May 12, 2013

To Self-build as an Example to Others: 'This is Truly the Best Gift that I Can Bring Back Strong'
By Malcolm Shabazz

(TriceEdneyWire.com) -  Editor's Note: The following is an exclusive essay, written by Malcolm Shabazz, the grandson of Malcolm X, at the request of Trice Edney News Wire in December 2010 and published January 3, 2011. It is a photographic and journalistic reflection upon his  trip to Mecca, Saudi Arabia for his first Hajj, the annual spiritual pilgrimage taken by millions of Muslims in submission to Allah, God.

As editor-in-chief of the Trice Edney News Wire, I have decided to republish the article in its intirety in the wake of young Malcolm's untimely and violent death on Thursday, May 9. The factual circumstances surrounding the apparent murder of 29-year-old Malcolm are still unfolding; therefore we have chosen to respect the facts by not reporting speculation, instead publish what he intended for his life in his own words.

As of Monday, this week, according to a source close to the family, his mother, Quibilah Shabazz, had gone to Mexico City, Mexico, the place of his demise, to retrieve his body.Arrangements for memorial and burial were still undetermined early this week.

A release from the family stated, "We are deeply saddened by the passing of our beloved El Hajj Malcolm El Shabazz. To all who knew him, he offered kindness, encouragement and hope for a better tomorrow. Although his bright light and boundless potential are gone from this life, we are grateful that he now rests in peace in the arms of his grandparents and the safety of God. We will miss him." 

In October 2010, in New York City - just before the trip to Mecca - the then 26-year-old faced a small, private audience, pulled together by Trice Edney Wire columnist and former Malcolm X associate A. Peter Bailey. I was a member of that forum during which Malcolm Shabazz publicly discussed detailed aspects of his young life for the first time. 

In addition to many social and political issues affecting Black people, he openly discussed his past of having served time in penal institutions, including juvenile detention, after setting the fire that killed his grandmother, Betty Shabazz, when he was only 12 years old.

Malcolm recalled his then immature thought processes. He recalled his plan that if he set a fire, his behavior would be considered so bad that his family would force him to live with his mother Quibilah - which was his ultimate desire. The result was the tragic and accidental death of his grandmother, among the painful memories of his past.

Young Malcolm, with the rich and booming voice of his grandfather, was attempting to press into his future. Shabazz wrote that he had returned to the U. S. with a gift. That gift, he reflected in part, was the change in his life that could only have come from his youthful experiences and – like his grandfather - the deep spiritual experience of the Hajj. The following are the reflections of the now late Malcolm Shabbazz:

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - In the name of Allah the Most Beneficent the Most Merciful: I have been all over the Middle East; from Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and so forth. And I must say that Madina and Mecca have absolutely stood apart.

One reason is that this is a main pillar of Islam. It is obligatory upon every single Muslim around the world to at least have the sincere intention to make the holy pilgrimage to the Kaaba in Mecca, Saudi Arabia at least once in their lifetime if they are physically and financially able.

I’ve never met a person who expressed disappointment or had any ill words to relay about this “Holy” experience. But, I do know people who came back from Hajj and after a few weeks - let alone a few months - they were right back to their old ways. They could almost tell me about the Hajj with an alcoholic beverage in their hand. But, for others, I can bear witness to the awesomely profound impact that it had on their lives.

It had such a profound impact on my grandfather's life. So I came over here anticipating much while not knowing exactly what to expect. My intentions were pure. So before embarking on this journey, I resolved to devote my heart to Allah; stripping it of every preoccupation and barrier.

I arrived in Madina on November 5 at approximately 10 minutes before our morning prayer was to begin at about 4:55am. I immediately noticed that despite the fact that there were millions of pilgrims that had all come in to the same place, around the same time and from all over the world, the atmosphere was still so calm and serene.

I had never witnessed this many people in one place at the same time. It was like the ultimate concert, except there was no rapper, singer or any other type of entertainer. We were all here for the sake of seeking nearness to Allah.

For the most part, I was received quite well, though we must remember that here on earth every place has its ups and downs. And anywhere you go in this world, you will witness that Black people are most generally discriminated against.

However, this prejudice has absolutely nothing to do with Al-Islam. When most people in the Middle East encounter Black people from the States – unless they take notice of our American style of dress or the fact that we speak English - they most likely assume that we are from Nigeria, Sudan or another African country.

When they find out that one of us is actually from America, they become quite curious. Many of them are unaware that there are many Black Muslims in the United States. What most of them know of us is what has been portrayed to them of us on television as entertainers, athletes, criminals and thugs. This goes to show the power of mainstream media and how it doesn’t have our best interest at heart.

Also, I couldn't wholly blame them for their perspectives of us because the way that we most often perceive ourselves is the image that we project unto others. We, as Black Americans, often project onto others the images that have been fostered to us by our oppressors.

It was a profound blessing for me to be afforded the opportunity to worship Allah within the Masjid-e-Quba, which is located between the Makkah Province and Madina. It was the first Masjid ever to be built in the time of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). It is also the first Masjid where Salatul Jama' (Congregational Prayer) was recited. I also offered many prayers within the Masjidun Nabi (The Prophet's Mosque), which was the second Mosque to be built in Madina. This is the city of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) himself. It was quite humbling to realize that I was actually treading upon the very soil upon which he once set foot. This is the first city in the world where Islam was firmly established.

There was much to see and people to meet. I met with royalty, dignitaries and various other high ranking Saudi officials, including Sheikh Saleh Husain, President of Affairs of both the Grand Mosque (Masjidul Haraam), and the Prophet's Mosque (Masjidun Nabi); Sheikh Faisal Ghazawi, Imam of the Grand Mosque (Haramain); Dr. Anwar Eshki (Former Maj. Gen. Saudi forces), President of Middle East Center; and Abdulrahman Zamil, former member of the Shura Council.

My grandfather once said, "The past is not to be dwelt upon, but rather looked to as a road map or compass-in the present-in order to help us successfully navigate into the future".

At present and by the will and grace of Allah, I am a revolutionary Muslim who is in service to the people; especially to the masses of down trodden and oppressed. If I learned anything from my grandmother, Dr. Betty Shabazz, it's that one must first help his or herself before thinking about being a saviour toward others. Recently, I have been busy with self-building. Now, I am preparing to build with others while continuing to purify myself.

After a hajji returns from Makkah and Madina, they are obligated to convey through their actions that which they have brought back with them. My speech, actions, mannerisms and disposition must be an example for others who also desire to self-build. And this truly is the best gift that I can bring back for the people.

I have learned that Wisdom doesn't necessarily come with age. It comes with experience. And experience is irrefutably the best of teachers. If there is any truth that we are, somewhat, products of our environments; then I suppose this would explain my current circumstances -the events that led to these points in my life. It is not necessary for me to run down a list of ills that may have affected me in one way or another. I will say that I have quite often been placed in many undesirable situations. Yet I alone made the decisions which produced the consequent outcomes.

We often find ourselves in situations where we wish that we could turn back the hands of time; to go back, and do things differently. But time travel is not a reality. So, I resolve that the only remedy is to be as conscious as possible in the present in order to successfully navigate into the future.

May 12, 2013

Special Commentary

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from America's Wire 

WASHINGTON (TriceEdneyWire.com) - By many accounts, the economy is prospering again and the housing market is on the road to recovery. But, reality is nowhere near as comforting as fiction, and the facts point to a very different reality faced by working families and minority communities, especially in the barrios.

The Great Recession pushed millions of willing workers off the labor force, put many others in lower paying or multiple jobs, and communities are still reeling from assets lost. At a time when we should be discussing how to stimulate our economy and job growth, many policymakers seem to only want to discuss how to mimic European austerity measures.

The regressive nature of our economic recovery has not gone unnoticed in our communities. We hear it every day from friends and family members, and in Washington D.C. we see it in reports like the one issued by Joseph A. Smith, who heads the Office of Mortgage Settlement Oversight. Mr. Smith oversees the agreement between 49 state attorneys general and the nation's largest lenders to provide up to $25 billion in relief to borrowers who lost their homes to foreclosure. Yet, his report shows that many lenders are instead pushing homeowners to sell, resolving subordinated debt entanglements to drive owners toward short sales, and avoiding principal modifications at all costs.

More recently, attorneys general detailed how lenders grossly underreported the extent of their fraud and misdealing. There is no shortage of scathing reviews that show lenders dragging their feet on modifying mortgages, and regulators fumbling their responsibilities while trusting those very same lenders to police themselves.

The fact is that housing is hot again and investors want inventory. Which inventory exactly? Those would be the homes that were previously or are currently owned by modest wage families and across many communities of color. There is also a big investor driven effort to commercialize renting. If you think that's a good idea, ask working families in Providence, Rhode Island where it is all too common for families to spend, at a minimum, fifty percent of their take home pay on rent.

There's no doubt that banks are working hard to settle liabilities to process more foreclosures, and many more homeowners that may yet lose their home as the allure of profits take hold. What is so frustrating is that there is so much the government could do to provide relief, like utilizing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for principal reductions and modifications, but holdovers of the Bush Administration refuse to act.

Indeed, regulators and agencies on the front lines of housing finance have so little diversity within their ranks that it is not even clear that they genuinely understand the plight of ordinary citizens, and especially minorities. That can be seen in proposed changes that would benefit Wall Street over Main Street, raise down payments and make it more difficult for anyone except the wealthiest to own a home. From policies that have already been approved like the Qualified Residential Mortgage rule to ideas like privatizing Fannie and Freddie, these all undermine the American Dream of homeownership that is so important to working wage families.

We need positive solutions, and increasing the inventory of affordable rental housing is absolutely important, but it should complement the policies that allow families to own a home, build roots in their community and depend on those assets for their children's education, starting a business and retirement.

There are too many private interests actively lobbying to privatize the GSEs and therefore carve out the most profitable pieces, like multifamily, for themselves. At the same time, they want to shift the government guarantee from GSEs to instead guaranteeing large too-big-to-fail financial institutions.

We cannot allow the laws that helped build the post-WWII middle class, in part through homeownership, to disappear. Or worse, to turn the institutions and laws that help average and minority families own a home into yet another subsidy for Wall Street. It is too easy to forget that many of these laws and institutions that would be upended helped tear down redlining and the obstacles that prevented minorities from owning homes, and promoted community reinvestment and home mortgage disclosures that helped working families with little access to credit.

Now, those that would undo a generation's worth of progress are cynically claiming that their efforts are meant to help minorities, but we know better.

Latino families are deeply interested in this discussion. And, while Treasury may have few officials that understand the plight of our community, we will continue to demand more accountability. Because we will not allow the aspirations of working wage and Latino families on credit access and homeownership to take a back seat to moneyed interests angling for a good return on investment. We simply cannot allow that to happen, again.

Brent Wilkes is Executive Director of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), the nation's largest and oldest civil rights volunteer-based organization that empowers Hispanic Americans and builds strong Latino communities. America's Wire is an independent, nonprofit news service run by the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education. Our stories can be republished free of charge by newspapers, websites and other media sources. For more information, visit www.americaswire.org or contact Michael K. Frisby at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..