Reclaiming Malcolm X: Epideictic Discourse and African-American Rhetoric

ABSTRACT

This essay examines the epideictic rhetoric of Nuri Muhammad, a Nation of Islam student minister, at a Malcolm X Festival in 2018. Nuri’s rhetorical performance demonstrates how he uses the memory of Malcolm X to create a collective epideictic experience with his audience. Using Malcolm X’s “The Ballot or the Bullet” as a foundation, Nuri praises virtues and condemns vices that support the community’s conception and preservation of Malcolm X, positioning the audience as judge rather than spectator. This performance illustrates how everyday cultural practices may deviate from our understanding of rhetoric while augmenting our research practices and goals.

Notes

1. I would like to thank RR reviewers Julie Jung, Aja Martinez, and Keith Miller for their feedback.

2. According to Krause, the FBI allegedly surveilled Rakem as a result of him “marching with weapons during protests” and his anti-police rhetoric, moments captured on Facebook and YouTube videos. While he was arrested for illegal possession of firearms, a district judge dismissed the charge, but Rakem was still incarcerated for five months. Rakem, and his supporters, claim his arrest is an example of the FBI’s targeting of so-called “Black Identity Extremists” (Krause). I included this information to emphasize how a local festival can function as an escape from oppression.

3. While I do incorporate research from Understanding African American Rhetoric, scholarship like African American Rhetoric(s) and On African-American Rhetoric established the possibility for this article.

4. As early as 1994, Betty Shabazz publicly expressed her belief that the NOI was involved in the assassination of her husband (“Widow of Malcolm X”).

5. In 1993, Louis Farrakhan stated: “And frankly, it ain’t none of your business. What do you got to say about it? Did you teach Malcolm? Did you make Malcolm? Did you clean up Malcolm? Did you put Malcolm out before the world? Was Malcolm your traitor or ours? And if we dealt with him like a nation deals with a traitor, what the hell business is it of yours?” (Evanzz 462).

6. Marable states: “Years from now, when thousands of pages of FBI and Boss surveillance are finally accessible … [i]t would not be entirely surprising if an FBI transcript surfaced documenting a telephone call from Elijah Muhammad to a subordinate, authorizing Malcolm’s murder” (Malcolm X 478).

7. In The Black Muslims in America, C. Eric Lincoln provides a succinct overview of the Fruit of Islam (199-204).

8. A time gap occurs before the video shows two white male police officers placing Clemons on the ground. While Clemons’s breasts are exposed as she lies on her back, an officer places his arm clearly around her neck before turning her around to arrest Clemons on her stomach (Horton). Although witnesses allegedly stated Clemons “shouted profanities at the Waffle House employees” and “refused to comply with the officers on multiple occasions,” Detective Collette Little confirmed himself “that one of the officers told Clemons that he could break her arm during the arrest if she did not cooperate” (Horton).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Danny Rodriguez

Danny Rodriguez is a doctoral candidate at Texas Christian University. He specializes in cultural rhetorics, specifically critical race theory, and the rhetorics of Hip-Hop culture. His most recent research appears in Critical Insights: Malcolm X and Constellations.