Unfortunately, this year’s celebration of his extraordinary life will be tempered by the recent murder of his 28 year-old grandson Malcolm Shabazz, who was killed last week in Mexico in an apparent beating.

Terrible. Will this family’s pain cease? When will the cycle of violence that claimed Malcolm X’s father, Malcolm himself, his widow Betty, and now his grandson, ever end?

You know it’s very easy to say things like Malcolm Shabazz was a ‘troubled young man’ or that his ‘problems consumed him’ for the better part of his life.

Yes, he had a criminal record and, tragically, first gained attention as a 12-year-old after setting the fire that killed his grandmother, Betty Shabazz.

He spent much of his teen years in detention and prison and struggled with living in the massive shadow of the grandfather he never knew.

But all of this is what made his subsequent activities even more compelling… In recent years, like his grandfather a half-century before him, Malcolm Shabazz had pushed to transform his life as he began to travel the world, speak out on social injustice, and network with a number of human rights groups.

At the time of his death, he was in Mexico meeting with a representative from a human rights group. And, just like his Grandfather, he was reportedly working on an autobiography of his tumultuous life.

Now, we’ve all heard the term “acting white” tossed around in our community, and may even remember when a younger Chris Rock took Bryant Gumbel to task for allegedly acting ‘too white” or when Eddie Murphy literally turned white in a famous Saturday Night Live skit and got crazy hookups!

Well there’s a fascinating new book out by law professor Devon Carbado that offers a fresh perspective on this theory, arguing that ‘acting white’ is more than just skin deep.

In Acting White?: Rethinking Race in “Post-Racial” America, Carbado contends that racial judgments are not just based on skin color, but on how a person conforms to behaviors or stereotypes associated with a certain race.

In other words, they’re based on how people of any color “perform” their race as suggested by their clothing; their hairstyle; their acquaintances; the organizations they join; their racial politics; where they live, or how they speak and walk.

One example would be how some African Americans have an ‘in the community’ demeanor and a ‘at the workplace’ demeanor.

For black men in particular―because of the fear people in our society so often have of them―their ‘at the workplace’ demeanor, in many instances, is designed to be non-threatening, mild or ‘approachable’.

But don’t get it twisted folks. In most cases, this is not a sign of weakness on the brothers’ part but rather a sign of cultural fluency, meaning they’re playing the game enough to pay their bills.

And most are strong enough to know that adopting that workplace demeanor does not define them… Another more common example for African Americans is how we often shift our speech patterns say for a job interview.

The point, for Carbado, is not to push some notion of racial authenticity but to acknowledge “acting” is something many people commonly do, whether its acting white, acting black, or even “acting male,”.

But while Carbado contends that this process goes deeper than skin color, he also acknowledges the socially imposed pressures on African Americans in particular to act in certain ways in order to more smoothly navigate both their professional and personal landscapes.

Again the name of the book is Acting White?: Rethinking Race in “Post-Racial” America, you should definitely get a copy and I’d like to hear from you do you feel any pressure to act in certain ways in certain environments.

I’ll close with these words from Carbado himself:

“We judge African Americans based not only on whether we perceive them to be black, but also on how black we perceive them to be.”

This weekend, I came across two news items that caused me to ask: “What is the cost of freedom?”

First, as most of you know, Lauryn Hill announced her return to music with a new deal with Sony in the midst of legal troubles stemming from tax evasion charges.

In an open letter to her fans, she said:

“I’ve been fighting for existential and economic freedom, the freedom to create and live without someone threatening, controlling, and/or manipulating the art and the artist, by tying the purse strings.”

Think about that for a minute. The woman who took the world by storm and earned great fame and fortune ―what others would surely regard as ‘The American Dream’― is basically saying she felt enslaved by her success and by the government.

Hill is not the only one, think Dave Chapelle, who walked away from $50 million, think about that controversial book on black athletes entitled 40 Million Dollar Slaves.

Okay, the second news item was an article from CNN called, “Is Big Brother coming to your job?”

In it, contributor Bob Greene discusses how software developed to allow college professors to monitor students’ work will likely be adapted to the U.S. workplace to allow bosses to monitor workers online.

Greene describes such software as a tool “corporations everywhere have been waiting for… a way to stand over the shoulder of every employee, 24 hours a day, and keep track of exactly how much time he or she is really spending on his or her work.”

This goes beyond just when you log in or log out of your workstation. This software tracks page views, time spent on a document, notes taken, bookmarks used, and whether or not you even opened a document at work or at home.

All of this makes me wonder, here in the Land of the Free, how free our freedom actually is.

Yes, Lauryn Hill certainly owes back taxes, but what does it say about our society that she may lose her physical freedom because of her artistic desire to be free?

Why does David Chapelle feel so much more free without an extra $50 million? And why do we have to pursue our own American Dream in a monitored corporate environment where we are constantly reminded how un-free we really are…?

So, my question today is this: Would you accept a million dollars if it locked you into a situation where you felt unhappy, trapped and unable to express yourself freely?

I’ll leave you with this from writer William Faulkner… he says:

“We must be free not because we claim freedom, but because we practice it.” 

And as I do I am reminded of my 2010 commentary about a movie trailer I saw for an upcoming Will and Jaden Smith blockbuster called After Earth, which also talked about fear.

In it, Will and Jaden find themselves in a futuristic and hostile version of Earth where all species of plants and animals have evolved to kill humans. In one poignant scene, Will’s character speaks these profound and timely words to his anxious son, played by Jaden.

He says: “Son, if we are going to survive this, you must realize that fear is not real… It is a product of thoughts you create. Now do not misunderstand me ―danger is very real… but fear is a choice.”

Powerful stuff, think about it. Fear as a choice, not a natural reaction, but a conditioned one, hmm.

Why is this important to recognize? Especially at critical times like now?

because: Acting out of fear, or abandoning reason and logic in the name of safety, has never kept us safe or secure. To the contrary, it makes us even more vulnerable.

You see, first, we are victimized by a tragic event, and then we are victimized again by those who take advantage of our fearful condition.

Like politicians who use tragedies to enact laws that strip us of our constitutional rights and liberties.

And in the end no one is safer, because safety, like fear, is largely an illusion. You can arm your home with alarms, weapons and surveillance cameras but that won’t protect you from the sinkhole under your house or the resentful family members you’re trapping inside with you.

There’s something more powerful than fear.  You see, fear crumbles in the face of faith, love and hope.

Let’s look to eight year-old Martin Richard, one of the three to die in the Boston bombing, as an example.

He once responded to a school lesson on the shooting of Trayvon Martin by creating a sign that simply read, “No more hurting people. Peace.”

Isn’t it amazing how the pure sentiment of a child can transcend any notion of fear to make a basic human point, one, if honored, would have prevented such tragedies in the first place?

And that quote by Martin Richard, “No more hurting people. Peace.” is the one I’ll leave you with for this week. In the wake of this tragedy, it is the one law I’d gladly support.

I’ll recap for you. On June 13, 1992, in the East River Projects in Manhattan, three drug dealers went looking for 17 year-old Wilfredo Colón, a rival crack dealer.

When they found their target, they shot him 13 times. Eight months later, the police arrested Michael Rowe and two other dealers. Rowe plead guilty and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

The murder devastated Colon’s little brother, Anthony, who was 15 at the time. His anger over the killing combined with his bitterness toward his parents for not having taken better care of their children, left him bitter toward the murderers, God, and himself.

It wasn’t until two years later when a friend brought him to church that he began to change his life and learn about the power of forgiveness. He later married, had two children, and became a restaurant owner.

Meanwhile, in prison, Rowe also transformed his life, first earning a high-school diploma, a college degree, and a Master’s degree. He got married and fathered three children, while in prison.

Both are incredible stories on their own, but it gets deeper. One day, in September 2006, while visiting a friend at a New York prison, Colon looked across the room and saw Michael Rowe. Startled and fearful, Rowe tried to duck and avoid Colon’s gaze.

But Colon walked straight up to him and said these remarkable words: “Brother, I’ve been praying for you. I forgave you. I’ve been praying I would see you again.”

Wow, could you imagine? Well, Rowe couldn’t. It took him minutes before he could come to grips with what was happening and shake the outstretched hand of the brother of the man he’d murdered.

And the rest is even more remarkable. The two have become close as brothers. Colon was actually there to put on Rowe’s robe when he received his Masters degree in prison, and Colon was there last week when Rowe was released after two decades.

The two will even work together at Exodus Transitional Community Center in Harlem.

What a story, Anthony Colon is an incredible human being. You see, he recognizes that his forgiveness was as much about himself as the man who wronged him.

In light of this story, think about some of the silly grudges we currently hold against our loved ones.

Forgive somebody today.  Also, let us know who you are forgiving. You don’t have to give names, but just let us know how long you’ve held the grudge and why.

I’ll leave you with these words from the late theologian Lewis B. Smedes:

“To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.”

Here are some of the things TJMS listeners are choosing to forgive. (See below) 

I forgive my ex-husband for cheating on me with our good friend, fathering a child with her, marrying her and forgetting he has teenage children with me. I also forgive my gay cousin who tried to introduce my 17-year-old son to his lifestyle and having me arrested for confronting him about it.

 I forgive a man who raped me when I was only 9-years-old. That was over 24 years ago. He is now out of prison.

 I forgive my oldest child’s dad for leaving me for another man some years ago. Also, I am thanking him because my husband now is the true MAN of my dreams.

 Tom, I forgive my sister for showing out at my wedding. I celebrate my 1 year anniversary next month and I haven’t spoken to her since.

 I forgive the two men that abducted and raped me on my way to school when I was 17.

 I forgive Sister Olivia for molesting me when I was boy. I spent my entire life learning how to trust women. Especially the leaders in church.

 I forgive my wife for being the evil, hateful, selfish person that she is.

And that is this: What’s the deal with this whole skin lightening stuff, especially in Hollywood…? And who is actually responsible for turning the beautiful copper and chocolate brown tones of our leading stars into something less than?

Well a number of folks are asking this question after seeing the cover of Entertainment Weekly that featured a visibly ‘paler-toned’ version of Scandal star Kerry Washington.

Several web writers began pointing out the star’s faded color and suggesting what they felt was behind it. Jessica Wakeman, a contributor for the popular women’s website The Frisky, was one of the first to point it out, saying that the talented actress was “looking a lot lighter-skinned.”

Wakeman went on to reference the recent and similar controversy surrounding soulful songstress India Arie whose cover image from her new single Cocoa Butter showed a lighter version of the ironically-proud singer of the self-affirming tune, Brown Skin.

Arie denied lightening her complexion in any way, saying it was a result of the lighting.

Now this was not good.  In addition to disobeying his parents, he was supposed to be home watching his six-year old little brother.

Unfortunately, for Mike and his family, the story takes a tragic turn from here. While the twelve-year old enjoyed the parade, his little brother accidentally knocked their grandmother unconscious while sliding down a bannister.

Sadly, their grandmother would subsequently die from a heart attack largely unrelated to the accident. However, this wouldn’t stop the young Mike from associating his actions with his grandmother’s death.

Guilt-ridden and distraught–and unable to sleep for days–the troubled twelve-year old climbed the stairs of his two-story house and leapt from a bedroom window in an attempted suicide.

Thankfully, Michael made it through the episode without major injury and thankfully, for the rest of us, Michael survived, became a pastor like his father and–also like his father Michael Sr.–decided to adopt the name of a historic religious reformer… Martin.

Yes, the boy born Michael King Jr., became Martin Luther King Jr. and the rest, as they say is, indeed, history.

That said, sincerity on issues of race was certainly not on display at the recent Conservative Political Action Committee on Republican minority outreach, CPAC, as it’s called, is the largest annual gathering of right-leaning activists, and an event commonly attended by top Republican presidential contenders.

I’m sure that many of you’ve seen the controversial clips from the CPAC meeting where, during a presentation entitled “Trump the Race Card” by African American presenter, K. Carl Smith, the room was disrupted by statements from a white separatist, Scott Terry.

Terry asked a question to which presenter Smith answered by referencing a letter where Douglass forgave his former slave master.

Terry then questioned the need for forgiveness, responding, “For what? For feeding him and housing him…?” Several audience members cheered, yep.

The disruptions continued and, at one point, when a woman challenged Terry, he responded, “I didn’t know the legacy of the Republican Party included women correcting men in public.”

Wow, I don’t know about y’all, but I’m booking my spot early for next year’s CPAC.  Maybe I’ll get the 3/5^th of a human discount.

But it gets worse. After the event, presenter Smith released a statement where he first criticized a black female reporter for asking him how many black women were at the 1848 Women’s Rights Convention he was discussing. Smith called the question quote-unquote, “intentionally disruptive and coercive with no way of creating a positive dialogue.”

He then acknowledges the disruptive comments of the white separatist Scott Terry before going on to offer this silly response: “I further explained to him the Frederick Douglass Republican Message which he embraced, bought a book, and we left as friends.”

Mmmm, so Brotha Smith felt the need to attack the sista who questioned him, but clarify his friendship with the white separatist who is okay with slavery and subjugating women.

You know, guys, I don’t even know if I have a point this week, this thing just fascinated me.

Or, maybe I do have a point. Since Brother Smith is committed to celebrating the Republican party of longgggggggggg ago as the party responsible for ending slavery, I’m sure he may find special meaning in these words of Abraham Lincoln:

“It’s better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt.”

Most of you by now have probably seen the videotape from this ugly and remarkable incident in Miami― which happened back in February but this past week, made national news ―where a white Metro-Dade Transit security guard roughly drags 82-year old Emma Anderson from a commuter train for the heinous crime of singing spirituals.

The elderly African-American woman was singing gospel hymns in her train seat when a transit security guard asked her to stop, contending she was being disruptive.

Then, it was ‘Lights, Camera, Action’ since, not surprisingly, someone clicked the camera on their cell phone and it was not a pretty sight. The security guard aggressively tugs at the bag Anderson clings to over the gasps of the passengers. The force of his actions causes the 82-year old woman to fall backwards near the platform amidst the shock and anger of the onlookers.

Anderson was subsequently taken to the hospital with a bruised hip and shoulder.

How sick is that? What in the world have we come to when an 82 year-old woman is treated this way for singing spirituals?

Now, I am fully aware there are rules in place in Miami-Dade County that actually prohibit singing, dancing or playing an instrument without a permit and I recognize that these policies are in place to minimize disruptions for all passengers.

And I know we did our own Hardest Working Harlem Shake here with the TJMS crew for all to see on Black America Web, but it’s getting out of control and no, I don’t want to be flying miles above the earth in a 747 when some college students have the bright idea to throw on some masks and shake the plane, no thank you, I’ll take the bus.

And while we’re at it, please no more high priced athletes shaking in their locker rooms, no more international revolutionary factions shaking to mock their political foes, and no more senior citizens shaking themselves half to death.

Okay, now that we’ve cleared the air, allow me to suggest some people who are really in need of a shake; ’cause these folks have really lost their minds and someone needs to shake some sense back into them.

First off, Congress, for all of their sequester battles and harmful budget cuts, someone needs to shake them up to get them to actually serve the American people.

Second, those pushing to repeal the Voting Rights Act under the guise of “state sovereignty”. Isn’t it interesting how every time people of color become more powerful, somebody steps in and wants to change the rules?    Shake ‘em like a Polaroid.