Salaam. Today marks the what would have been the 83rd birthday of Malcolm X. After leaving the Nation of Islam in 1964, he made the pilgrimage, the Hajj to Mecca where he received his new name El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz and became a Sunni Muslim. He also founded the Muslim Mosque, Inc. and the Organization of Afro-American Unity. Less than a year later, he was assassinated on the first day of National Brotherhood Week. Rather than provide an unneeded history lesson, I will celebrate his life by sharing some of his quotes. I love the picture on the right with him and Dr. King. It showed that they could come together although they did not often agree with one another."Be peaceful, be courteous, obey the law, respect everyone; but if someone puts his hand on you, send him to the cemetery". This one was a favorite of my grandmother's.
"Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today".
"I believe in a religion that believes in freedom. Any time I have to accept a religion that won't let me fight a battle for my people, I say to hell with that religion".
"I don't even call it violence when it's in self defense; I call it intelligence".
"If you have no critics you'll likely have no success".
"My Alma mater was books, a good library... I could spend the rest of my life reading, just satisfying my curiosity".
"The Negro revolution is controlled by foxy white liberals, by the Government itself. But the Black Revolution is controlled only by God".
"There is no better than adversity. Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance the next time".
"You don't have to be a man to fight for freedom. All you have to do is to be an intelligent human being".
"You're not supposed to be so blind with patriotism that you can't face reality. Wrong is wrong, no matter who says it".
"You can't legislate good will - that comes through education".
"You show me a capitalist, and I'll show you a bloodsucker".
2 comments:
Malcolm had a lot of great quotes. Some of these strike me as ironic, mostly because I'm trying to figure out when he made them, and to whom.
I should be writing about him someday soon.
Some of them were from the book Malcolm X Talks to Young People. I know the first one is from the Grassroots, which I am fortunate enough to have on wax. I'll be checking your blog for the Malcolm X commentary.
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