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• 1 2020-04-01T18:20:07+00:00 Malcolm X and Civil Rights as Human Rights 9 plain 2020-04-17T03:23:56+00:00

  Introduction:

  Martin Luther King is often viewed as one of the great symbols of the Civil Rights movement and a great symbol of America. However in his speech “Beyond Vietnam” it becomes apparent that he is not the simple American Patriot that he is often viewed as. Similarly, the Civil rights movement cannot be merely viewed as a show of patriotism and the true American principles. As Nikhil Pal Singh points out in his book Black is a Country the Civil Rights movement was less of a movement towards American ideals but a movement of Black people moving towards equality and attaining legitimacy in the nation.  

  Singh challenges the idea of a Civil Rights movement as being dominated by King, by emphasizing the role of various organizing groups like the Black Panthers, SNCC, as well as the NAACP. He also emphasizes the global nature of the Civil Rights movement beyond King’s relation with Gandhi and the nonviolence movement in India.

  One of the groups that exemplifies the global nature of the Civil Rights movement is the Nation of Islam and Malcolm X, and the work done to unify Black people globally. Malcolm X followed in the footsteps of revolutionaries like Marcus Garvey he believed in the ideas of Pan Americanism.  He moved to bring African culture to African Americans by promoting Islam to Americans; he often held rallies to promote union amongst the Black community and demand equality. However, Malcolm X work with the Civil Rights movement is not limited to his work with Islam. His speech “The Ballot or the Bullet'' shows his work in relation to the American Civil Rights movement. 
   

  Documents:

  Document 1:

  “The Ballot or the Bullet'' is an example of one of Malcolm X’s speeches where he shows his commitment to creating a unified African American culture that expands beyond faith. This speech is often regarded as one of the most important ones of Malcolm X as it was also one of his earliest speeches regarding the Civil Rights movement. The speech came less than a month after Malcolm X separated from the Nation of Islam. In his speech Malcolm X urges African Americans to frame the Civil Rights movement not as a Civil issue but as an issue of human rights, to gain more support. In addition Malcolm X explains the power using democracy to make change through the form of the ballot and if that fails use radical methods, the bullet, to create change.
   

  Image 1:

  

  
  

  This image shows Malcolm X at a rally holding a headline from the newspaper Muhammad Speaks saying “Our Freedom Can’t Wait”. The Image shows the social and political roles of Malcolm X. Additionally, the newspaper was an example of African American Culture, it followed people like Muhammad Ali as well as key events during the Civil Rights movement. Muhammad Speaks is also an example of one of the key ideas that Malcolm X that he outlines in his speech, the idea of the creation of a separate Black culture and community, which Singh uses in the advancement of his main idea.
  

  Teaching:

  After viewing both of these documents, Singh’s argument about the civil rights movement being much larger than an American movement becomes clear. Being part of the Nation of Islam, an international organization, allowed Malcom X to play a large part on the advancement of the Civil Rights Movement. In addition to showing how the civil rights was as much a global movement as it was an American Movement, these two sources show the concept of a separate Black community within America. The sources shine a light of the idea of a nation within a nation. The duality of being both global but separated connects to the idea of “double consciousness’” that Shing discusses in his book, ultimately connecting to the irony of the American Civil rights movement: having to fight for equality that is supposed to be guaranteed to everyone.
  
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