Of Pilgrimages and Power
As another birthday approaches, I’ve decided to make it especially memorable by celebrating all month. The intention: to make July as transformative as possible. That entails finding creativity, joy, and satisfaction in as many ways as possible right here at home.
Last week, I met some friends at Joe’s Pub, part of the famed Public Theater, for a conversation with Spike Lee and Ilyasah Shabazz, middle daughter of the late Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz, on the occasion of her new book, Malcolm in the Desert: Wisdom from the Spiritual Transformation of Malcolm X.
We all know Malcolm through the book, Autobiography of Malcolm X, the movie Malcolm X, and vintage videos and recordings of his speeches and television appearances.
We have held fast to this icon of militancy, “by any means necessary,” hard cuz he needed to be, shotgun in the window Malcolm. But Ilyasah reveals much more, and I feel closer to and inspired by Brother Malcolm in new and profoundly moving ways.
The book chronicles the events leading up to and including Malcolm’s 1964 pilgrimage to Mecca, reframing him as a spiritual seeker willing to realign his deepest principles as new experiences led him to form new perspectives. It also offers lessons on self-transformation for modern readers from the man who left us far too soon in his own spiritual and political evolution.
Ilyasah discloses the intense shock and disorienting grief her father felt upon learning of his mentor, teacher and leader, Elijah Muhammad’s tremendous failings. It shook his sense of purpose to the core, stripped him of the financial stability his family needed, and provoked feelings of regret for the untold millions who believed in and followed Malcolm’s leadership.
Along with telling Malcolm’s story during this pivotal time in his life, Ilyasah uses it to chart the emotional journey her father wrought, which made him ripe for the wrenching spiritual and political transformation of the Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca, one of the pillars of his faith.
As readers, we follow in his footsteps through confronting our own path of sacred disruption, surrender, deep listening, clarifying grief, self-compassion, holding and releasing, the messiness of emotional integration, and radical accountability.
And any pilgrimage works – leaving for college, empty nesting, facing an illness, clearing out your childhood home, retiring or changing careers, burying a parent, researching your ancestors.
What I especially love is Ilyash’s perspective on her parents. How her mother raised their six children with their late father fully present in the household. We learn of a man who relished his family and showed it. His love letters to his wife and the poems he wrote to her made me glad to know that with them he had a soft, safe place to rest from the constant, unrelenting and life-threatening battles he faced on too many fronts.
The book serves as the through line for my month of transformation. I’ve peppered my schedule with massages, acupuncture, working out with a trainer, an herbal cleanse (including wheat grass, Lord have mercy!), vinyl listening parties, Broadway performances, restaurant outings, garden walks and museum visits.
And every morning, I meditate, read another chapter in Malcolm in the Desert, and journal each phase of my own personal pilgrimage.
May his legacy continue to be a light to us all.
Another book of note this month is Rashad Robinson’s From Presence to Power: How to Take On the Fights That Matter – and Win! Rashad led the racial justice organization Color Of Change for nearly 14 years and previously led advocacy at GLAAD. The book is a primer on strategic activism based on his decades of success in national movement leadership.
Click here to pre-order the book or check out his in-person and virtual book tour options. Robinson’s national tour lands in DC on Tuesday, July 28, when he launches the book in conversation with Joy Reid at Politics and Prose on Connecticut Avenue — free, first come first served. There’s even a livestream for anyone who can’t make it in person! Then on August 21, Robinson joins March On! for a deeper virtual conversation with yours truly. Follow us on social media for details.
March On!
