Letter to the Editor:

     Lansing has got to name a street after Malcolm X.  Despite all the bad things that happened to him in his young life in and around Lansing, he still called Lansing his home.
     Malcolm X and his brothers and sisters were simply torn apart by the people in the community, with one child living here and one or two living over there.
     For Malcolm X, one of the things that really changed his outlook and really changed his life, was at school in Mason, Michigan.  One day a teacher was asking the students what they wanted to be when they grew up.  When the teacher asked Malcolm X what he wanted to be, Malcolm X said he wanted to be a lawyer.
     This is what the teacher said to Malcolm X, “We all here like you, you know that, but you have got to be realistic about being a “n----r”.  A lawyer is not realistic for a “n----r”.  You need to think about something you can be.  You are good with your hands.  Why don't you plan on carpentry?”
     Malcolm Little in Boston, was not the same person as the Malcolm Little who had been in Lansing, or the Malcolm Little who had lived in Mason, Michigan.  Part of the American Dream is the hope that one day the dreamer will share in the adventure and excitement that define what this country is all about.  The dreamer hopes to make a contribution and to benefit from participation in American Society.
      It's been 42 years since Malcolm X's death.  In another 20 years, everyone who was ten years old when Malcolm X died, will be seventy-two years old.  So you see, we have got to get this done now.
    We must get a street named Malcolm X.

Ammahad Shekarakki
Lansing, MI