“And the injustice that has been inflicted upon negros in this country by Uncle Sam is criminal. Don’t blame a cracker in Georgia for your injustices. The government is responsible for the injustices. The government can bring these injustices to a halt.”
Malcolm X.
Revolutionary. Muslim minister.
Black civil rights leader.
Human rights activist.
Black nationalist
“We want freedom, by any means necessary. We want justice, by any means necessary. We want equality by any means necessary. We want it now, or we don’t think anyone should have it.”
He is one of the most radical and revolutionary US figures of the 20th century.
Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little on May 19, 1925 in Omaha, Nebraska.
His parents were supporters of Pan-Africanism and Marcus Garvey.
They were often threatened, harassed and attacked by white supremacists and the Ku Klux Klan.
When his father was killed in a street car accident
His mother believed it was white supremacists.
Four of Malcolm X’s uncles were killed by white violence.
Malcolm and his siblings grew up in and out of foster homes when his mother was committed to a mental institute after a nervous breakdown.
Malcolm X dropped out of high school after a teacher told him he had no future.
He lived in Boston with a half-sister. And then Harlem, NY.
He got involved in drug dealing, gambling and robbery.
In 1946, he was arrested and sentenced to eight to ten years at Charlestown State Prison for theft.
Prison would be the beginning of his transformation…
He joined the Nation of Islam, a muslim Black Nationalist religious organization.
He stopped smoking and eating pork. He began to pray to “Allah”
He changed his name from Malcolm Little to Malcolm X.
The X symbolized his true African family’s name, which he would never know because it had been lost when his ancestors were brought to the Americas as slaves.
When he left prison in 1952, he began to work as a minister in the Nation of Islam mosques
Slowly rising through the ranks. He helped to found and expand mosques in Boston and Philadelphia, Massachusetts, Hartford, Connecticut and Atlanta, Georgia.
He led the temple in Harlem, New York.
In 1955, he married Betty Sanders, who would change her name to Betty Shabazz.
The Nation of Islam membership grew exponentially.
Even boxer Muhammad Ali joined.
Racist violence was rife throughout the United States
And Malcolm X stood against it.
The Civil Rights movement was rippling across the country.
The 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott.
But Malcolm X disagreed with Martin Luther King Jr.’s calls for non-violent activism:
“We are non-violent with people who are non-violent with us. But we are not non-violent with anyone who is violent with us.”
He said African Americans should stand up for themselves.
He called for them to free themselves from the self-hate implanted by white society.
“Who taught you to hate the texture of your hair? Who taught you to hate the color of your skin to such extense that you bleach to get like the white man? Who taught you to hate the shape of your nose and the shape of your lips? Who taught you to hate yourself from the top of yourself to the soles of your feet? Who taught you to hate your own kind? Who taught you to hate the race that you belong to so much so that you don’t be around each other. No… before you come asking Mr. Mohammad does he teach hate, you should ask yourself who taught you to hate being what God gave you?”
Malcolm X stood against racism and police brutality.
“Every case of police brutality against a negro follows the same pattern. They attack you. Bust you all upside your mouth and then take you to court and charge you with assault. What kind of demoracy is that? What kind of freedom is that? What kind of social or political system is it when a black man has no voice in court? Has nothing on his side other than what the white man chooses to give him? My brothers and sisters we have to put a stop to this and it will never be stopped until we stop it ourselves… This is American justice. This is American democracy. And those of you that are familiar with it, know that in America democracy is hypocrisy. Now, if I’m wrong put me in jail. But if you can’t prove that democracy is not hypocrisy. Then don’t put your hands on me.”
When a member of his temple was brutally beaten by police in 1957…
Malcolm X arrived to the police precinct with hundreds of supporters and demanded he receive medical attention.
Malcolm X later sued New York City for police brutality and won.
“We are oppressed. We are exploited. We are downtrodden. We are denied not only civil rights, but even human rights. So the only way we are going to get some of this oppression and exploitation away from us or aside from us is to come together against a common enemy.”
In the 1960 UN General Assembly in New York he met with African leaders
And even Cuba’s newly victorious leader Fidel Castro.
As his name grew, he became ever more outspoken.
“The history of unpunished violence against our people clearly indicates that we must be prepared to defend ourselves or we will continue to be a defenseless people at the mercy of a ruthless and violent racist mob.”
But Malcolm X also faced racist violence, death threats…
In 1962, Malcolm X’s relationship with the Nation of Islam soured
When he learned that the group’s leader Elijah Muhammad was having affairs with young secretaries, Malcolm X went public.
He broke with the Nation of Islam.
He converted to Sunni Islam and went on pilgrimage to Mecca.
He traveled abroad. Speaking in the Middle East, Africa and Europe.
The Nigerian Muslim Students Association gave him the honorary Yoruba name Omowale, which means ‘the son who has come home’.
He said it was his most treasured honor.
In the United States, he started his own group — the Organization of Afro-American Unity.
“To bring about the complete independence of people of African descent here in the Western Hemisphere and first here in the United States and bring about the freedom of these people by any means necessary. That’s our motto.”
He continued to speak at University campuses.
But he faced increasing death threats from Nation of Islam leaders
For his break and outspokenness against them…
There were attempts on his life. His house was firebombed.
And on February 21, 1965, he was ambushed, shot and killed in Manhattan’s Audubon Ballroom just before speaking to members of his new organization.
Thousands attended his funeral, including prominent civil rights leaders.
Martin Luther King wrote to Malcolm X’s widow, Betty Shabazz:
“While we did not always see eye to eye on methods to solve the race problem,” he wrote, “I always had a deep affection for Malcolm and felt that he had a great ability to put his finger on the existence and root of the problem.”
Malcolm X was one of the greatest and most influential African Americans in the history of the United States.
His speeches and his words continue to inspire, even 60 years after his assassination.
This is episode 35 of Stories of Resistance—a podcast co-produced by The Real News and Global Exchange. Independent investigative journalism, supported by Global Exchange’s Human Rights in Action program. Each week, we’ll bring you stories of resistance like this. Inspiration for dark times.
If you like what you hear, please subscribe, like, share, comment, or leave a review.
You can also follow Michael Fox’s reporting and support his work and this podcast at www.patreon.com/mfox.
Written and produced by Michael Fox.
Resources
- Malcolm X’s Fiery Speech Addressing Police Brutality
- Malcolm X Message To The Grassroots | House Negro/Field Negro
- Malcolm X Speech “Democracy is Hypocrisy”
- Malcolm X Fiery Speeches – Inspiring Words of a Revolutionary
- “By Any Means Necessary”: Watch Malcolm X’s Speech on Racism & Self-Defense at Audubon Ballroom
- Malcolm X – Interview At Berkeley (1963)
- Malcolm X on Front Page Challenge, 1965: CBC Archives | CBC
This content originally appeared on The Real News Network and was authored by Michael Fox.