Civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump is representing family members of legendary activist Malcolm X in a lawsuit against NYPD and other agencies. Dr. Rashad Richey and Dr. Jonathan Metzl discuss Indisputable. Tell us what you think in the comments below.
“Civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump and family members of Malcolm X — the legendary activist who was assassinated in Feb. 1965, at the age of 39 — announced on Tuesday their plans to file a lawsuit against the New York City Police Department and various government agencies, alleging they intentionally concealed evidence related to the murder after it happened. Crump appeared at a news conference in Manhattan alongside two of Malcolm X’s daughters, Qubilah Shabazz and Ilyasah Shabazz, to provide what he called “formal notice” of the legal complaint to the city of New York, the state of New York, the NYPD, the district attorney’s office and various federal law enforcement agencies including the FBI and the CIA.”
Members of Malcolm X’s family were made aware of a letter written by a deceased former police officer stating the New York Police Department and FBI were connected to Malcolm X’s 1965 assassination. Michelle Miller shares the story of Raymond Wood’s letter, which was made public by his cousin Reginald. Malcolm X’s daughter Ilyasah Shabazz and civil rights attorney Ben Crump join “CBS This Morning” to discuss the revelation.
The FBI and New York Police Department are facing renewed calls to open their records into the assassination of Malcolm X, after the release of a deathbed confession of a former undercover NYPD officer who admitted to being part of a conspiracy targeting Malcolm. In the confession, Raymond Wood, who died last year, admitted he entrapped two members of Malcolm’s security team in another crime — a plot to blow up the Statue of Liberty — just days before the assassination. This left the Black civil rights leader vulnerable at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem, where he was fatally shot on February 21, 1965. Raymond Wood’s cousin Reggie Wood, who released the confession last week at a press conference, tells Democracy Now! his cousin’s involvement in the plot haunted him for much of his life. “Ray was told by his handlers not to repeat anything that he had seen or heard, or he would join Malcolm,” says Reggie Wood. “He trusted me enough to reveal this information and asked me not to say anything until he passed away, but at the same time not to allow him to take it to his grave.”
We speak with renowned scholar and activist Angela Davis on the 58th anniversary of the assassination of Malcolm X. Davis is delivering a keynote address Tuesday at the Shabazz Center in New York, formerly the Audubon Ballroom, where the iconic Black leader was killed on February 21, 1965. Davis says Malcolm is still vital to understanding racism, power and justice in the United States and beyond. “Malcolm always placed these issues in a larger context, and I think that we can learn a great deal from that legacy today,” says Davis. She also responds to recent moves by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and others to restrict the teaching of African American history, calling it an effort to “turn the clock back” on racial progress.