Today in History: Malcolm X was born. 10 of his most profound quotes
Malcolm X, born on 19 May, 1925, would go on to become one of the most influential leaders of the black rights movement in America.
Malcolm X, activist and outspoken public voice of the Black Muslim faith, challenged the mainstream civil rights movement and the non-violent pursuit of integration championed by Martin Luther King Jr.
He urged followers to defend themselves against white aggression “by any means necessary.”
Born Malcolm Little in 1925, he changed his last name to X to signify his rejection of his ‘slave’ name.
Charismatic and eloquent, Malcolm became an influential leader of the Nation of Islam, which combined Islam with black nationalism and sought to encourage and enfranchise disadvantaged young blacks searching for confidence in segregated America.
After Malcolm X’s death in 1965, his bestselling book The Autobiography of Malcolm X popularised his ideas, particularly among black youth, and laid the foundation for the Black Power movement of the late 1960s and 1970s.
In honour of a man who fought to his death for the rights of black people in America, we have picked out 10 of his most profound quotes (in no particular order).
1. Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.
2. Nobody can give you freedom. Nobody can give you equality or justice or anything. If you’re a man, you take it.
3. 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.
4. The media’s the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that’s power. Because they control the minds of the masses.
5. I’m for truth, no matter who tells it. I’m for justice, no matter who it’s for or against.
6. Be peaceful, be courteous, obey the law, respect everyone; but if someone puts his hand on you, send him to the cemetery.
7. The future belongs to those who prepare for it today.
8. A man who stands for nothing will fall for anything.
9. I don’t even call it violence when it’s in self-defence; I call it intelligence.
10. I believe in the brotherhood of man, all men, but I don’t believe in brotherhood with anybody who doesn’t want brotherhood with me. I believe in treating people right, but I’m not going to waste my time trying to treat somebody right who doesn’t know how to return the treatment.
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