NPS Photo “We need more light about each other. Light creates understanding, understanding creates love, love creates patience, and patience creates unity.” - Malcolm X On the morning of May 19th, tens of thousands of people flooded Anacostia Park. They came laughing, dancing, chatting, and enjoying each other’s company. They came with open minds, ready to hear activists, artists, community leaders, and neighbors speak. This was Malcolm X Day. Beginning in 1972, and for the 23 years following, Malcolm X Day was a tremendous and lively celebration held at Anacostia Park. Occurring on the Sunday closest to Malcolm X’s May 19 birthday, the event built off of the work previously done by the organizers of African Liberation Day (ALD) in Northwest DC. In fact, the first Malcolm X Day was designed for folks to prepare for upcoming ALD celebrations. 
Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Sharon Farmer in memory of educators Winifred and George Farmer Originally, the event was focused on problems faced by Washington DC’s Black communities, as well as connecting those problems to the greater international Black struggle. The meeting of minds could inspire unity and cooperation for finding solutions of both common and individually faced issues. Organizers invited speakers and storytellers to venues such as Johenning Baptist Church and the Frederick Douglass House and Museum. However, the event quickly grew in popularity, accommodating crowds of well over 1000 people. The small venues were no longer cutting it. As attendance began growing into the thousands, Anacostia Park section D was selected as the new home for the event. Interspersed with Pan-African speakers such as Calvin Rolark, Betty Shabazz, and Kwame Ture, were lively performances. Local Go-Go performers such as Chuck Brown, Junkyard, Experience Unlimited, and Rare Essence performed for crowds of their friends, neighbors, and comrades numbering in the tens of thousands. They were joined by national acts. A celebration of Black culture, art, music, and community, Malcolm X Day was the place to be. Until it was disbanded in 1995, Malcolm X Day was the oldest and largest tribute to Malcolm X in the nation. 
Library of Congress The SE Washington celebration was named for Malcolm X because organizers believed his legacy would be an inspiration to young Black DC residents. His ability to rise from a background of violence, poverty, and drug addiction to the community leader he became could strike chords with young people surviving under similar circumstances. In its prime, Malcolm X Day drew crowds of 30,000 to 50,000 people to the park each year for a list of activities as long as the daylight lasted. The celebration spread the message "Unity in the Community.” It brought together community activists, civil rights leaders, church leaders and every-day citizens. Afro-centric vendors, artists, musicians, and speakers would frequent the event to create a festival as sprawling as it was focused. Malcolm X Day was an opportune place for local entertainers and artists to perform, present, and expand their reach. Community members of all ages, vocations, and backgrounds would come to the park to celebrate the life and legacy of Malcolm X, uplifting the message of unity in the process. Just as Malcolm X said, "We cannot wait for others to do for us - we must do for ourselves." |
Last updated: August 6, 2024