Malcolm X speaks: selected speeches and statements

240 Pages·1989·8.12 MB·English

by  Malcolm X

MALCOLM X
SPEAKS

MALCOLM X
SPEAKS
SELECTESDP EECHES
AND STATEMENTS
EditweidtP hr efantootbreyys
GEORGEB REITMAN
London
SECKER& W ARBURG
(!c,i_i\
Copyrigh©t 1965b yM eritP ublishers
Firsptu blishienEd n glan1d9 66b y
MartiSne eke&r W arburg Limited
14C arliSstlree eSto,h o SquaWr.e1,.
Thep ublisahcekrn owledwgietshg ratittuhdeepe rmission
oft hef ollowicnogm panies and indtiouvi sdeui anlt sh is
book materbiyMa allsc olXm:
Afro-AmeriBcraona dcastCion.gD, e troifto,r" Messagteo
the GrassR ootsa"n da n intervibeyw M iltoHne nryi n
Cairo.
PierrBee rtonS how,C FI'O-TVT,o rontCoa,n adaf,o re x­
cerptfsr oma programme tapeodn J anuar1y9 ,1 965.
TheM ilitfaonrst p,e echpersi ntiendi tiss suoefsA pri2l7 ,
1964J,u ne8 ,1 964,J anuar2y5 ,1 96a5n dM ay 24,1 965.
RadiSot atiWoBnA I-FMN,e w YorkC ityf,o re xcerpftrso m
ani ntervioenJw a nuar2y8 ,1 965.
RadioS tatiWoInN S,N ew YorkC ityf,o rt hec oncluding
sectioofnt heC ontact progroafFm ember uar1y8, 1 965.
VillaVgoei cfeo,re xcerpftrso mt heF ebruar2y5 ,1 965
articblyeM arlenNea dle",M alcolXm: T heC omplexiotfy
aM an int heJ ungle".
YounSgo cialfiosre tx,c erpftrso ma n interviienw t he
MarchA pri1l9 6i5s �ue.
FrontispMialeccoel:Xm , M ilitaPnhto tboy F iner.
PrintiendG reaBtri taibny F letch&e Sro nL tdN,o rwich
FOREWORD
MalcolmL ittlweas borni n Omaha,N ebraskao,n
May 19,1 925.A dropouftr oms chooalt 15,h ew as
convcitedo f burglarayn d sentt op risoinn h istw enty­
firsty earT.h erhee wasc onvertteodt heN atioonf I slam
(BlacMkus lims).W henh e lefptr isoinn 1 952h,e d edi­
catedh imsetlofb uilditnhge B lackM uslimsa,n da dopted
then ame,M alcolmX. He withdrefwr omt hamto vement
inM arch,1 964o,r ganizing tfhieMr usstl iMmo squeI,n c.,
and latetrh en on-religOiroguasn izatioofnAfr o-American
UnityH.e madet wot riptso A fricaand theM iddleE ast
durin1g9 64T.h remeo nthsa ftehri sr eturtnot heU nited
Statehse, w as assassiniant Needw Yorko n February
21,1 965H.is own storyo f hisl ifei sr ecountiendT he
AutboiograpohfMy a lcolXm.
* * *
Thisb ooki sa selecotifos np eechbeys M alcolXm .
Allo f themw erem ade duringth el asyte aro fh isl ife
(exceptf ort hef irsste lectimoand,e shortlbye forhei s
departufrroem theB lackM uslimm ovement)W.i tht hat
exception,i tr angeisn timef romh isd eclaratoifoi nn ­
dependencoen March1 2,1 964t,oh isd eathI.tr epresents
onlya smallp ortioonf t hes peechaensd interviheew s
gave during tphearti oidn theU niteSd tatesAfr,i ca,
theM iddleE asta ndE uropeI.t d oesn ota ttempttod eal
witMha lcolma'sss assination.
Thea imo ft hisb ooki st op resenitnh, i so wn words,
the majori deaMsa lcolemx poundeadn dd efenddeudr ing
hisl asty ear.W e feetlh atth iasi mi sl argefluylf illebdy
thes peechaends othemra teriailn cludheerde ,e vent hough
nota llo fh iss peechweesr ea vailabtloeu s.C onvinced
that Malcolmw illb e thes ubjecotf much studya nd
many controversiinet sh ey earst oc ome-by activists
in theb lackf reedosmtr ugglaes wellas historians,
viii MalcolXm Speaks
scholaarnsd studentwse- belietvhea tth ep resenbto ok
wilsle rvaes an invaluabsloeu rcoef materifaolr t heir
1 studieasn d disputeasn,d thati tw ilclo rrecatt,l east
' partialsloym,e misconceptioanbso uto ne of them ost
misunderstaondo dm isrepresemnetne odf o urt ime.
Malcolmw as prmiarilay speakenro,t a writeTrh.e
onlyt hingisn t hibso ok writtbeyn hima reh ism emo­
randumt ot heO rganizatoifoA nf ricaUnn ityi nC airo
and some letterTsh.e printesdp eechdeos notc onvey
adequatelhyis remarkabqluea litaise sa speaketrh,e ir
effeocnt hisa udiencaensd thei nterplay between him
and them.W e wouldh avep referrteodp ublisah s eries
of long-apylingr ecoradl bumsp resentitnhgi msa terial
inh iso wn voicew,i thi ttso neosf ind ignatioann da nger,
withi tsc huckleasn,d witht hei nertru ptionso fa pplause
andl aughtferro mt hea udienc(eW.e c ounteda lmos1t5 0
suchi nterruptbiyo tnhse a udienicnet het apeo fa single
speech",T heB allootr theB ullet.Si"n)c wee lackt he
resourcaensd t imet op ublisahn d distribustuec hr ecord­
ingsa nd sincteh ec ostw ouldl imitth en umbero fp eople
who could btuhye m,w e ared oingt hen extb estth ing.
In editinwge, h avem adeo nlys uchc hangeass any
speakewrq uldm akei np reparinhgi ss peechfeosr p rint,
ands ucha sw eb elieMvael colwmo uldh avem ade himself.
Thati s,w e havec orrectesdl iposf t het onguaend minor
grammaticlaalp sewsh icahr eu navoidabilnme o sts peech­
es givenex temporaneousolry f romb rienfo tesS.i nce
we soughtto a voidr epetitiocnso,m mont os peakewrhso
speaka so fteasn Malcoldmi d,w e haveo mittesde ctions
thatw erer epeateodr paraphrasiendo thesrp eechiens­
cludehde reO.m issionosf t hiksi nda rei ndicabtye dt hree
period(.s . . .)
The explanatonroyt esa ccompanyintgh es peeches
arei ntendperdi maritloy i ndicatweh ere andw hent hey
wereg ivenw,it ha minimumo fi nterpretatoirve ed itorial
comment.T her eadeirs u rgedt ob eari nm indt hrough­
outt heb ookt hatM alcolm'isd eawse red evelopiwnigt h
rapidiatnyd t hacte rtapions itiohnset ooki nt hef irtswto
monthsa ftehri sb reakw itht heB lackM uslimusn der­
wentf urthcehra ngien t hel asmto nthosf h isl ife.
-G.B.
CONTENTS
I.M ESSAGE TO THE GRASSR OOTS
(DetrNooivte,m ber 11906,3 )
Why we catchhe l-l Needf orb lacukn it-yT he
BandunCgo nfere-ncTeh eN egror evolutainodn
theb lacrke ovlutio-n Whatr evolutiis-o nS wing­
ing;n ots ingi-ngW hite natioannadl bilsamc k
revolnu ti-Toheh ouse Neagnrdot hef ieNledg ro
- The governmennotto, u r governme-nPte aceful
sufefrin-gT hem archo n Washingt-oKne nnedy
andt hBei gS ix - A paradwei tchl own.s . . . . . . 3
II.A DECLARATIONO F INDEPENDENCE
(NewY orkM,a rch12 ,1 964)
Statemteonp tr escso nferen.c e. . . . . 1.8 . . . . . .
.
IIIT.H E BALLOT OR THE BULLET
(ClevelAapnrdi3,l, 1 964)
He happentso b ew hit-eI fy puf ighhte rey,o u' 11
knoww hy- Not a dine-rA mericanni ghtmare,
notd rea-m Yourw astevdo t-e Giancto ng ame
- Democraatnsd D ixiecr-atAs governmecnotn ­
spiarcy- A enw interpre-taIttit oank etsw ot o
tagno- How thicso untgroyt r ic-h Kiltlh adto g!
- Unlessy ou runi ntsoo men onviole-nCciev il
rgihtsa ndh umanr igh-tsT heA tlanrteas taurant
- KoreaWna r- Atomisct alem-atGeu erriwlalra-
fare- Politieccaoln,o maincd socpihaill oso-phy
A lessofnr omB illyG raham- Blackn ationalist
party or army- Whats geregatiios-n On rifles
and shotg-unsF reee lectiionCn usb aa ndh er-e
Strnagev egetati.o n. . . . . . . .2 3. . . . . . . . . . . . .
X MalcolXm Speaks
IV.T HE BLACK REVOLUTION
(NewY orkA,p rSi,l1 964)
Whens omeonyee llfsi- reP opulateixopnl os-ion
Fearosf s ocicahla nge Th-ef usaen dt hep owder
keg-A newg enerat-ioLnearnifnrgo mG eorge
Washing-toTnh em ostc orruspytse tm - Integra­
tioniasntdss eparatio-nAimsetrsi csaatng ea white
sta-geA parotf d arkm ankin-d Thew hitmea n
isa minori-tyH ow whitceasn h el-p Takei tt o
UniteNda tion-sS outAhf ricaan d tUh.eS .- A
crackperre sid-enAtm ericcaa nh avea bloodless
revolut-iBoanlanocfep owe.r . .. . ... . .. . . . 45
V. LETTERSF ROM ABROAD
(April-M1a9y6,4 )
JeddaS,a udiA rab-ia LagosN,i ger-iaA ccra,
Ghana. . .... .. . . . .. . . . . 58
VI.T HE HARLEM" HATE-GANGS"CA RE
(New YorkM,a y2 9,1 964)
Traveblr oadesncso p-e Curiosaibtoyu sto cialism
- Shoul"dB looBdr otheerxsi"s -t?B lacmka n in
policset a-teA n occupyianrgmy -Noth eret o
apolog-izTeh eo ddsi nC hinaC,u baa ndA lgeria
- The chickeann d thed ucke gg- Capitalism,
racism saoncdi al-isNme gromeus sutn iftier .s t . 64.
VII.A PPEALT O AFRICANH EADS OF STATE
(CairoE,g ypJtu,l 1y7 ,1 964)
Memorandusmub mittteodc onferenocfte h Oe rgani­
zatioofnA fricUanni t-y Ani ntervoinet whb ea nks
oft heN il-e Impacotn Mrica: Testfirmoomn y
SNC C leadearnsdf roWma shingt.o n.. . . . . 7.2. . .
VIIIA.T THE AUDDBON
(NewY orkD,e cemb1e3r,1 964)
Unveilinag b lacrke voluti-onTahreyC ongoa nd