prominence as a dynamic and eloquent spokesperson for the Nation of Islam. He was the Nation's most effective speaker and talented organiser, and was responsible for that organisation's rapid growth in the early In early 1964, however, Malcolm X broke with the Nation of Islam. There were many reasons for this painful schism, but the main one was the Nation's abstention from the Black struggle for civil rights.
Malcolm X was a product of his time and he was deeply influenced by revolutionary events on a world scale - - the upsurge of the colonial revolution in Africa, Asia and Latin America and the massive civil rights struggle against "Jim Crow" racism in the United States. to me that's not racism. yours is racism...My reaction is the reaction of a human being reacting to defending and protecting himself."
He exposed the double-talk of the liberals, who cautioned Black people to "go slow" and be non-violent."they want you to be non-violent here, but they want you to be very violent in South Vietnam."
In his last year Malcolm X changed his approach to the mainstream civil rights organisations. He treated his differences with Martin Luther King and other leaders of the civil rights movement as subordinate to their common struggle against racism in America.
He declared that he was willing to work with anyone in a common struggle and form a. East that expanded his political horizons considerably.
On his return from the second trip, he announced that he and his organisation, the Organisation of Afro-American Unity (OAAU), planned to petition the United Nations to take up the question of the Black struggle in the United States as a human rights issue similar to the fight of the Black majority in South Africa. Such a project was like a OUR HISTORY dagger pointed at the throat of the US government.
Malcolm X was an implacable foe of both the Democrat and Republican parties. "Any negro who registers as a Democrat or Republican is a traitor to his people". "One is the wolf, the other is the fox. No matter what, they both eat you.
From a firebrand who focused against white America, Malcolm X became a remorseless prosecutor of capitalist America. "Capitalism used to be an eagle, but today it is more like a vulture, sucking the blood of people. You can't have capitalism without racism."
Ultimately the system of exploitation that propelled Malcolm X to leadership will create many another revolutionary fighter in the working class. • Joseph Ryan edits the US Fourth Internationalist monthly, Socialișt Action.
SOCIALIST OUTLOOK No. 78. 25 February 1995, Page 14.
Facing mass unemployment, rampant employers equipped with savage anti-union laws, and a war on hard-won education, health and welfare services, the working class in of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Trotsky.
Our socialist alternative is not based on parliamentary elections or illusions of peaceful legislative change. We fight to mobilise and unleash the power of the working Socialist Outlook welcomes readers' letters. Send them to Feedback, PO Box 1109, London N4 2UU. Letters over 300 words may be edited. ecutive decide on one position cially). Cruelty to animals is all too real. And if the goal of socialism is to create a world free of exploitation, oppression and needless suffering, then the abuse of animals for private profit should be of concern to Marxists.
Live exports are of no benefit to society. They benefit only rich consumers, supermarkets and the links in the meat industry chain.
The meat industry illustrates starkly how under capitalism all the considerations -human health, rational land use and animal welfare - are