I don't think people really understand the void that was left in the wake of the deaths of both MLK Jr. and Malcolm X. Or even what that void was filled up with. MLK Jr and Malcolm X were unifying black communities. But what does it mean to "unify" people, on a practical level? If you're not clear on its implications, then you're in danger of treating that phrase like any other meaningless cliche. What it refers to in this case is the potential future that was materializing for black people in America. For the first time, black people were making their voices heard on a national level. They were protesting discrimination, segregation, and financial exclusion nonviolently. They were also boycotting businesses like the bus companies. The two leaders spearheading the Civil Rights Movement, MLK Jr. and Malcolm X, both had distinctive styles of leadership that complimented one another. And you can't understand either one without realizing the nature of their relationship. MLK was the dreamer, idealist, pacifist. Malcolm X was the fiery and aggressive realist. One would shake and break the foundations of your reality, and the other would give you the inspiration to build it back up in a better way. Individually, they were inspirational and sobering, but together they were more than that. They were a powerful force. Too powerful. Imagine how different things would be if they were still alive? Top positions in government and business would be filled by disciples of their movement. We would be living in a much different world. But what happened instead? Their run was cut short by means of assassination. The government then threw the black community a consolation prize with the Civil Rights Act. Am I shitting on the Civil Rights Act? Yes, but don't take my word for it, so did Malcolm X:
The memory of MLK Jr was turned into one of martyrdom, commodifying him as the "peaceful Jesus figure" that serves to symbolize the necessary sacrifice for the victory that was and still is the Civil Rights Act. And there's practically no memory of Malcolm X. He was too rough around the edges to be commandeered as an image of hope in the wake of his death.
Moving forward, the US government could not afford such a movement to gain that kind of steam ever again. So, they executed a plan over the course of a few decades that would ensure black community that would become and perpetually remain scattered, divided, and subservient.
First came the Great Society program from LBJ's administration: https://www.focusonthefamily.com/socialissues/citizen-magazine/what-has-the-great-society-wrought. The welfare programs that were introduced into poor urban neighborhoods were designed with the specific intention to split families apart. For example, in order for women to receive their welfare checks and food stamps, they could not have a male partner who would provide for the household. So government officers and inspectors would make regular check-up appearances at the women's homes in order to check for clues of a man's presence, like shaving cream, boxers, etc.
The story gets even more sinister upon the introduction of crack cocaine into these neighborhoods: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIA_involvement_in_Contra_cocaine_trafficking Enter Gary Webb, the journalist who broke the story in his Dark Alliance series (http://movies2.nytimes.com/books/first/w/webb-alliance.html) that the CIA was funding and supplying Contra drug dealers who sold crack to people in urban areas. Webb's articles made a serious implication: that the crack cocaine epidemic that had overtaken black communities especially was an in-house project by the CIA intended to destabilize the urban neighborhoods. Almost immediately upon publication, the mainstream news outlets like the New York Times and Washington Post, to name a few, launched all their journalistic weapons at Webb to discredit him: https://theintercept.com/2014/09/25/managing-nightmare-cia-media-destruction-gary-webb/ . In this article, Ryan Devereaux makes a distinction near the end that it wasn't necessarily the CIA that orchestrated these attacks on Webb by proxy of the news outlets, but that it was the news outlets who did it out of journalistic jealousy. But how credible is that assessment when it is a documented fact that the CIA has had hundreds, maybe thousands, of members of the media in news and entertainment on their payroll as part of their Operation Mockingbird?:
Think to yourself what the effects were of the Great Society programs and the crack cocaine epidemic on the black communities. First, women were financially incentivized to raise their children without a father in the house. Second, these children who grew up in broken homes were then introduced to more chaos and dysfunction when drugs were deliberately transported to their neighborhoods. As we know, people hooked on crack cocaine are destined to decay and are likewise traumatic viewing for growing children. Third, due to an incredible influence by the CIA on the media (Operation Mockingbird), the things being promoted as objects of desire on TV to the impressionable black youth were sports, music, and celebrity culture. These youths were made to believe that the only way out of their current living conditions and into a place of value were the "1-in-a-million" careers. And this is how you create a wealth disparity. Raise the youth without both their parents. Get them hooked on drugs or on selling them. And for the few who want something better for their lives, funnel them into a controlled space where they're given the sliver of hope that they'll be a famous athlete or singer. Most of them won't make it anyway and will end up working at McDonald's their whole lives. Make sure no time is spent reading books because God forbid you get another Malcolm X and MLK Jr who whip the people into nonviolent protesters with vision and purpose.
