‘The Ballot or the Bullet’

"I'm not an American. I'm one of the 22 million Black people who are the victims of Americanism.”

These are words from Malcom X from his speech ‘The Ballot or the Bullet’. Even reading it at this point today gives some sort of shiver in me. Just imagine listening to his speech live back in the 60’s and what impact would it create.

Miss Dzeelfa has informed us that we would be doing jig-saw reading on a speech by Malcom X. Although the name Malcom X seems to be familiar, I had no idea who is he. So I did a little research on his background before I went to the class. He seems to be an interesting person. Born as a Black Muslim, he propagates the idea of equality in human kind.

"The Ballot or the Bullet" is the name of a public speech by human rights activist Malcolm X. In the speech, which was delivered on April 3, 1964, at Cory Methodist Church in Cleveland, Ohio, Malcolm advised African-Americans to judiciously exercise their right to vote, but he cautioned that if the government continued to prevent African-Americans from attaining full equality, it might be necessary for them to take up arms. It was ranked 7th in the top 100 American speeches of the 20th century by 137 leading scholars of American public address. Wow...That’s really cool…

"The Ballot or the Bullet" served several purposes at a critical point in Malcolm X's life. It was part of his effort to distance himself from the Nation of Islam. It was also intended to reach out to moderate civil rights leaders. At the same time, the speech indicated that Malcolm still supported Black nationalism and self-defense and thus had not made a complete break with his past.

Malcolm X began his speech by acknowledging that he was still a Muslim, but he quickly added that he didn't intend to discuss religion or any other issues that divide African-Americans. Instead, he was going to emphasize the common experience of African-Americans of all faiths:
It's time for us to submerge our differences and realize that it is best for us to first see that we have the same problem, a common problem — a problem that will make you catch hell whether you're a Baptist, or a Methodist, or a Muslim, or a nationalist. Whether you're educated or illiterate, whether you live on the boulevard or in the alley, you're going to catch hell just like I am.