| As
a young man, he changed his name to Malik Ali to reflect
his pride in his African heritage.
While
we refer to his younger, militant years as his "Black
Panther" days, Ali was never actually a member of that
or any other formal militant group; although to hear the
stories, one would never know the difference. “I wasn’t
a Black Panther,” he said, “but I admired them
and hung out with some of them, and they inspired me.”
The
inspiration-as well as the influence, was evident. Never
one to take injustice lying down, Malik, then President
of Pratt Institute’s Black Student Union, noticed
a huge disparity in the number of Black students and faculty
and opportunities afforded both.
Led
by Ali, students sat down with school administrators - only
to have them be unresponsive to any discussions involving
change. Ali and other students went into action.
“We
shut down the school,” he recalls of the Brooklyn
college. ‘We put locks on all the gates, we had people
sitting in front of the gates, and we wouldn’t let
ANYONE in, students, faculty, no one. And we told them,
‘Don’t touch us or the locks.’”
Ali says the group was not violent in their methodology,
but weren’t afraid of a physical confrontation and
had no intention of backing down. They meant business.
Malik
was arrested and jailed. After two or three hours, nine
more of his friends joined him in the lockup. They had become
what is still known today as the Pratt 10.
There
was newspaper coverage, and word of their protest had made
it to the airways. Ali and the Pratt 10 remained unphased
and would not budge. Despite their arrests, they boldly
let the administration know that they would continue their
marches, lock-outs and protests until change came.
In
the meantime, Ali’s defense lawyer - now a senior
Congresswoman - agreed to take what would be her very first
case. A young Eleanor Holmes Norton represented the indicted
students, and in a stunning show of victory, all charges
were dropped.
What’s more, the college relented. All the students’
demands were met. And none of the Pratt 10 was suspended
or expelled from school.
They had won.
The
following year, enrollment of Black students at Pratt Institute
nearly tripled. Black faculty members were now on the roster.
Black studies were a part of the school’s curriculum,
and now, there were countless scholarships available to
these students.
Thus
began Ali’s lifetime crusade to secure socioeconomic
equality and prosperity for the Black community. Rather
than arm himself with guns, knives, or picket signs, he
armed himself with a Harvard Business School education,
where he served as an officer for the school’s Black
Student Union. He became a chemical engineer and worked
for companies like Hooker Chemical and Polaroid. Later,
he taught business planning at a variety of colleges in
Florida.
With
an ever-sharp wit and equally sharp memory, after more than
three decades, Ali still remembers the day in 1970 when
he met the woman who would become his wife. He remembered
the day in both frighteningly accurate and hilarious detail.
“I
remember it very well. I was at home watching the play-offs.
It was Detroit Lions versus the Dallas Cowboys. The score
was 5-3 with Dallas in the lead. My dad has invited her
over.”
Chimes
in Ronaa, a former FBI employee, “He was talking about
something - I don’t remember what - but I agreed with
him, and I liked his way of thinking. That day, he got my
mind, and my heart came later.”
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Says Ali’s wife of their most memorable date, “He
took me out into the woods in snow up to my waist - and
taught me how to shoot. He said the world was violent,
and I needed to know how to defend myself. He wanted more
than just a wife. He wanted a comrade.”
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