African American Participation In The Civil Rights Movement

The African American Civil Rights movement existed at large between the early fifties and the late sixties in a society that was constantly on the verge of social destruction. The black rights movement existed politically, socially, and economically everywhere in the United States. As time progressed the movement developed and saw many changes along with schisms separating activists and how they approached getting their rights. In the early fifties there was a large non-violent integration based movement spearheaded by figures such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks. However, as the time progressed, the movement started seeing a more aggressive leadership with figures such as Malcolm X, but eventually it turned into an extremist movement

On June 28, 1964, the Black Nationalist leader Malcolm X delivered a very powerful speech. A speech called “By Any Means Necessary”. During the time of speech, the major issue of the United States was gaining the true rights of an African American. Although Slavery had been abolished, blacks were still treated as less than human. Over the years, they worked hard to get their rights and are continuing to do so. Malcolm X was an effective leader because he had exceptional communication skills. These skills are viewed in his speech “By Any Means Necessary” and have been analyzed.

In April 1964, in the midst of a 54 day Senate filibuster of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964, Malcolm X gave his famous speech, “The Ballot or the Bullet”. In “The Ballot or the Bullet”, Malcolm X advocates for racial, economic, and social justice through the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, more black voting control, and more black local control through any means possible, including violence and the threat of it.

Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. depict a society that was built on the remnants of slavery within “Racism: The Cancer that is Destroying America” and “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, both Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. depict a society that was built on the remnants of slavery. With racism and segregation at the core of everyday life, both men joined the Civil Rights Movement with determination to make a change. Working towards the common goal of African American civil rights during the 1960’s, Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X took a stand for civil justice in contrasting ways. Within their writing, both men used the theme of racism to convey a direct tone, used differing keywords and phrases, and referenced religious beliefs.

In the modern United States of America, all people of all races are supposed to be treated equally under the eyes of the law. There are no ethnicity separated schools, water fountains are not race specific, and anyone is allowed to sit wherever they want on the bus no matter the color of their skin. However, this is not how America always was. These dramatic changes to our society came about in the mid-nineteenth century during the civil rights movement. This peaceful movement consisted of many famous marches, boycotts, and speeches. The most important element of this movement was the civil rights activists. These people were articulate, strong willed, and empowering leaders that inspired Americans both at the time all the way through today. One man in particular, Malcolm X managed to stand apart from such an impressive crowd. His brilliant public speaking skills lifted people all around the USA to action. Although today he is respected and credited for his work during the time, his alternative methods were not always seen this way.

Malcom X urges the Negro community to fight to gain the equal rights they deserve by taking action against their white oppressors. He emphasizes that blacks will gain their rights either thorough voting, with the ballot, or else through the inevitable violence with the bullet.

In America at the time The Ballot or the Bullet was given, segregation was still occurring. Malcolm X was a fighter for civil rights. In 1964 there was going to be a presidential election. Malcolm X was a civil rights leader and part of The Nation of Islam. He gave this speech on April third in order to talk about both the election and how African-American people should proceed in order to benefit from the election. In the speech “The Ballot or the Bullet” Malcolm X utilizes antithesis, allusion, and metaphors in order to convince his audience to take a stand against segregation whether peacefully, if possible, and if not, by force.

Over the course of Malcolm X’s life, his perspective of identity changed, particularly before and after he went to Mecca. In the speech By Any Means Necessary Malcolm stated, “The time for you and me to allow ourselves to be brutalized non-violently is passe….Be non-violent only with those who are non-violent to you”(Malcolm X). Essentially, Malcolm X is implying that we should have the rights to defend ourselves from those who cause harm to us. Before Malcolm x went to Mecca, he believed that white supremacy could not be conquered through love, but only through vigorous self-defence (“By Any Means Necessary”) . Malcolm x informs other African American about how their culture had been stripped by whites and how they created and inspired

The civil rights movement would not have been possible without the contributions of many ordinary people. But these ordinary people could not have been organized without the skills of the leaders of the civil rights movement. Two very famous civil rights leaders Martin Luther King and Malcolm X in particular contributed to the cause of desegregation. Though both men contributed much to the act of desegregation, these men had very different ideologies about the process of desegregation. By analyzing the two pieces and comparing how and why they are different, the differing strategies of the two men can be better understood and applied to issues of today.

Malcolm X delivered a powerful speech on April 3, 1964 at the Congress of Racial Equality in Cleveland, Ohio. Black people in America came together to receive motivation to fight for equality.In this speech Malcolm X inspires black people to take a stance and fight for their civil rights. Malcolm X uses rhetorical techniques to persuade his audience to push for equality between races.

The Civil Rights Movement 1950s and1960s consisted of the efforts made by Civil rights activist to end racial segregation and discrimination. Even though basic civil rights for African America where granted through the Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments of the United States Constitution (Franklin, 535-536). However, Jim Crow laws and institutionalized racism continued to oppress African Americans decades later and considered them second class citizen. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X are probably the most prominent African American civil rights leaders of the 20th century. The two of them are icons of contemporary African-American culture and had a great influence on equality for not just African Americans but all races in America till this very day (Mintz, 30). Who lives where drastically cut short with the assassination of them before they could see their goals for the African America races achieved. Thought they had different philosophies they main goal was achieve equality between all races. They believe differently on the means to achieve their goals (the use of violence), the important of whites in achieving the Civil Rights movement and integration. Thought Dr.

Before the American Civil War happened close to four million African-Americans were slaves. At the turn of the century the Naturalization Act of 1970 allowed only white men to vote. After the Civil War the thirteenth (1865), fourteenth (1868) and fifteenth (1870) amendments were passed, allowing African-American males to vote and have citizenship, which also led to ending slavery. Even after the ending of slavery, there were still some white men who tried to keep white supremacy alive thereby dehumanizing and alienating African-Americans from the mainstream of people.

African american rights were the main concern of many people, along with government corruption and the unwillingness to help. Malcolm X was no banal man he was a extravagant civil rights speaker, he showed the truth on how coming together can put the end to African American indifference. Due to the lack of government the dichotomy between african americans and the white men was still a major problem ; as African americans needed to put and end to the separation and earn civil rights. Malcolm speaks out to all who are willing to obtain their civil rights.”In Ballot or Bullet” Malcolm X uses Anaphora, Antithesis, Ethical Appeal, Word choice, and Rhetorical question to show the lack of support from government and how coming together can help fight back.

Stokely Carmichael burst in to the American consciousness in 1966 as the distinctive face and Chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), leading the call for Black Power and taking the freedom struggle to a new level. Often an afterthought in the wider historiography of the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements, Joseph’s biography adds to the relative sparsity of complete works on Carmichael and aims primarily to tell the complete story of his life, restoring the man to the forefront of discussions surrounding important actors in the era. Not without its merits, this very desire eventually becomes the book’s Achilles heel; as a ‘critical biography’ as defined by Joseph in the preface, Stokely: A Life does become blighted

Malcolm X, who also known as el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz, was a prominent American Muslim human rights activist for those African-Americans in the United States. The book which I have chosen for my book review entitled “Malcolm X Talks to Young people” which comprises all his speeches in United States, Britain and Africa whereby his targeted audience was the youngsters. This book consist of all the original transcripts and excerpts of speeches produced by him to teenagers in the three countries which are the United States, Africa and Britain throughout the last year of his life.