Rod 2.0:Beta #gay #news #lgbt #gaynews

Malcolm X's Daughter Disputes Sexuality Claims in New Bio, Storms Out of NPR Interview

The daughter of Malcolm X angrily walked out of a National Public Radio interview after several questions arose about the new biography that claims her late father was bisexual or "gay for pay" in his early years.

Ilyasah Shabazz was a guest on Michel Martin's show "Tell Me More" on Wednesday. Martin asked about the revelations in Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention, written by Manning Marable, who was friends with Shabazz. Marable died April 1, only days before the book's release. Shabazz describes the claims as "sensational."

Transcript and audio interview HERE.

MARTIN: Forgive me, and I completely credit your perspective on this, but it is also the case that children often don't know the complete details of their parents' lives because it's not really their business.

SHABAZZ: It's not their business.

MARTIN: Particularly their interpersonal relationships. So is it possible that perhaps Dr. Marable had access to information that you did not? Or that was just uncomfortable for you to explore because...

SHABAZZ: Not at all. I mean, listen, I have a lot of friends who are gay. I have, you know, I hate to say, but some of my best friends are gay. OK? So, if my father experienced persons of the same sex before he became the icon Malcolm X, you know, then that would be his experience. But he would've spoken about it. And I think because there were so many other allegations, especially that my mother cheated on him with his best friend when he was in Africa.

Shabazz added: "If my father had these, you know, relationship with a man, if my mother had extramarital affairs, you know, I don't have a problem with accepting that my parents aren't perfect. They are human beings. But that is not the case."

The claims about Malcolm X's alleged sexuality are controversial and disputed. Malcolm X described an friend's relationship with an older, wealthy man in The Autobiography of Malcolm X. Marable and some contemporary scholars argue the relationship described in the third person was really him. The same-sex claims were first mentioned in the 1991 bio Malcolm: The Life of a Man Who Changed Black America by Bruce Perry. The research and scholarship of that book has been roundly criticized.

On a side note: Given the intense anti-gay culture of the Nation of Islam and Islam, and the cultural norms of the 1950s and 1960s, it does not seem likely that even if the claims were true, Malcolm X (or anyone else in his position) would publicly discuss a same-sex experience.

Read the transcript and listen to the audio interview HERE.

You May Have Missed:
Malcolm X DL?

Malcolm X DL?

Yesterday would have been Malcolm X's 80th birthday. The 40 years since the assassination have seen his legacy scrutinized, revised and debated. The latest? The Guardian rehashes poorly-researched old allegations that the slain black nationalist leader may have been bisexual.

Peter Tatchell essays that Malcolm experimented with boys early in life, later became a hustler and may have had numerous same-sex affairs—"as hinted in Spike Lee's 1992 biopic". (Funny, it was on Showtime this morning. I didn't see any of this. But moving on...) The article is short on facts and long on pop psych 101 analyses, such as the pathology of "typical" latent homosexuals to explaining Malcolm's "fear" of women to the usual suspect: a "domineering mother." For the record, Malcolm's mother had several nervous breakdowns after the death of her husband--unemployment, finances, etc--and was later committed. She hardly qualifies as a Lady Macbeth or a Joan 'No Wire Hangars' Crawford. The bottom line: little evidence, lots of theory. It's a quantum leap for Tatchell to suggest that the Nation of Islam knew of Malcolm's supposed lifestyle and needed to cut their exposure.

Many of Tatchell's allegations come from the 1991 revisionist biography, Malcolm: The Life of a Man Who Changed Black America by Bruce Perry. You don't remember the book? Don't feel bad. Kitty Kelley comes across as Susan Sontag compared to Bruce Perry's scholarship. The author was roundly criticized for relying on biased interview subjects and few if any face-to-interviews with any family or intimates. Malcolm's widow Betty Shabazz was not interviewed.

More importantly: When Malcolm was assassinated, he was already out of the NOI and had established his own group, the Organization of African Unity. Why would the NOI try to sustain Malcolm's image? They've been feuding with the Shabazz family for 40 years. If anything, they might welcome the allegations.

You'll recall, one of Martin Luther King's confidantes--Bayard Rustin--was gay and forced out of the SCLC. The Malcolm rumors could be true--he could have been gay or bi, who knows, only the data is suspect. Go ahead and read the Guardian essay, but it will remain what it is ... an essay. | via cd Oldenburg and DIreland

Update 2.0. New York Times covers new Malcolm X exhibit at the Schomburg Center