Finding X

   Wrong! The teacher put an “x” on a test paper. Denied travel! The visa officer stamped a rubber “x” as the ink seeped through the thin pages of a traveler’s passport. Faster! The coach marked an “x” next to the student’s name for the physical endurance category.

      Back in elementary school the vivid memories of a red “x” being placed on my paper would make my mouth dry and my pulse race. It was not just an “x” marked on the paper, it was an “x” seared in my heart. That red “x” still brings out fears in all facets of academia.  However, when did “x” mean rejection of the status quo, reform of ideologies, and the push for an end to social strife. To Malcolm X these were the problems in society that he had put a red “x” on.

      Social violence had killed three of Malcolm X’s uncles and his own father was murdered in a “street car accident.” Malcolm excelled in high school having aspirations for being a lawyer. However, he was told it was “no realistic goal for a nigger.” To Malcolm, social equality was not a Facebook campaign, an Instagram hashtag, or a retweet; it was his life.  And for this, he paid the ultimate price...his life.

      As we continue into the 21st century, the discord for social equality is a tedious, drawn out one. It has been a long road from the rise of the cotton industry in 1793, to the emancipation in 1863; To the right for black people to vote in 1965, and to the first black president being elected in 2008.  However, we have not yet begun to heal.

       Malcolm X reignited the vitality of reform, honor, and civil accountability while questioning that which did not make sense. When a student receives their paper with a red “x,” they can accept it or question it in an effort to change, learn, and grow. Had it not been for the questioning of Mahatma Gandhi, would something as simple as nonviolence solve racial problems?  Had it not been for the questioning of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, would women have the right to vote?  Had it not been for the questioning of Desmond Tutu, would there no longer be the concept of apartheid? In the same manner,  Malcolm also questioned. He questioned his last name, Little, which was given to him by his ancestors’ owner.  In a society where surnames defined a person, Malcolm did not want to be defined as a product of slavery. He questioned the status quo and the social norms many of us are apprehensive to question. For this reason we as a nation have grown but this growth is not enough. The key is to keep questioning, keep searching, keep fixing what is wrong and not merely accepting it.

       I know  that there are many things wrong in society. I have found many “ x’s” also. Everyone can point out a problem, it is no big deal. Many before me have found “x’s”  too.  Like Malcolm, I saw  red “x’s”in the news, on the street, at my local grocery store, and even at school. But finding “x” and solving for “x” are two separate ordeals. Solving for “x” is a journey, a message, a  movement; change. So the objective is to find “x.”  To that I respond, finding “x” is a simple task that is done by everyone consciously or unconsciously. The dilemma that  remains, however, is solving for x, which we as a society can learn from Mr. X himself.