Malcolm X would have been 97 years old today.

It never really dawned on me how young he was when he lost his life.

He was only 39 years old when he was assassinated.

The other day I re-watched his famous “The Ballot or the Bullet” speech and just shook my head throughout it because so much of what we are STILL experiencing is happening today.

One of the hardest debates for me to listen to is the one Malcolm had that occured three days before his assassination.

I will post it. He held his composure and you could literally hear his strength through his convictions.

They allowed callers to call in and one caller called in and it was a white woman threatening him saying she hope the KKK got him. And he literally challenged them, daring them. “Hello Malcolm. The Ku Klux Klan should get you!”

He was not afraid.

I think at that point he knew his time was coming to an end and he went down fighting.

It was the same strength from desperation I heard in Dr. Kings “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech that’s actually my favorite of his.

I often wonder if Martin and Malcolm had of lived out their lives where would they be?

Lately I’ve been thinking like damn just imagine if they would have had all the opportunity, resources, and technology that we have today how far they would have been! And even back then they made so much something out of nothing and here we are taking so much especially each other for granted.

It makes you really sitback and just feel heartbroken.

We have come so far and we STILL have soooooo far to go.

The thing about it is, we have to heal in our community and provide safe space for all.

Our Women. Our Men. Our LGBTQ Community. Our Youth. Our Economical Development. Our Political Awareness cause we got to stop voting anybody in these spaces that really don’t have our best interest at heart!

Malcolm X was beyond his time because so much of what he says still holds relevance TODAY.

He was prophetic and literally at the end of his life he had aligned, truly found balance, found himself, let go of attachments, and had aligned with anyone that was for the liberation of our people.

I still sit optimistic that our people will find a way to HEAL ourselves within, let go of our own inner prejudices and stigmas that we hold against one another, learn how to lead with love, grace, and understanding, and be what our community truly needs for us to be.

One day.

Happy Birthday Malik el-Shabazz. You live forever in so many of us. Your death as well as many others from Medger Evers, Alprentice “Bunchy” Carter, John Huggins, and soooo many more who were wrongfully murdered, exiled, or imprisoned for standing up for the plight of our freedom, your lives and your deaths and persecution will not be in vain.