From the Vault: Malcolm X - Listening with a New Ear

This week on From the Vault we revisit a classic program that we first debuted a couple of years ago, Malcolm X: A Retrospective. This time, we listen again with the added conversation with Dowoti Desir, Executive Director of the Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Education Center. Ms. Desir speaks about the founding of the organization dedicated to preserving the legacy of Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz and comments on the value and historic significance of the archives recordings.

At a time when he was more likely to appear on the FBI’s most wanted list than on a commemorative stamp, this succinct documentary of Malcolm X’s impact on Black Power and Black Muslim Movement from 1960 to his death in 1965 was like a shot of adrenaline to Pacifica radio listeners around the country. Crafted by legendary producer Chris Koch and originally broadcast on Pacifica’s WBAI on March 30, 1965 - barely a month after Malcolm X’s assassination - this recording’s magical ’sound’ ranks among the most coveted in Pacifica’s collection… yet another classic example of the depth of legacy preserved within the Pacifica Radio Archives. Forty years after it’s genesis, Malcolm X: A Retrospective had surfaced once again in our awareness, revealing actual voices of history: voices speaking as global witnesses, voices speaking for themselves, and voices speaking directly to you.