The Killing of Malcolm X — Gimme Some Truth

A very, very belated two cheers to New York City DA Cyrus Vance Jr. and the civil rights proponents who finally cleared two men -- Muhammad Aziz and Khalil Islam -- in the 1965 assassination of African American leader Malcolm X. Vance apologized for the miscarriage of justice, which resulted in decades-long incarceration for the two innocent men. But, no surprise -- the prominent prosecutor stopped short of naming the real culprits in the political murder, which took place in Harlem's Audubon Ballroom, in front of Malcolm's horrified wife -- pregnant at the time -- and young daughters. This front-page report in the New York Times also stops far short of the full truth. Like criminal investigators, the Times has covered up the real story behind Malcolm's assassination for over five decades.

In a sidebar to its report, the Times does raise questions about the actual shooters and their organizational connections, citing the investigative work of historians Manning Marable and Les and Tamara Payne. But again, the newspaper of record dodges the most provocative aspect of these historians' research, which suggested that the FBI and the New York Police Department played key roles in the assassination and the railroading of Aziz and Islam.

But drip by drip, the truth is coming out about the assassinations of the 1960s and how political rule in America was enforced at the barrel of a gun.

Why is it still important to reveal the truth about the killings of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr., John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy? Because history matters -- and we are condemned to repeat it if we don't learn its lessons.

Political violence still looms in our land. Just asks Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who's been subjected to countless death threats -- including by a fellow member of Congress, Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona, who gleefully distributed an animated video showing him severing the head of AOC with a sword and then threatening to kill President Biden. Congress finally mustered the nerve to censure Gosar yesterday, but only two Republicans joined the largely party-line vote.

Still, Gosar's censure was important. As his own sister, Jennifer Gosar, told MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell last night, this is the way you stop the spread of political violence and fascism in our country -- by standing strongly against it. Ms. Gosar also called on Attorney General Merrick Garland to criminally prosecute her brother for his role in the January 6 attempted putsch.

Will our legal -- and media -- institutions undertake the investigations vital to restoring our democracy? Not unless we demand it.

Malcolm X