Malcolm X "The Man and His Times
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Communication and Reality
(quotes from a Malcolm X speech to the Domestic Peace
Corps. December 12, 1964.)
"First,
I want to let you know I am very thankful for the invitation to speak here
this afternoon. Number one, before a group such as this, and number two, I
always feel more at home in Harlem than anywhere else I've ever been. The topic
we are going to discuss in a very informal way is Africa and the African
Revolution and its effect on the Afro-American.
I take time to mention that because I am one who believes that what's happening on the African continent has a direct bearing on what happens to you and me in this country: The degree to which they get independence, strength, and recognition on that continent is inseparable from the degree to which we get independence, strength, and recognition on this continent, and I hope before the day is over to be able to clarify that.
First, I would like to point out that since it is my understanding that most of you are training to be leaders in the community, the country, and the world, some advice that I would give is that whenever you occupy a position of responsibility never accept images that have been created for you by someone else. It is always better to form the habit of learning how to see things for yourself, listen to things for yourself, and think for yourself; then you are in a better position to judge for yourself.
We are living
in a time when image-making has become a science. Someone can create a certain
image and then use
So, after we had
this quiet, objective, friendly, and very informative conversation for about
forty minutes, the lady looked at my briefcase and said, "I want to ask you
a personal question. What kind of last name could you have that begins with an
'X'?" This was bugging her. I said, "That's it, 'X,'" like that.
So she said, "Well, what's your first name?" I said,
"Malcolm." She waited about ten minutes and said, "You're not
Malcolm X?" and I said, "Yes." She said, "But you're not
what I was looking for." I told her right then and there about the danger
of believing what she hears someone else say or believing what she reads that
someone else has written and not keeping herself in a position to weigh things
for herself.
So I just take time
to mention that because it is very dangerous for you and me to form the habit of
believing completely everything about anyone or any situation when we only have
the press as our source of information. It is always better, if you don't want
to be completely in the dark, to read about it. But don't come to a conclusion
until you have an opportunity to do some personal, firsthand investigation for
yourself.
The American
press, in fact the FBI, can use the American press to create almost any kind of
image they want of anyone on the local scene. And then you have other police
agencies of an international stature that are able to use the world press in the
same manner…”
(Complete speech found in book, Malcolm X, The Man and His Times, by John Henrik Clarke, pg.307.)