Malcolm X- The Man, The Myth, The Legend

“Who taught you to hate yourself?”

“Who taught you to hate the texture of your hair? Who taught you to hate the color of your skin? To such an extent you bleach, to get like the white man. Who taught you to hate the shape of your nose and the shape of your lips? Who taught you to hate yourself from the top of your head to the soles of your feet? Who taught you to hate your kind? Who taught you to hate the race that you belong to so much so that you don’t want to be around each other? The most disrespected woman in America is the black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the black woman. The most neglected person in America is the black woman.”

– Malcolm X, May 5, 1962, at the funeral service of Ronald Stokes in Los Angeles.

While most of the world and the United States hold Dr. Martin Luther King as a champion of civil rights and rightly so given that Dr. Martin was an exceptional person no doubt, but casts a shadow over the enigmatic personality of Malcolm X who was championed for the same civil rights causes as the doctor, albeit in slightly controversial ways.

It’s one thing just to deliver a speech about something, but its another to speak from the bottom of your heart, to speak as if you believe what you are saying is true, to speak with so much passion that that passion reverberates to the entire audience who is listening to you speak so attentively, and Malcolm X has all of those qualities. He lit a fire on every colored person in America who was tired of all the racism and wanted equal rights as citizens of the United States. Because of the traumatic experiences America was going through at that time, Malcolm X brought discipline into the chaotic lives of the colored people in America. He taught them that they should be proud of the color of their skins and should not feel ashamed of being black as the “white man” had taught them to be.

In addition to that, I loved the way, Malcolm X explained things because not everyone can do that. Malcolm was precise, knowledgeable, and aware of things that left you impressed.

It’s hard to believe that he was the same man, who in his youth was a criminal and was robbing and stealing people for a living. When finally caught by the police, he was sentenced to a lengthy prison term. It was there where he was introduced to the teachings of the Nation of Islam (NOI) and he changed his lifestyle. When he finally got released from prison, Malcolm had a fresh perspective on life, he was a changed man who wanted to do something for his fellow-colored brothers and sisters. He met the president of NOI and started as a preacher for the temple of NOI in Harlem, New York, where his popularity grew in large droves. His popularity grew so much that the FBI placed him under a “person of interest” list. They tapped his phones, bugged his house, and placed spies on his temple. It was inevitable, he was getting too popular for his good, they assassinated him while he was giving a speech at a ballroom in New York. He wanted to expose the lies and was assassinated so that the truth could remain silent. Men of his caliber and class who inspire millions of colored people aren’t just killed by random acts of violence, they are murdered by a deep-rooted conspiracy.