MALCOLM X: THE LEGACY CONTINUES

Political philosopher and visionary, husband and father, dynamic orator and militant minister. In his lifetime, Malcolm X was many men. Born Malcolm Little, he later became "Detroit Red" and "New York Red" - a hustler, drug pusher, pimp, con man and the head of a Boston robbery ring. After spending time in prison, he emerged as Minister Malcolm - Malcolm X, the fiery, eloquent spokesman for the Nation of Islam. Finally, he became El Hajj Malik El Shabazz, an internationally recognized leader and advocate for oppressed peoples. He was both loved and despised, revered and feared - until an assassin's bullet cut him down at age 39.

 

 

At a time when black civil rights leaders preached harmony and integration, Malcolm preached a militant gospel of self-defense and nationalism that terrified many whites and disturbed, yet also inspired, black Americans. After his travels to Africa and Mecca, he returned with a deeper understanding of Islam and a new willingness to accept white allies. "The white man and the black man have to be able to sit down at the same table," he said in his last year. "Then they can bring the issues that are under the rug out on top of the table and take an intelligent approach to getting the problem solved."

 

In 1965, under attack from the Nation of Islam and under surveillance by the FBI, Malcolm X was assassinated while delivering a speech. Who killed him and why remains a mystery to this day, 40 years after his assassination.

 

 

 

Feb. 21 marks the anniversary of the assassination of Malcolm X,

one of the greatest African American leaders in history. Despite

his untimely death in 1965, Malcolm's legacy of Black pride,

resistance and liberation remains as strong as ever, particularly

among African American and other oppressed youths.

 

In this period when the ruling class has unleashed a vicious

anti-worker, racist offensive against poor and working people,

the revolutionary message of Malcolm X must never be forgotten.

On the contrary, his words and deeds must continue to be blazed

upon the banners of the workers and oppressed not only in the

U.S. but all over the world.

 

Following is a selection of quotations from Malcolm X:

 

 

- "There is no kind of action in this country ever going to bear

fruit unless that action is tied in with the overall

international struggle." ("Separation or Integration" speech,

March 7, 1962)

 

- "We live in one of the rottenest countries that has ever

existed on this earth. It's a system of exploitation, of outright

humiliation and degradation." (June 28, 1964, speech at Audubon

Ballroom, New York, Organization of Afro-American Unity founding

rally)

 

- "Never at any time in the history of our people in this country

have we made advances or progress in any way based upon the

internal goodwill of this country. We have made advancement in

this country only when this country was under pressure from

forces above and beyond its control." (Dec. 31, 1964, speech at

Hotel Teresa, NYC)

 

- "Capitalism used to be like an eagle, but now it's more like a

vulture. It used to be strong enough to go and suck anybody's

blood whether they were strong or not. But now it has become more

cowardly, like the vulture, and it can only suck the blood of the

helpless." (Jan. 19, 1965, interview with Young Socialist paper)

 

- "If George Washington didn't get independence for this country

nonviolently, and if Patrick Henry didn't come up with a

nonviolent statement, and you taught me to look upon them as

patriots and heroes, then it's time for you to realize that I

have studied your books well." (April 8, 1964, speech on "Black

Revolution")

 

- "I've never advocated any violence. I've only said that Black

people who are the victims of organized violence perpetrated upon

us by the Klan, the Citizen's Council, and many other forms, we

should defend ourselves. ... I think the Black man in this

country above and beyond people all over the world will be more

than justified when he stands up and starts to protect himself no

matter how many necks he has to break." (Feb. 14, 1965, in

Detroit one week before his assassination)

 

Look shit up and read something.

well crap

if today wasnt bad enough already

im going to hunt tofu now

rip

Fascinating, i never imagined such things could be...

Originally posted by dead sentiment@Feb 22 2005, 12:21 AM

malcolm x was a writer?? lets see some flicks!

:lol:

Xoner ran shit!

But for real, a true revolutionary.

dope acknowledgement..wrong forum...fuck everyone who disrespects the memory of this man...if you are a person of color in the Americas he and many others like him, had a direct impact on your current quality of life, think about it...

oops wrong forum. anyway...

Black history month on 12oz prophet, brought to you by heavyLox.

Nothing but respect for X.

A real revolutionary.

Huey Newton

from a hand of a nigga pull the triga....

That was a PE quote. I respect this man and also i watched a good thing on PBS that is running about him this month.

evidence that users should be shot instead of banned

huey p newton, bobby seale, brotha malcolm (el hajj malik el shabazz).

"We declare our right on this earth. . .. to be a human being, to be respected as a human being, to be givin the rights as a human being in this society, on this earth, on this day, which we intend to bring into existance, BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY"

so what if your black or not, respect is well do to all of these people. its white history 24/7, its disgusting how africans only get a month.

i deleted the ignorant replies from people. theres no need for that shit.

malcolm was an incredible guy. obviously i think some of his views while with the NOI were a bit misguided, but he came around in the end. definitely worthy of respect from everyone, be they 'of color' or not. human rights are issues that every race has dealt with at one point or another in their history, america is just the most recent incarnation.

respect.

"There is nothing in our book, the Koran, that teaches us to suffer peacefully. Our religion teaches us to be intelligent. Be peaceful, be courteous, obey the law, respect everyone; but if someone puts his hand on you, send him to the cemetery. That’s a good religion." "Message to the Grass Roots," speech, Nov. 1963, Detroit (published in Malcolm X Speaks, ch. 1, 1965).

"I believe that there will ultimately be a clash between the oppressed and those that do the oppressing. I believe that there will be a clash between those who want freedom, justice and equality for everyone and those who want to continue the systems of exploitation."

"The Truth about Malcolm X"

"Forty years ago today, Malcolm X was shot down in front of his family and an audience of followers at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem. When he died, Malcolm X had been estranged from the Nation of Islam for about a year and had begun to call Elijah Muhammad, the leader of the cult, a liar, a fraud and a womanizer.

Those were mighty hot words to direct at the Nation of Islam, which was feared throughout the black community as a known gathering place for violent criminals of all sorts who had been converted in prison, the way Malcolm himself had. Before his ascent in the cult world of homemade Islam, Malcolm Little had been known as "Big Red," a street hustler with a big mouth, a cocaine habit and a willingness to get rowdy and wild if the occasion called for it.

Sent to prison for a series of burglaries, Malcolm turned to Islam, or a version of it, promoted as the "black man's true religion" which held the secrets to liberation from white domination and black self-hatred. A convert, he began the liberation by replacing his "slave name" with an Islamic name or an X.

Malcolm X appeared on the national scene in 1959, presented by the media as the face of what white racism had done to black people. He was a minister of hate who used fiery rhetoric to teach that the white man was a devil invented 6,000 years ago by a mad black scientist. White audiences were appalled or darkly amused by this cartoon version of Islam, but more than a few black Americans were influenced by the Nation of Islam and by its dominant mouthpiece - light-skinned, freckle-faced, red-haired Malcolm X, the voice of black rage incarnate.

Some Negroes left the Christian church, others changed their names. A number stopped eating pork and demanded beef barbecue, and a good many eventually stopped frying their hair and became more nationalistic and hostile to whites, in their own rhetoric and in the rhetoric they liked to hear.

Malcolm X proved how vulnerable Negroes were to hearing another Negro put some hard talk on the white man. The long heritage of silence, both in slavery and the redneck South, was so strong that speech became a much more important act than many realized. Martin Luther King Jr. recognized this, observing that many of those who went to hear Malcolm X were less impressed with his ideas than they were with the contemptuous way he spoke to white power.

Since his death, Malcolm X has been elevated from a heckler of the civil rights moment to a civil rights leader - which he never was - and many people now think that he was as important to his moment as King. He was not, and Malcolm X was well aware of this. But in our country, where liberal contempt for black people is boundless, we should not be surprised to see a minor figure lacquered with media "respect" and thrown in the lap of the black community, where he is passed off as a great hero."

This was written by a black man, for the record. I guess he's ignorant too, right? Deleting comments because you disagree with someone is on some seriously corny bullshit. Get over yourselves.

i deleted them because they were intended to be diesrespectfully ignorant and had absolutely no intellectual merrit, not because they disagreed.

your quoted author, who's only noted qualification seems to be his skin color, completely fails to comment on the last year of malcolms life (after leaving the NOI) and the things he began to preach. without that period, i'd be inclined to agree with him, that malcolm was little more than a mouthpiece for continued ignorance, but after his pilgrimage to mecca and his 'awakening' (for lack of a better term) he completely changed his approach. he still (rightfully) stuck up for black americans and their overwhelming oppresion, but he began to view things not as a race issue, but rather a class issue. had he not been murdered, his popularity (and relivence) would have grown exponentially. what you, or this nameless author, who could very well be a 16 year old high school freshman, are failing to accept is that it was malcolm that lead the way for the black panthers, who accomplished an unparalleled level of 'success' that has never been seen in this country, and probably never will again.

you (and your nameless source) can downplay malcolms importance all you want, but the fact that we're sitting here discussing it pretty much negates your whole argument. regardless of what he was or was not, his legacy continues to effect us, which is a hell of a lot more than you or i will ever do.

Someone told me that John Lennon was secretly funding Malcolm X.

some of you are trying to turn I to the baldhead. I love you still. waterman still; put out the fire.

seeks thanks you handled it better then i would have.

Originally posted by Cecslove.@Feb 22 2005, 12:11 PM

This was written by a black man, for the record.

Quoted post

jaysus :rolleyes:

Originally posted by Weapon X@Feb 22 2005, 05:07 PM

Someone told me that John Lennon was secretly funding Malcolm X.

Quoted post

nah john lennon was to busy funding the provos...

Whether Lennon provided financial support to the IRA is a bit more complicated. Lennon was an outspoken supporter in the late sixties and early seventies of what he called "Irish civil rights." He joined protest marches in London organized by the Troops Out movement and appears in a well-known photograph marching in a demonstration carrying a sign that said Red Mole/

For the IRA/Against British Imperialism. After British troops shot and killed thirteen people in Northern Ireland in 1972 on Bloody Sunday, Lennon wrote and recorded a song, "Luck of the Irish," and sang it at a demonstration in New York. But Yoko Ono recently denied that he ever contributed money to the IRA. Even if he had, it was a lawful act at the time. It wasn't until the British government passed the Prevention of Terrorism Act in 1974 that support for the IRA was criminalized.

 

anyone see malcolm X on PBS last night?

either american experience or frontline don't remember now.

The article was written by Stanley Crouch, a columnist for the Daily News. He's written some other pretty cognizant articles as well as this one. I only stated his race because I know that half of you would immediately repudiate his views as being "racist" had I not. I'm not by any means saying that Malcom X was not a prominent aspect to the imperative civil rights movement, I'm merely stating that lately I've been seeing/reading alot of documentaries in which the media has portrayed him as (practically) a saint. I feel that that is very misleading, that's all. If you're going to tell a story, tell the whole story, not just a biased version of it. There are numberous other illustrious black figures who have proportionately contributed to help make society what it is today, and deserve as much merit as Malcom X, if not more. George Washington Carver, Charles Drew, and Garrett Morgan are just a few that come to mind. As for your comment pertaining to his verve on our community being more than you and I will ever accomplish, you are correct.

Something I had been wondering about for some time now. The successes and failures of violence vs. nonviolence.

Obviously Dr. King is given much credit in the civil rights movement, but it's hard to say when during that time there were riots all over the country, the '67 riot in Detroit pretty much established the 8 mile racial divide which for the most part still stands to this day.

You've got to wonder some times.

At any rate I would like to see Farrakhan and the Black Panther Defense Party more politcally active.

If any of you live in the Bay Area, you should checkout the Malcolm X Jazz Festival.  Aside from great music and food, there's also historical lectures on Malcolm X and stuff you might not find in history books.