Maryland's First Monument to a Muslim American Honors Malcolm X, Organizers Say
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — A monument unveiled on Wednesday, October 14, outside the Michael E. Busch Annapolis Library is the first memorial in Maryland dedicated to a Muslim American, according to its organizers. It honors Malcolm X, the civil rights leader who took the name El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz. Carl O. Snowden, who led the effort, said the memorial represents the first in the state dedicated to a Muslim American, Maryland Matters reported. It is also Maryland's first and only monument to Malcolm X, WMAR-2 News reported.
The double-sided monument features photographs of Malcolm X from his public life, his words and a short biography, according to The Banner. Maryland Matters reported that the photos include Malcolm X with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and with boxing champion Muhammad Ali. Built into the monument is a time capsule that will stay sealed until 2076, the nation's 300th anniversary.
More than 100 people attended the nearly 90-minute ceremony, according to Maryland Matters, and officials from the federal, state, county and city levels spoke. The Capital Gazette reported that speakers included U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, Maryland House Speaker Joseline Peña-Melnyk, Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman, Annapolis Mayor Jared Littmann, state Sen. Shaneka Henson and county schools Superintendent Mark Bedell. Gloria Dent, president of the Anne Arundel County school board, read a letter of gratitude from Malcolm X's daughter, Ilyasah Shabazz.
A community-funded first for Maryland
The Caucus of African American Leaders, which Snowden convenes, began pushing for the memorial in May 2025. Snowden told Maryland Matters the project cost $350,000, including $70,000 from the county, with the rest raised by the caucus, the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Committee and others. (The Banner reported the cost as $300,000.) The monument was made by Florida-based PG Memorials, and it is the first permanent public art installation at an Anne Arundel County Public Library branch, according to The Banner.
"Freedom is not free and there's some things people have to do for themselves, if we want memorials that reflect our heroes we must be willing to pay for it," Snowden told WMAR-2 News. "So what we were able to do, we got hundreds of donors...to make sure that this memorial will come to existence."
"He was one of those iconic individuals that come once in a lifetime," Snowden said of Malcolm X. He added that the new memorial completes a series that began with Dr. King: "Malcolm X is the Apex of the memorials here in Anne Arundel County."
A message to 2076 from the state's first Muslim American memorial
The time capsule holds answers to one question, Snowden said: what will race relations be like in America 50 years from now? Elected officials and community members wrote responses, and they will stay sealed until 2076, WMAR-2 reported.
"This is the only memorial in the state of Maryland that has a time capsule that answers this question 50 years from the day," Snowden said. WMAR-2 reported that members of the public can still add their own predictions by contacting the Anne Arundel County Public Library.
Why Maryland's first stands at a library
The Anne Arundel County Public Library says the memorial recognizes Malcolm X's influence on conversations about racial justice, Black identity, human rights and self-determination. The library also points to his own story: while in prison, he educated himself through extensive reading. It quotes a line from The Autobiography of Malcolm X: "My alma mater was books, a good library.... I could spend the rest of my life reading, just satisfying my curiosity."
"This story belongs in a library," library CEO Skip Auld said at the ceremony, according to The Banner. "Libraries bring together people and ideas that challenge us, that unsettle us, and sometimes make us uncomfortable. They invite us to listen, ask questions, and reconsider what we think we know."
Malcolm X had no direct connection to Maryland, but Sen. Henson said that was no reason not to honor him. "Why not Malcolm X?" she said, according to Maryland Matters. "When you think of Malcolm X and you think of a library, Malcolm X was a storyteller."
County Executive Pittman said his own view of Malcolm X changed as he read about his life. He acknowledged that some residents will be angry about the memorial, but said, "they're going to learn from it … and it's going to open their minds."
El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz: the Muslim American behind the monument
Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little in Omaha, Nebraska, in May 1925. In 1964 he made the pilgrimage to Mecca, took the name El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz and broadened his view that people of all races could work together to fight injustice, according to Maryland Matters. He was assassinated in February 1965, at age 39.
The library and several speakers also spoke about the painful parts of his record. The library's materials say antisemitic statements he made "should neither be ignored nor excused," and that the memorial is not an endorsement of them but a chance to examine his life in full historical context, "including the significant evolution of his views." Jennifer Mizrahi of the Jewish Federation of Annapolis and the Chesapeake told The Banner it meant "so much" that the library acknowledged the Jewish community.
Superintendent Bedell said there will be people "who do not and will not agree" with the monument, but that "progress, whether for racial justice or anything else, isn't built on perfection," according to The Banner. He added that "the quest to create a society where every single person feels a sense of belonging continues today."
A Maryland Muslim civil rights group welcomes the honor
On October 19, the Maryland office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) welcomed the monument, calling Malcolm X "a transformative Muslim leader whose insistence on Black dignity, self-determination and human rights continues to inspire movements for justice." The group said understanding him requires recognizing "the central place of Islam in his life."
"By honoring El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, Maryland affirms that Black dignity, Muslim identity and the courageous pursuit of justice belong at the heart of our shared history," said Zainab Chaudry, CAIR's Maryland director. Her letter is among those sealed in the time capsule. "When future generations open it in 2076, they will inherit our words alongside the consequences of our choices," she said.
Why a first matters for Muslim Americans
Public monuments say who a community chooses to remember. Until this month, according to its organizers, Maryland had no memorial dedicated to a Muslim American. The first now stands outside a public library in the state capital, honoring a man who, after his 1964 pilgrimage to Mecca, broadened his view that people of all races could work together to fight injustice. Visitors of every background can learn there about his life, his faith and his fight for human rights and dignity.
Sources: Maryland Matters (Oct. 14, 2026); WMAR-2 News (Oct. 14, 2026); Capital Gazette (Oct. 14, 2026); The Banner (Oct. 14, 2026); Anne Arundel County Public Library; CAIR Maryland (Oct. 19, 2026). Photos: Library of Congress / Wikimedia Commons; Library of Congress / Wikimedia Commons.
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