Manning Marable was one of the most creative, politically radical voices in the African American community. Typesetting his articles in the late 80s always took a long time, I would get lost in the story he was weaving and forget I had dozens of other things to get done to get The Guardian to press on time.
Manning had taken over the Guardian's race politics column, The Color Line, years before I started working as production manager. The column was originated by W.E.B DuBois and Marable held his own in those early years against the shadow of one of the most impactful African American writers.
Years later I had the chance to be a fly on the wall at a meeting/discussion between Marable, Michael Eric Dyson and Cornel West. Someday I'll write more about that fascinating and amazingly educational moment.
His death is sad, his death happening at age 60 seems so unfair. The fact that his death comes only days before public release of his sure-to-be-groundbreaking biography of Malcolm X is just tragic.
One of his columns that I still remember typesetting was his rant about the popularity Malcolm X found in the mainstream in the wake of Spike Lee's biography of Malcolm X.
While giving a nod to how exciting it was to see young folks wearing X caps everywhere; while accepting that it was a nice change of pace to see a broader politics become acceptable in discussing the Civil Rights Movement, Marable also held some concerns. This is after all America, where nothing goes un-compromised or un-commodified. Therefor Manning asked his readers to remember that Macolm was a great man but America "has a way of taking great things, like cheese, and turning them into Velveta"
Comrade Marable, I hope your legacy is more cheese and less velveta. Rest in Peace.
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