 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
In his final months of life, Malcolm grappled with the issue of women's oppression, but not without some difficulties and contradictions. As he was introduced to female leaders and grassroots organizers in more progressive civil rights organizations, such as the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), he recognized the centrality of their work to the movement's success. At a December, 1964, forum at the Audubon Ballroom, when Malcolm X appeared with legendary SNCC activist Fannie Lou Hamer, he seemed to reaffirm the NOI's tradition of benevolent patriarchy, and black women as the private property of their fathers and husbands: "When I listen to Mrs. Hamer, a black woman-could be my mother, my sister, my daughter-describe what they had done to her in Mississippi, I ask myself how in the world can we ever expect to be respected as men when we will allow something like that to be done to our women, and we do nothing about it? How can you and I be looked upon as men with black women being beaten and nothing being done about it? No, we don't deserve to be recognized and respected as men as long as our women can be brutalized in the manner that this woman described...." In his travels to African and Middle Eastern countries, he came to appreciate the importance of social and political measures that enhanced women's legal rights. But in his own life, it was difficult to reconcile his love for his wife Betty and their children, with the tremendous sense of responsibility and political commitment to the goal of black liberation. One example is illustrative of this inner conflict. Early on the morning of February 14, 1964 the home of Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz was firebombed. Parents and children huddled in the cold winter night as their house burned. Seven hours later, after finding secure quarters for his family, Malcolm boarded a flight to Detroit, where he appeared on television and gave an address.
|
