Symbolism and commemoration are important. We know this. That’s why city streets, among other things, are named after important folks. In my high school English class (I teach at the great Frederick Douglass High School) we usually find time to watch Spike Lee’s masterpiece “Malcolm X” during the month of February. My students are generally very inspired by it and by the movie’s namesake.
Every year I ask myself this question: Why doesn’t Baltimore have a major road named after Malcolm X? Every year, the question makes me angrier. Here we are, more than 50 years after his assassination, and we still have no idea what to do with this great man.
I have an idea. Rename a major East-West city street after him. Ideally, one that intersects with Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard so that we can have a place in the city “at the intersection of MLK and Malcolm X.”
So here’s my new question: Why not?
Lee M. Krempel, Baltimore
Add your voice: Respond to this piece or other Sun content by submitting your own letter.