4/9/19 Malcolm X Speaks

I have always been a follower of Malcolm X for many reasons. One of the attributes that I most admired was how direct and unapologetic he was regarding his standings and beliefs. He gave his speeches like manifestos because he was passionate about the movement. He believed in black empowerment and not having to ask permission to have the rights that were god given. I have not read all of Malcolm’s speeches but based on what was assigned I have to say his speech, “The Ballot or the Bullet” is now my favorite. The power he resonated from that speech was incredible. When he discussed how important it was to not just throw away your ballot to the next white politician stumbling into black neighborhoods with empty promises because it was time for the next election cycle was powerful. I also agreed with how often he emphasized the importance of black men knowing how to protect and defend themselves when the government refused to. Malcolm X had a common theme of necessity for accountability that was displayed throughout most of his speeches. He knew that it was near impossible to attain civil rights when instead of fighting for them and holding fraudulent politicians accountable black people were instead being passive and asking permission for something that should not have had to be asked for. I know to many Malcolm X may have been too radical in his beliefs in opinions. I always looked passed that because he spoke of violence only when necessary and instead acknowledged that it is near impossible to have a “bloodless revolution.” When your rights and livelihood is under constant attack it is a natural response to become fed up with the lack of change and attention being brought to the massive issue at hand. One can only wonder what Malcolm, if still alive today, would think about the current state of tension among black people and law enforcement today.

Comments

  1. Sean DoranMay 5, 2019 at 3:27 PM

    After reading Nathan's blog post, I agree with what he has brought up about Malcolm X's speeches. I especially agree with him when he brought up when Malcolm said to defend and protect yourself when the government doesn't. I just want to comment on Nathan's last sentence when he asked what Malcolm would think about the current state of tension between African Americans and the law enforcement today. I believe that what he would think would directly correlate to what he said above about the government and them not protecting people when they should. The current situation we are in is one Malcolm would be highly displeased with. He would be displeased because African Americans now have equal rights but they are still being discriminated against. There are so many cases nowadays where a young black teenager is unjustly killed just on account of his appearance. I think Malcolm would be completely infuriated with these situations and would advocate for violence. He would preach, like before, that there needs to be retaliation. He said in one of his speeches that if someone is nonviolent with him then he will be nonviolent back, but if someone is violent with him then he will be violent back. I think he would say the same thing to African Americans today. I think he would say that if they feel threatened in any way to protect themselves. The only problem I see with that is that it would give law enforcement even more of a reason to use their weapons because they could use the claim of self-defense. It is hard to say exactly what he would would believe because his views have changed before and they might of changed again if he was still alive. However, if he was the same fiery man he was before I believe that he would stir up the emotions of a lot of people and there would be a few more riots than usual.

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