Malcolm X’s 60th Anniversary Visit to Smethwick

MX60 Collective bring you a celebratory programme of Malcolm X’s ‘Life, Lesson and Legacy’ to mark on the 60th Anniversary of his visit to Smethwick.

In February 1965, Malcolm X visited Selma, Alabama, supporting Martin Luther King’s civil rights campaign against segregation. Seventeen days later, he was assassinated.

Between these two events, Malcolm X visited Smethwick on 12th February 1965 to experience the colour bars and racial prejudice in the Midlands.

At the time, Smethwick was a town torn apart after Peter Griffith’s openly racist 1964 election campaign, which played on the fear of immigration. Sounds familiar!

His visit to an area with a growing Asian and Caribbean immigrant population confirmed his conception of a worldwide struggle that united all oppressed people of colour to work together. It also highlighted the broad anti-racist activism connections that linked Smethwick, Selma, Harlem, and India. This global vision of anti-racism was an inherent part of the Midlands and has meant that now, 60 years later, Smethwick is primarily at peace with its diverse communities.

His visit was a crucial moment in his European and African tours, part of his ongoing campaign against racist violence, support of global Black Liberation struggles, opposition to the US involvement in the Congo and Vietnam and showing the intersections between the local and international.

When asked by local reports why he visited Smethwick, Malcolm X replied, "I have heard that the blacks ... are being treated in the same way as the Negroes were treated in Alabama - like Hitler treated the Jews" (Birmingham Post, 1965, p15).

The story of how and why Malcolm X found himself in Smethwick is one of international Black unity and solidarity.  The significance of the visit was to connect the dots of global racism be it in Sharpeville (South Africa), Selma (Alabama, USA) or Smethwick. The same racist scapegoating of Refugee and Asylum Seekers today is very much the background back then, leading the Indian Works Association (GB) to inviting Malcolm X to expose the unfolding apartheid in Smethwick.

In 2024, as Britain faced open racist pograms across the country, the falsehoods of the immigration debate continues to haunt Britain.

In the aftermath of the pogroms, we saw widespread help, support and real connections from people of different races, classes and faiths come together to tackle the hatred.

At this time, it is crucial that we explore the lessons of tackling racism and building progressive communities over the last 60 years by supporting and helping local groups tactics for building a better future.

Come to our events, and learn about how local communities tackled these issues in the past, how we can develop new tactics for the future. For a full list of events visit MX60 https://www.mx60.uk/

MX60 Programme Highlights:

‘Malcolm X Walk’-  Step back in time to experience the powerful messages of Malcom X visit to Smethwick - 5th February 2025 Malcolm X's visit to Smethwick - 60th Anniversary  and 13th February 2025 Malcolm X's visit to Smethwick - 60th Anniversary - Black Heritage Walks Network CIC.

“A Street of Mistrust and Fear” – Malcolm X in Smethwick – 8th February: 10 am – 5 pm, Black Country Living Museum. For more information click here.

Get Your Hands on History - Malcolm X Smethwick Archive - 12th February: 11am – 1 p.m. – Sandwell Community History and Archives Services, Smethwick Library, 100 High Street, Smethwick. B66 1AA

Launch of Malcolm X Arts Project – 12th February: Smethwick

Whose City is it? Intergenerational Exchange – 12th February: 6 – 9pm – Old Library, Digbeth. Tickets available here.

A Letter to An Activist (Young People’s Tribute to Malcolm X) – 26th February: 5 – 7 pm, BRIG Café, 54-57 Allison Street, Digbeth, B5 5TH. Tickets available here.

Remembering Malcolm X – 21st February: 6 – 9 p.m. 346 Soho Road, Shaheed Udham Singh Welfare Create, B21 9QL. Tickets available here.

Malcolm X’s Smethwick Visit Digital Tour  - Curated by a History & & Politics student from Aston University. More information available here.

If your organising Malcolm X events and would like it promoted, please let us know at: https://www.mx60.uk/events

The MX60 Collective consists of Birmingham Race Impact Group (BRIG), Black Country Living Museum, Black Heritage Walks Network CIC, Black History Arts and More, Bright Ideas Nottingham, Dynamexx Productions, Jagdish Patel, Kalaboration Arts, Legacy West Midlands, Recognize Black Heritage & Culture, Savita Vij, Shaheed Udham Singh Welfare Centre, Stand Up To Racism Birmingham, Stand Up To Racism Black Country.