Sunday, January 18, 2009

Conclusion


Well that is the end of my blog for now. I may come back to it soon but i doubt it. I hope you found it helpful and that you learned something about Malcolm X as a person as well as a Revolutionary. He was a selfless freedom fighter who only wanted equality for his fellow blacks but in the end was gunned down by one of his closest friends. I think he has a strong message for all of us but I think it will only get through to the few who bother to listen. If you are reading this the chances are you have heard his message of Revolution and hopefully will act on it.



I think this is my favourite part of the whole of Malcolm X speech because in his early days he preached Black Nationalism and that every black person should stand up and fight his white oppressors, but this part of his speech tells us that he doesnt care what colour we are as long as we want change. I think its a very powerful message that he shared with us and that it should be put into practice.

By Any Means Necessary


As his speech reaches its conclusion Malcolm X puts forward his main idea and what is most associated with him. The next paragraph sums up what Malcolm X believed in and how far he was willing to go to achieve his aims.

"Well when any time you live in a society that is supposedly based upon law, and it doesn't enforce its own laws because the colour of a mans skin happens to be wrong then i say those people are justified to resort to any means necessary to bring about justice where there government cant give them justice"



This is the main belief of Malcolm X. That the normal common person can over throw the government if it is treating them unfairly, particularly when it come to racism. What he means by "by any means necessary" is quite explanatory as he is willing to do anything, absolutely anything to achieve his aims and goals for an America without racism even if it involves violence he is willing to go that extra mile to get freedom for the oppressed black people of America.

Attack on Police


During this time in America the black rights movement was strong and groups like the Black Panthers were fighting for the black rights as well. Because of protests and movements happening all over the country the police took on a darker more violent side and regularly beat up black people for fighting for their rights. Malcolm X used these incidents of police brutality to further attack the black peoples oppressors. He said:

"We are the ones who have our skulls crushed, not by the Klu Klux Klan but by the police"

This is Malcolm X again using incidents of racism to create and increase solidarity with in the black community.

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Malcolm X Radical Thinking


One of the most important things that Malcolm X said during this speech was





"The only way we can bring about change is talk to kind of language speak the language that they understand. The racialist never understands the non-violent language. The racialist we have been spoken his language to us for 400 years"





I think that this is a very important statement because it is Malcolm X gradually introducing his radical ideas to the people. He wanted change to come to America and believed that the only way to bring about this change was by radical thinking and by involving the normal person, he couldn't do it on his own. He need their support and them behind him to make his "Revolution" possible. He also makes reference to the 400 years that the black man has endured racism and slavery in America and uses this to make people think about what has happened to them and how they can change this. He was very clever with this in particular as he used it to increase solidarity with in the black community and he knew that if he did this he would gain more support for his beliefs and ideas.

Direct attck on American Government


I think one of the more interesting things that Malcolm X said during his speech was

"No matter how much you hear it [America] talk about democracy, it is as racist as South Africa or as racist as Portugal. The only difference between it and South Africa is that South Africa preaches separation and practises separation. America preaches integration and practises segregation....I have more respect for a man who knows where he stands even if it is wrong"

By saying this he is directly attacking the American government and its policies of racism and as well as that he is not only comparing America to South Africa but saying that it is much worse than South Africa (who was practising apartheid at the time). I think this is a very powerful statement to make that as a black man he has more respect for a country that officially practises racism and has it incorporated into its laws. I think this shows just how much he hates America and in particular the American government. I would like to point out at this time that Malcolm X did not hate the American people he simply hated the people in power.

Introduction to Speech


One of the first things that Malcolm X says in his speech is

"I am speaking as a black man from America which is a racist society".

From just this single sentence we can learn a lot about Malcolm X and his personality. We can tell that he his an honest person who is not afraid to point out what is wrong with society and defy those who advocate its wrongs. As he is orating this speech he knows that one day he will suffer the repercussions for voicing his mind that is not in line with the governments policies but yet he still says because it is the right thing to do.