What was the significance of the speech
"Message to the Grass Roots"?
Message to the Grass Roots
Message to the Grass Roots is an extremely memorable speech by Malcolm X, he was at Northern Negro Grass Roots Leadership Conference in 1963. It was also rated amongst the top one hundred American speeches of the 20th century.
Malcolm X began his speech setting a firm tone for all Afro-American's which was no matter what political or religious beliefs is that they all had one common goal which was their freedom as American citizens. He then went on to talk about a "common enemy" which was "The White Man" and he explains that as long as they share a common enemy they can come together as a community.
He also talks about "The March on Washington" which was lead by Martin Luther King Jr. He commented on it saying that the march "lost it's militancy" and shifted into "a circus". Malcolm X made this statement as he believed that the "white man" controlled this protest/ march.
It was one of the most political speeches ever made by Malcolm X this is because it was a political message that was outside the norms of the Nation of Islam's speeches. He spoke in this speech more as a leader of the African American masses than an Islamic minister for the Nation of Islam.
Malcolm X began his speech setting a firm tone for all Afro-American's which was no matter what political or religious beliefs is that they all had one common goal which was their freedom as American citizens. He then went on to talk about a "common enemy" which was "The White Man" and he explains that as long as they share a common enemy they can come together as a community.
He also talks about "The March on Washington" which was lead by Martin Luther King Jr. He commented on it saying that the march "lost it's militancy" and shifted into "a circus". Malcolm X made this statement as he believed that the "white man" controlled this protest/ march.
It was one of the most political speeches ever made by Malcolm X this is because it was a political message that was outside the norms of the Nation of Islam's speeches. He spoke in this speech more as a leader of the African American masses than an Islamic minister for the Nation of Islam.
"It's just like when you've got some coffee that's too black, which means it's too strong. What you do? You integrate it with cream, you make it weak. If you pour too much cream in, you won't even know you ever had coffee. It used to be hot, it becomes cool. It used to be strong, it becomes weak. It used to wake you up, now it'll put you to sleep."- Malcolm X