Great speeches: Malcolm X

New Crisis, The, Jan/Feb 1999

Excerpts from Great Speeches of Malcolm X

I'm for truth,

no matter who tells it.

I'm for justice,

no matter who it is for or

against.

I'm a human being,

first and foremost, and as such

I'm for whoever and whatever

benefits humanity as a whole.

The Autobiograpy of Malcolm X, 1965

The Black Man in America

has been colonized mentally,

his mind has been destroyed.

And today,

even though he goes to college,

he comes out and still doesn't

even know he is a Black Man:

he is ashamed of what he is

because his culture

has been destroyed;

he has been made to hate

his skin; he has been made to hate

the texture of his hair;

he has been made to hate

the features that God gave him.

Malcolm and James Farmer;

Separation and Integration"

Dialogue

May, 1962

We have to keep in mind at

all times

that we are not fighting for

integration,

nor are we fighting for

separation.

We are fighting for

recognition...

for the right to live as free

humans

in this society.

"The Black Revolution" speech given at Hotel Teresa New York City April 6, 1964

We Black Men have a hard

enough

time in our own struggle for

justice,

and already have enough enemies as

it is,

to make the drastic mistake of

attacking

each other and adding more

weight

to an already unbearable load.

Speech given in Los Angeles, California, March 25, 1960

Never at any time in the history

of our people in this country

have we made advances

in any way based upon the

internal good will of this

country.

We have made advancement

in this country only when this

country was under pressure

from forces above and beyond

its control. The internal moral

consciousness of this country

is bankrupt.

"To Mississippi Youth" speech given in New York City December 31, 1964

The system in this country

cannot

produce freedom for an

Afro-American.

It is impossible for this...

economic system,

this political system,

this social system,

this system, period.

"The Harlem Hate Gang' Scare" speech given May 29, 1964

We declare our right on this

earth..

to be a human being,

to be respected as a human

being,

to be given the rights

of a human being in this society,

on this earth, in this day,

which we intend to bring

into existence

by any means necessary.

Speech given at the OAAU Founding Rally June 28, 1964

By Any Means Necessary p. 56

For the freedom of my 22 million

black brothers and sisters here

in America,

I do believe that I have fought

the best

that I know how, and the best

that I could,

with the shortcomings that I

have had ...

Societies often have killed people

who

have helped to change those

societies.

And if I can die having brought

any light,

having exposed any meaningful

truth

that will help destroy the racist

cancer

that is malignant in the body of

America

then, all of the credit is due to

Allah.

Only the mistakes have been

mine.

The Autobiography of Malcolm X, 1965