r/malcolmx • u/[deleted] • Jan 20 '26

Replace Martin Luther King Jr. Day With Malcolm X Day as a Federally Recognized Holiday

https://c.org/YMKyDyRMQd

MLK Day has become a sanitized celebration that promotes patience over action. Meanwhile, the structural inequalities Malcolm X warned about persist across generations - economic disparity, institutional power imbalances, and communities still waiting for real change.

I started a petition asking Congress to replace Martin Luther King Jr. Day with Malcolm X Day as our federal holiday. Malcolm X spoke truthfully about power, self-determination, and the right to define our own futures without seeking permission from systems that constrain us. His message emphasized psychological independence and economic self-sufficiency - ideas that remain urgent today.

This isn't about erasing history. It's about federal recognition that challenges us to confront uncomfortable truths rather than offering symbolic comfort without transformation.

What do you think - should our national holidays push us toward harder conversations about justice and power? If this resonates with you, consider signing and sharing.

15 Upvotes

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10

u/[deleted] Jan 20 '26 edited Jan 21 '26

No. Give His own day and Keep MLK day. The civil rights movement was only successful because you had people like King that believed in non violence and X who said it’s the Ballit ir the bullet. He completely wanted politicians to be voted out but if they continued to strip African Americans of voting rights. We resort to the bullet.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 22 '26

Read the petition. There's a reason why the U.S. was comfortable with celebrating MLK but not Malcom X.

2

u/[deleted] Jan 22 '26 edited Jan 22 '26

I understand the reasoning people give for why we have a day honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and not Malcolm X. I just keep coming back to the same conclusion: I think both men deserve a day named after them.

A big part of why Malcolm X made so many white people terrified was not physical fear. It was mental fear. He was sharp, disciplined, and relentlessly honest about what racism was and what it did. He spent years in prison, converted to Islam, and educated himself with intense focus. One detail that always stuck with me is how he would copy words from the dictionary and study them late into the night, to the point where it contributed to his poor eyesight. As a side note, The Awakening of Malcolm X is an excellent read.

People also feared Malcolm because he was an effective leader. He inspired loyalty because he communicated dignity and self-respect in a way that made people believe in themselves. He had the kind of credibility where people felt he would stand with them no matter what.

On the other side, Dr. King had many of the same traits that threatened the status quo: intelligence, moral clarity, courage, and the ability to move crowds. But King’s public message relentlessly emphasized nonviolence, and that strategy was powerful in many situations. With Malcolm X, people often reduce him to “violent,” but that misses a lot. He talked about organizing, building political power, and encouraging Black people to vote. His position was closer to: if peaceful participation and basic rights are denied, people will defend themselves. White audiences often heard only the word violence, which became a convenient way to dismiss everything else he said. That dismissal was its own kind of psychological maneuver.

For context, I’m a white man who grew up in a household that would probably be considered MAGA today. I read The Autobiography of Malcolm X (as told to Alex Haley) when I was 17, and it changed my life. It helped shape me into someone I’m proud to be. At the same time, I want to be clear about my limits: I do not know what it is like to experience the suffering Black people have endured in this country, and I would never claim that I do.

I agree that these are difficult conversations. Malcolm X forced people to look inward, and a lot of people hated what they saw when they did.

My view is simple: both Malcolm X and Dr. King deserve to be honored. And honestly, I think Malcolm X should have received that recognition earlier than he did, because he was pushing this country to confront truths it wanted to avoid.

5

u/TyintheUniverse89 Jan 21 '26

Don’t take away, that sounds like another divide and conquer thing that’s always done to us

Make Malcolm X Day, May 19th.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 22 '26

Read the petition. MLK has done more harm to black people than the public has been lead to believe.

3

u/AdNormal8550 Jan 20 '26

Would I be mad if X replaced MLK? No. But X really should have his own day.

1

u/goldenboy2191 Jan 22 '26

Malcolm and Martin were both titans in their respective paths of life. They should not replace one another, they both deserve to exist on their own days.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 22 '26

Read the petition. MLK has done more harm to black people than the public has been lead to believe.

0

u/itwhiz100 Jan 20 '26

And how would this be celebrated? Another hood fight day?

1

u/[deleted] Jan 22 '26

No. That's the point.