35
Malcolm X [Malik el-Shabazz] (1925-1965)
Malcolm Little was raised in foster homes after his father died in an accident and his mother was committed to a psychiatric institution. He moved to Harlem at 18, and committed numerous crimes. While imprisoned for larceny and burglary, he converted to Islam and changed his last name to X, representing his unknown African ancestors. He joined the Nation of Islam and became one of its leaders, championing black separatism and rejecting non-violence. He gained national publicity when profiled by CBS in “The Hate that Hate Produced.”
In 1964, he left the Nation of Islam and rejected its separationist doctrines. After a pilgrimage to Mecca, he renamed himself Malik el-Shabazz. When he returned, he formed Islamic Mosque, Inc., and urged his followers to assert their right to vote and use it to elect leaders who would help American blacks. In a speech excerpted here, which he gave in several cities, he urged followers to take up arms if whites persisted in denying voting rights.
Malcolm X’s fame diverted attention from the Nation of Islam, and several of its members plotted to silence him permanently. His car and house were firebombed. On February 21, 1965, he was assassinated by three members of the Newark mosque of the Nation of Islam at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem.
“The Ballot or the Bullet” (1964)
This afternoon, we want to talk about the ballot or the bullet. The ballot or the bullet explains itself. But before we get into it, since this is the year of the ballot, or the bullet, I would like to clarify some things that refer to me personally, concerning my own personal position.
I’m still a Muslim. That is my religion. It’s still Islam…
The time when white people can come in our community, and get us to vote for them, so that they can be our political leaders, and tell us what to do and what not to do, is long gone….
We must understand the politics of our community. And we must know what politics is supposed to produce. We must know what role politics plays in our lives. And until we become politically mature we will always be misled, lead astray, or deceived, or maneuvered into supporting someone politically, who doesn’t have the good of our community at heart. So the political philosophy of Black Nationalism only means that we will have to carry on a political program of reeducation: to open our people’s eyes; make us become more politically conscious, politically mature; and then we will, whenever we get ready to cast our ballot, that ballot will be cast for a man of the community, who has the good of the community at heart.
The economic philosophy of Black Nationalism only means that we should own, and operate, and control the economy of our community. You can’t open up a black store in a white community. White men won’t even patronize you. And he’s not wrong! He’s got sense enough to look out for himself. It’s you who don’t have sense enough to look out for yourself.
The white man is too intel