legacy continues to live on inspiring people from all communities to speak out on injustice.
