Malcolm X Liberation University
| Active | October 25, 1969–June 28, 1973 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Howard Fuller |
| Location | Durham and Greensboro, North Carolina, USA |
Malcolm X Liberation University (or MXLU) was an experimental educational institution inspired by the Black Power and Pan-Africanist movements and located in Durham and Greensboro, North Carolina. Howard Fuller (also known as Owusu Sadaukai), Bertie Howard, and several other African American activists in North Carolina founded the school in response to the 1969 Allen Building Takeover on Duke University's campus. It operated from October 25, 1969 to June 28, 1973. One of the main reasons the school closed was that political conflicts damaged the school's reputation, making it more difficult to acquire funding. Due to financial setbacks, the school operated for only three years.
The Black Power Movement shaped the political climate for the Allen Building Takeover, which led to the creation of MXLU. The movement inspired the formation of Duke University's Afro-American Society (or AAS). Many Black Power activists in the American South adopted the separatist ideologies of Malcolm X. Before the Nation of Islam allegedly assassinated him in 1965, Malcolm X lent credence to militant tactics, leading to a movement for racial equality through any means necessary, including violence and self-defense. In early 1969, the AAS issued a set of over ten demands for the university's administration, most of which reflected the black students' dissatisfaction with the inadequacy of civil rights on campus. The organization negotiated at first with the university's president, Dr. Douglas Knight, who reluctantly agreed to consider the implementation of an Afro-American Studies program.
President Knight was away on a trip to procure funds for a black studies program, one of the "Black Demands", but the AAS grew impatient and decided to stage a protest. On the morning of February 13, 1969, the AAS organized an occupation of the Allen Building, the location of all the records of previous students. Knight refused to comply with some of the demands, and he issued an ultimatum to the black student protesters: the school would call the police if they did not leave. They countered by threatening to burn the university's records if police were to arrive. Later that day, a large group of white students who sympathized with the occupants congregated outside the building, so Duke called the police. The police tried to evacuate the building with tear gas, and a riot ensued. The occupants acquiesced to the administration's demands for fear of expulsion, and eventually, a trial placed forty-eight of them on probation.
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