Lavish Rebellion [DOT COM]

This past Juneteenth was a quiet one. It was warm outside, but not too terribly hot. And plans were up in the air for the observation!

So, I decided before any plans were certified, that I would visit the childhood/boyhood home of Malcolm X.

In all my years, I had never visited the house in person. But I always thought it was super awesome and incredibly touching that the house in which he lived in with his older sister, Ella Little, later Ella Little-Collins, was not only in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, but since the purchase of the home in 1941 by Ella, remains standing.

Also, this May, in honor of what would’ve been Malcolm X’s 100th birthday (he was born on May 19, 1925), a read-a-thon was organized by the African American Heritage in Massachusetts on the weekend of May 17-18th.

As soon as I heard about it, I was immediately hyped for it, planned to attend and was going to register to read selected pages from his iconic book The Autobiography of Malcolm X, as selected by the initiative.

But once I double-checked the dates, I realized I was going to be out of town.

I was deeply disappointed. I really wanted to be there. But minutes later, I instead chose to be happy that the event was even happening!

Since the event took place, on the website for the read-a-thon, all the volunteers who read pages have their names listed and how cool is that! I thought the read-a-thon was a beautiful, moving way to pay homage to the legendary activist.

So on Juneteenth, because of the observation of the day, having missed the read-a-thon, and Malcom’x 100th, I told myself, let’s go visit his childhood home.

It was just me on 72 Dale Street during my visit. Just a few cars drove by, as I snapped photos, felt much gratitude and smiled at the house in front of me. We’re so lucky to still have this home, as according to a CBS News report in 2021, the house in Roxbury is known as the last surviving residence of all of X’s childhood homes.

Also, thankfully, the house remains under Little-Collins ownership, which is remarkable, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Happy centennial Malcolm X! (Later in life, after converting to Islam, he adopted the name El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz).