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.

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.

The Oxford Union Debate, 1964

Short Biography of Malcolm X

Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little on May 19 1925 in Omaha. His mother Louise Norton Little, was a house wife who looked after his seven siblings and his father, Earl Little was a baptist minister and a strong supporter of black nationalist Marcus Garvey. This led him to be recognised by the white supremacist organisations the Klu Klux Klan and the Black Legion.
This forced his family to move twice before his fourth birthday. Eventually the Black Legion caught up with the Little family and they burned the family home to the ground and two years later Earls body was found on their towns tram tracks. The police at the time said it was an accident but the Little family were sure it was the Black Legion. Louise Little suffered a mental breakdown a few years after her husbands death and was put in a mental institution. Her children were split up between different foster homes.
Although he was a very intelligent student he lost interest in school when one of his favourite teachers smashed his dreams of becoming a lawyer by saying it was "no realistic goal for a nigger". This caused Malcolm to drop out of school and take on a life of crime. He was eventually imprisoned in 1946 charged with numerous burglaries. While in prison he studied Islam and in particular the Islamic organisation the Nation of Islam and its leader Elijah Muhammad. Elijah Muhammad believed that because of the racism directed at blacks at the time that they should set up their own state, free of white people. By the time he was released in 1952 Malcolm Little no longer existed as he changed his name to Malcolm X (He considered "Little" a slave name and chose the "X" to signify his lost tribal name.).
He quickly rose through the ranks of the Nation of Islam and is often credited with increasing its membership of 500 in 1952 to 30,000 in 1963. During the 60's radical tensions ran high and it wasn't only the media that Malcolm caught the attention of. The American government also took interest in Malcolm's radical thinking. As the NOI grew the FBI easily infiltrated the organisations (one was even Malcolm X's body guard).
When a series of scandals involving Elijah Muhammad having affairs with numerous women within the organisation, Malcolm X lost all faith in the Nation of Islam and left. He went on to found the Muslim Mosque Inc. He also went on a pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. For the first time in his life Malcolm X shared his beliefs with other people. He said when he returned he met "blonde-haired, blued-eyed men I could call my brothers." and his outlook was for people for all races not just blacks.
After many attempts to assassinate him he rarely travelled without bodyguards. In one attempt on his life his family home was fire bombed but he and his family escaped without harm. But a week later his assailants were successful and three gunmen rushed him while he was on stage in Manhattan's Audubon Ballroom and shot him 15 times. When he arrived at New York's Columbia Presbyterian Hospital he was pronounced dead. At the age of 39 one of the worlds greatest freedom fighters was killed for just doing what he thought was right and standing up for the downtrodden person everywhere.

Introduction

I'm writing this blog about one of the greatest men in history. Although he is unknown but to a few today, he remains to be a great hero, orator, extremist and black rights activists the world has ever seen. This man is Malcolm X. As I have to base this blog on a piece of literature I have chosen his speech in the Oxford Union Debate. When I first watched this speech I felt my heart jump as he ridiculed the American government and it has stuck with me ever since. In this blog I'm going to try and see what type of person Malcolm X really was and see how he thinks and some of his characteristics. This is not a biography of Malcolm X but i will provide a brief one for those of you who don't know much about this extraordinary person.