Before I Black

Part 2: MALCOLM'S X

In the hallway of the hospital, Kaleb's mother and brother now patiently await the doctor's emergence from the operating room. On the walls of the emergency room are several watercolor paintings, or portraits rather, of several prominent African-American figures from throughout history. There's a pretty large piece of Madam C.J. Walker, a smaller, more personal portrait of Huey P. Newton, and of course a magnificent piece of Dr. King. Considering that Thurgood Memorial was in Groveland, or the "other side," of the railroad tracks, it seemed as if the emergency room there had been specifically designed to comfort the hundreds of dying young black kids that were coming in each day from the neighborhood. With that being said, it's exactly the reason why most people that have to sit and wait there are anything but comfortable. Maybe all hospitals are like this, minus the paintings, but this was more like a morgue.

An elderly black woman has now began to make her way down the hallway, slowly approaching. "90 years dealing with this madness, thank God it's almost over," she exudes as she takes a seat next to Kaleb's mother who, unsure of what she has said replies, "Mam?" The old woman continues, "this neighborhood was a beautiful place, good jobs, good folks, and plenty of money." Kaleb's mom begins to intensely observe the woman, who closely resembles the majesty of the Madam Walker, listening to her story, her wisdom. "All of the young ones just run around doing whatever, making all kinds of trouble, looking for a way to escape this madness. My last grandson made it far away from all of this, and it still come back on him." Deeply intrigues by the woman's words, Kaleb's mother, still sobbing heavily asks, "and what happened to him?" "Made it all the way through college, and signed up for the service. He come home on leave one fall and got to staying over some gal house. Something just didn't sit right in my spirit with all of that. Didn't sit too well with the girl's boyfriend neither." After hearing her words, tears slowly begin to trickle down the face of Kaleb's mother, she knows that her son's life is in grave danger. "Shot him dead, the both of em. The family hasn't been the same since. His momma got on drugs and his father was always in and out of prison. Malcom was the last one. If this the end, an entire generation will have been washed away to nothing."

The door to the operating room opens suddenly. The last surgeon exits followed by the doctor. Kaleb's mother jumps to her feet and immediately runs over, picking up where she left off, "I need to see my baby!" The surgeon turns to his contemporary and explains, "I'm sorry, we did the best we could." After they both agree, the surgeon turns and heads down the hall. By this time the elderly woman has stood up and started over to join Kaleb's mother, his brother awaits on the bench with his heads in his lap, noticeably beginning to weep. His mother screams, "so what about my son? I want to see my son!" The doctor is genuinely sympathetic, "I'm sorry mam please, let me explain." A group of three men enter the room as the doctor begins his explanation, "your son suffered from multiple gun shot wounds." Kaleb's mother instantly enters a manic state, frantically screaming as she attempts to fight past the doctor. Her eldest son has now rushed over in an attempt to restrain his mother. The doctor, no longer calm and collected, pleads with the woman before further explaining, "two of the gun shots were to his chest cavity which caused immediate heart failure. We tried our best to get him to come around mam I promise." The elderly woman places both of her hands over her face. Kaleb's mother pauses in terror. One of the men emerges from the room, guiding the stretcher in front of him. The body on top is covered from head to toe, and the feeling of death proceeds to consume everyone in the moment. Kaleb's mother cries out, "my baby!" When the last person exits the room at the foot of the stretcher, the doctor instructs, "gentlemen wait a second please. Let her see him." As Kaleb's mother approaches, one of the men slowly pulls back the cover, revealing a young boys face, lifeless, yet far removed from pain. She pauses, almost as still as the body. "That's not him," she explains. The doctor looks befuddled, thinking that he may have misheard her. "Mam?" he replies for clarification. She then begins to point to the name tag that has been placed at the foot of the stretcher, before reiterating "that's not him." As the doctor looks down at once to see the name, one of the men explains, "he only had a gym membership on him with his photo and first name." The name on the stretcher reads Malcom "X."