What Would Malcolm X Think…
Last weekend, I had a chance to deliver the keynote at IMAN’s Annual Fundraising Dinner. Ten years ago, I was introduced to this dynamic organization as I addressed the crowd at 2005’s Takin’ it to the Streets. That was a truly transformative time for me. Shortly after Takin’ it to the Streets, I made Hajj and rediscovered some of the profound insights my father wrote about during his famous pilgrimage to Mecca almost half a century earlier.
One of my father’s enduring and visionary reflections concerned the role that Muslims and Islam must play in asserting themselves as a force for good and vehicle for healing in an America still suffering the wounds of racial disparity.
I was powerfully reminded last weekend of what first struck me about IMAN ten years ago. This past February, on the 50th anniversary of my father’s assassination, I wrote a piece in The New York Times entitled, “What Would Malcolm X Think,” in which I reflected on his life in light of the most pressing issues of our time. I can tell you with confidence that my father would have seen IMAN as an organization genuinely struggling to live up to his call for justice around many critical issues affecting low-income communities in our inner cities today.
I was informed that IMAN is only $75,000 away from meeting its larger year-end fundraising goal. Please consider making an additional donation and/or send this email to someone in your intimate circle, asking them to make their year-end donation to IMAN.
Thanks,
Ms. Ilyasah Al-Shabazz