For months I had been reading about the modern Civil Rights Movement. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X or the Freedom Riders drew me into the African-American heritage. But then reading was not enough and I wanted to see the places I had learned about.
There was much dispute among the organisers about the actions and speeches for the March on Washington. Today the march is the maybe most known event of the civil rights movement of the 1960s. However, other actions had much more results for the African-American struggle for equality.
Continue reading “The Controversy around the March on Washington”
Malcolm X was assassinated when doing what he did best, giving a speech to empower African-Americans. At the rally on 25th February 1965, just after Malcolm had greeted the audience, three assassins shot him. Today Harlemites remember the Audubon Ballroom as the place of the assassination of Malcolm X.
Continue reading “At the Audubon”
After Malcolm X’s assassination Harlem had 5 days to bid her “black shining prince” goodbye. Over 20,000 people passed by his body. During the funeral service it was Ossie Davis who found the words to capture African-American feeling.
Malcolm X found his last resting place on Ferncliff Cemetery, about 20 miles north of Manhattan. As a working cemetery it brings that uniquely solemn atmosphere. An ordinary plaque marks the grave of this extraordinary man.
It was for his half-sister Ella that Malcolm moved to Boston when he was 15 years old. Ella had offered him to stay at her house and he happily accepted. It now is the only existing house in Boston young Malcolm X lived in.