Malcolm X
Malcolm X (1925-1965), born Malcolm Little, later El-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz, was a US civil rights activist. He was born in Omaha, Nebraska. He was son of a Baptist minister. He was arrested for burglary in his early days and sent to prison where he converted to Islam of the Nation of Islam sect. After release from prison, he changed his name to Malcolm X. Initially, he promoted the causes of Nation of Islam and black nationalism, but later changed his views to Islamic brotherhood. He founded Organization of Afro-American Unity that promoted many of the orthodox Muslim beliefs, anti-racism and anti-colonialism. His autobiography The Autobiography of Malcolm X is one of the famous books of the twentieth century, for which Alex Haley contributed a lot. He was assassinated in New York.Wisdom & Quotes
- Power never takes a back step - only in the face of more power.
- Be peaceful, be courteous, obey the law, respecte everyone; but if someone puts his hand on you, send him to the cemetry.
- Sitting at the table doesn't make you a diner, unless you eat some of what's on the plate. Being here in America doesn't make you an American. Being born her in America doesn't make you an American.
- We are fighting for the right to live as free humans in this society. In fact, we are actually fighting for rights that are even greater than civil rights and that is human rights.
- America is a colonial power. She has colonized 22 million Afro-Americans by depriving us of first-class citizenship, by depriving us of civil rights, actually by depriving us of human rights.
- Revolution is always based on land. Revolution is never based on begging somebody for an integrated cup of coffee.
- A segregated school system produces children who, when they graduate, graduate with cripple minds.
- Time is on the side of the oppressed today, it's against the oppressor. Truth is on the side of the oppressed today, it's against the oppressor. You don't need anything else.
- You are not supposed to be so blind with patriotism that you can't face reality. Wrong is wrong, no matter who does it or who says it.
- You show me a black man who isn't an extremist and I'll show you one who needs psychiatric attention.
- My alma matter was books, a good library. ... I could spend the rest of my life reading, just satisfying my curiosity.
- I remember on night at Muzdalifah... I lay awake amid sleeping Muslim brothers and I learned that pilgrims from every land - every colour and class and rank - all snored in the same language.
- Brothers and sisters, friends and enemies: I just can't believe that everyone in here is a friend, and I don't want to leave anyone out.
- After you get your freedom, your enemy will respect you.
- How can you thank a man for giving you what's yours?
- You can't separate peace from freedom, because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom.
- Racism is a human problem and a crime that is absolutely so ghastly that a person who is fighting racism is well within his rights to fight against it by any means necessary until it is eliminated.
- Revolutions are never peaceful.
Margaret Thatcher