Malcolm X on Anti-Colonial Nationalism (1964)

 

Malcolm X believed in black nationalism and anti-colonial politics. The conditions that African Americans were facing made him come to two conclusions. African Americans needed their own  independent state. Black separatism was a solution to the abuse by American society. Applying the similar tactics of the anti-colonial struggles in Africa, Asia, and Latin America could bring justice to African Americans in the United States. Slavery was used to make the US an economic power and European nations did the same. Liberation came by organizing and actively resisting the established political order. Malcolm X explains African Americans did not come as colonizers. They were captives, abducted from Africa .To get freedom, one must be willing to fight for it. Self-defense  of the community was a better method in Malcolm X's mind, rather than non-violent resistance. A government that does not protect or ensure the rights of citizens, means other tactics must be used. Malcolm X's ideas would be the basis of the black power movement.