What does Malcolm X’s legacy look like in today’s activism?

Malcolm X’s fire still burns in movements like Black Lives Matter, though his approach has evolved. Young leaders like Brittany Packnett Cunningham blend his unflinching critique of systemic racism with a focus on policy reform. When I attended a BLM town hall last year, someone cited Malcolm’s 1964 “Ballot or the Bullet” speech to argue for strategic voting—yet his message now includes coalition-building across races, something he emphasized only in his final, post-NOI years.

Who embodies Malcolm X’s uncompromising self-defense philosophy today?

Look no further than the abolitionist work of Derecka Purnell. Her book Hood Politics channels Malcolm’s early militancy, arguing that marginalized communities deserve to protect themselves from police violence. At a 2022 protest, I watched a organizer chant “By any means necessary” while de-escalating a tense standoff with cops—a modern twist on Malcolm’s ethos. He’d likely question her focus on nonviolent resistance, but her belief in community autonomy echoes his early calls for self-reliance.

Where does Malcolm X’s economic empowerment vision thrive now?

The “Black Wall Street” revival in cities like Detroit and Atlanta shows his influence. Take the work of Nia McAllister, who founded the Black Founders Fund after George Floyd’s murder. She’s not just funding startups—she’s recreating the cooperative networks Malcolm championed in the 1960s. When I visited her Oakland office, she had a framed quote from his Ghana speech: “You can’t have capitalism without racism.” Today’s reparations advocates cite that line relentlessly.

Who’s fighting for Black education in Malcolm X’s spirit?

Dr. Christopher Emdin’s “Reality Pedagogy” turns classrooms into spaces of radical self-love. His approach—training teachers to embrace hip-hop culture as curriculum—mirrors Malcolm’s belief that Black students need education “that tells [them] what happened to [their] people.” At a conference last spring, a teacher told me how she used Emdin’s methods to teach Malcolm’s autobiography alongside Kendrick Lamar, making history feel urgent and alive.

How does Malcolm X’s global vision live on in activism?

Ajamu Baraka, VP candidate for the Green Party, carries the torch. He connects U.S. racial justice to global movements, much like Malcolm did during his 1964 pilgrimage. At a recent Gaza solidarity rally, I heard a speaker compare Netanyahu to Bull Connor—Malcolm’s infamous “chickens coming home to roost” rhetoric reborn in critiques of U.S.-Israel ties. Baraka told me last year, “Malcolm showed us that our freedom is bound to every colonized person on earth. That’s not a metaphor—it’s logistics.”

Malcolm X’s legacy doesn’t sit in museums—it pulses through these leaders’ work. If you want to grasp how his ideas morph across generations, try talking to him directly. Ask him how he’d confront today’s crises. You might be surprised by his answers.