The Legacy of Malcolm X

[JahFocus CS]

Excerpt from full article here:

Malcolm X was also sharply critical of the civil rights movement’s leaders. Far from leading the struggle, he saw them as containing it.

He went on to attack the whole premise of nonviolence that underlay the Southern desegregation movement. Instead, he argued for black self-defense: “Be peaceful, be courteous, obey the law, respect everyone; but if someone puts a hand on you, send him to the cemetery. That’s a good religion. In fact, that’s the old-time religion…. Preserve your life, it’s the best thing you’ve got. And if you’ve got to give it up, let it be even-steven.”

Technically, Malcolm X was only amplifying the teachings of Elijah Muhammad, and indeed always prefaced any of his speeches with the phrase “Elijah Muhammad teaches…” But Malcolm X had turned these ideas into an indictment of the system, increasingly breaking out of the straitjacket of the Nation of Islam.

While Muhammad shunned politics, Malcolm was becoming more political. One Muslim complained, “It was Malcolm who injected the political concept of ‘black nationalism’ into the Black Muslim movement, which was essentially religious in nature.”

Aware that the growing politicization of the movement was having an effect on the Nation of Islam, including its leading spokesperson, Elijah Muhammad had taken measures to reassert his control.

A police attack in Los Angeles in 1962 drove home the bankruptcy of the Nation of Islam’s politics. In April 1962, a Black Muslim had been killed and several wounded by the Los Angeles police department. Malcolm X immediately flew out to Los Angeles to direct the organization’s response. The Nation of Islam preached self-defense, and the police murder seemingly called for retaliatory action. But Elijah Muhammad prevented his followers from organizing a sustained self-defense campaign.

Verbal radicalism, often extreme in its denunciations of whites, was acceptable in an earlier period when members of the Nation of Islam were establishing their reputation as opponents of the system. But the explosion of anger among blacks demanded more than words; it demanded action, and that was one thing Elijah Muhammad would not countenance.

...

After his visit to Africa, Malcolm began to argue that the black struggle in the United States was part of an international struggle, one that he connected to the struggle against capitalism and imperialism.

He also began to argue in favor of socialism. Referring to the African states, he pointed out, “All of the countries that are emerging today from under the shackles of colonialism are turning towards socialism.”

He no longer defined the struggle for black liberation as a racial conflict. “We are living in an era of revolution, and the revolt of the American Negro is part of the rebellion against the oppression and colonialism which has characterized this era,” he said. “It is incorrect to classify the revolt of the Negro as simply a racial conflict of black against white, or as purely an American problem. Rather, we are today seeing a global rebellion of the oppressed against the oppressor, the exploited against the exploiters.”

Malcolm no longer believed all whites were the enemy, but he maintained the need for separate all-black organization: “Whites can help us, but they can’t join us. There can be no black-white unity until there is first some black unity. There can be no workers solidarity until there is first some racial solidarity. We cannot think of uniting with others, until we have first united ourselves.”

But Malcolm’s new conception of the struggle also led him to question his previous understanding of black nationalism. In January 1965, Malcolm admitted that this previous understanding of black nationalism “was alienating people who were true revolutionaries, dedicated to overthrowing the system of exploitation that exists on this earth by any means necessary.”

 

[Blackking]

I made a few threads in the last couple weeks that were low key...

Inspired by this. I don't believe the board caught on to what I was saying though

 

[Claudex]

Except for the socialism bit, I believe this article is gold and very descriptive of Malcom X's efforts in liberating the negro which were filled with conviction. He truly was a very powerful entity.

Dap + Rep breh

 

[Blackking]

Except for the socialism bit, I believe this article is gold and very descriptive of Malcom X's efforts in liberating the negro which were filled with conviction. He truly was a very powerful entity.

Dap + Rep breh

What about socialism?

 

[Dragonfly Jones]

What about socialism?

dont mind him, he's probably just one of those toms that believe in trickle down economics and thinks capitalism is great and can do no wrong

 

[Claudex]

What about socialism?

dont mind him, he's probably just one of those toms that believe in trickle down economics and thinks capitalism is great and can do no wrong

I think socialism is just the other side of the coin of capitalism. Both ideologies are very extreme when taken to the letter...so really I wish more leaders would preach for a mixed system which is more adaptable in my view and honestly far more realistic (as most world systems are usually a mix of capitalism and socialism already anyway, the difference only being on the ratios).

In fact I wish more people had the insight to understand that no system is infallible, and as such it is our duty to enforce the system that works best in our generation and to urge the next generation to find the system that works better for them. Simply because any system must be in tune with the circumstances of its time.

 

[Blackking]

I think socialism is just the other side of the coin of capitalism. Both ideologies are very extreme when taken to the letter...so really I wish more leaders would preach for a mixed system which is more adaptable in my view and honestly far more realistic (as most world systems are usually a mix of capitalism and socialism already anyway, the difference only being on the ratios).

In fact I wish more people had the insight to understand that no system is infallible, and as such it is our duty to enforce the system that works best in our generation and to urge the next generation to find the system that works better for them. Simply because any system must be in tune with the circumstances of its time.

So you wish Malcolm x wasn't so ignorant?

 

[Claudex]

So you wish Malcolm x wasn't so ignorant?

Nooot quite.

His views on socialism hardly made him an "ignorant" person if you ask me. Part of the knowledge I now call my own was shaped by his discourse in different areas including economics. And I'm more than willing to bet that the reason he argued for socialism would most likely be the reason I was happy about Obamacare for instance.

However him and I diverge on the usage of African countries that started out as socialist as an example of the soundness of socialism (as a system). That's really it.
And the reason Malcom X and I have different opinions on this single point is quite possibly due to the fact that I'm living in an era after his own, where I got to see the ills of socialism in former European colonies. Including my own country.

 

[CHL]

What about socialism?

I thought you were right wing?

 

[Blackking]

I thought you were right wing?

Im no wing...

Im a lifetime platinum nra member who used to be employed by acorn and other left groups..

Im a pro black socialist with two businesses supported by gop legislation.

Im my own thing bruh

 

[CHL]

Im no wing...

Im a lifetime platinum nra member who used to be employed by acorn and other left groups..

Im a pro black socialist with two businesses supported by gop legislation.

Im my own thing bruh

Must be my mistake, I could've sworn I've seen previous posts of yours descirbing yourself as conservative

 

[Blackking]

Must be my mistake, I could have sworn I've seen previous posts of yours descirbing yourself as conservative

I do consider myself conservative.

And I really do hate extreme liberals.... I still have people I wish would die from my acorn days.

I only fukked w them to learn about lobbying votes n shyt... I was a top money maker... but I didn't agree with most their shyt.

 

[CHL]

I do consider myself conservative.

And I really do hate extreme liberals.... I still have people I wish would die from my acorn days.

I only fukked w them to learn about lobbying votes n shyt... I was a top money maker... but I didn't agree with most their shyt.

"socialist" "conservative" I'm not sure how one reconciles the two concepts unless you're a social or cultural conservative, not economically

 

[JahFocus CS]

I think socialism is just the other side of the coin of capitalism. Both ideologies are very extreme when taken to the letter...so really I wish more leaders would preach for a mixed system which is more adaptable in my view and honestly far more realistic (as most world systems are usually a mix of capitalism and socialism already anyway, the difference only being on the ratios).

In fact I wish more people had the insight to understand that no system is infallible, and as such it is our duty to enforce the system that works best in our generation and to urge the next generation to find the system that works better for them. Simply because any system must be in tune with the circumstances of its time.

Widespread misconceptions of what capitalism and socialism/communism actually are.

Socialism - i.e., the control of the means of production by the working class - is no more "the other side of the coin of capitalism" than the abolition of slavery is to slavery. Socialism is not about people giving up individuality for the entire society, or bringing everything under state control, etc. It is about the producers of all value in society - the working class - ending its exploitation (the extraction of surplus value, which is the source of profit) at the hands of the ruling class. Calling for socialism is no more extreme than Nat Turner calling and acting for the abolition of slavery. We're talking about classes here, the exploited and the exploiter.

These "mixed systems" you speak of are capitalism. I'm sure you're thinking of Sweden, etc. as "mixed systems" - but where in Sweden do the workers control the means of production? Either private or state capitalists still extract surplus value from the working class in all of these places.

 

[Richard Wright]

Widespread misconceptions of what capitalism and socialism/communism actually are.

Socialism - i.e., the control of the means of production by the working class - is no more "the other side of the coin of capitalism" than the abolition of slavery is to slavery. Socialism is not about people giving up individuality for the entire society, or bringing everything under state control, etc. It is about the producers of all value in society - the working class - ending its exploitation (the extraction of surplus value, which is the source of profit) at the hands of the ruling class. Calling for socialism is no more extreme than Nat Turner calling and acting for the abolition of slavery. We're talking about classes here, the exploited and the exploiter.

These "mixed systems" you speak of are capitalism. I'm sure you're thinking of Sweden, etc. as "mixed systems" - but where in Sweden do the workers control the means of production? Either private or state capitalists still extract surplus value from the working class in all of these places.

Very happy you said this.

Im sick of people confusing the meritocratic system of socialism with the exploitative capitalist and communist systems.