Today would be the 89th Birthday of the legendary Malcolm X, despite an early death his legacy still lives on and is still relevant for our lives and time today. He is often portrayed as a radical violent black Muslim in opposition to the non violent Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement, but when you look beyond the surface and study his life and works, there is much more to him and there is much we can learn for our present day lives in terms of the struggle against racism but personal development as well. The past few months Ive had the privelige of travelling between different European countries, Germany, Belgium, the UK and the Netherlands several times for network meetings and projects regarding cultural exchange and antiracism. Last weekend scholars and activist from different European countries came together to share knowledge and experience about antiblack Racism and Islamophobia in Europe at the Decoloniality Network meeting. With the rise of the extreme right and a lack of antiracist politics on the left, racism and discrimination continue to downpress people of color in European countries. Malcolm X struggled against the system of segregation based on Jim Crow laws dehumanizing and oppresing black people in the US. In the EU, we often think racism isnt present because we do not have laws segregating people. The reality is that it it works in more subtle ways. Decolonial scholars as Grosfoguel and Sandew Hira argued how its nature has changed troughout time from biological, to scientific, to presentday cultural racism or new racism. Prof. Gloria Wekker, who gave a lecture at the I, Too, Am VU debate called refered to everyday racism. The tendency in European countries such as the Netherlands is to deny that racism still exists as it doesnt fit the self-image of what she calls Innocence Unlimited. Ironically, on my way to work a man besides me was reading a newspaper with an article titled something like Our culture is better about the party PVV and their right wing European pact. Another article in Trouw states that segregation in primary schools has decreased as the schools This Wednesday we will continue the debate at the I, Too, Am UvA masterclass on micro agressions with Zihni Ozdil and Amade Mcharek. We will reflect on the ways in which racism affects us on an individual level in our daily lives. Thursday I will give a guest lecture about Minorities, media and representation at hogeschool Ede and I will vote for the EU elections, still havent decided on which party though. We can use some more Malcolm X in these times as there is much we can learm from his life and works. Next year we will celebrate his 90th birthday big, but this week we will honor him with our activities against racism and for the respect of all people. As he said: I am against every form of racism. I am against everyform of discrimination. I believe in human beings, and that all human beings should be respected as such, regardless of their color. Think about these Malcolm X quotes and have a positive week :) #StrictlyPositivity
Posted on: Mon, 19 May 2014 08:59:26 +0000
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