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A new crossroads:
Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X may not have been in the same corner when it came to guiding the nation's African-American communities, but come mid-January in Dallas' Deep Ellum, the preeminent civil rights leader and the black nationalist will be crossing paths for eternity. After a 17-year effort that failed twice at previous polls, the Dallas city council voted 8-7 in favor of giving Oakland Avenue -- the thoroughfare running south from Deep Ellum through south Dallas and intersecting with MLK Blvd. along the way -- a new name: Malcolm X Boulevard. Though the renamed street and subsequent historic corner is considered a victory for black history, the decision remains a controversial one. Most of the debate circled around the question of whether a figure who was once a convict and spent some of his public life denouncing racial integration is worthy of the honor; a few Deep Ellum merchants even predict the name change will scare off clients. But Dallas mayor Ron Kirk, as an integral force in favor of the honorary roadway, encouraged the public to look at Malcolm X's life as a whole, including his path out of poverty and into self-respect -- an avenue many Dallas residents might find symbolic.
 Look what's turned up: The release of Seymour Hersh's The Dark Side of Camelot is having a revealing effect: Sundry Kennedy assassination memorabilia was recently uncovered in the Dallas area. A KXAS-TV employee trying to make storage space came across some reel-to-reel tapes containing breaking-news broadcasts of the day Kennedy was shot. Reconstructed notes of the Lee Harvey Oswald interview conducted by Dallas police Capt. J.W. Fritz were also recently discovered, presumably by family members, among his personal effects (he retired from the force in 1970 and passed away in 1984). Though the radio broadcast serves mostly as sad nostalgia (parts of which were aired on WBAP and KRLD last month on the eve of the 34th anniversary of the President's death), and the Fritz notes don't provide any new insights into the murder plot, the information does remind us that the case that keeps on giving just may be fruitful forever. The Fritz-Oswald interview is now property of the National Archives, which hosts a searchable online database of public documents pertaining to the Kennedy assassination. At last check the interview wasn't yet archived, but the site is worth a visit nevertheless. The government documents may not be as juicy as the recently discovered and denounced Marilyn Monroe papers, but at least they're the real thing. http://www.nara.gov/nara/jfk/jfk_search.html (12/1/97) |
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