OMAHA — State Sen. Terrell McKinney recalls Nebraska’s rockier relationship with Malcolm X, the rather rough road to getting the Omaha-born human rights leader into the state’s Hall of Fame.

John Ewing Jr., who last week became Omaha’s first elected Black mayor, was a toddler when Malcolm X was assassinated in 1965, and what sticks with him is how Nebraskans early on used him largely as a comparison point with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Standing out to JoAnna LeFlore-Ejike is the slow march toward gaining communitywide buy-in to build up the Malcolm X memorial birth site and nonprofit foundation she now heads. Burned into her mind is a moment 15 years ago when she thought: “Where’s the people? Where are the people who are going to move this thing forward?”

But they and other fans said they’ve seen increased recognition and understanding in their state of what Malcolm X stood for. Buoyed by his rising national prominence, local voices have championed Malcolm X’s journey as one of self-determination, personal reformation and quest to unify Black people — and have successfully advocated for ways to enshrine his name in the state where he was born.

Efforts intensified as the 100th anniversary of Malcolm X’s birthday approached — and is being observed Monday, May 19.

“There’s a shift of the tide,” McKinney said, for the Black empowerment advocate he says is often misunderstood. “People are actually honoring his legacy and respecting it. It’s a show of understanding of who he was and what he means to North Omaha, the city and the world.”

Racial Antagonism Abandoned

Born Malcolm Little, his family left Omaha after suffering harassment from white supremacists, before Malcolm X was two years old. He evolved from a street hustler who, while in prison, became self-educated and converted to the Nation of Islam. He took the new surname “X” to signify the unknown African surname of his ancestors.

After completing a pilgrimage to Mecca, Malcolm X had a new outlook that abandoned concepts of racial antagonism. He changed his name again and denounced the Nation of Islam, which led to death threats.

At 39 years old, as he was about to give a speech in New York City in 1965, the father of six daughters was shot multiple times at close range by three gunmen identified as members of the Nation of Islam.

McKinney, a lawmaker who represents the North Omaha area where Malcolm X first lived, reflected on the Little family that he said was a target of racism. Malcolm’s father, a minister, was active in the Universal Negro Improvement Association, which led to the family’s being harassed. McKinney said the Littles would not have fathomed the recent turn of events in Nebraska.

Shifts

Consider these milestones:

In May 2024, the state inducted Malcolm X as the 27th person and first African American into Nebraska’s Hall of Fame. Some along the way thought he was too controversial for the hall the Legislature created in 1961 to recognize Nebraskans who have made significant contributions to the state and nation.

Indeed, it took three different nominations over nearly two decades, in 2004, 2007 and 2022, before he was selected in 2022 by a governor-appointed commission who considered public testimony. The formal induction came two years later, with a bronze bust in Malcolm X’s image installed in the State Capitol. Due to legislation passed in 1998, no more than one person can be added to the Hall of Fame every five years.

At the induction, former State Sen. Ernie Chambers quipped about what he saw as a near impossibility: “I never thought in my wildest dream that I would live long enough … to see a white conservative Republican governor in a white ultraconservative state like Nebraska participate in the induction of Malcolm X.”

Also in 2024, the Nebraska Legislature passed a law establishing a “recognition” of Malcolm X every year on his birthday. McKinney had pushed for a state holiday, but that measure stalled. He said financial barriers to designating a paid holiday prompted him to change direction. He called the alternative a “good first step.”

The legislation calls for each May 19, starting this year, to be “set apart for holding suitable exercises in the schools of the state in recognition of the sacrifices of the late Nebraska Hall of Fame inductee El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, Malcolm X and his contributions to the betterment of society.” El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz is the name Malcolm adopted after completing the “Hajj” pilgrimage to Mecca and converting to Sunni Islam.

Museum On The Horizon

Also in 2024, the Malcolm X Memorial Foundation officially was awarded a $20 million grant from the state to create a museum devoted to its namesake near 35th and Evans Street, a site where Malcolm X first lived with his family. The funds followed through on legislation, approved the previous year, to build the cultural center supporters foresee as a tourist destination.

Originally, the foundation had requested funding through a competitive process set up to dole out economic development grants to North and South Omaha from the state’s federal American Rescue Plan Act dollars. The museum was not among recommendations by a consultant, however. Amended legislation led by State Sens. Justin Wayne and McKinney carved out funds for the project.

As planned, the public dollars are set to build the museum, which is an anchor of a broader vision to transform the 17-acre campus that marks Malcolm X’s early childhood home.

Construction has yet to launch, but LeFlore-Ejike says planning is “moving along” with a review ongoing of requests that have been submitted for the master site plan development.

LeFlore-Ejike became executive director of the foundation in 2022, taking over work initiated in 1971 by Rowena Moore.

She said efforts to transform the still largely undeveloped area, which has gardens and a visitors center, has had “ebbs and flows.”

LeFlore-Ejike recalled the moment in 2010. She was a volunteer still in school, and the foundation had a grant for “visioning” work after having just purchased the current visitor’s center, which was the former home of a Jehovah’s Witnesses congregation. She recalled disappointment in the lackluster support to continue building momentum.

Now, she said, “We’re finally in a season of harvest.”

Citing LeFlore-Ejike’s work with the foundation, USA Today named her a nominee for its Women of the Year program in 2025. The selection recognizes “heroines” across the country who break barriers, push for change and make communities better.

LeFlore-Ejike hopes Malcolm X supporters are proud that decades of volunteer work “has not been in vain.”

History-Making

Ewing commended the state for recognizing a significant Nebraska native “very worthy” of hall of fame status.

Malcolm X’s 100th birthday observance comes as Ewing also celebrates a historical win in Nebraska’s largest city. In last Tuesday’s election, he soundly defeated three-term Mayor Jean Stothert.

“It all goes to show how far we’ve come as a community when it comes to being inclusive and accepting of leaders in our community,” he said.

Ewing said leaders “come in all shapes and sizes and backgrounds.”

“It’s important they are accepted and know they belong here in Omaha and in Nebraska.”

This story was published by Nebraska Examiner, an editorially independent newsroom providing a hard-hitting, daily flow of news. Read the original article: https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/05/18/world-marks-malcolm-xs-100th-ann...