Malcolm X: b. 5/19/25
Les Schaffer
schaffer at SPAMoptonline.net
Sat May 19 16:02:10 MDT 2001
[ forward from unsubbed "Martyn Richard Jones"
<martyn_jones at iniciativas.com> ]
My favorite early Malcolm X quote was something like "we didn't land
on Plymouth Rock, Plymouth Rock landed on us"
I hope I got it more or less correct.
Regards,
Martyn
Martyn R Jones, PhD
Iniciativa Consulting
Calle Rey Heredia, 15
14003 Córdoba, Spain
GSM +34 629 527191
Fixed: +34 957 498721
martyn_jones at iniciativas.com
http://www.iniciativas.com
-----Mensaje original-----
De: owner-marxism at lists.panix.com [mailto:owner-marxism at lists.panix.com]En
nombre de john.m. cox
Enviado el: sábado 19 de mayo de 2001 20:21
Para: surgelocal at listserv.unc.edu
CC: marxism at lists.panix.com
Asunto: Malcolm X: b. 5/19/25
>I hope noone objects if I pass along these quotations from Malcolm X, who
was born this day in 1925; they remind us of the rare integrity and
political foresight (as well as the sense of humor) of this great leader -
"No, I'm not an American. I'm one of the 22 million Black people who are
the victims of Americanism. One of the 22 million Black people who are the
>victims of democracy, nothing but disguised hypocrisy. So, I'm not
>standing here speaking to you as an American, or a patriot, or a
>flag-saluter, or a flag-waver--no, not I. I'm speaking as a victim of
this
>American system. And I see America through the eyes of the victim. I
don't
>see any American dream; I see an American nightmare." April 3, 1964
>
>"Revolution is never based on begging somebody for an integrated cup of
>coffee. Revolutions are never fought by turning the other
>cheek. Revolutions are never based upon love-your-enemy and
>pray-for-those-who-spitefully-use-you. And revolutions are never waged
>singing 'We Shall Overcome.'...Revolutions are never based upon that
which
>is begging a corrupt system to accept us into it. Revolutions overturn
>systems. And there is no system on this earth which has proven itself
more
>corrupt, more criminal, than this system that in 1964 still colonizes 22
>million African-Americans, still enslaves 22 million
>Afro-Americans." April 8, 1964
>
>"We are in a society where the power is in the hands of those who are the
>worst breed of humanity." Feb. 16, 1965
>
>"But since the white man, your friend, took your language away from you
>during slavery, the only language you know is his language. You know,
your
>friend's language. So you call for the same God he calls for. When he's
>putting a rope around your neck, you call for God and he calls for
>God. [laughter] And you wonder why the one you call on never answers
>you." Feb. 14, 1965
>
>"Elijah believes that God is going to come and straighten things out. I
>believe that too. But whereas Elijah is willing to sit and wait, I'm not
>willing to sit and wait on God to come. If he doesn't come soon, it will
>be too late. I believe in religion, but a religion that includes
>political, economic, and social action designed to eliminate some of thse
>things, and make a paradise on earth while we're waiting for the other.
> I believe in brotherhood, but my religion does not blind me to the fact
>that I am living in a society where brotherhood cannot exist." Feb. 3,
>1965
>
>"As long as we wait for the Congress and the Senate and the Supreme Court
>and the president to solve our problems, you'll have us waiting for
>another thousand years." Feb. 16, 1965
>
>"It is impossible for capitalism to survive, primarily because the system
>of capitalism need some blood to suck....It used to be strong enough to
go
>and suck anybody's blood whether they were strong or not. But now it has
>become more cowardly, like the vulture, and it can only suck the blood of
>the helpless. As the nations of the world free themselves, then
capitalism
>has fewer victims, less to suck, and it becomes weaker and weaker. It is
>only a matter of time in my opinion before it will collapse
>completely." Jan. 18, 1965 interview
>
>"We're not against people because they're white. But we're against those
>who practice racism. We're against those who drop bombs on people because
>their color happens to be of a different shade than yours. And because
>we're against it, the press says we're violent. We're not for
>violence; we're for peace. But the people that we're up against are for
>violence. You can't be peaceful when you're dealing with them." 2/16/65
>
>"For one, when a white man comes to me and tells me how liberal he is,
the
>first thing I want to know, is he a nonviolent liberal, or the other
>kind. I don't go for any nonviolent white liberals. If you are for me and
>my problems--when I say me, I mean us, our people--then you have to be
>willing to do as old John Brown did." Jan. 7, 1965
>
>"You think you can win in South Vietnam? The French were deeply
>entrenched. They had the best weapons of warfare, a highly mechanized
>army, everything that you would need. And the guerillas came out of
>the rice paddies with nothing but sneakers on and a rifle and a bowl of
>rice, nothing but gym shoes and a rifle and a bowl of rice. And you know
>what they did in Dien Bien Phu...." Feb. 11, 1965
>
>"I don't want you to think that I came here to make an anti-American
>speech. [laughter] I wouldn't come here for that. I came to make a
>speech, to tell you the truth. And if the truth is anti-American, then
>blame the truth, don't blame me." Feb. 11, 1965
>
>"Back during slavery, when Black people like me talked to the slaves,
they
>didn't kill 'em, they sent some old house Negro aroudn behind him to undo
>what he said....There were two kinds of Negroes. There was that old house
>Negro and the field Negro. And the house Negro always looked out for his
>master. When the field Negroes got too much out of line, he held them
back
>in check. He put 'em back on the plantation.
>The house Negro could afford to do that because he lived better than the
>field Negro. He ate better, he dressed better, and he lived in a better
>house. He lived right up next to the master--in the attic or the
>basementt. He ate the same food his master ate and wore his same
>clothes. And he could talk just like his master--good diction. And he
>loved his master more than the master loved himself. That's why he didn't
>want his master hurt.
>If the master got sick, he'd say, 'What's the matter, boss, we sick'?
When
>the master's house caust afire, he'd try to put the fire out. He didn't
>want his master's house burned. He never wanted his master's property
>threatened. That was the house Negro.
>But then you had some fielf Negroes, who lived in huts, had nothing to
>lose. They wore the worst kind of clothes. They ate the worst food. And
>they caught hell. They felt the sting of the lash. They hated their
>master; oh yes, they did.
>If the master got sick, they'd pray that the master died. If the master's
>house caught afire, they'd pray for a strong wind to come along. This was
>the difference between the two. And today you still have house Negroes
and
>field Negroes." Feb. 3, 1965
>
>"Any time you throw your weight behind a political party that controls
>two-thirds of the government, and that party can't keep the promises that
>it made to you during election time, and you're dumb enough to walk
around
>continuing to identify yourself with that political party, you're not
only
>a chump but you're a traitor to your race." April 12, 1964
>
>Malcolm: "You have to wake the people up first, then you'll get action."
>Q: "Wake them up to their exploitation?"
>Malcolm: "No, to their humanity, to their own worth, and to their
>heritage." interview in Village Voice, Feb. 1965
>
>"I believe that there will ultimately be a clash between the oppressed
and
>those that do the oppressing. I belive that there will be a clash between
>those who want freedom, justice and equality for everyone and those who
>want to continue the systems of exploitation. I believe that there will
be
>that kind of clash, but I don't think that it will be based upon the
color
>of the skin." Jan. 19, 1965
>
>
>
>
>
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<DIV><SPAN class=119475020-19052001><FONT face=Verdana color=#808080>My favorite
early Malcolm X quote was something like "we didn't land on Plymouth Rock,
Plymouth Rock landed on us"</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=119475020-19052001><FONT face=Verdana
color=#808080></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=119475020-19052001><FONT face=Verdana color=#808080>I hope I
got it more or less correct.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=119475020-19052001><FONT face=Verdana
color=#808080></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=119475020-19052001><FONT face=Verdana
color=#808080>Regards,</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=119475020-19052001><FONT face=Verdana
color=#808080></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=119475020-19052001><FONT face=Verdana
color=#808080>Martyn</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV class=Section1>
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<P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">Martyn R Jones,
PhD<BR><BR>Iniciativa Consulting<BR>Calle Rey Heredia, 15<BR>14003
Córdoba, Spain<BR><BR>GSM +34 629 527191<BR>Fixed: +34 957
498721<BR><BR><A
href="mailto:martyn_jones at iniciativas.com";>martyn_jones at iniciativas.com</A><BR></SPAN><A
target=_blank href="http://www.iniciativas.com/";><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY:
Verdana">http://www.iniciativas.com</SPAN></A><BR
style="mso-special-character: line-break"><BR
style="mso-special-character: line-break"></P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"></SPAN></P></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Tahoma
size=2>-----Mensaje original-----<BR><B>De:</B> owner-marxism at lists.panix.com
[mailto:owner-marxism at lists.panix.com]<B>En nombre de </B>john.m.
cox<BR><B>Enviado el:</B> sábado 19 de mayo de 2001 20:21<BR><B>Para:</B>
surgelocal at listserv.unc.edu<BR><B>CC:</B>
marxism at lists.panix.com<BR><B>Asunto:</B> Malcolm X: b. 5/19/25
<BR><BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<P>>I hope noone objects if I pass along these quotations from Malcolm X,
who was born this day in 1925; they remind us of the rare integrity and
political foresight (as well as the sense of humor) of this great leader -
</P>
<P>"No, I'm not an American. I'm one of the 22 million Black people who are
the victims of Americanism. One of the 22 million Black people who are the
</P>
<DIV></DIV>>victims of democracy, nothing but disguised hypocrisy. So, I'm
not
<DIV></DIV>>standing here speaking to you as an American, or a patriot, or
a
<DIV></DIV>>flag-saluter, or a flag-waver--no, not I. I'm speaking as a
victim of this
<DIV></DIV>>American system. And I see America through the eyes of the
victim. I don't
<DIV></DIV>>see any American dream; I see an American nightmare." April 3,
1964
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>"Revolution is never based on begging somebody for an
integrated cup of
<DIV></DIV>>coffee. Revolutions are never fought by turning the other
<DIV></DIV>>cheek. Revolutions are never based upon love-your-enemy and
<DIV></DIV>>pray-for-those-who-spitefully-use-you. And revolutions are
never waged
<DIV></DIV>>singing 'We Shall Overcome.'...Revolutions are never based upon
that which
<DIV></DIV>>is begging a corrupt system to accept us into it. Revolutions
overturn
<DIV></DIV>>systems. And there is no system on this earth which has proven
itself more
<DIV></DIV>>corrupt, more criminal, than this system that in 1964 still
colonizes 22
<DIV></DIV>>million African-Americans, still enslaves 22 million
<DIV></DIV>>Afro-Americans." April 8, 1964
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>"We are in a society where the power is in the hands of those
who are the
<DIV></DIV>>worst breed of humanity." Feb. 16, 1965
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>"But since the white man, your friend, took your language away
from you
<DIV></DIV>>during slavery, the only language you know is his language. You
know, your
<DIV></DIV>>friend's language. So you call for the same God he calls for.
When he's
<DIV></DIV>>putting a rope around your neck, you call for God and he calls
for
<DIV></DIV>>God. [laughter] And you wonder why the one you call on never
answers
<DIV></DIV>>you." Feb. 14, 1965
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>"Elijah believes that God is going to come and straighten
things out. I
<DIV></DIV>>believe that too. But whereas Elijah is willing to sit and
wait, I'm not
<DIV></DIV>>willing to sit and wait on God to come. If he doesn't come
soon, it will
<DIV></DIV>>be too late. I believe in religion, but a religion that
includes
<DIV></DIV>>political, economic, and social action designed to eliminate
some of thse
<DIV></DIV>>things, and make a paradise on earth while we're waiting for
the other.
<DIV></DIV>> I believe in brotherhood, but my religion does not blind me to
the fact
<DIV></DIV>>that I am living in a society where brotherhood cannot exist."
Feb. 3,
<DIV></DIV>>1965
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>"As long as we wait for the Congress and the Senate and the
Supreme Court
<DIV></DIV>>and the president to solve our problems, you'll have us waiting
for
<DIV></DIV>>another thousand years." Feb. 16, 1965
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>"It is impossible for capitalism to survive, primarily because
the system
<DIV></DIV>>of capitalism need some blood to suck....It used to be strong
enough to go
<DIV></DIV>>and suck anybody's blood whether they were strong or not. But
now it has
<DIV></DIV>>become more cowardly, like the vulture, and it can only suck
the blood of
<DIV></DIV>>the helpless. As the nations of the world free themselves, then
capitalism
<DIV></DIV>>has fewer victims, less to suck, and it becomes weaker and
weaker. It is
<DIV></DIV>>only a matter of time in my opinion before it will collapse
<DIV></DIV>>completely." Jan. 18, 1965 interview
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>"We're not against people because they're white. But we're
against those
<DIV></DIV>>who practice racism. We're against those who drop bombs on
people because
<DIV></DIV>>their color happens to be of a different shade than yours. And
because
<DIV></DIV>>we're against it, the press says we're violent. We're not for
<DIV></DIV>>violence; we're for peace. But the people that we're up against
are for
<DIV></DIV>>violence. You can't be peaceful when you're dealing with them."
2/16/65
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>"For one, when a white man comes to me and tells me how liberal
he is, the
<DIV></DIV>>first thing I want to know, is he a nonviolent liberal, or the
other
<DIV></DIV>>kind. I don't go for any nonviolent white liberals. If you are
for me and
<DIV></DIV>>my problems--when I say me, I mean us, our people--then you
have to be
<DIV></DIV>>willing to do as old John Brown did." Jan. 7, 1965
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>"You think you can win in South Vietnam? The French were deeply
<DIV></DIV>>entrenched. They had the best weapons of warfare, a highly
mechanized
<DIV></DIV>>army, everything that you would need. And the guerillas came
out of
<DIV></DIV>>the rice paddies with nothing but sneakers on and a rifle and a
bowl of
<DIV></DIV>>rice, nothing but gym shoes and a rifle and a bowl of rice. And
you know
<DIV></DIV>>what they did in Dien Bien Phu...." Feb. 11, 1965
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>"I don't want you to think that I came here to make an
anti-American
<DIV></DIV>>speech. [laughter] I wouldn't come here for that. I came to
make a
<DIV></DIV>>speech, to tell you the truth. And if the truth is
anti-American, then
<DIV></DIV>>blame the truth, don't blame me." Feb. 11, 1965
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>"Back during slavery, when Black people like me talked to the
slaves, they
<DIV></DIV>>didn't kill 'em, they sent some old house Negro aroudn behind
him to undo
<DIV></DIV>>what he said....There were two kinds of Negroes. There was that
old house
<DIV></DIV>>Negro and the field Negro. And the house Negro always looked
out for his
<DIV></DIV>>master. When the field Negroes got too much out of line, he
held them back
<DIV></DIV>>in check. He put 'em back on the plantation.
<DIV></DIV>>The house Negro could afford to do that because he lived better
than the
<DIV></DIV>>field Negro. He ate better, he dressed better, and he lived in
a better
<DIV></DIV>>house. He lived right up next to the master--in the attic or
the
<DIV></DIV>>basementt. He ate the same food his master ate and wore his
same
<DIV></DIV>>clothes. And he could talk just like his master--good diction.
And he
<DIV></DIV>>loved his master more than the master loved himself. That's why
he didn't
<DIV></DIV>>want his master hurt.
<DIV></DIV>>If the master got sick, he'd say, 'What's the matter, boss, we
sick'? When
<DIV></DIV>>the master's house caust afire, he'd try to put the fire out.
He didn't
<DIV></DIV>>want his master's house burned. He never wanted his master's
property
<DIV></DIV>>threatened. That was the house Negro.
<DIV></DIV>>But then you had some fielf Negroes, who lived in huts, had
nothing to
<DIV></DIV>>lose. They wore the worst kind of clothes. They ate the worst
food. And
<DIV></DIV>>they caught hell. They felt the sting of the lash. They hated
their
<DIV></DIV>>master; oh yes, they did.
<DIV></DIV>>If the master got sick, they'd pray that the master died. If
the master's
<DIV></DIV>>house caught afire, they'd pray for a strong wind to come
along. This was
<DIV></DIV>>the difference between the two. And today you still have house
Negroes and
<DIV></DIV>>field Negroes." Feb. 3, 1965
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>"Any time you throw your weight behind a political party that
controls
<DIV></DIV>>two-thirds of the government, and that party can't keep the
promises that
<DIV></DIV>>it made to you during election time, and you're dumb enough to
walk around
<DIV></DIV>>continuing to identify yourself with that political party,
you're not only
<DIV></DIV>>a chump but you're a traitor to your race." April 12, 1964
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>Malcolm: "You have to wake the people up first, then you'll get
action."
<DIV></DIV>>Q: "Wake them up to their exploitation?"
<DIV></DIV>>Malcolm: "No, to their humanity, to their own worth, and to
their
<DIV></DIV>>heritage." interview in Village Voice, Feb. 1965
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>"I believe that there will ultimately be a clash between the
oppressed and
<DIV></DIV>>those that do the oppressing. I belive that there will be a
clash between
<DIV></DIV>>those who want freedom, justice and equality for everyone and
those who
<DIV></DIV>>want to continue the systems of exploitation. I believe that
there will be
<DIV></DIV>>that kind of clash, but I don't think that it will be based
upon the color
<DIV></DIV>>of the skin." Jan. 19, 1965
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV><BR clear=all>
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