Dez Bryant celebrates Malcolm X on civil rights leader’s birthday as 60th anniversary of assassination inches closer

Dez Bryant took to Twitter to extend birthday wishes to Malcolm X, the influential civil rights leader born on May 19, 1925. In a heartfelt post, the former NFL star shared a serene black and white image of the leader and chose to refer to him by his title, X, instead of his birth name.

As the 100th birth anniversary and 60th assassination anniversary of Malcolm X approach in two years, there has been a renewed interest in his life. At the age of 39, he was tragically assassinated on February 21, 1965.

Dez Bryant's previous comments about empowerment and Malcolm X

This is not the first time that Malcolm X has been at the forefront of Dez Bryant's mind. During his playing career, Bryant expressed profound thoughts on black empowerment. In 2017, he shared a series of Instagram posts, excerpts of which were published by the Dallas Morning News.

He said that he has been racially profiled before but saw the issue of racism larger than that. He concluded that everyone from every community had the opportunity to lead by example, writing,

"I've been [racially] profiled on numerous occasions, but not once has it influenced an ill feeling inside me about anyone outside of that issue. REAL SLAVERY is different from what's going on in our world now. We all (every ethnicity) have the opportunity to lead by EXAMPLE."

He also took to task people who talk about history of racism but do not focus on individual or community accountabilty. He said,

"Instead of making videos about the history of racism that get applause or people with influence merely doing things to post for social media, we should focus on individual accountability to be better as a whole."

It was in this context that he invoked Malcolm X among others. Dez Bryant said that civil rights leaders like him paved the path for them so that they do not have to carry the historical burden again but lead by example, instead.

"We focus hard on fighting the realities that exist instead of creating our own reality. The ones who came for us (Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Malcolm X) paved a new path for us to follow. The struggles and hurt they endured created new life for us today. It is not our job to carry the burden, but it is our job to lead by example."

Dez Bryant expressed his gratitude to the civil rights pioneer for the path he forged, making it easier for people like Bryant to navigate their own journeys.