Malcolm X

[Stranger Than Paradise]

I am very much interested in the life of Malcolm X, I have recently read a biography of the man but did not detail his later years very much. What I want information on is Malcolm X's anti-capitalist idea's. It seems later in his life he moved towards a revolutionary outlook on society. I would like some resources and links to some of his work expressing these idea's and would like to discuss the man in this thread also.

[Devrim]

I watched the film with Morgan Freeman last night. I thought it was pretty good.

Besides that I don't think that he had much in the way of 'anti-capitalist ideas'. His ideas had a religious base, not a socialist one.

Devrim

[black magick hustla]

I watched the film with Morgan Freeman last night. I thought it was pretty good.

Besides that I don't think that he had much in the way of 'anti-capitalist ideas'. His ideas had a religious base, not a socialist one.

Devrim

he did have some vague references to anticapitalism though. his ideas had as a base the religious black nationalism that was popular at that time.

[Spawn of Stalin]

Most of Malcolm X's ideas were based on religion and skin colour, the latter of which I can very much understand, but he was indeed very anti-capitalist, he did a very good job of highlighting the fact that capitalism is racist.

"It is impossible for capitalism to survive, primarily because the system of capitalism needs some blood to suck. Capitalism used to be like an eagle, but now it's more like a vulture. It used to be strong enough to go and suck anybody's blood whether they were strong or not. But now it has become more cowardly, like the vulture, and it can only suck the blood of the helpless. As the nations of the world free themselves, the capitalism has less victims, less to suck, and it becomes weaker and weaker. It's only a matter of time in my opinion before it will collapse completely."
A lot of racism is, at its core, just classism, I think that this is what Malcolm X was trying to say. What Malcolm X referred to as "house negroes" do not suffer nearly the amount of racism that working class blacks do, Malcolm X recognised the need to end the class system.

[Devrim]

but he was indeed very anti-capitalist,...
Malcolm X recognised the need to end the class system.

The Iranian state has talked about being against capitalism at times. So what?

Devrim

[Spawn of Stalin]

Well, I don't think he was an out and out Communist, but he was certainly on the right track. Malcolm X expressed great admiration for the Castro, Che, and the Cuban Revolution as a whole, he also became friends with a number of Zambian ANC officials, a party which was dominated by socialists at the time.

[manic expression]

The Iranian state has talked about being against capitalism at times. So what?

Devrim

:rolleyes:

Anyway, Malcolm X really is a seminal figure in the history of Black Liberation not only because he arrived to revolutionary conclusions that were being ignored by other leaders, but also because his unique experience shed light on many shortcomings of other Black ideologies. His early life and conversion, his refutation of the Nation of Islam and his connection with anti-colonialist struggles around the world touch on central issues to the liberation of Blacks. Also, I agree with Red Son in that Malcolm X was promoting revolutionary ideas as the only solution to the oppression of Blacks, the quote posted makes this quite clear. While his positions here have been obscured by the rhetoric of both bourgeois whites and bourgeois Blacks, his legacy as a revolutionary continues today.

The Autobiography of Malcolm X, from what I've heard, is a must-read for leftists, and I aim to read it as soon as I get my hands on a copy. Also, here is an article on Malcolm X from a communist perspective:

http://www.pslweb.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=6767

[Stranger Than Paradise]

This article is quite interesting:

http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=5915

[Yehuda Stern]

Well, Malcolm X no longer considered himself a black nationalist at the end of his life, and did know quite well that "you cannot have capitalism without racism." So to dismiss him as just a religious nationalist is ignorant and to be honest a bit stupid.

At any rate, the truth is that we cannot know where his political evolution would lead to because he was murdered by the state before it was finalized, which might signal that he wasn't as harmless to capitalism's interests as some suggest.

[Devrim]

At any rate, the truth is that we cannot know where his political evolution would lead to because he was murdered by the state before it was finalized, which might signal that he wasn't as harmless to capitalism's interests as some suggest.

He was murdered by members of the 'Nation of Islam'.

Devrim

[Leo]

I watched the film with Morgan Freeman last night. I thought it was pretty good.Isn't it Denzel Washington rather than Morgan Freeman who is on the Malcom X movie?

Anyway, I watched it a while ago and found it a bit boring actually.

[Devrim]

Isn't it Denzel Washington rather than Morgan Freeman who is on the Malcom X movie?

Yes, you are right. My mistake.

Devrim

[Holden Caulfield]

Well, Malcolm X no longer considered himself a black nationalist at the end of his life, and did know quite well that "you cannot have capitalism without racism." So to dismiss him as just a religious nationalist is ignorant and to be honest a bit stupid.

At any rate, the truth is that we cannot know where his political evolution would lead to because he was murdered by the state before it was finalized, which might signal that he wasn't as harmless to capitalism's interests as some suggest.


He was murdered by members of the 'Nation of Islam'.

Devrim

definately time for a "who killed Malcom" conspiracy theory argument.
I'm interested to hear Yehuda's argument

[Pogue]

he was murdered by the zog

[Random Precision]

Pogue, if you've got nothing to say, please don't post.

And Yehuda's claim is not as far out as it may seem. From what I recall there's some pretty substantive evidence that the FBI was at least encouraging the Nation of Islam toward assassination attempts. We know he was being wiretapped at the time of his death for instance. I'll dig up some information later.

[Stranger Than Paradise]

Pogue, if you've got nothing to say, please don't post.

And Yehuda's claim is not as far out as it may seem. From what I recall there's some pretty substantive evidence that the FBI was at least encouraging the Nation of Islam toward assassination attempts. We know he was being wiretapped at the time of his death for instance. I'll dig up some information later.

That would not surprise me in the slightest, Malcolm X seemed to be beginning to be a very dangerous man for them.

[Yehuda Stern]

RP said already, to all the jokers - there was at least indirect involvement of the state in Malcolm X's murder. That the NOI was willing to serve as a tool of the FBI in this is telling of its nature, but is another matter.

[Random Precision]

The deal is that the FBI had a file on Malcolm from 1953, when they somehow heard that he identified as a communist. During his time in the Nation of Islam CONINTELPRO had agents high up in the Nation, including John Ali, the national secretary, who Malcolm described as his "archenemy" within the Nation and one of those who had played up tensions between him and Elijah Muhammad. John Ali met with Thomas Hager the night before the assassination. Hager was the only one at trial to admit to having played a part in the assassination. While that isn't exactly conclusive evidence, there is also the lack of police protection at the Audobon Ballroom and so forth.


That would not surprise me in the slightest, Malcolm X seemed to be beginning to be a very dangerous man for them.

RP said already, to all the jokers - there was at least indirect involvement of the state in Malcolm X's murder. That the NOI was willing to serve as a tool of the FBI in this is telling of its nature, but is another matter.

This is true. Malcolm X was far more dangerous to the state by then than the Nation of Islam, which was increasingly abandoning its militancy and becoming more reformist. However Malcolm X was a prominent leader with a lot of pull on black opinion, who was also moving more and more in a socialist direction toward the end of his life. It doesn't take much to figure the motive was there.

[MaoTseHelen]

His religion and racial hate aside, I think Malcolm X had great views when it came to action.


I want Dr. King to know that I didn't come to Selma to make his job difficult. I really did come thinking I could make it easier. If the white people realize what the alternative is, perhaps they will be more willing to hear Dr. King.

There's something undeniably badass about that.

[Hampton]

His religion and racial hate aside

:rolleyes:

Towards the end of his life, which I think is shown in the movie, Malcolm states that the people who were following him and calling his house were doing other things that beyond the abilities of the NOI. He says he trained them and he knew what they were capable of, which is to have us believe that the government had a bigger hand in his murder than they would have you believe.

[Shin Honyong]

Malcolm X stated towards the end of his life that he believed that something more was going on with the attempts on his life. Hopefully the new Malcolm X biography that is coming out might go into more detail on this. Some people believe Haley had some connections with the FBI making his views a bit slanted.

Also, Malcolm X's "black nationalism" during his post-NOI times was more based on pragmatic reasoning than ideological (Blacks needed to have unity before they can talk about unity with others). As mentioned before, even this part begin to change as he adapted a third world perspective (he frequently talked about an Afro-Asian unity and gained alot of Asian American followers in his final year) when it came to race issues and the international scene.