Happy Birthday Malcolm X

Malcolm X would’ve been 85 years old today if he were still alive. But of course like so many other radicals of the ’60’s he is dead. This birthday is significant because earlier this year the one man who admitted to pulling the trigger on the one of the guns that killed him was released from prison. Thomas Hagan was one of three men convicted for X’s murder but he is the only to admit his involvement. Muhammad Abdul Aziz then known as Norman 3X Butler and Khalil Islam formerly known as Thomas 15X were also convicted but maintained their innocence. Hagan spent 23 years in prison and 22 years in a work release program for the charges. This Malcolm birthday is also significant because Detroit attorney Gregory Reed who purchased the three missing chapters and original introduction of X’s autobiography from the Alex Haley estate in 1992, will be releasing the chapters this year in separate volumes. Malcolm X’s daughter Ilyasah Shabazz is writing the foreword to the three chapters and has said there were omitted because they showed “too much of her father’s humanity.” There is an 85th birthday commemoration going on at The Malcolm X & Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center today where Reed will discuss the chapters and Alex Haley’s son William A. Haley will be in attendance. I often wonder what America would be like today if Malcolm X had lived.