{"id":11639,"date":"2022-02-14T18:28:26","date_gmt":"2022-02-14T18:28:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/media-archive.blackartinamerica.com\/?p=11639"},"modified":"2022-02-20T18:29:54","modified_gmt":"2022-02-20T18:29:54","slug":"my-daddy-was-like-malcolm-x-til-he-hit-me-with-that-martin-shit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/earthexhibitions.org\/media-archive\/?p=11639","title":{"rendered":"My Daddy Was Like Malcolm X (\u2018Til He Hit Me With That Martin Shit)"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

My Daddy Was Like Malcolm X (\u2018Til He Hit Me With That Martin Shit)<\/h2>\r\n
By Trelani Michelle
Originally posted on KrakTeet.com<\/a><\/pre>\r\n
\u201cI don\u2019t give a damn if all they buy is fried chicken with it. Give us our damn money.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\r\n
We were having a debate on reparations. I was about 18 or so years old. Back then, my\u00a0position was that programs should be created like free college or free healthcare (or both), because too many of us would just put the money right back in the wrong hands. My father’s was: \u201cCotton wasn\u2019t sold for healthcare and college. It was sold for that green!\u201d<\/p>\r\n
Me: \u201cWe just gon\u2019 blow it on shoes and cars.\u201d<\/p>\r\n
Him: \u201cI don\u2019t give a damn what we blow it on. It\u2019s ours!\u201d<\/p>\r\n
My daddy felt like Malcolm X to me.<\/h2>\r\n
\u201cHow much should the government step in to help those living near the poverty line?\u201d\u00a0I was even younger at this time. Maybe like 15. I felt like maybe, just maybe, the assistance was keeping us relying on them. That, if we ain\u2019t have it, then it\u2019d be sink or swim and our natural response to surviving would kick it, and we\u2019d make shit happen on our own. His position: \u201cYou too blessed to see how much welfare help people who need it.\u201d<\/p>\r\n
Me: \u201cWhat about people who take advantage of the system?\u201d<\/p>\r\n
Him: \u201cReparations.\u201d<\/p>\r\n
When Trayvon Martin\u2019s murderer was waiting on his verdict, my daddy just knew they were gon\u2019 lock him up. I didn\u2019t feel that way though. Casey Anthony in Florida had just gotten off the hook for killing her daughter (or at least being involved in it). When the non-guilty verdict came out that judge\u2019s mouth, regarding Trayvon’s murder, I said \u201cI told you.\u201d All he could say was \u201cdamn,\u201d followed by the fact that\u2026Sometimes you gotta get ya own justice.\u00a0<\/strong>(Take\u00a0the maroons<\/a>, for instance.)<\/p>\r\n
I agreed that time.\u00a0I actually agreed with him more than not. As a rebel, I just liked to argue. (And baby, God gave me a son just like me and\u2026whew, Lord.) But I loved his Malcolm X side. Hearing him come home from work and talking about what some white man on the job said to him and what he said back. I loved how he \u201chit \u2019em where it really hurt\u201d and sued one of his old employers. Loved the stories about his uncle, a Tuskegee Airman who was dishonorably discharged for killing a white man for assaulting his wife. Loved the picture of his teenage self throwing up the black-power fist.<\/p>\r\n
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Then he\u2019d hit me with some nonviolence shit at the most confusing time.<\/h2>\r\n
Like the time I was blatantly disrespected by a teacher in high school. I stood up for myself, but he didn\u2019t back me up. He thought I was wrong. Then there was the time that an officer asked for my name, address, and social security number over something that had nothing to do with me. Instead of giving up the information, I called my daddy. While waiting on him, and even after he got there, I insisted on asking why my information was needed. Instead of backing me up, he nearly begged me to just do what they were telling me to do.<\/p>\r\n
At the time, it broke my heart. Now that my children are older and I can totally see them responding to situations like that, including those with police, I get it. You don\u2019t want them to end up in a situation that they can\u2019t reverse. Young black people are being murdered left and right. You don\u2019t want that to be your child. Teachers can be disrespectful, downright nasty sometimes, but what good can come of a child mirroring that?<\/p>\r\n
You start wondering if you created a missile that\u2019s bound to self-destruct.<\/em><\/p>\r\n
This article ain\u2019t to try to resolve that problem. Raising a 16-year-old and a 12-year-old, I\u2019m still feeling through it myself. This ain\u2019t to put Malcolm X on a pedestal or Martin in a corner either. Both of their perspectives, which they learned from their elders and ancestors, got us to where we are today. And, yes, I know Martin changed his mind on some things. Malcolm X did too. Allowing your position to change is a beautiful thing.<\/p>\r\n
It\u2019s an inevitable thing too, if you\u2019re willing to be as open and honest as good leaders need to be.<\/p>\r\n
\"\"<\/p>\r\n
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\"\"<\/b>Trelani Michelle <\/b>authored seven books and ghostwrote even more. She graduated from Savannah State University with a Bachelor\u2019s in Political Science then SCAD with an MFA in Writing. After facilitating workshops for faculty, staff, and students at SSU, she began teaching high schoolers a mix of creative writing and social activism. After a 10-week internship with the Library of Congress\u2019s American Folklife Center, she published a catalog of Black Savannah\u2019s biographies called Krak Teet, centering the lives of 19 Gullah Geechee elders over the age of 80. Crowned Savannah\u2019s Best Local Author, Trelani teaches the Black history that school textbooks overlook, demonstrating that personal history is family history which is community history which is world history. She\u2019s presented her work at The Highlander Research and Education Center, Georgia Council for the Arts, SCAD, UNC\u2019s Black Communities Conference, and more. Today\u2019s Zora Neale Hurston, life stories are Trelani\u2019s thing, so she helps people write about their life in the form of books, bios, business pages, and speeches. Learn more about her writing services at SoFundamental.com and her Black history lessons at KrakTeet.com. Follow her on Instagram and Facebook @KrakTeet.<\/p>\r\n
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