Читать книгу Black Battle, White Knight - Michael Battle - Страница 14

In my first chapter I look at the first horseman of pestilence who rides the white horse. The writer of Revelation describes it this way, “When the Lamb had opened the first of the seven seals, I heard the first of the four beasts say with a thundering voice, ‘Come and see.’ And I beheld, and lo a white horse; and he that sat on him had a bow: and there was given unto him a crown, and he departed as conqueror and to conquest” (Rev 6:1–2). Malcolm is this White Knight representing pestilence because of his “queer” identity, his celebrity, and his shocking words.

The white horse and its rider are ambiguous images that create polarities between good and evil, depending on one’s interpretation. For many biblical scholars, they see the White Knight as civil war and internal strife. Some go so far as to say the rider of the white horse is the Antichrist, or a representation of false prophets. Pestilence follows wherever this White Knight appears. Malcolm’s appearance certainly caused strife as he came out in public as a gay priest. Of course, I cannot write this biography without exploring Malcolm’s gay identity. Such identity becomes complex in light of his secular witness as a civil rights leader and his religious identity as an Episcopal priest. Malcolm writes, “My presence as a gay man and elder should be thought through in light of someone like Bayard Rustin, who organized the March on Washington, but whose role was never really acknowledged.” And so, this biography seeks to acknowledge Malcolm’s role in the Civil Rights Movement—and even more, to shed some light on Malcolm’s groundbreaking wisdom in understanding the relation of civil rights to gay rights.⁶

As already mentioned, another aspect of Malcolm’s pestilence is in his celebrity status. Malcolm offers groundbreaking wisdom due to his ability o reach large publics without watering down his authenticity. This ability invites us to reflect upon Malcolm’s life as a celebrity figure. For example, a reporter shoved a microphone in Malcolm’s face and asked, “They just announced that God is dead. Do you have a comment?” This dynamic of celebrity is true, especially, following the publication in 1965 of the spiritual classic and international best-seller Are You Running with Me, Jesus? ⁷ For many, the combination of being both gay and a celebrity priest is an abomination or is just plain sick. The rider of the white horse (or the White Knight) fits Malcolm because there are concurrent meanings: white for goodness, but a pestilence because his words frequently shocked and offended. The White Knight causes polarities between good and evil, destruction and creation. Among the civil wars concerning full inclusion of gay identity, interpretations swung between extremes as to whether gay people could be fully human, married, serve in the military, and even be Christian. Malcolm’s life demonstrated such pendulum swings. In terms of the pendulum swinging toward goodness, according to Revelation 19, the rider on the white horse is depicted as the Word of God. In the end, however, the White Knight not only represents Malcolm’s queer identity and celebrity status, it also represents the pestilence of the white horse because of his shocking words. Much of Malcolm’s work was deemed controversial and apocalyptic because Malcolm’s word of God shocks—words like, “Jesus had a penis.”⁸ “Malcolm proclaims that we minister to Jesus—the Jesus who comes in Matthew in the guise of the needy, the thirsty, and the naked–when we minister to a “nigger,” a “kike,” a “dago,” a “queer,” a “dyke,” or a “faggot.”⁹ Such a word from the Lord made people sick of Malcolm. The pestilence of Malcolm’s words drove many to extremes. So, not only was Malcolm a White Knight bringing pestilence, he was doing this through the controversy of his poetry, theology, and prophecy. The White Knight proclaimed that the end of the world and judgment day would occur if people did not repent for racism, a continuation of hunger, torture for masses of people, environmental collapse, and the division of people into warring tribes.

Thus the rider of the White Horse seems to appropriately represent Malcolm in at least three aspects: his gay identity, celebrity, and shocking language. The symbol of the White Knight is crucial to begin reflection on Malcolm’s life.