The Category of Factor X

Malcolm X’s legacy to the struggle for black equality in the USA went far beyond focusing on solely equality. Malcolm X hardly forgot the fact that he was the ‘servant’ and not the ‘master’ of the black nation’s aspirations and dreams. Malcolm X resisted the objective of integration and encouraged blacks to build their own society. ‘We can never win freedom and justice and equality until we do something for ourselves’.[i] He felt they should shield themselves against violence, ‘by any means necessary’. Malcolm X confronted the United States to protect its own hypothetical qualities. He held up a mirror for the country to scrutinize itself, now was the reflection showing too much for some white individuals in America?

The Autobiography of Malcolm X as told by Alex Haley is the story about a man who greatly impacted American history. Malcolm Little, or Malcolm X as he is more widely known, taught what he believed in regards to segregation, racism, and discrimination. Growing up in a large family with a father Earl Little, a Baptist minister, and his mother Louis Little who was a homemaker, Malcolm’s life at the time seemed very promising. His father’s involvement in support of the Black National gained him many death threats at the hands of white supremacists. In 1929, they lost their house to a fire, and two years later the body of Malcolm’s father was found mutilated. This lead to the emotional breakdown of Malcolm’s mother and in turn she was institutionalized. Malcolm and his siblings were separated and placed in foster homes, and from then, his life began a path of drugs, sex, and crime. It was not until he was imprisoned in 1946, that he decided to make some changes for the better. This essay will assess and discuss those changes whether negative or positive, on a micro, mezzo, and macro level. It will also cover some of the effects of racial prejudice on human behavior, and how society today keeps the ideology of Malcolm X alive.

“Ideas about human rights have evolved over many centuries. But they achieved strong international support following the Holocaust and World War II. To protect future generations from a repeat of these horrors, the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948 and invited states to sign and ratify it”

Malcolm X, an African American leader and prominent figure in the Nation of Islam, was a significant individual in the African American fight for justice and equality. In contrast to the mainstream Civil Rights Movement with its nonviolent pursuit of integration, Malcolm X voiced concepts of race pride and Black Nationalism during the 1950s and '60s. Although many argue that Malcolm X did not actually “do” anything for the black community, his nontraditional programs brought a new perspective to the Civil Rights Movement, and this perspective is of relevance today in the black community.

Human rights - they are an ongoing issue in the world today, with the constant struggle against violation. The United Nations has accepted 30 articles on human rights, which help protect millions from political, social, and legal abuses (UDHR). Even with the insistence from the world’s leaders to follow and honor these rights, violation is common and provides a serious threat to people all over the world. One example of a violation of human rights such as equality and safety in possessions is shown through the issue of Japanese American internment camps (UDHR).

The history of the United States has in it much separation or segregation due to race. For a long time our country has seen racism as a large problem and this has caused ethnic groups to be looked down upon and forced into a lifestyle of difficulties and suppression. Due to this, races, particularly African-Americans, have been forced to deal with unequal opportunity and poverty, leading to less honorable ways of getting by and also organizations that support change. Malcolm X is one strong example of an African American man who became apart of a group acted against it, uniting people to promote the advancement of colored people and change. Malcolm's thoughts towards race and civil right in the previous years were displayed in a less

"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed - we hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal" (King, “I HAVE A DREAM…,” pg.4 ¶.5). Both Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X were major figures in the fight for racial equality but their ideals were diametrically opposed. In MLK JR’s March on Washington speech, he calls for peaceful resistance and integration into an equal society. Malcolm X, however, disagrees with that in his Message to Grassroots and argues equality cannot be obtained peacefully and that living together wouldn’t be much better than slavery. By comparing the two men’s goals and messages expressed in these speeches we can gain an understanding of the feelings of the general populace on the issues of racial inequity.

This quote illustrates where Malcolm X’s passion, towards advocating for minorities, may have been intensified. Malcolm X was an African-American Muslim minister and a human rights activist who, to his admirers, was a courageous advocate for the rights of blacks. Moreover, this quote testifies how his education, even if it weren’t the most conventional, contributed to the level of qualification he had. The degree in which Malcolm X understood the oppression of blacks by not only being a black himself and experiencing it first

Malcolm X lived in a world where society had a set of guidelines: one race always reigned superior to the other--white people held power over black people. As the years passed by, his innocence began to fade away, and his eyes began to focus on the horrendously unfair world around him; he grew bitter, infuriated, and cold. His misdirected anger lead him to take wrong turns down his life’s path, making mistakes out of rage until he was able to find the proper outlets in his religion and his fight for equality. Malcolm X altered the world he lived in by constantly speaking of the discrimination and unequal freedom that he and the black community received from whites. He continues to influence activist groups today, as his teachings influence

First off, Malcolm X was a courageous advocate for black people's rights. Malcolm X believed that all people should be treated

Civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. once said that we, as the people, “...must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.” Malcolm X, another famous human rights activist, made a sort of contradictory quotation, remarking that the, “...American Negro has no conception of the hundreds of millions of other non-whites’ concern for him: he has no conception of their feeling of brotherhood for and with him.” As much as these two advocates strive for equality towards both blacks and whites throughout the United States during the rise of civil rights movements in 1960’s and later, they show substantial differentialities on how they push to do so. Each of their mindsets formulates their speeches, causing different messages being made towards their audiences. Martin Luther King, for one, leans more into a powerful, yet peaceful approach towards the people while Malcolm X steps forth on the pedestal of shame and pushed the people to act with a violent outcome. These different approaches and mindsets leads back to none other than their early beginnings itself. It leads back to the lives each one of them endured and the ambitions they were each grown into, all during the time of racial oppression towards African Americans. It leads back to the motivations they were entitled to battle for racial equality, however striving to do so in different mannerisms.

“Be peaceful, be courteous, obey the law, respect everyone; but if someone puts his hand on you, send him to the cemetery.” That was one of Malcolm X’s quotes. It is great to be nice and fair; but don’t let others make you feel inferior to them, treat you unfairly and cruel. If someone throws a rock at you, you pick one up and throw it right back. Malcolm X was an African American who was deeply involved in the Civil Rights Movement and also the Islamic Nation. He was one of the ministers of Islamic churches after joining the Nation while he was incarcerated. Though he had did a lot of wrongs in his life, he also made many positive actions that would affect history forever.

The history of the world has had its encounters with separation and segregation when it comes to race. For a long time the world has seen racism as a large problem and this has caused ethnic groups to be looked down upon or forced into a lifestyle of difficulties and suppression. Due to this situation, races, in particularly African Americans, have been forced to deal with unequal opportunity and poverty, leading to less honorable ways of getting by and also organizations and support change. Malcolm X is an example of an African American man who fell into this type of hate and acted against it. Malcolm X united people to promote the advancement of African Americans and change when it comes to his own race.

Articles 1, 55, and 56 are the center pieces for promoting and protecting human rights. During the cold war humanitarian intervention went stagnant because the two superpowers who were facing off (US & Russia) were at odds about ideology and this caused world peace to be thrown into turmoil. The UN was very new and did not have the international legal clout to stop either superpower from promoting its system of governance through invasion or indirect military support. The Cold War caused social, economic, and political upheaval globally which allowed for the UN to revise its interpretation of humanitarian intervention. This allowed for a larger consensus among nations about which circumstances required intervention. From 1945 to 1976 five major human rights documents were adopted; The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Genocide Convention, Geneva Convention, Laws of War, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the International Covenant on Cultural Economic Civil Rights. The end of the Cold War “liberated the UN which had established 20 new peace keeping missions from 1988-1993, more than it had taken in its entire 40 year history.” (Taha, 14) The major developments of the 1990‘s for international humanitarian

today we call them human rights" (McShea 34). The issue of whether or not to