[DonQ]

Malik Shabazz used to call himself (maybe still does) Malik Shabazz Zulu. Real name is Parris Lewis. Was a law student at Howard University circa 1989, during the student protests there against Old Bush's attempt to appoint Lee Atwater to the Howard Board of Trustees; the real campus activists complained that Zulu's only participation was limited to grabbing a microphone whenever the TV cameras lit up. He evidently learned to love the limelight, because he led a sort of anti-Jewish chant at a Howard University gathering, then associated very closely (for the cameras) with Mayor Marion Barry's last election campaign. He had been a sort of hanger-on of Louis Farrakhan, although it was not clearly stated if Zulu was a fullfledged member of the Nation of Islam, and later was practically joined at the hip with Farrakhan's rabble rouser Khallid Mohammed. Zulu got himself insinuated into the 1995 Farrakhan Million Man March on Washington by sponsoring a sort of hate-whitey rally the night before the big event.

After graduating from law school, Zulu tried running for the DC City Council in the most benighted ward in the city (Zulu moved into the ward just before the qualifying deadline and moved out almost immediately after election day, and it's not clear if he was physically in residence there in between) - with Khallid as his constant "guest star" at campaign appearances; Zulu's principal campaign plank was chase out the Korean grocers (black grocers had mostly abandoned the crime/drug-ridden section) and take over their stores (he didn't mention compensation), which Khallid unctuously described as a new and useful notion. Zulu ran just about dead last against candidates who hadn't gotten a tenth of his media attention.

Apparently after that, he and Khallid organized the "New" Black Panthers, with very little support from any of the original BPs, again with very little purpose except media attention. A few years ago he and Khallid were the mainstays of some sort of Million Youth March up in NYC, which wasn't really a march and didn't attract anything close to a million, but dissolved into a sort of riot when Zulu tried to have everyone ignore the very clear time limit set by the city to assure that streets weren't blocked during peak hours. According to one report, after exhorting other people to confront the cops physically, Zulu grabbed the cash box and scampered off. Last year, when Khallid died, Zulu was pretty much the only source of eulogy for the old ex-convict hatemonger.

I'd be hardput to specify any honest work he's done, but he seems to live rather comfortably.

[Clinton's a liar]

Thanks for the info, DonQ. You seem to have the 411 on Malik, so I'll ask you. There was no mention of Malcolm X there, and I've heard/seen rumors that he was related somehow. Didn't Malcom X have a relative who changed her name to Shabazz? Any relation, or is Malik merely trying to insinuate that familial connection with his name change?