Did you ask a good question?

A few months ago I heard or read someone describe how they became who they are. Today I stumbled on the actual words---as attributed to Isidor I. Rabi, Nobel Laureate in physics, who, when asked why he became a scientist, said:


''My mother made me a scientist without ever intending it. Every other Jewish mother in Brooklyn would ask her child after school: 'So? Did you learn anything today?' But not my mother. She always asked me a different question. 'Izzy,' she would say, 'did you ask a good question today?' That difference - asking good questions -made me become a scientist!''

Where is Malcolm X Park?

In an earlier post I referenced the founding of Malcolm X Park in Poughkeepsie, New York. Here is a more detailed account of that story. My hope is that youth across the nation can experience something like this and be motivated to action. The election of President Obama has been a monumental inspiration to black folk all over the globe, but let's not forget those who came before him, those who labored to make such a victory possible.



MALCOLM X PARK

Malcolm X Park was founded in October 1978 under the leadership of the Afro-American Youth Movement. Situated on an acre of land two blocks east of City Hall on Mansion Street between Beulah Baptist Church and Morse Elementary School, the park is a monument to the courageous and inspirational African-American leader.


During the summer of 1978, a group of youths organized a petition drive and proposed the re-naming of Morse School Park to Malcolm X Park. Behind their idea was the realization that there was no monument in the city to honor such a historic figure as Malcolm X—as well as the belief that young people would have a greater respect for the property if it carried Malcolm X’s name. Litter and unsavory activities had become commonplace in the park during the late seventies, prompting many to see a need for a change. That summer, inspired by a vision to see something different, several recent high school graduates and current high school students took several hundred petitions signatures to the City of Poughkeepsie School Board (with the endorsement of the City of Poughkeepsie Common Council). After several board meetings and a public hearing in October 1978, school board members voted to rename the park.

Over the next three years, the Afro-American Youth Movement, consisting of 8-15 members at any given time, sponsored “Clean Up Days” at the park, history film screenings and led discussions on Malcolm X’s life. On May 19, 1979, the group held the first “Malcolm X Day” in the park to commemorate the leader’s birthday and life..

The organization disbanded when many of its members went off to college (Bethune-Cookman, Culinary Institute of America, Syracuse University, Vassar). What now stands as Malcolm X Park in Poughkeepsie, however, is foremost a testament to the liberation struggles led by Malcolm X and people of African descent. The park is also a reminder that young people can organize to improve their communities.



Edward L. Pittman
Former Chairperson
Afro-American Youth Movement
Poughkeepsie, NY
Umojalo7@aol.com
845-471-3818
December 23, 2004