Malcolm X

Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, also known as el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz) was an African American primarily known for his political activism as the leader of the black nationalism movement, and as a priest in the Nation of Islam."Malcolm X" - King Institute - Stanford He was one of Martin Luther King's most vocal critics, rejecting nonviolent protest in favor of forceful emancipation, now famous for its slogan "By any means necessary".How did these two civil rights leaders view the different tactics and goals of the movement? Phoenix-Talent School District
Malcolm grew up in the world of 1930's and 1940's America, a time of intense racial tensions. Malcolm's family became victim of extreme racial harassment, systemic racism and the personal betrayal by several white people, which contributed to the set of beliefs he would end up holding. After his father's death and his mother's hospitalization, he spent his adolescence living in a series of foster homes or with relatives. Mostly left for himself, still, he ended up committing various crimes and, in 1946, was sent to prison 8 to 10 years for burglary.
In prison, Malcolm X joined the Nation of Islam and, after his parole in 1952 (having served 6 years of his sentence), quickly became one of the organization's most influential leaders. The NoI embraced black nationalism and had a significant impact on Malcolm's attitude towards whites.Malcolm X, Part III: Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam West Philadelphia Collaborative History He was the public face of the NoI for 12 years before disillusioning and forming his own Sunni Islamic organization Muslim Mosque, Inc.Muslim Mosque Incorporated by the FBI Columbia University and the Pan-African Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU).(1964) Malcolm X’s Speech at the Founding Rally of the Organization of Afro-American Unity Blackpast.org Malcolm would spend the rest of 1964 arguing - violently, they sent him death threats - with the Nation of Islam until on February 21, 1965, Malcolm's life was cut short during an attack involving the largely defensive weapon of gun.Malcolm X - Cloud of Witnesses Jim Crow Museum
Malcolm's beliefs and attitudes changed as his life progressed. His original rationale was that black emancipation was long due and that, if whites won't give it to them, blacks will have to take it forcefully. Malcolm brought up the example of the American Revolution as a successful example of gaining freedom from oppressors using violent means, and advocated for something like this for black people in America at that time. He believed that something similar would have to happen in the United States as well, if blacks ever were to live harmonious lifes - not harmonious with whites, necessarily, but amongst each other. In fact, he proposed 'economic nationalism', an economic program of self-sufficiency, ie. black control of the economy and politics of black communities.Malcolm X's Legendary Speech: "The Ballot or the Bullet" (annotations and subtitles)
Anything that white people would give them, like black suffrage or civil rights, Malcolm said, were insincere token breadcrumbs intended to keep blacks appeased in their oppression, and he believed that cooperation with whites and people of other faiths was impossible."Malcolm X: White Liberals and Conservatives" As he disillusioned from the Nation of Islam and during his pilgrimage to Mecca he underwent the most drastic changes in his political attitude, beginning to accept cooperation with whites, though still only in the pursuit of the ultimate goal of black emancipation.The Ideological and Spiritual Transformation of Malcolm X Springer LinkThe Evolution of Malcolm X: His Philosophy in the Struggle Against Racism and Injustice CounterPunch Unfortunately, Malcolm's intellectual and spiritual journey was cut short only two days later as he was assassinated on an event of one of his organizations (the OAAU). He was unceremoniously shot by a sawed-off shotgun, rushed to a hospital and pronounced deceased the same day. The exact circumstances around his assassination and the person responsible for his death, however, remain a mystery.The Assassination of Malcolm X ThoughtCo
==Ideology==
===White liberals and conservatives===
Malcolm X believed that both white liberals and white conservatives were only interested in gaining and preserving power. White liberals, he believed, were insincere in their promises and that there were no fundamental differences between the parties. The difference between white liberals and white conservatives, according to Malcolm X, was that white liberals were more hypocritical than white conservatives and more willing to use black voters as a pawn to gain power. White liberals would vote for white liberal Republicans, and white conservatives would vote for white conservative Democrats. 
Malcolm X was pissed that whites championed around three million black voters as a big "achievement", as yet another token victory used by whites to appease black people. He said that whites bent over the knees to get black people to vote to create the illusion of suffrage, while in reality the three million black people who did vote (or potentially even the other eight million who did not) in the 1960 presidential election most likely did not have a real say over who wins. Malcolm believed that black Americans should set up their own power structures and become players in the political arena. The rationale was that a unified bloc with separate power structures would be a lot less vulnerable to institutional marginalization from the white-dominated power structures of the white majority.
Malcolm X argued that because the vast majority of those three million black voters were the "black bourgeoisie," white politicians that sought their votes would only cater to the interests of the black bourgeosie, and not the black proletariat, the "masses". Malcolm X argued that integration of the races was in the interests of the black bourgeosie, who sought to lose their "black identity." The only solution to the "race problem", as Malcolm X called it, was for white people to listen to "what the black masses want."
Malcolm X tended to refer to white conservatives as "wolves" and white liberals as "foxes." His reasoning was that white liberals, or "foxes," were more friendly (in a deceitful manner), and therefore more likely to successfully fool black Americans. White conservatives, or "wolves," were more overt in their hatred and their intent to marginalize blacks.Malcolm X on Sheep, Wolf, Fox and Liberals
===By any means necessary===
Human rights for black black people were an indisputable, fundamental right in Malcom's eyes, so he sought to take those rights "by any means necessary"Malcolm X (1989) [1970]. Breitman, George (ed.). By Any Means Necessary: Speeches, Interviews, and a Letter by Malcolm X. New York: Pathfinder Press. ., using what's called If the situation calls for and non-violent activism, then that's the method that will be used. If participation in the political machinery of the state is not achieving the goal of black liberation, then militancy is required. In the same vein, Malcolm X was a strong advocate for the right of black Americans to bear arms.Famous Malcolm X speech "Any means necessary"
In his now legendary "The Ballot or the Bullet" speech, Malcolm X uses the example of the political violence of the Patriots in the American Revolution, and how that violence secured the "freedom of whites in this country from the English," as an analogy for how black nationalist political violence can bring about the emancipation of black Americans in the United States. However, in that same speech he said that America was presented with a unique opportunity for a bloodless revolution. He said that (as of 1964, when the speech was given) he was unaware of any peaceful revolutions. Malcolm cites the Chinese, Russian, French, and American Revolutions (among others) as examples of bloody revolutions, but that in 1964 the conditions were present for a revolution that was peaceful. According to Malcolm X, all Uncle Sam had to do to avoid a bloody revolution was give black people in America everything that was their due. 
Malcolm X was a strong believer in extreme self defense. By his own admission he was an extremist, but he qualified that his extremism was emancipatory. Not the reactionary, genocidal extremism of imperialism and fascism, but the emancipatory extremism of Malcolm X's speech at Oxford University
===Black nationalism===
Malcolm X's program of black nationalism was, in his eyes, an emancipatory program. He noted that the waves of decolonization happening around the world at the time were not happening "because of but results of local nationalism." Similarly, Malcolm believed that black nationalism in the USA was a tool to emancipate black Americans from "political oppression, economic exploitation, and social degradation."
As Malcolm X's intellectual journey progressed, he became more open to the idea of cooperation between black people of all faiths. Malcolm X identified black nationalism as his "political, social, and economy philosophy." He considered his religion, Islam, to be personal business (as he viewed sectarianism among black Americans to be detrimental to the cause of black liberation). This went so far that, after leaving the NOI, he even announced a willingness to work with the Civil Rights Movement to advance the cause of black liberation:
After rejecting black separatism, he continued to advocate for black nationalism,Malcolm X (1990) [1965]. Malcolm X Speaks: Selected Speeches and Statements. George Breitman, ed. New York: Grove Weidenfeld. but this too began to change in the few months prior to his death when he met North African revolutionaries who were by all appearances white. Malcolm X's evolving sentiment about black nationalism as an emancipatory tool is exhibited in the quote below:
====Economic nationalism====
Malcolm X envisioned a political and economic program of black self sufficiency. That meant, to Malcolm, black control of the economy and politics of black communities. Malcolm saw one of the root causes of black economic marginalization was integration of the economy. Black people were spending more and more of their money outside of their community, and so less money was going into the black community as a result.
If black people controlled the means of production in their communities, they would no longer be subject to white-controlled economic machinery and therefore be more resilient to economic marginalization.
===Cooperation with whites===
Malcolm X, after his split with the NOI, began to become more amenable to cooperation with white fellow travelers. Two days before his assassination, Malcolm X articulated his changing views on white people in a conversation with 
As a result of his hajj to Mecca and seeing everyone from "blue-eyed blondes to dark-skinned Africans" interacting as equals on hajj, Malcolm X came to view Islam as a way to overcome racial problems.Malcolm X, Autobiography, pp. 388–393; quote from pp. 390–391
===Economic views===
Malcolm X's economic philosophy was contradictory. Malcom X's speeches at the Militant Labor Forum heavily criticized capitalism,Perry, Bruce (1991). Malcolm: The Life of a Man Who Changed Black America. Barrytown, New York: Station Hill. . but he also advocated essentially for in his famous "Ballot or the Bullet" speech. Malcolm X, when asked what his economic ideology was, said he didn't know but he also didn't believe it was a coincidence that many of the newly decolonized nations of the Global South were turning to socialism.Cone, James H. (1991). Martin & Malcolm & America: A Dream or a Nightmare. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books. . 
When Malcolm X was directly asked what he thought of socialism, he asked if it was good for the black community. Upon the reporter's affirmative response, Malcolm X then stated he was "for" socialism. 
What first put Malcolm X on the FBI's radar was when, while still a prisoner in 1950, he sent a letter to Harry Truman that declared that he was both opposed to the Korean War while also identifying as a communist.Marable, Manning (2011). Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention. New York: Viking. .
==Unfinished journey==
His ideas were evolving rapidly as he sought to develop a political and economic strategy to put his ideas into practice, before he was assassinated in 1965. Most importantly, Malcolm began to see cross-racial and cross-faith coalitions as part of a strategy to gather more allies in a fight for black emancipation. He became friendly with the SWP, who saw parallels between his ideas and the anti-colonial battles in the Third World. Further reconsideration of his opposition to working across racial lines occurred in the softening of his stance against the civil rights movement. He watched the Congressional debate on the Civil Rights Act, as did Martin Luther King. He advocated for the right of black communities to armed self-defense, but not for the use of arms as a political strategy.
The contradictions of his black nationalist political and economic strategy were never resolved. The black power movement became loud, theatrical, and ineffective. Black nationalism was a divisive force, alienating mainstream blacks as well as whites. It caused fragmentation and dissension on the Left (although the SWP was still regarded as a "white" organization by black nationalists). The role Malcolm X might have had — either applying his great intelligence to those problems, evolving his ideas further, and providing true leadership; or getting caught up in the maelstrom of dead-end negativity — remains one of the great imponderables of the 1960s.
==Malcolm's death==
Because of the murky details surrounding Malcolm X's assassination, conspiracy theories have formed around the nature of his death. For example, since the 1950s Malcolm X had been under near constant FBI surveillance and the NOI was thoroughly infested with federal moles. It is speculated that the FBi willingly turned a blind eye to Malcolm's assassination or may even have directly participated in it. J. Edgar Hoover, the then director of the FBI, tried to hide the fact that some of the witnesses to Malcolm's assassination were snitches for the feds."J. Edgar Hoover hid that Malcolm X witnesses were federal informants." - The New York Times. Troy Closson and Jonah E. Bromwich (Nov. 18, 2021). Archived version. However, just like with JFK conspiracy theories, the burden of proof is on the conspiracists to prove direct federal involvement in these assassinations. And while his assassination and the aftermath of his death are very suspicious indeed, the evidence for such claims remains circumstantial at best.
However, to further add credence to the doubt over Malcolm's assassination, two of the men convicted of his murder have since been exonerated."Two men convicted of killing Malcolm X will be exonerated." - The New York Times. Ashley Southall and Jonah E. Bromwich (Nov. 17, 2021). Archived version. The FBI and NYPD have also admitted to hiding evidence in the case. For Malcolm's family part, as of February 2023 they have launched a lawsuit against the FBI, NYPD, and CIA claiming that the feds hid evidence during Malcolm's trial (which they have openly admitted to doing).
As for the theory that the NOI had him offed, Louis Farrakhan has pretty much openly admitted to the NOI ordering Malcolm's assassination:
Betty Shabazz, Malcolm's widow, has also accused Farrakhan of ordering Malcolm's assassination."Brother Minister: The Martyrdom of Malcolm X." - The Washington Post. Alona Wartofsky (February 17, 1995). Archived version. Shabazz even alleged that Malcolm's death was a "badge of honor" in the NOI, and that nobody kept Farrakhan's involvement a "secret"."Widow of Malcolm X Suspects Farrakhan Had Role in Killing" - The Associated Press via The New York Times. Published March 13, 1994.
==Notes==
==References==
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