Malcolm X Grassroots Movement

Malcolm X Grassroots Movement (MXGM) was founded in 1993, to “defend the human rights of our people and promote self-determination in our community.” MXGM was founded in Brooklyn, NY but has now expanded to seven chapters throughout the United States.

The activities of MXGM are primarily concerned with a commitment to community. The movement offers a Community Education Workshop Series, a Peoples’ Community Feeding and Clothing Program, and the Central Brooklyn Cop Watch. The MXGM also has a Political Prisoner Amnesty Campaign, featuring a list of 5 imprisoned activists, as well as a list of those who “died for the cause.” In addition, the movement also supports the New Afrikan Scouts Organization and Camp Pumziko, two projects that help “New Afrikan Youth” lead positive lives. Furthermore, the MXGM also organizes Black August, a simultaneous “celebration of hip hop and our freedom fighters.”

MXGM offers a radical ideology rooted in a strong tradition of resistance to the status quo. Community attention, international solidarity, pedagogical institutions, self-determination, a socialist critique of capitlism, a commitment to equality of the sexes, and an openness to defense “by any means necessary” are all central tenets to the MXGM. The ideologies and methods of MXGM also speak to many of the concerns and queries regarding pedagogy, youth involvement and art raised in Robin D. G. Kelley's course, "Black Movements in America." MXGM owes many of its principles and methods to the many black movements that have come before, including the Black Power movements, Garveyism and of course the teachings and activism of Malcolm X. Finally, the movement’s frequent reference to “human rights” emphasizes the organization's committment to the liberation of all peoples, not only black people.