By Vincent L. Hall
“Being an old farm boy myself, chickens coming home to roost never did make me sad; they’ve always made me glad.” – Malcolm X, upon the news of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination.
Although he says that the good Lord saw fit to spare him, I knew Donald Trump’s chicken would eventually come home and roost. Let me be cautious because a similar statement got Malcolm X in a world of trouble with the nation and the Nation of Islam.
Would the Honorable Elijah Muhammad have been as punitive if Malcolm had said the same about Donald Trump? I rather doubt it, given the level of hatred and vulgarity that the former president has visited upon the planet.
The public critique and castigations of Malcolm X’s words were almost as broad as America’s misunderstanding of what he meant to convey. Malcolm was not merely calling out Kennedy’s chickens; he was pointing out America’s historical hen house.
Malcolm spoke of the bad karma that this nation has dispatched in the U.S. and worldwide. The one truth that Christianity, Judaism, and Muslim religions agree on is that good or bad deeds will be reciprocated.
But in the case of Donald Trump, the persistent spewing of hateful speech and dystopian fallacies has created a barnyard full of fowl friends. Donald Trump has a lot to pay for. If it were me, I would repent in the most genuine spirit.
Dr. King, like JFK before him and RFK after him, was felled by America’s chickens. The hate and hubris that haunted each of them, was founded on nothing more than American ignorance, intolerance, and arrogance. Trump is a walking reservoir of all three.
Trump was fortunate this time. Rather than continuing to gaslight the rabid MAGA movement, he should come clean and ask for forgiveness. And if he doesn’t, Trump needs to understand that karma has humbled kings and kingdoms.
History proved the same. Here is a 1972 Washington Post account of a past MAGA like political leader who fleeced the working class and evangelical community of his time.
“A young assailant dressed in red, white, and blue shot Gov. George C. Wallace of Alabama yesterday in the midst of a Laurel campaign rally, leaving him paralyzed in both legs.
Surrounded by a crowd of 1,000, the 52-year-old governor was shot at close range following his speech at the Laurel Shopping Center, about 14 miles northeast of Washington.
Wallace, campaigning in his third bid for the presidency, was hit in the chest and stomach by two bullets that caused four or five wounds. Arthur Herman Bremer was in the rally audience, wearing a Wallace campaign button. He had been seen at a Wallace rally in Wheaton earlier in the day.
The “chickens” George Wallace unpenned held firm the line of southern discrimination and racism. His conscience later forced him to reconcile with the very people he used as pawns in his political rants.
The attack left him contrite and regretful of the hatred and humiliation he hurled from his mouth with the greatest of ease. “Since my accident I am a little more mindful of the suffering of other people.”
Shirley Chisholm was the first Black woman to be elected to the United States Congress and made news as another first…She was the first Black to visit George Wallace at the hospital after the assassination attempt.
“Chisholm’s unexpected visit to Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring lasted roughly 15 minutes. The congresswoman recounted that she told Wallace, “I wouldn’t want what happened to you to happen to anyone,” and that the governor “cried and cried’ in response.”
Malcolm X was misjudged for his “chickens come home to roost” statement. But time has borne out the wisdom in his words.
Donald Trump, despite his overcrowded chicken(karma) coup, is alive today. None of us can take credit for that. But look at the hate that hate makes. Hate has proven to be as much or more regenerative as love. Trump owns the bad karma he has infused into the veins of this country. And it’s a lot!
However, everyone, especially Donald Trump must remember that chickens always come home to roost.
Watch your chickens!
Vincent L. Hall is an author, activist, award-winning columnist and a lifelong Drapetomaniac!
