OMAHA — On what would have been Malcolm X’s 101st birthday, leaders of the city in which the slain human rights activist was born revealed new details about a possible $120 million revamp of the campus that marks the historical icon’s birthplace.
Tuesday, speakers including Mayor John Ewing Jr., Omaha’s first Black elected mayor, and Brenda Council, a former state lawmaker and Omaha City Council member, gathered with roughly 100 others at the 20-acre Malcolm X memorial birth site near 35th and Evans Streets in North Omaha.
They underscored the significance that an improved landmark — anchored by a planned Malcolm X cultural center and museum — would have as a global destination for scholars, history buffs and civil rights enthusiasts.
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Ewing said the property’s transformation also would drive economic growth in the North Omaha community in which he was raised. Ewing said May 19th was not “just a date on the calendar.”
“It is a reminder of a legacy that continues to shape our community and our city,” Ewing said of the human rights activist born in Omaha in 1925 as Malcolm Little and assassinated in 1965. He called Malcolm X one of the most influential voices for Black empowerment, self-determination and human dignity.
“Malcolm X’s unwavering commitment to truth, equality and community empowerment remains as relevant today as ever,” said Ewing. As mayor, he said that he takes seriously Malcolm X’s message that challenged systems of oppression and that called on communities to invest in themselves.
Nebraska Hall of Fame
Community leaders including JoAnna LeFlore-Ejike, executive director of the Malcolm X Memorial Foundation, reflected on the history of the birth site, including how her predecessor Rowena Moore used her own savings in 1971 and started the nonprofit foundation. Moore donated a handful of lots owned by her own family after learning of their significance as the Little family’s former homestead.
“Rowena Moore found out that her family owned the lots around the birthplace marker and her family donated those lots to the foundation’s growth,” said LeFlore-Ejike.
The memorial site grew in land size, a historical marker was placed in 1987, but today the pocket remains mostly land, gardens and a small former church. The spotlight shone brighter on Malcolm X as Nebraskans publicly embraced him with a 2024 induction into the Nebraska Hall of Fame, the hall’s 27th honoree and first African American.
Also in 2024, the Malcolm X Memorial Foundation officially was awarded a $20 million grant from the state to create the cultural center and museum. That funding followed through on legislation approved the previous year to build the center.
Officials are hoping to build momentum to more fully realize Moore’s dream of creating a major tourist-attracting educational and cultural institution at the birth site.
During the event Tuesday, officials including Jonathan Spellman, Omaha native and principal of MX Development group, offered an update on the site transformation. MX is developer and general contractor for the project.
Among new details:
- As the campus centerpiece, the Malcolm X Cultural Center and Museum, is to be about 30,000 square feet. The group has conceptual images of that and other planned elements of the campus, but they’re currently evaluating design bids for the actual museum and cultural center. Spellman expects a groundbreaking in mid-2027 and completion in two to three years.
- The cultural center and museum is expected to cost $40 million, half of which is to be covered by the state grant administered by the Department of Economic Development. A local and national capital campaign, boosted by involvement from Malcolm X’s family, is expected to help raise additional funds for it and other elements envisioned at the campus.
- Total campus buildout, once complete and to be done in phases, is estimated at $100-120 million, Spellman said. That would include affordable housing components, an amphitheater, a financial incubator to cultivate entrepreneurship and a themed hotel.
Other elected officials at the event included State Sen. Terrell McKinney of North Omaha, who, along with then-State Sen. Justin Wayne, helped secure the $20 million in state funding for the cultural center and museum, and Omaha City Council member LaVonya Goodwin.
Revive ownership
Council, addressing the group, reflected on growing up in a community influenced by Rowena Moore and Malcolm X.
Malcolm X’s family left Omaha after suffering harassment from white supremacists, before he was two years old. He evolved from a street hustler who, while in prison, became self-educated and converted to the Nation of Islam. He took the new surname “X” to signify the unknown African surname of his ancestors.
After completing the “Hajj” pilgrimage to Mecca and converting to Sunni Islam, he adopted the name El-Hajj Malik-El-Shabazz.
Council said May 19th holds a special place in her community’s history and at one time, she recalled, Omaha was the “center” of Malcolm X birthday festivals, drawing prominent figures and attention.
She said the museum project provides the opportunity to “revive that sense of ownership of Malcolm — because this is his birth site. We should be the largest celebration annually of his birthday.”
Council told the audience that Malcolm X advocated for self-defense, not violence. She said that with voting rights and safety under attack today, it is important to embrace the belief “that if the government is coming after us, we have the obligation, the right and the duty to protect ourselves.”
The revitalization of the birth site property, she said, also would help achieve one of Malcolm X’s signature objectives: Black economic power. Council foresees local jobs, minority contractors, consultants and economic growth.
Ewing said he sees the project as a way to put Omaha on the national map, invest in a historically underserved community and create jobs, including minority-owned businesses and contractors.
“Like great historical landmarks around the world, this campus will draw people who are seeking to understand the deeper story of justice and freedom, and our city will be at the center of that conversion,” the mayor said.
This story is provided by States Newsroom, a nonprofit state news network and Blox Digital content partner.
