Friday marks the anniversary of the assassination of Malcolm X, one of the most influential and controversial figures of the American civil rights movement.
On February 21, 1965, Malcolm X was shot and killed while delivering a speech at the Audubon Ballroom in New York City. His death at the age of 39 cut short the life of a man who had become a powerful voice for Black empowerment, self-determination, and resistance to racial oppression.
Born in 1925, Malcolm grew up facing extreme racial violence and systemic discrimination. After a troubled youth and a prison sentence, Malcolm became a devoted follower of the Nation of Islam, adopting the name Malcolm X to reject the surname given to his enslaved ancestors. As a minister and spokesman for the NOI, he gained national attention for his fierce rhetoric, advocating for Black pride, economic independence, and self-defense against racial violence.
Unlike Martin Luther King Jr.’s philosophy of nonviolent resistance, Malcolm X was initially known for his more militant stance, urging African Americans to defend themselves by any means necessary. However, after a transformative pilgrimage to Mecca in 1964, he embraced a more inclusive vision of racial unity and broke away from the Nation of Islam, forming the Organization of Afro-American Unity to fight for human rights on a global scale.
Malcolm X’s speeches and activism inspired generations of activists, laying the groundwork for movements like the Black Power movement and influencing leaders such as Stokely Carmichael and the Black Panther Party. Though he was often painted as radical and divisive in his lifetime, today he is widely recognized as a pivotal figure in the struggle for racial justice.
Sixty after his assassination, Malcolm X’s autobiography continues to educate and inspire, and his speeches remain relevant in contemporary discussions on racial inequality and resistance to oppression.
On the topic of acquiring freedom, Malcolm’s words remind us of the ever-evolving struggle against racial oppression: “You get freedom by letting your enemy know that you’ll do anything to get your freedom; then you’ll get it. It’s the only way you’ll get it.”
