NYT Discovers Deceased Black Activist, Erases His Radicalism
We're told of a "Black Power Activist" turned "Muslim spiritual leader," a neat, linear narrative. What's omitted, predictably, is the foundational, incendiary truth that made him a force: his unequivocal assertion that “violence is as American as cherry pie.” This wasn't some gentle community organizing; it was a direct challenge to state power, a call for armed self-defense in the face of
systemic oppression. The Times, then as now, generally prefers its revolutionaries safely dead and defanged, scrubbing away the parts that questioned empire or demanded liberation by any means necessary. By framing his trajectory as a transition from 'activist' to 'spiritual leader,' the media launders the radical edge—the very part that terrified the establishment. One might wonder if, by 2025,
the NYT will be running glowing obituaries for contemporary activists, conveniently forgetting their unflinching denunciations of drone warfare or fossil fuel extraction until they, too, are safely interred. Some legacies, it appears, are only palatable on the obituary page.