I love puzzles. I puzzle over many things; Over life, Over people, and their behavior, Over the world, the universe, life, death, all of it. I ask a lot of questions, never conforming easily, if I conform at all, to what people say I should be doing, to what I should be thinking. I am very curious about the world. I contemplate questions like: ‘Why is it the way it is?’, whatever it is. ‘Why do we follow the rules that are set for us?’, whoever we are.  ‘Who is setting these rules?’ ‘What are their motivations and their end-games?’ ‘Why am I so unhappy here?’, wherever here is.  ‘Why is it that what’s in front of me is not enough for me?’. ‘Why does this lady, me, love singing the Blues?’ But don’t worry about me; it’s nothing that a little Rock n’ Roll can’t cure.

Recently, I had the great pleasure of emceeing Howard Center’s 6th Annual Conference in Burlington, Vermont. One of the guests I interviewed was Anna Malaika Tubbs, author of

 The Three Mothers. Her book focuses upon the erasure of Black women. In it, she honors the mothers of three Black revolutionary men; Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, Malcolm X and James Baldwin. She shines light on the lives of each of their mothers; Alberta, Louise and Berdis respectively.

After engaging with Anna, I paused for thought, and asked myself: “Why does the US federal government, and mainstream US civil rights culture mostly celebrate Dr. King?”. “Why, doesn’t the United States of America celebrate, in equal measure, Malcolm X or James Baldwin?”. We have  Malcolm X Day, a day devoted to a American Muslim minister?, on the 3rd Friday of May. It is observed by some, but not all states; it is not a federal holiday. Why is this day not a federal holiday? Why would such a day be significant? I wondered further. There is no official US holiday to observe and to honor the life of James Baldwin.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, Malcolm X and James Baldwin were between themselves incredibly diverse. They had different politics, different religions and different sexual orientations. Yet, only one of these men, a Baptist minister, is (or is allowed to be) nationally exalted as the embodiment of civil rights virtue; that is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The celebration of the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr became a federal holiday in 1983.

Malcolm X, an American Muslim minister, in his Message to the Grassroots, made it very clear that he was not a fan of the Civil Rights Movement led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Malcolm X was a pacifist. Once a line of being aggressed upon was considered to have been crossed, then Malcolm believed that violence and the use of force were legitimate means to achieve justice.

Counter to Malcolm X, James Baldwin advocated strong and purposeful action but never wavered from peaceful methods. His stance on non-violence versus violence was more akin to Dr. King’s, however, Baldwin’s and King’s beliefs were also in contradiction. The article: “Martin Luther King Jr. and James Baldwin’s Complicated Relationship” states that: “If King and Malcolm X represented the two public poles of the civil rights movement, Baldwin was somewhere in the middle, with less patience and Christian love for bigots and KKK-aligned terrorists”.

James Baldwin fought for racial liberation, as did the religious ministers Dr. King and Malcolm X. But James Baldwin, as a queer man, departed from both of the ministers, as he fought for LGBTQ liberation as well. He was not invited to speak at The March on Washington because of his position, backed by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assertion that James Baldwin was too assertive to speak at the rally. Malcolm X called that outcome ‘The Farce on Washington’.

Growing up, I learned to equate Christian Baptist minister Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with the Christian doctrine “Turn the other cheek” It is a doctrine that encourages people to show virtue by responding to insult without retort and allowing for more insult to come. It promotes and values passivity.

On the other hand, I learned to equate the American Muslim minister Malcolm X with the phrase “By any means necessary. According to Malcolm X, Islam is a peaceful culture, up until the point at which one is aggressed upon. Islam permits people to fight back and condones the use of violence as a means to justice, just as Nelson Mandela advocated for violence to overthrow the apartheid (which in Dutch means separateness) regime. In 1962, Mandela was arrested and prisoned for 27 years. In 1965 Malcolm X was assassinated.

South Africa, and did much of the Western world, elevated Nelson Mandela, to a great extent; he gets an international celebration. Once apartheid was dismantled, and at the conclusion of his political imprisonment, Nelson Mandela became the first democratically elected President of the nation of South Africa. I remember a few years ago asking a group of 20-something year old rural United States citizens if they knew who he was. I was shocked and terrified when many of them said ‘Yes’, and then for confirmation asked “Wasn’t he a terrorist?”. Shake my head. That’s all that they had been taught to understand. It seems that no one has ever told them the fuller story. Well, the same is true for me in certain ways.

No one ever told me that Malcolm X represented, and kept alive, the Islamic religion that 30% of enslaved African people and their descendants (possibly including myself) brought to the United States. No one ever told me when I was growing up about how Christian Africans defeated Muslim Africans and sold their Muslim enemies into slavery at the behest of European slave traders.

As though slavery is not humiliating enough, I now can only imagine the additional humiliation and horror that befell modest Muslim women who were forced into slavery, forced to bear themselves naked in markets as they were put up for sale, and bred like farm animals. And now that I know, how can I unknow? How can I unsee these images of these blessed women, these mothers reduced to human chattel? In order to survive, they, and many others sang the Blues.

No one ever taught me that Blues music was created as a way of masking the Islamic call to prayer. What a pearl of wisdom to learn about this connection in this video Islam and the Blues. In order to protect culture that is oppressed, it has often been necessary to hide that culture. While I enjoy listening to the Blues, I have always felt odd, being who I am, looking the way I do, and also having an affinity to Rock ‘n Roll music. Why would Rock n’ Roll give me strength and soothe my soul? Why do I resonate with B.B King, Billy Holiday and Ray Charles, as much as I do with Eric Clapton, Janis Joplin and Led Zeppelin? Ah, the more I ask, the more learn.

Rock ‘n Roll has its roots in the Blues. Take Led Zeppelin for example. Rock n’ Roll, right? Well, kind of, if you take it at face value alone.  Zeppelin knew exactly what they were doing with their music, intentionally composing to bridge the spiritual worlds of the West and Islam. There is much more to their art. Check out this Huffington Post article: How Led Zeppelin Broke Through the Walls Between Islam and the West. I’m going to rock on even more now!

Take Zeppelin’s song ‘When the Levee Breaks’. It’s a Blues song about the Great Flood of 1927 in Mississippi, and tells of how disenfranchised the African Descendants of Slaves were as a result of that natural disaster. It was a disaster that contributed to the Great Migration of African-Americans to major northern cities. These cultures, our cultures, are so inextricably linked and more intertwined than our daily minds have time to explore and to understand.

I hear many good people talk a good talk about racial diversity and racial justice in the United States of America. Yet, all too often religion is skirted around in relation to racial justice. Religious bias has a lot to do with it. Consciously or unconsciously, it is everywhere. It’s even in places where we believe ourselves to be, not only conscientious, but so righteous in our conscientiousness. But there are so many pieces of the puzzle missing for me, as I try to figure out something. I’m not even sure what I’m trying to figure out anymore. Most days I’m just trying not to lose my mind completely.

Let’s ask ourselves’ “Is it enough of a win to have secured a federal US holiday to celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday?”. “What are we really celebrating?”. “What are we ignoring and why are we ignoring it?”. “Who and what are we continuing to erase?”. There is more than one side to a civil rights story, sides that make the whole picture beautifully complex, a work of art. If truly we are serious about civil rights then it is important for us all to uncover and to piece these sides together.

It’s May 19, 2023 and I say, Happy 98th Birthday Malcolm X, and thank you. Today, in my mind and in my heart, I see, I understand you and myself better. I validate you, and the many African Muslim ancestors who fought for freedom and for their, our, descendants who continue to do so today.

 

We hope that “This Lady Love to Sing the Blues” has resonated with you on a deep level and offered a unique perspective on the human experience. The profound words of Dr. Jude Smith Rachele remind us of the power of poetry to ignite emotions, inspire change, and foster empathy.

Thank you for joining us on this journey. We invite you to share your thoughts and reflections in the comments below. Let’s continue to engage in meaningful conversations that nurture understanding, compassion, and personal growth.

Stay tuned for more inspiring content from Abundant Sun, as we strive to bring you thought-provoking insights and artistic expressions that contribute to a brighter and more just future.

Warm regards,
Abundant Sun Team