I'm here to try and learn from the participants, not about academic theory, but about modern organizing praxis.
I already self-identify as a non-sectarian Socialist.
I welcome your critiques of Malcolm X and Black Nationalism.
I do not think that you are a "Negro" because you have criticized Malcolm. Reflective criticism of our "heroes" is good, and you are mild compared to other people I know, such as those who villify W.E.B. DuBois for his failings, and his historical overshadowing of people like Ida B. Wells.
I'm already a member of the "choir." OK?
What I want to understand is how this relates to or can have an effect on the average Black person, who doesn't necessarily want to hear a critique of a hero, and even if accepting of the critique, still holds on to certain notions of that hero's legacy.
Have you ever been able to convince a non-academician to view Malcolm less favorably, and think more about Socialism?
What do you do when someone is aware of all the flaws of a person or ideology, but doesn't seem to care, or rather, still clings to the "mythical" power of the symbol?
In other words, what I as a lay-person am trying to find is that magical link between the theoretical and the actual.
Tell me more about your everyday conversations with working-class or middle-class Black people. What about the members of your family? What are their political views like? Have you had any influence over them?
This is the practical knowledge that I seek.
I'm trying to approach organizing from the bottom, not from the top.
Art