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You will be working on a Civil Rights Project while you read The Rock and The River. Please download the Choice Board to select the assignments you will complete for credit in your class.

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What is the difference between Human Rights and Civil Rights? Think about this while you compare a Human Rights Violation and the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950's - 1970's. Use the document attached to help you compare and contrast.

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Risk analysis company Maplecroft released its Human Rights Risk Atlas 2013 Thursday, revealing a definitive rise in human rights violations around the world.
[SCROLL DOWN TO SEE SLIDESHOW OF COUNTRIES WITH EXTREME HUMAN RIGHTS RISK]
The sixth annual report, which ranked 197 countries based on 24 different types of human rights violations, found that 32 nations have an "extreme" risk of human rights violations -- a 60 percent increase over the past six years.

Maplecroft attributes the substantial increase to a rise in socio-economic protests, including a continued crackdown on political dissent by security forces. Technological communication has also contributed to the increase in the number of countries with an "extreme" risk since digital inclusion has helped stimulate and accelerate protest movements.

According to the report, businesses that operate across multiple borders should be concerned with the findings.

"Multinational corporations are particularly vulnerable to allegations of complicity in human rights abuses, due to their complex supply chains," Maplecroft CEO Alyson Warhurst said in a statement. "Business investment is deeply rooted in emerging economies and many of these countries are affected by social tensions. A decline in the human rights risk landscape is not only an unacceptable situation; it is also a forecaster of political risk and business disruption."

Egypt and Indonesia joined the ranks of countries with an "extreme" risk of violations, making the list of the worst offenders for the first time since Maplecroft began producing the annual atlas six years ago. Several countries that were part of the Arab Spring also remained high in the at-risk ranks as compared to last year's Human Rights Risk Atlas.

Take a look at the 10 countries most at risk of human rights violations in 2013 according to the Human Rights Risk Atlas in the gallery below.

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The 10 Worst Human Rights Offenders In The World Are...

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Risk analysis company Maplecroft released its Human Rights Risk Atlas 2013 Thursday, revealing a definitive rise in human rights violations around the world. [SCROLL DOWN TO SEE SLIDESHOW OF COUNTRIES WITH EXTREME HUMAN RIGHTS RISK] The sixth annual report, which ranked 197 countries based on 24 different types of human rights violations, found that 32 nations have an "extreme" risk of human rights violations -- a 60 percent increase over the past six years.

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The number of countries at risk for human rights violations has increased in recent years.

In its 2014 Human Rights Risk Atlas, global analytics firm Maplecroft revealed that in the past six years, the number of countries with an "extreme risk" of human rights offenses has risen dramatically.
SCROLL TO SEE THE 10 WORST HUMAN RIGHTS OFFENDERS
Evaluating 197 countries on various human rights violations, Maplecroft classified 20 countries as having an extreme human rights risk in 2008. That number has since risen to 34. Of the countries with a high risk of violations, Syria, Egypt, Libya, Mali and Guinea-Bissau have seen the worst deterioration of their human rights situation, according to the report.

Geographically speaking, nations in the Middle East and North Africa account for the vast majority of the countries in the "extreme risk" category. With state repression of protests and widespread conflict, Syria ranks highest among the countries evaluated.

Several countries in sub-Saharan Africa also made the list of the top 10 worst offenders, primarily for ongoing ethnic conflicts and sexual violence.

However, state repression and violence are far from the only stimuli for human rights violations. In countries with emerging economies, for example, the potential for work-related offenses is growing.

"Since 2008, global economic growth and investment has shifted to new markets prompting a demand for low-cost workers, water and land as well as other natural resources," Lizabeth Campbell, Maplecroft's head of Societal Risk and Human Rights, said in a statement. "In these economies, worker's [sic] rights continue to be compromised, rural and indigenous communities face land grabs and forced displacement and repressive or corrupt governments clamp down on freedom of expression to maintain their grip on power and economic control."

As for countries with a lower risk, Scandinavian nations such as Denmark, Norway, Finland and Sweden round out the bottom of the list. The United States, with a "medium" risk of human rights offenses, ranked 139th among the 197 countries.

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The number of countries at risk for human rights violations has increased in recent years. In its 2014 Human Rights Risk Atlas, global analytics firm Maplecroft revealed that in the past six years, the number of countries with an "extreme risk" of human rights offenses has risen dramatically.

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Universal Declaration of Human Rights Campaign: What are Human Rights? Definition

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What are Human Rights? UHR is dedicated to furthering Universal Declaration of Human Rights issues education & law. Watch videos, download educator kits.

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Let's start with some basic definitions. A member of the Homo sapiens species; a man, woman or child; a person. Rights: Things to which you are entitled or allowed; freedoms that are guaranteed. Human Rights: The rights you have simply because you are human.

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Universal Declaration of Human Rights Campaign: What are Human Rights? Definition

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What are Human Rights? UHR is dedicated to furthering Universal Declaration of Human Rights issues education & law. Watch videos, download educator kits.

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How is Human Rights different from Civil Rights? This website will define Human Rights.

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We Shall Overcome; Historic Places of the Civil Rights Movement National Register Travel Itinerary

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A partnership project produced by the U.S. Department of Interior, National Park Service, U.S. Department of Transportation, The Federal Highway Administration, and the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers

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It was a struggle in which violence was met with non-violence, racist hate with messages and songs of love. And it was only after decades of marches, protests and rallies against segregation, discrimination and lynchings that the civil rights movement succeeded in opening (in historian Taylor Branch's words) "the stubborn gates to freedom."

At a symposium in New York City Thursday night presented by CBS Live Experiences, newsmakers from the worlds of politics, entertainment and sports discussed the fight for civil rights and the continuing struggle for equality (including issues of race, gender and LGBT rights today), in a webcast titled, "CBS News: 50 Years Later, Civil Rights."

"America is a much better place than it was when we were born into it," said activist, actor and singer Harry Belafonte. "Civil consideration does the nation proud."

The panel discussion marked the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, which outlawed discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion or sex. It was passed in 1964 despite a long history of filibusters and Congressional maneuvers attempting to doom it -- incredibly, noted host Bob Schieffer, in the middle of an election year.

Branch remarked, "The Chairman of the House Rules Committee stood up and said, 'You are about to vote on a monstrous instrument of oppression on all the American people.' It was voted through anyhow, because it was so fundamental."

Speaking of what the civil rights movement has accomplished, Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) said, "It's a different America. We're not quite there yet, but it's different, and it's better."

Freedom Summer

President Johnson's signing of the Civil Rights Act came on the heels of the disappearance of three civil rights workers in Mississippi, who went missing while trying to register blacks to vote. The bodies of James Chaney (an African American) and Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner (two Northern whites) were found several weeks later.

The hunt for the missing men (as documented in the 1964 CBS News special report, "The Search in Mississippi") riveted the nation, forcing a national conversation on segregation.

The three men had been volunteers in the "Freedom Summer" project, in which hundreds of volunteers from other states traveled to Mississippi, where only 16,000 African Americans were registered to vote.

Stephen Schwerner said that political activism was typical for his brother, Michael Schwerner. "Most of the people in our family were in CORE [Congress of Racial Equality] and involved in a variety of demonstrations and various activities. It was after the bombing in Birmingham that Micky and his wife, Rita, decided they wanted to go South, and so they went to Mississippi."

David Goodman said the decision of his brother, Andrew, to participate in Freedom Summer wasn't complicated: "He wasn't very political, but he viewed things as fair and unfair. He heard that if you were black in Mississippi you couldn't vote. And he said that wasn't fair."

Goodman was only 20 years old when he left to go South. "He had to get my mother's permission to go," David said.

Julia Chaney Moss said that when her brother, James Chaney, was named as one of the three missing civil rights workers, their mother was fired. "She worked in a bakery and she got to work one morning, and she was told, 'You're that Chaney's boy mama -- you no longer work here.'"

Schwerner said the important aspect regarding the response to the three men's disappearance and murder was that there were whites involved. "If two of the three weren't white, then it probably wouldn't have made news, if it were only Jim or if it were three black people," he said. "Black people in Mississippi had been killed for years, and with the exception of Medgar Evers, it had never made the paper. It had never made network news. People working for civil rights was something that the federal government didn't seem to care about, and the news media didn't care by and large.

"It's sad to say, but that's what was necessary to bring pressure to the state and federal governments."

The Schwerner family asked that Mickey be buried next to his friend, but it was not allowed, because cemeteries -- as was the case with many things in the South -- were segregated.

The South of Jim Crow

Blacks in segregated Mississippi, said Taylor Branch, were up against "a political order that was founded on racial hierarchy. It wasn't only in laws; it was in [the] state constitution. [Blacks] had no place in politics, no newspapers, no money, no power -- the law said they didn't count."

"Growing up in rural Alabama during the '40s and the '50s," said Rep. Lewis, "I saw the signs that said 'White men,' 'Colored men,' 'White women,' 'Colored women.' And I would ask my parents, grandparents, 'Why?' They said, 'That's the way it is.'"

And their advice to the young John Lewis? "Don't get in trouble."

But as a young man Lewis would meet Rosa Parks and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and it changed his life. Joining the Nashville Nonviolent Workshop and the "Freedom Rides," Lewis became a leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).

"I went off to school and I got in trouble -- GOOD trouble, NECESSARY trouble," Lewis told Schieffer.

Lewis said he and other Freedom Riders who operated under the tenets of non-violence engaged in role-playing exercises in order to steel themselves for the anticipated hatred and brutality. "We did social dramas -- you're sitting there and someone would come and spit on you, put a cigarette down your back, pour hot water, hot coffee, pull you off the lunch counter. But we became committed to peace, love, non-violence, and we were prepared to die for what we believed."

Lewis, who himself had suffered numerous bloody beatings while marching for equality, said of the disappearance of Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner, "It was the saddest and darkest moment of my life. I had traveled all over recruiting young men, and when these three were missing, some of us went on a search. It was difficult for young people, difficult for the movement, and I still don't understand 50 years later how we could be so vicious to our fellow citizens.

"I think these three men must be looked upon as the founding fathers of a new America."

Civil rights today

For the current generation, panelists said that educating young people about the civil rights struggles of the past, and what price was paid in order to gain equality, is necessary,

"We make these anniversaries, but we're getting older and the [younger] people seem to have other things on their mind," said actress and activist Whoopi Goldberg. "I don't think they understand the cost of all of our freedoms, and that cost was deep. People died, people were hosed with water. And until we re-educate this new generation as to what that really meant, I'm concerned about us going forward."

"Freedom is not handed to you; you have to work for it," said attorney Evan Wolfson, founder of the same-sex marriage advocacy group, Freedom to Marry. "But I take inspiration that . . . we can do this work, it's been done before, it has to be re-done and continued.

"There are legal barriers, economic barriers, real obstacles in peoples' path, and we have to dismantle and overcome them," said Wolfson. "But in terms of making sure law, government and society are on our side, we have to make the experience real. It's not enough to just change the law, there's tremendous work of overcoming barriers and bringing it to people in this country so we can all be part of the 'more perfect union' we are promised."

Jason Collins, the first openly-gay NBA player, described the turning point for him, which came during a league lockout, when he was forced to look at his life after a basketball career. When a trainer of his in Los Angeles created an "It Gets Better" video, "I reached out to him and said the words for the first time, 'I'm gay,'" Collins said.

He said having the love and support of family and friends ("which isn't always the case") made him feel ready to come out. "Didn't know what to expect, but I still wanted to play basketball. I was tired of having the CIA cover story. I wanted to be the one that outs myself, tell it to the world."

"Are you glad you did?" asked Schieffer.

"Of course!" My life is so much better. . . honest, living an open life. Having a positive effect on other people's lives. I want to affect my nieces and nephews (who are biracial) so that civil rights is an equal playing field for them."

To change attitudes about discrimination required the nation to look squarely in the mirror, said CBS Sports commentator Jim Brown, and judge what it saw on the basis of love and notions of justice. "It wasn't until we saw innocent women and children and men being beaten, shot -- when America had the mirror shown on itself [and saw] man's inhumanity to man -- I think that's when things changed."

He quoted Teddy Roosevelt who'd said, "To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society."

"We have a lot of menaces out there because we're lacking in moral fiber. Kids are taught racist attitudes. Make no mistake -- for my forefathers and beyond -- education is the foundation we have to build upon," said Brown.

Actress and activist Rosie Perez said that for her, growing up, education was key to leveling the playing field. "Someone told me if you studied hard in America you can do anything. Sometimes I thought I was doing everything right, but still I was being faced with this hate, simply because of things I can't (and don't) want to change.

"I had so many things stacked up against me. I was a Latino poor woman -- triple threat!"

"Young people don't understand what civil rights activists went through, and that comes down to education," said Perez.

Goldberg, who is a co-host on "The View," said, "I sit in a very bizarre position: I hear both sides of the stories and have to give an opinion, and one of the things that scares me more than anything about where we are is the idea of 'fact' has seemed to disappear. People don't need facts. When I grew up, reporters couldn't say anything unless they could back it up."

Wolfson added, "What moves people isn't facts alone, it's truth, and there are ways of communicating truth -- authenticity, emotion. Part of the reason we've seen progress is because we have found a language to communicate with non-gays who gay people are: shared values of love, family, protecting your loved ones, contributing to society.

"I think the power of what has happened with regard to gays is we were able to break through noise and silence and make a connection, and our challenge is on so many fronts America is not where it needs to be. Break through clutter and noise and get back to stories that connect with people."

Belafonte said there is much in the nation that is askew, notably America's incarceration system.

"The prison system is unfair, mostly male, poor, black. We are perhaps building more prison cells than schools. Children are being incarcerated. The prison system has become part of the stock market and private sector," he said.

He also rued that Americans do not exercise their hard-fought right to vote. "We abuse that right" by not voting, Belafonte said.

Among current hot-button issues, the name of the Washington Redskins -- criticized by Native Americans -- was brought up. Brown said, "If in fact the name is offensive, then do the right thing and change the name."

He said segregation was tolerated for a long time because "that's just the way it was," until there was a demand for change. Using the excuse of cultural tradition in the case of the football team's name "holds no basis or substance to me. Do the right thing."

"I believe that America has not been able to overcome its deep-rooted relationships to race," said Belafonte. "Europeans came here looking for freedom; they brought with them their prejudices and alienation.

"They saw race as central to defining those whom they met and treated as inferior. People of color were required to adopt culture, religion of Europe, led to believe their culture was inferior. I don't think the human being will overcome the relationship to racial prejudice. Eventually we might all blend into one place, and color will become irrelevant."

"As long as we don't have education," said Belafonte, "we will have a scapegoat and that might be race. We don't want to face it."

Schieffer asked if whites should be afraid about demands for equality from others.

"They should let go of the fear," said Perez. "I don't want to hear about the hate. The fear needs to go away. I come from a place of love and there's no reason to fear me. Things are changing and you better jump on the train!"

Lewis ended the evening on an uplifting note: "I think in this country we're going to lay down the vision and create a society at peace with itself. As a people, as a nation, we will get there. Maybe we'll emerge as a model.

"Never lose hope," he said. "Be hopeful and optimistic."

In closing, Schieffer quoted Hubert Humphrey's statement that the 1964 Civil Rights Act was not only a significant domestic achievement, but the most important foreign policy of the decade -- not because it had anything to do with foreign policy, but because it told the rest of the world what kind of people we are.

"In this ever more dangerous world, where America still leads, we still lead best by example," said Schieffer. "That is when we exert the most influence. How we treat one other is part of that example."

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It was a struggle in which violence was met with non-violence, racist hate with messages and songs of love. And it was only after decades of marches, protests and rallies against segregation, discrimination and lynchings that the civil rights movement succeeded in opening (in historian Taylor Branch's words) "the stubborn gates to freedom."

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Civil Rights

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Civil Rights Movement - John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum

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These resources are not limiting to your research. Please remember to also use Cobb Digital Library for more resources.

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Freedom on Film

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Voices of Civil Rights | Exhibitions - Library of Congress

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The events of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement are documented through personal stories, oral histories, and photographs collected by the "Voices of Civil Rights" project, and marks the arrival of these materials to the Library.

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Welcome to the Civil Rights Digital Library

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Citation: C N Trueman "NAACP"
historylearningsite.co.uk. The History Learning Site, 27 Mar 2015. 14 Apr 2018.

The NAACP have played a very important part in the civil rights movement. The initials stand for the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People.

Brief early history 1909 to 1945

The NAACP was founded in 1909 by a group of multi-racial activists. It was originally called the National Negro Committee.

The NAACP started to fight injustices in 1910 with the Pink Franklin case. Though they failed in this case, the organisation resolved to use the law and the law courts to fight its campaign lead by the brothers Joel and Arthur Spingarn.

In 1913, the NAACP publically criticised the president - Woodrow Wilson - who officially introduced segregation into federal government and in 1918, after intense pressure by the NAACP, Wilson finally publically condemned lynching - something the man who wanted a "just" peace settlement in Europe had failed to do throughout his presidency. During the war, the NAACP successfully campaigned for African Americans to be commissioned as officers in the army. 600 were commissioned and 700,000 African Americans registered for the army.

In 1920, the NAACP deliberately selected Atlanta for its annual conference; the city was known as an active KKK area and this was a sign that violence and general intimidation would have no impact on the organisation.

In 1930, the NAACP successfully protested about the nomination of John Parker to be a Supreme Court judge. Parker wanted laws that discriminated against African Americans.

During the war, the NAACP pressured Roosevelt into ordering a non-discriminatory policy in war-related industries and federal employment.

1945 to 1968

Landmark events in the NAACP's post-war history

In 1945, the NAACP condemned Congress when it refused to fund an investigation into fair employment practices.

In 1946, the NAACP won the Morgan v Virginia case where the Supreme Court banned states from having segregated facilities on busses and trains that crossed state borders.

In 1948, the NAACP pressured President Truman into signing the Executive Order that banned discrimination by the Federal government.

In 1950, the head of the NAACP's legal department, Thurgood Marshall, won his case in the Supreme Court for state universities to provide equal facilities for all students.

In 1954, the NAACP won its landmark legal case - Brown v the Board of Education. This case was lead by Special Counsel Thurgood Marshall. The organisation had spent years fighting segregation in schools which existed in thirteen southern states. The Supreme Court declared that schools could be "separate and equal". The NAACP found it easy to prove that children at white-only schools in the south had nearly $38 spent on each one of them per year. For children at black-only schools, the figure was just over $13. The Supreme Court deemed that this was not "equal" and declared schools that were segregated were unconstitutional.

In 1955, NAACP member Rosa Parks was arrested and fined for refusing to give up her seat on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama. This sparked off the famous Montgomery bus boycott which lead to all the major civil rights groups combining their efforts. This protest was organised by Martin Luther King. The loss of revenue from the 17,000 African Americans in Montgomery who refused to use buses, lead the Montgomery Bus Company withdrawing its segregation policy.

In 1960, members of the NAACP Youth Council started a series of non-violent sit-ins at a segregated lunch counter at Woolworth's in Greenboro, North Carolina. Such was the success of this protest, that 26 southern cities officially desegregated their lunch counters. Student sit-ins were also organised in segregated parks, swimming pools, libraries, churches and museums. All of this was done using King's policy of non-violence. Any assaults on the protesters was met with passivity.

In 1963, the NAACP's first Field Director, Medgar Evars, was assassinated.

In 1964, the Supreme Court ended the eight year campaign by Alabama officials to ban the activities of the NAACP. In this year, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act.

Also in 1964, the NAACP, along with CORE and SNCC, established 30 Freedom Schools throughout Mississippi. These taught about the history of civil rights and African Americans. These schools were staffed by volunteers. Over 80 of these volunteers were beaten up and in June, 1964, three were murdered by the KKK. Though tragic, the murders received massive national media coverage and did much to educate the nation's population about what was going on in the Deep South

In 1965, the Voting Rights Act was passed. The NAACP persuaded more than 80,000 African Americans in Mississippi to register their right to vote. Up to that time, 42% of Mississippi's population was African American but only 7% had registered to vote. Now if any state or local authority tried to obstruct anyone from voting at an election, they would face federal prosecution if charged.

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The NAACP have played a very important part in the civil rights movement. The initials stand for the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People. Brief early history 1909 to 1945 The NAACP was founded in 1909 by a group of multi-racial activists. It was originally called the National Negro Committee.

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Required MLK & Malcolm X Speech Comparison

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Required MLK & Malcolm X Speech Comparison

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Below are several speeches from both MLK and Malcolm X. Listen to or read the speeches. Then download the attached document to compare and contrast the speeches and ideals of both the Civil Rights Movement with MLK and the Black Panthers Movement of Malcolm X.

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More speeches

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1960 Weekly radio broadcast Mr. Muhammad Speaks Malcolm X speaks on The Work and Mission of the Hon Elijah Muhammad

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Transcript - Ballot or Bullet

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Malcolm X was one of the most dynamic, dramatic and influential figures of the civil rights era. He was an apostle of black nationalism, self respect, and uncompromising resistance to white oppression. Malcolm X was a polarizing figure who both energized and divided African Americans, while frightening and alienating many whites. He was an unrelenting truth-teller who declared that the mainstream civil rights movement was naïve in hoping to secure freedom through integration and nonviolence. The blazing heat of Malcolm X's rhetoric sometimes overshadowed the complexity of his message, especially for those who found him threatening in the first place. Malcolm X was assassinated at age 39, but his political and cultural influence grew far greater in the years after his death than when he was alive.

Malcolm X is now popularly seen as one of the two great martyrs of the 20th century black freedom struggle, the other being his ostensible rival, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. But in the spring of 1964, when Malcolm X gave his "Ballot or the Bullet" speech, he was regarded by a majority of white Americans as a menacing character. Malcolm X never directly called for violent revolution, but he warned that African Americans would use "any means necessary" - especially armed self defense - once they realized just how pervasive and hopelessly entrenched white racism had become. ¹

He was born Malcolm Little in 1925 in Omaha, Nebraska. His father, Earl, was a Baptist preacher and follower of the black nationalist Marcus Garvey. Earl Little's political activism provoked threats from the Ku Klux Klan. After the family moved to Lansing, Michigan, white terrorists burned the Littles' home. A defiant Earl Little shot at the arsonists as they got away. In 1931, Malcolm's father was found dead. His family suspected he'd been murdered by white vigilantes. Malcolm's mother, Louise, battled mental illness and struggled to care for her eight children during the Great Depression. She was committed to a state mental institution when Malcolm was 12. He and the other young children were scattered among foster families. After completing the eighth grade, Malcolm Little dropped out when a teacher told him that his dream of becoming a lawyer was unrealistic for a "nigger." ²

As a teenager, Malcolm Little made his way to New York, where he took the street name Detroit Red and became a pimp and petty criminal. In 1946, Malcolm Little was sent to prison for burglary. He read voraciously while serving time and converted to the Black Muslim faith. He joined the Nation of Islam (NOI) and changed his name to Malcolm X, eliminating that part of his identity he called a white-imposed slave name.

Malcom X was released in 1952 after six years in prison. With his charisma and eloquence, Malcolm rose rapidly in the Nation of Islam. He became the chief spokesman and field recruiter for NOI leader Elijah Muhammad. As historian Peniel Joseph describes it, NOI's unorthodox interpretation of Islam was mixed with a doctrine of black personal responsibility and economic self-sufficiency, along with "theological fundamentalism, anti-white mythology, and total racial separation as the means to black redemption." ³ Wearing impeccable suits, maintaining an air of fierce dignity and adhering to a strict code of moral propriety, Malcolm X was a living demonstration of how the NOI could save a wayward people from racial submission and personal self-destruction. The Nation dismissed the conventional civil rights movement - with its protest marches and demands for equal rights legislation -- as impotent and misguided. As Malcolm X declared in this speech, the only effective solution to racial inequality was black economic and social separatism.

As Malcolm X's national prominence grew, so did a rift between him and Elijah Muhammad. Malcolm X far overshadowed his mentor in the public sphere. He also grew disillusioned by Elijah Muhammad's scandalous personal behavior; the Messenger fathered several children through affairs with his secretaries. The conflict deepened when Muhammad suspended Malcolm X for saying that President John F. Kennedy's assassination represented "the chickens coming home to roost" because of the war in Vietnam. ⁴ Finally, in March 1964, Malcolm X left the Nation of Islam and charted his own course of militant, black nationalism.

On April 12, 1964, one month after splitting with the NOI, Malcolm X gave his "Ballot or the Bullet" speech at King Solomon Baptist Church in Detroit (he'd given the address nine days earlier in Cleveland, but the Detroit version is regarded by some scholars as definitive). ⁵ It was the fullest declaration of his black nationalist philosophy. Mainstream black ministers in Detroit tried to block Malcolm X from using the church, saying "separatist ideas can do nothing but set back the colored man's cause." But the church hall had already been rented out for the event. ⁶

"The Ballot or the Bullet" became one of Malcolm X's most recognizable phrases, and the speech was one of his greatest orations. Two thousand people - including some of his opponents -- turned out to hear him speak in Detroit.. President Lyndon Johnson was running for reelection in 1964, and Malcolm X declared it "the year of the ballot or the bullet." He outlined a new, global sensibility in the fight for racial justice: "We intend to expand [the freedom struggle] from the level of civil rights to the level of human rights."

Malcolm was now free of the NOI's ban on members participating in the mainstream civil rights movement. He encouraged black militants to get involved in voter registration drives and other forms of community organizing to redefine and expand the movement. ⁷

The day after his Detroit speech, Malcolm X embarked on an overseas tour that included a life-changing pilgrimage to the Muslim holy city of Mecca. Known as the Hajj, the pilgrimage must be carried out at least once in a lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so. The racial diversity he experienced in the Middle East, especially among Muslims, led him to discard his strict notions of black separatism for a wider, more inclusive movement against white supremacy and colonialism. In the summer of 1964, Malcolm X announced a new effort, the Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU).

In the last months of his life, Malcolm X's conflict with the Nation of Islam grew increasingly bitter. Elijah Muhammad and the NOI had a long history of using violence and intimidation against members who strayed. In February, 1965, Malcolm X's home was firebombed. He publicly blamed the Nation of Islam and predicted he would be killed. Malcolm X was shot to death on February 12, 1965 as he prepared to speak at an OAAU rally at the Audubon Ballroom in New York. Three black men, all members of the NOI, were convicted and sent to prison for the murder.

In an editorial after his death, The New York Times described Malcolm X as "an extraordinary and twisted man, turning many true gifts to evil purpose." ⁸ Actor and activist Ossie Davis eulogized him as "our own black shining prince." ⁹ In death, he became a seminal figure to an increasingly militant generation of young African Americans, a beacon for activists in the 1960s Black Power and Black Arts movements.

In assessing Malcolm X's impact, theologian James Cone wrote: "More than anyone else he revolutionized the black mind, transforming docile Negroes and self-effacing colored people into proud blacks and self-confident African-Americans." ¹⁰ By the end of the 20th century, Malcolm X was recognized in mainstream culture as a hero of the civil rights era. The militant radical whose image once provoked fear and hatred among many white Americans was celebrated in mainstream movie theaters, on Black History Month posters in elementary school classrooms, and on a 1999 postage stamp issued by the United States government.

Mr. Moderator, Rev. Cleage, brothers and sisters and friends, and I see some enemies. [laughter, applause] In fact, I think we'd be fooling ourselves if we had an audience this large and didn't realize that there were some enemies present.

This afternoon we want to talk about the ballot or the bullet. The ballot or the bullet explains itself. But before we get into it, since this is the year of the ballot or the bullet, I would like to clarify some things that refer to me personally, concerning my own personal position.

So today, though Islam is my religious philosophy, my political, economic and social philosophy is black nationalism. You and I - [applause] As I say, if we bring up religion, we'll have differences, we'll have arguments, and we'll never be able to get together. But if we keep our religion at home, keep our religion in the closet, keep our religion between ourselves and our God, but when we come out here we have a fight that's common to all of us against a enemy who is common to all of us. [applause]

The political philosophy of black nationalism only means that the black man should control the politics and the politicians in his own community. The time when white people can come in our community and get us to vote for them so that they can be our political leaders and tell us what to do and what not to do is long gone. [applause]

By the same token, the time when that same white man, knowing that your eyes are too far open, can send another Negro in the community, and get you and me to support him, so that he can use him to lead us astray, those days are long gone too. [applause]

The political philosophy of black nationalism only means that if you and I are going to live in a black community - and that's where we're going to live, 'cause as soon as you move into one of their....soon as you move out of the black community into their community, it's mixed for a period of time, but they're gone and you're right there all by yourself again. [applause]

We must, we must understand the politics of our community and we must know what politics is supposed to produce. We must know what part politics play in our lives. And until we become politically mature, we will always be misled, led astray, or deceived or maneuvered into supporting someone politically who doesn't have the good of our community at heart. So the political philosophy of black nationalism only means that we will have to carry on a program, a political program, of reeducation - to open our people's eyes, make us become more politically conscious, politically mature. And then, we will - whenever we are ready to cast our ballot, that ballot will be cast for a man of the community, who has the good of the community at heart. [applause]

The economic philosophy of black nationalism only means that we should own and operate and control the economy of our community. You would never have found-you can't open up a black store in a white community. White man won't even patronize you. And he's not wrong. He got sense enough to look out for himself. It's you who don't have sense enough to look out for yourself. [applause]

The white man, the white man is too intelligent to let someone else come and gain control of the economy of his community. But you will let anybody come in and control the economy of your community, control the housing, control the education, control the jobs, control the businesses, under the pretext that you want to integrate. Nah, you're out of your mind. [applause]

The political ... the economic philosophy of black nationalism only means that we have to become involved in a program of reeducation, to educate our people into the importance of knowing that when you spend your dollar out of the community in which you live, the community in which you spend your money becomes richer and richer, the community out of which you take your money becomes poorer and poorer. And because these Negroes, who have been misled, misguided, are breaking their necks to take their money and spend it with the Man, the Man is becoming richer and richer, and you're becoming poorer and poorer. And then what happens? The community in which you live becomes a slum. It becomes a ghetto. The conditions become rundown. And then you have the audacity to complain about poor housing in a rundown community, while you're running down yourselves when you take your dollar out. [applause]

And you and I are in a double trap because not only do we lose by taking our money someplace else and spending it, when we try and spend it in our own community we're trapped because we haven't had sense enough to set up stores and control the businesses of our community. The man who is controlling the stores in our community is a man who doesn't look like we do. He's a man who doesn't even live in the community. So you and I, even when we try and spend our money on the block where we live or the area where we live, we're spending it with a man who, when the sun goes down, takes that basket full of money in another part of the town. [applause]

So we're trapped, trapped, double-trapped, triple-trapped. Any way we go, we find that we're trapped. Any every kind of solution that someone comes up with is just another trap. But the political and economic philosophy of black nationalism...the economic philosophy of black nationalism shows our people the importance of setting up these little stores, and developing them and expanding them into larger operations. Woolworth didn't start out big like they are today; they started out with a dime store, and expanded, and expanded, and expanded until today they are all over the country and all over the world and they getting some of everybody's money.

Now this is what you and I - General Motors, the same way, it didn't start out like it is. It started out just a little rat-race type operation. And it expanded and it expanded until today it's where it is right now. And you and I have to make a start. And the best place to start is right in the community where we live. [applause]

So our people not only have to be reeducated to the importance of supporting black business, but the black man himself has to be made aware of the importance of going into business. And once you and I go into business, we own and operate at least the businesses in our community. What we will be doing is developing a situation, wherein, we will actually be able to create employment for the people in the community. And once you can create some employment in the community where you live, it will eliminate the necessity of you and me having to act ignorantly and disgracefully, boycotting and picketing some cracker someplace else trying to beg him for a job. [applause]

So as you can see, brothers and sisters, today - this afternoon it is not our intention to discuss religion. We're going to forget religion. If we bring up religion we'll be in an argument. And the best way to keep away from arguments and differences, as I said earlier, put your religion at home, in the closet, keep it between you and your God. Because if it hasn't done anything more for you than it has, you need to forget it anyway. [laughter, applause]

Whether you are a Christian or a Muslim or a nationalist, we all have the same problem. They don't hang you because you're a Baptist; they hang you 'cause you're black. [applause] They don't attack me because I'm a Muslim. They attack me 'cause I'm black. They attacked all of us for the same reason. All of us catch hell from the same enemy. We're all in the same bag, in the same boat.

You can't sing up on freedom. But you can swing up on some freedom. [cheering] Cassius Clay can sing. But singing didn't help him to become the heavyweight champion of the world. Swinging helped him. [applause]

So this government has failed us. The government itself has failed us. And the white liberals who have been posing as our friends have failed us. And once we see that all of these other sources to which we've turned have failed, we stop turning to them and turn to ourselves. We need a self-help program, a do-it-yourself philosophy, a do-it-right-now philosophy, a it's-already-too-late philosophy. This is what you and I need to get with. And the only time - the only way we're going to solve our problem is with a self-help program. Before we can get a self-help program started, we have to have a self-help philosophy. Black nationalism is a self-help philosophy.

What's so good about it - you can stay right in the church where you are and still take black nationalism as your philosophy. You can stay in any kind of civic organization that you belong to and still take black nationalism as your philosophy. You can be an atheist and still take black nationalism as your philosophy. This is a philosophy that eliminates the necessity for division and argument, 'cause if you're black, you should be thinking black. And if you're black and you not thinking black at this late date, well, I'm sorry for you. [applause]

Once you change your philosophy, you change your thought pattern. Once you change your thought pattern you change your attitude. Once you change your attitude it changes your behavior pattern. And then you go on into some action. As long as you got a sit-down philosophy you'll have a sit-down thought pattern. And as long as you think that old sit-down thought, you'll be in some kind of sit-down action. They'll have you sitting in everywhere. [laughter]

It's not so good to refer to what you're going to do as a sit-in. That right there castrates you. Right there it brings you down. What goes with it? What - think of the image of someone sitting. An old woman can sit. An old man can sit. A chump can sit, a coward can sit, anything can sit. Well, you and I been sitting long enough and it's time for us today to start doing some standing and some fighting to back that up. [applause]

When we look at other parts of this Earth upon which we live, we find that black, brown, red and yellow people in Africa and Asia are getting their independence. They're not getting it by singing, 'We Shall Overcome." No, they're getting it through nationalism. It is nationalism that brought about the independence of the people in Asia. Every nation in Asia gained its independence through the philosophy of nationalism. Every nation on the African continent that has gotten its independence brought it about through the philosophy of nationalism. And it will take black nationalism to bring about the freedom of 22 million Afro-Americans, here in this country, where we have suffered colonialism for the past 400 years. [applause]

America is just as much a colonial power as England ever was. America is just as much a colonial power as France ever was. In fact, America is more so a colonial power than they, because she is a hypocritical colonial power behind it. [applause] What is 20th - what, what do you call second-class citizenship? Why, that's colonization. Second-class citizenship is nothing but 20th slavery. How you gonna to tell me you're a second-class citizen? They don't have second-class citizenship in any other government on this Earth. They just have slaves and people who are free! Well, this country is a hypocrite! They try and make you think they set you free by calling you a second-class citizen. No, you're nothing but a 20th century slave. [applause]

Just as it took nationalism to remove colonialism from Asia and Africa, it'll take black nationalism today to remove colonialism from the backs and the minds of twenty-two million Afro-Americans here in this country. And 1964 looks like it might be the year of the ballot or the bullet. [applause]

Why does it look like it might be the year of the ballot or the bullet? Because Negroes have listened to the trickery and the lies and the false promises of the white man now for too long, and they're fed up. They've become disenchanted. They've become disillusioned. They've become dissatisfied. And all of this has built up frustrations in the black community that makes the black community throughout America today more explosive than all of the atomic bombs the Russians can ever invent. Whenever you got a racial powder keg sitting in your lap, you're in more trouble than if you had an atomic powder keg sitting in your lap. When a racial powder keg goes off, it doesn't care who it knocks out the way. Understand this, it's dangerous.

And in 1964, this seems to be the year. Because what can the white man use, now, to fool us? After he put down that March on Washington - and you see all through that now, he tricked you, had you marching down to Washington. Had you marching back and forth between the feet of a dead man named Lincoln and another dead man named George Washington, singing, "We Shall Overcome." [applause]

He made a chump out of you. He made a fool out of you. He made you think you were going somewhere and you end up going nowhere but between Lincoln and Washington. [laughter]

So today our people are disillusioned. They've become disenchanted. They've become dissatisfied. And in their frustrations they want action. And in 1964 you'll see this young black man, this new generation, asking for the ballot or the bullet. That old Uncle Tom action is outdated. The young generation don't want to hear anything about "the odds are against us." What do we care about odds? [applause]

When this country here was first being founded, there were thirteen colonies. The whites were colonized. They were fed up with this taxation without representation. So some of them stood up and said, "Liberty or death!" I went to a white school over here in Mason, Michigan. The white man made the mistake of letting me read his history books. [laughter] He made the mistake of teaching me that Patrick Henry was a patriot, and George Washington - wasn't nothing non-violent about ol' Pat, or George Washington. "Liberty or death" is was what brought about the freedom of whites in this country from the English. [applause]

They didn't care about the odds. Why, they faced the wrath of the entire British Empire. And in those days, they used to say that the British Empire was so vast and so powerful that the sun would never set on it. This is how big it was, yet these thirteen little scrawny states, tired of taxation without representation, tired of being exploited and oppressed and degraded, told that big British Empire, "Liberty or death." And here you have 22 million Afro-Americans, black people today, catching more hell than Patrick Henry ever saw. [applause]

Why is America - why does this loom to be such an explosive political year? Because this is the year of politics. This is the year when all of the white politicians are going to come into the Negro community. You never see them until election time. You can't find them until election time. [applause] They're going to come in with false promises. And as they make these false promises they're going to feed our frustrations, and this will only serve to make matters worse. I'm no politician. I'm not even a student of politics. I'm not a Republican, nor a Democrat, nor an American - and got sense enough to know it. [applause]

I'm one of the 22 million black victims of the Democrats. One of the 22 million black victims of the Republicans and one of the 22 million black victims of Americanism. [applause] And when I speak, I don't speak as a Democrat or a Republican, nor an American. I speak as a victim of America's so-called democracy. You and I have never seen democracy - all we've seen is hypocrisy. [applause]

When we open our eyes today and look around America, we see America not through the eyes of someone who has enjoyed the fruits of Americanism. We see America through the eyes of someone who has been the victim of Americanism. We don't see any American dream. We've experienced only the American nightmare. We haven't benefited from America's democracy. We've only suffered from America's hypocrisy. And the generation that's coming up now can see it. And are not afraid to say it. If you go to jail, so what? If you're black, you were born in jail. [applause]

If you black you were born in jail, in the North as well as the South. Stop talking about the South. As long as you south of the Canadian border, you South. [laughter, applause] Don't call Governor Wallace a Dixie governor, Romney is a Dixie Governor. [applause]

Twenty-two million black victims of Americanism are waking up and they are gaining a new political consciousness, becoming politically mature. And as they become - develop this political maturity, they're able to see the recent trends in these political elections. They see that the whites are so evenly divided that every time they vote, the race is so close they have to go back and count the votes all over again. Which means that any block, any minority that has a block of votes that stick together is in a strategic position. Either way you go, that's who gets it. You're in a position to determine who'll go to the White House and who'll stay in the doghouse. [laughter]

You're the one who has that power. You can keep Johnson in Washington D.C., or you can send him back to his Texas cotton patch. [applause] You're the one who sent Kennedy to Washington. You're the one who put the present Democratic administration in Washington, D.C. The whites were evenly divided. It was the fact that you threw 80 percent of your votes behind the Democrats that put the Democrats in the White House.

When you see this, you can see that the Negro vote is the key factor. And despite the fact that you are in a position to be the determining factor, what do you get out of it? The Democrats have been in Washington, D.C. only because of the Negro vote. They've been down there four years. And they're - all other legislation they wanted to bring up they've brought it up, and gotten it out of the way, and now they bring up you. And now they bring up you! You put them first and they put you last. Because you're a chump! [applause] A political chump.

In Washington, D.C., in the House of Representatives there are 257 who are Democrats. Only 177 are Republican. In the Senate there are 67 Democrats. Only 33 are Republicans. The party that you backed controls two-thirds of the House of Representatives and the Senate and still they can't keep their promise to you. 'Cause you're a chump. [applause]

Any time you throw your weight behind a political party that controls two-thirds of the government, and that party can't keep the promise that it made to you during election-time, and you're dumb enough to walk around continuing to identify yourself with that party, you're not only a chump but you're a traitor to your race. [applause]

What kind of alibi do come up with? They try and pass the buck to the Dixiecrats. Now, back during the days when you were blind, deaf and dumb, ignorant, politically immature, naturally you went along with that. But today, as your eyes come open, and you develop political maturity, you're able to see and think for yourself, and you can see that a Dixiecrat is nothing but a Democrat - in disguise. [applause]

You look at the structure of the government that controls this country, is controlled by 16 senatorial committees and 20 congressional committees. Of the 16 senatorial committees that run the government, 10 of them are in the hands of southern segregationists. Of the 20 congressional committees that run the government, 12 of them are in the hands of southern segregationists. And they're going to tell you and me that the South lost the war? [laughter, applause]

Oh, I say you been misled. You been had. You been took. [laughter, applause] I was in Washington a couple of weeks ago while the senators were filibustering and I noticed in the back of the Senate a huge map, and on this map it showed the distribution of Negroes in America. And surprisingly, the same senators that were involved in the filibuster were from the states where there were the most Negroes. Why were they filibustering the civil rights legislation? Because the civil rights legislation is supposed to guarantee boarding rights to Negroes from those states. And those senators from those states know that if the Negroes in those states can vote, those senators are down the drain. [applause] The representatives of those states go down the drain.

And in the Constitution of this country it has a stipulation, wherein, whenever the rights, the voting rights of people in a certain district are violated, then the representative who's from that particular district, according to the Constitution, is supposed to be expelled from the Congress. Now, if this particular aspect of the Constitution was enforced, why, you wouldn't have a cracker in Washington, D.C. [applause]

But what would happen? When you expel the Dixiecrat, you're expelling the Democrat. When you destroy the power of the Dixiecrat, you are destroying the power of the Democratic Party. So how in the world can the Democratic Party in the South actually side with you, in sincerity, when all of its power is based in the South?

These Northern Democrats are in cahoots with the southern Democrats. [applause] They're playing a giant con game, a political con game. You know how it goes. One of 'em comes to you and make believe he's for you. And he's in cahoots with the other one that's not for you. Why? Because neither one of 'em is for you. But they got to make you go with one of 'em or the other.

So this is a con game, and this is what they've been doing with you and me all of these years. First thing, Johnson got off the plane when he become president, he ask, "Where's Dickey?" You know who Dickey is? Dickey is old southern cracker Richard Russell. Lookie here! Yes, Lyndon B. Johnson's best friend is the one who is a head, who's heading the forces that are filibustering civil rights legislation. You tell me how in the hell is he going to be Johnson's best friend? [applause] How can Johnson be his friend and your friend too? No, that man is too tricky. Especially if his friend is still ol' Dickey. [laughter, applause]

Whenever the Negroes keep the Democrats in power they're keeping the Dixiecrats in power. This is true! A vote for a Democrat is nothing but a vote for a Dixiecrat. I know you don't like me saying that. I'm not the kind of person who come here to say what you like. I'm going to tell you the truth whether you like it or not. [applause]

Up here in the North you have the same thing. The Democratic Party don't - they don't do it that way. They got a thing they call gerrymandering. They maneuver you out of power. Even though you can vote they fix it so you're voting for nobody. They got you going and coming. In the South they're outright political wolves, in the North they're political foxes. A fox and a wolf are both canine, both belong to the dog family. [laughter, applause] Now, you take your choice. You going to choose a northern dog or a southern dog? Because either dog you choose, I guarantee you, you'll still be in the doghouse.

This is why I say it's the ballot or the bullet. It's liberty or it's death. It's freedom for everybody or freedom for nobody. [applause] America today finds herself in a unique situation. Historically, revolutions are bloody, oh yes they are. They have never had a bloodless revolution. Or a non-violent revolution. That don't happen even in Hollywood [laughter] You don't have a revolution in which you love your enemy. And you don't have a revolution in which you are begging the system of exploitation to integrate you into it. Revolutions overturn systems. Revolutions destroy systems.

A revolution is bloody, but America is in a unique position. She's the only country in history, in the position actually to become involved in a bloodless revolution. The Russian Revolution was bloody, Chinese Revolution was bloody, French Revolution was bloody, Cuban Revolution was bloody. And there was nothing more bloody than the American Revolution. But today, this country can become involved in a revolution that won't take bloodshed. All she's got to do is give the black man in this country everything that's due him, everything. [applause]

I hope that the white man can see this. 'Cause if you don't see it you're finished. If you don't see it you're going to become involved in some action in which you don't have a chance. We don't care anything about your atomic bomb; it's useless, because other countries have atomic bombs. When two or three different countries have atomic bombs, nobody can use them. So it means that the white man today is without a weapon. If you want some action you've got to come on down to Earth, and there's more black people on Earth than there are white people. [applause]

I only got a couple more minutes. The white man can never win another war on the ground. His days of war - victory - his days of battleground victory are over. Can I prove it? Yes. Take all the action that's going on this Earth right now that he's involved in. Tell me where he's winning - nowhere. Why, some rice farmers, some rice farmers! Some rice-eaters ran him out of Korea, yes they ran him out of Korea. Rice-eaters, with nothing but gym shoes and a rifle and a bowl of rice, took him and his tanks and his napalm and all that other action he's supposed to have and ran him across the Yalu. Why? Because the day that he can win on the ground has passed.

So it's the, it's the ballot or the bullet. Today, our people can see that we're faced with a government conspiracy. This government has failed us. The senators who are filibustering concerning your and my rights, that's the government. Don't say it's southern senators, this is the government. This is a government filibuster. It's not a segregationist filibuster, it's a government filibuster. Any kind of activity that takes place on the floor of the Congress or the Senate, that's the government. Any kind of dilly-dallying, that's the government. Any kind of pussy-footing, that's the government. Any kind of act that's designed to delay or deprive you and me, right now, of getting full rights, that's the government that's responsible. And anytime you find the government involved in a conspiracy to violate the citizenship or the civil rights of a people in 1964, then you are wasting your time going to that government expecting redress. Instead you have to take that government to the world court and accuse it of genocide and all of the other crimes that it is guilty of today. [applause]

So those of us whose political and economic and social philosophy is black nationalism have become involved in the civil rights struggle. We have injected ourselves into the civil rights struggle. And we intend to expand it from the level of civil rights to the level of human rights. As long as you fight it on the level of civil rights, you're under Uncle Sam's jurisdiction. You're going to his court expecting him to correct the problem. He created the problem. He's the criminal! You don't take your case to the criminal, you take your criminal to court. [applause]

When the government of South Africa began to trample upon the human rights of the people of South Africa they were taken to the U.N. When the government of Portugal began to trample upon the rights of our brothers and sisters in Angola, it was taken before the U.N. Why, even the white man took the Hungarian question to the U.N. And just this week, Chief Justice Goldberg was crying over three million Jews in Russia, about their human rights - charging Russia with violating the U.N. Charter because of its mistreatment of the human rights of Jews in Russia. Now you tell me how can the plight of everybody on this Earth reach the halls of the United Nations and you have twenty-two million Afro-Americans whose churches are being bombed, whose little girls are being murdered, whose leaders are being shot down in broad daylight? Now you tell me why the leaders of this struggle have never taken [recording impaired ] [their case to the U.N.?]

So our next move is to take the entire civil rights struggle - problem - into the United Nations and let the world see that Uncle Sam is guilty of violating the human rights of 22 million Afro-Americans right down to the year of 1964 and still has the audacity or the nerve to stand up and represent himself as the leader of the free world? [cheering] Not only is he a crook, he's a hypocrite. Here he is standing up in front of other people, Uncle Sam, with the blood of your and mine mothers and fathers on his hands. With the blood dripping down his jaws like a bloody-jawed wolf. And still got the nerve to point his finger at other countries. In 1964 you can't even get civil rights legislation and this man has got the nerve to stand up and talk about South Africa or talk about Nazi Germany or talk about Portugal. No, no more days like those! [applause]

So I say in my conclusion, the only way we're going to solve it: we got to unite. We got to work together in unity and harmony. And black nationalism is the key. How we gonna overcome the tendency to be at each other's throats that always exists in our neighborhood? And the reason this tendency exists - the strategy of the white man has always been divide and conquer. He keeps us divided in order to conquer us. He tells you, I'm for separation and you for integration, and keep us fighting with each other. No, I'm not for separation and you're not for integration, what you and I are for is freedom. [applause] Only, you think that integration will get you freedom; I think that separation will get me freedom. We both got the same objective, we just got different ways of getting' at it. [applause]

So I studied this man, Billy Graham, who preaches white nationalism. That's what he preaches. [applause] I say, that's what he preaches. The whole church structure in this country is white nationalism, you go inside a white church - that's what they preaching, white nationalism. They got Jesus white, Mary white, God white, everybody white - that's white nationalism. [cheering]

So what he does - the way he circumvents the jealousy and envy that he ordinarily would incur among the heads of the church - whenever you go into an area where the church already is, you going to run into trouble. Because they got that thing, what you call it, syndicated ... they got a syndicate just like the racketeers have. I'm going to say what's on my mind because the preachers already proved to you that they got a syndicate. [applause] And when you're out in the rackets, whenever you're getting in another man's territory, you know, they gang up on you. And that's the same way with you. You run into the same thing. So how Billy Graham gets around that, instead of going into somebody else's territory, like he going to start a new church, he doesn't try and start a church, he just goes in preaching Christ. And he says anybody who believe in him, you go wherever you find him.

So, this helps all the churches, and since it helps all the churches, they don't fight him. Well, we going to do the same thing, only our gospel is black nationalism. His gospel is white nationalism, our gospel is black nationalism. And the gospel of black nationalism, as I told you, means you should control your own, the politics of your community, the economy of your community, and all of the society in which you live should be under your control. And once you...feel that this philosophy will solve your problem, go join any church where that's preached. Don't join any church where white nationalism is preached. Why, you can go to a Negro church and be exposed to white nationalism. 'Cause when you are on - when you walk in a Negro church and see a white Jesus and a white Mary and some white angels, that Negro church is preaching white nationalism. [applause]

But, when you go to a church and you see the pastor of that church with a philosophy and a program that's designed to bring black people together and elevate black people, join that church. Join that church. If you see where the NAACP is preaching and practicing that which is designed to make black nationalism materialize, join the NAACP. Join any kind of organization - civic, religious, fraternal, political or otherwise that's based on lifting the black man up and making him master of his own community. [applause]

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American RadioWorks - Say it Plain, Say it Loud

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Public speech making has played a powerful role in the long struggle by African Americans for equal rights. This collection, for the ear and the eye, highlights speeches by an eclectic mix of black leaders. Their impassioned, eloquent words continue to affect the ideas of a nation and the direction of history.

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Press Conference

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American Rhetoric: Movie Speech from Malcolm X - Press Conference on Black Nationalism

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Full text and audio mp3 of movie Malcolm X - Press Conference on Black Nationalism

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Post Mecca News Conferance

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American Rhetoric: Movie Speech from Malcolm X - Post Mecca Press Conference

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Full text and audio mp3 of movie Malcolm X - Post Mecca Press Conference

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Speech in Harlem

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American Rhetoric: Movie Speech from Malcolm X - Address to the People of Harlem

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Full text and video and audio mp3 of movie Malcolm X - Harlem Address

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Speech when MLK was killed

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American Rhetoric: Robert F. Kennedy -- Statement on the Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Full text and audio mp3 of Robert F. Kennedy Statement on Martin Luther King's Death

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Sermon at Temple Israel of Hollywood

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American Rhetoric: Martin Luther King - Sermon at Temple Israel of Hollywood

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Complete text and audio of Martin Luther King's Sermon at Temple Israel of Hollywood

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I've Been to the Mountain Top

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American Rhetoric: Martin Luther King, Jr. - I've Been to the Mountaintop (April 3 1968)

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Full text and of Martin Luther King's I've Been to the Mountaintop

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I Have a Dream Speech

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M artin L uther K ing , J r .

I Have a Dream

delivered 28 August 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C.

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[AUTHENTICITY CERTIFIED: Text version below transcribed directly from audio. (2)]

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American , in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation . This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence , they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds."

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.

We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.

We cannot turn back.

There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. **We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: "For Whites Only."** We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until "justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."1

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest -- quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

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."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, d o wn in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together." 2

This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.

With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:

My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride, From every mountainside, let freedom ring!

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that:

Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.

From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

Free at last! Free at last!

Thank God Almighty, we are free at last! 3

= Source audio edited to exclude the content in double ** red asterisks in the above transcript.

¹ Amos 5:24 (rendered precisely in The American Standard Version of the Holy Bible)

2 Isaiah 40:4-5 (King James Version of the Holy Bible). Quotation marks are excluded from part of this moment in the text because King's rendering of Isaiah 40:4 does not precisely follow the KJV version from which he quotes (e.g., "hill" and "mountain" are reversed in the KJV). King's rendering of Isaiah 40:5, however, is precisely quoted from the KJV.

3 At: negrospirituals.com/songs/free_at_last_from.htm

Also in this database: Martin Luther King, Jr: A Time to Break Silence

Audio Source: Linked directly to:archive.org/details/MLKDream

Image #1: Wikimedia.org

Image #2 Source:.jfklibrary.org

Image #3: Colorized Screenshot

See also: The King Center

Page Updated: 1/16/23

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Martin Luther King, Jr: I Have a Dream Speech

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M artin L uther K ing , J r . I Have a Dream delivered 28 August 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C. Video Purchase Off-Site Audio mp3 of Address Your browser does not support the audio element. [AUTHENTICITY CERTIFIED: Text version below transcribed directly from audio.