Malcolm X is a prophetic, polarizing figure in Black civil rights history. He matured out of adverse Jim Crow-era incarceration to a contemporary firebrand.
We greatly respect his vision for anti-capitalist liberation, a world beyond needless war. Death was not the end.
These are 10 golden seeds of wisdom. May his words be remembered and start a much-needed revolution!
Ancestry | Revolution | Youth | "The Ballot Or The Bullet" | Pan-African Power | Truth | Peace | Global Greed/Unity | Create Solidarity | Enlightenment
1.) Heritage is crucial in retaining freedom and ideological identity.
1964 proved an unforgettable year for the U.S. President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act. Congress officiated war in Vietnam. Three Mississippi Freedom Fighters disappeared. And race riots burned through cities with angry fires in a broken nation. Malcolm X witnessed all of this. June 28th, 1964. He introduced the Organization of Afro-American Unity with a comprehensive principle list. It inspired the Black Panther's 10 Point Program.
"A race of people is like an individual man; until it uses its own talent, takes pride in its own history, expresses its own culture, affirms its own selfhood, it can never fulfill itself.
Our history and our culture were completely destroyed when we were forcibly brought to America in chains. And now it is important for us to know that our history did not begin with slavery."
2.) There are always previous inspirations for radical resistance.
Malcolm Little, later X, never minced words around respectability and revolution's cost. 'Message to the Grassroots' addressed hundreds at the Northern Negro Leadership Conference. Hear his famous speech here.
"Of all our studies, history is best qualified to reward our research. And when you see that you've got problems, all you have to do is examine the historic method used all over the world by others who have problems similar to yours. Once you see how they got theirs straight, then you know how you can get yours straight."
3.) Youth are radicalized in good and bad ways to transform their environment.
Malcolm X speaks to young minds worldwide at the Hotel Theresa, 1964. Remember: this era was rampant with student mobilization, non-violent planning committees, protests. This rings as true today.
"It is the teenagers abroad, all over the world, who are actually involving themselves in the struggle to eliminate oppression and exploitation. Because the revolutionaries are children, young people.
...And here in this country, it has been my own observation that when you get into a conversation on racism and discrimination and segregation. You will find young people are more incensed over it, they feel more filled with an urge to eliminate it...
And then bring their analyses and their suggestions for a new approach back to us so that we can devise an action program geared to their thinking."
4.) "The Ballot Or The Bullet"
A random netizen may not know much about Malcolm X, but they've probably heard April 3, 1963's scathing speech. An uncomfortable analogy is drawn between a 60-year rift.
"The year when all of the white political crooks will be right back in your and my community with their false promises, building up our hopes for a letdown, with their trickery and their treachery...
As they nourish these dissatisfactions, it can only lead to one thing, an explosion...I don’t see any American dream; I see an American nightmare."
5.) African solidarity is breaking the paradigms of power.
Ford Auditorium, 1965. Malcolm X provided unsettling perspective on the high stakes for radical resistance. His house was bombed 24 hours beforehand. What did his words reveal? You can research the full speech.
"They [colonial powers] are more concerned with the revolution that's taking place on the African continent than they are with the revolution in Asia and in Latin America. And this is because there are so many people of African ancestry within the domestic confines or jurisdiction of these various governments."
6.) The truth sets a people free.
Malcolm X frequently visited the African continent or motherland. This brief 1964 University of Ghana speech still has enormous importance. His decolonization mentality steadily emerges. We chose a simple statement.
"If truth condemns America, then she stands condemned."
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7.) We must rally together transnationally for true peace.
Resonate with these incredible words from February 16th, 1965.
"We’re anti-wrong. We’re anti-discrimination. We’re anti-segregation. We’re against anybody who wants to practice some form of segregation or discrimination against us because we don’t happen to be a color that’s acceptable to you."
8, Black American exploitation transcended U.S. imperialism to affect the planet. Now greed is global.
We see Malcolm X's Diasporic impact and wisdom amongst Africa's revered leadership by 1963-64. The African Summit Conference occurred exactly six months before the Audubon Ballroom tragedy.
"Our problem is your problem. It is not a Negro problem, nor an American problem. This is a world problem, a problem for humanity. It is not a problem of civil rights, it is a problem of human rights."
9.) Solidarity is crucial to collective freedom.
Malcolm X would give his last speech a week before death on February 14, 1965. This is featured earlier and champions Afro-Diasporic unity with a progressive roadmap to anti-imperialist action. It does not seem conspiratorial that Malcolm X's dialogue preceded America's top three most controversial civil rights assassinations.
"Tap into a globally unified movement to achieve freedom. Don't let the power structure maneuver you into a time wasting battle with others when you could be involved in something that's constructive and getting a real job done. Probably, one thing I should've pointed out to you.
...If we keep it at civil rights, then the only place we can turn for allies is within the domestic confines of America. But when you make it a human rights struggle, it becomes international, and then you can open the door for all types of advice and support from our brothers in Africa, Latin America, Asia, and elsewhere. So it's very, very important—that's our international aim, that's our external aim."
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10.) Enlightenment is a joyful awareness of our similarities, not only differences.
This is the last but certainly not least bit of encouragement. Malcolm X's words come from an essay 'Zionist Logic': uplifting Palestinian liberation and decrying genocide.
"Ignorance of each other is what has made unity impossible in the past. Therefore we need enlightenment. We need more light about each other. Light creates understanding, understanding creates love, love creates patience, and patience creates unity.
Once we have more knowledge (light) about each other we will stop condemning each other and a united front will be brought about."
It is the only way.
The Ballot or the Bullet (04-03-63)
Message to the Grassroots (12-10-63) VIDEO
Malcolm X on Wealth of Africa (05-13-64)
Malcolm X's Founding Rally on the Organization of Afro-American Unity (06-28-64)
Malcolm X's African Summit Conference Speech (08-21-64)
Letter To The Egyptian Gazette/Zionist Logic (08-25-64)
Malcolm X Talks to Youth ('64)
Malcolm X's (Near) Last Speech (official transcript) (02-14-65)