...------------------------------------------------- The Ballot or the bullet Malcolm X Cory Methodist Church Cleveland, Ohio April 3, 1964 Garret Feucht COM 250 – Prof. Heins 10/29/15 Garret Feucht COM 250 – Prof. Heins 10/29/15 (Daniels, 2014) The Ballot or the Bullet is the title of one of the many speeches given by human rights activist Malcolm X. In his speech he focuses on the oppression of the African American, and how African Americans are able to stand up against the illegal segregation. Malcolm also focuses on the African American’s right to vote, and how effective each vote actually is. He also warns the government that if he and his people are not able to vote that they may have to take up arms. The Ballot or the Bullet is among one of Malcolm’s most famous speeches being ranked at number seven in a Top 100 list of speeches in the 20th century. (News, 2008) On May 19, 1925 Malcolm Little was born to parents Earl and Louise Little the fourth of seven children. Born in Omaha, Nebraska the Little family shortly after moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin and then to Lansing, Michigan to avoid any further harassment from the Ku Klux Klan. In 1929, just four years after Malcolm was born, the LIttle family house was burned down. This was no accident it was believed to have been burned by members of the Black Legion. At the age of six Malcolm’s father passed away in an automobile accident. Rumors spread that Earl had been murdered by white racists. His mother believed...
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...The Ballot or the Bullet “The Ballot or the Bullet”, the name itself does not leave something to the imagination. It catches our attention and makes us react without even uttering another word. Malcolm X knew this well and that’s what made him such a charismatic figure in the civil rights movement of the sixties. Malcolm X delivered this speech at the height of the civil rights movement, just one month prior Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech was delivered. X was trying to go after a different group of people within the same group (African-Americans), he knew that many people didn’t embrace the peaceful nature of Dr. King’s rallies and knew he could capitalize on the moment. Congress had done very little to further the civil rights movement with any piece of legislation, and the African-American population was growing frustrated. That frustration fueled Malcolm X to deliver “The Ballot or the Bullet”, invoking a sense of emergency amongst African-Americans to act now. 1964 was an election year and Malcolm X used this to further fuel his movement, “when all the political crooks will be right in the community, with all their false promises which they don’t intend to keep (X, 1964). Malcolm X made it very clear that he was not asking the black man to throw caution to the wind with statements such as “I’m not anti-Democrat, I’m not anti-Republican, and I’m not anti-anything. I’m just questioning their (white politicians) sincerity and some of the strategy...
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...myths of Odysseus. In more recent times, many people appreciate the work of Malcolm X for his heroic fight against injustice and his tremendous speaking ability. His monumental speeches impact the thoughts and shape the ideals of many activists that advance in the fight for social justice. In Homer’s The Odyssey and Malcolm X’s “The Ballot or the Bullet”, both heroes convey great strength in their battles through Odysseus’s surviving the hurricane sent from Poseidon, Malcolm X’s clear portrayal of the injustices in America, and both heroes willingness while staying persistent and achieve justice. Homer conveys Odysseus’s strength through his survival of the hurricane from Poseidon. For example, while Odysseus struggles to stay alive during the storm, “he’d not forget his craft-- he lunged after...
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...Patrick Brown Mr.Challandes AP Language and Composition 24 February 2015 Malcolm X: Building Up the Fire of the Civil Rights Movement “Nobody can give you freedom. Nobody can give you equality or justice or anything. If you're a man, you take it” (Malcolm X). This quote from one of Malcolm X’s speeches embodies who he was as a person and what he valued. As a civil rights activist, Malcolm learned not to let the hate of others prevent him from living out his life the way he wanted. While others pushed a pacifist movement, Malcolm understood that there would be no peaceful way to resolve the civil rights issues. Malcolm was prepared to fight for his own rights, and even put his own life at risk. The impact that he had on the Civil rights movement was rivaled only by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and all of his ideas were culminated into one speech, called The Ballot or the Bullet. Malcolm X’s speech comes during April of 1963, a critical time during the American Civil rights movement, and Malcolm’s ability to target and rile up the emotions of his African-American audience is what makes his speech so powerful. During the 1960’s, America was a hostile environment for an ambitious African-American citizen. Although executive leaders, such as John F. Kennedy, were promising that they had been doing as much as possible to improve civil rights, not enough actual progress had been made to improve the lives of African-Americans. In 1963 alone, a year in which the civil rights...
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...aggressive speaker. Malcolm X. A former minister for the nation of Islam and a black rights activist. Malcolm X’s speech the Ballot or the Bullet, educated and motivated the black community in the states, of the harsh lives they live and...
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...Rhetorical Analysis: The Ballot or the Bullet The two great civil rights leaders of the 1960’s, Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, held diametrically opposed political philosophies. King was a pacifist, in the tradition of Gandhi before him; Malcolm X was a radical, an advocate of violence. Both, however, shared a common goal—real freedom for African Americans. Malcolm X’s speech, “The Ballot or the Bullet,” was a direct response to Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech of a month before. Malcolm X, once associated with the Black Panthers, and a member of the Black Muslim movement, wrote “The Ballot or the Bullet” not only as a response to Martin Luther King Jr.’s pacifism, but because he was frustrated with white dilly-dallying in reaching a decision on black rights in America. Political debate had reached an impasse, and Malcolm wanted to make it clear that if the Congress couldn’t come to a decision, black Americans would take matters into their own hands. He did not share Martin’s pacifist inclinations, and he promised a violent seizure of civil rights. An examination of Malcolm X’s speech will reveal that it is one of the most powerful speeches ever written. It is, in every respect, the equal of Martin’s “I Have a Dream” speech. It is eloquent, it is memorable, and it is poetic. Its tone, unlike Martin’s conciliatory speech, is militant. He appeals to the emotions of his young audience, rousing them to anger; and in the same breath, strikes...
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...Rhetorical Analysis of the “Ballot or the Bullet” and “Somebody Blew Up America” The purpose of this essay to compare and contrast the rhetoric in Amira Baraka’s “Somebody Blew up America” and Malcolm X’s “The Ballot or the Bullet in regards to ethos, pathos, and logos. Amiri Baraka, born Everett LeRoi Jones, was an African-American writer of poetry, drama, fiction, essays, and music criticism. Baraka read his poem “Somebody Blew up America?” on the September 11th attacks and was heavily criticized for anti-Semitism and attacks on public figures. His poem is free verse and has no set structure but maintains its rhythmic elements for oral sharing. The poem was meant to be shared orally so that Baraka would be able to emphasize and share lines specifically for an audience. Malcolm X, born Malcolm Little, was an African-American Muslim minister...
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...long and painful history. As a result of the original civil rights movement championed by many including Malcolm X, there is a deep seated distrust and anger towards our police and our government for many things including segregation, lack of representation, gerrymandering, criminalization and violence towards the African American community to name only a few. In 1964, Malcolm X rallied in the speech...
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...violent retaliation in any form. Comparing figureheads such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X show the distinct differences between the two, what may seem like a radical idea to one may not seems so to the other. The contrasting ideas of both nonviolent activists and activists who believe violence is inevitable if not necessary in the Civil Rights Movement, emphasizes the idea that nonviolence is key to one understanding...
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...Malcolm X’s The Ballot or the Bullet speech was ranked 7th as one of the most prominent speeches in America. On April 3,1964 in his speech The Ballot or the Bullet, civil rights activist Malcolm X suggested that black nationalism should be the philosophy of all African American people. Malcolm X supported this suggestion by using examples of how they have been mistreated to convert them to that philosophy. Malcolm X’s purpose is to persuade the black population to unite, exercise their right to vote and take action if they are robbed their civil rights. Malcolm X uses a commanding tone with the African American people to make them feel angry about what has been done to them and to persuade them that fighting back is the solution. Malcolm X...
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...Science and Technology Malcolm X and the effect of his literature On the Black Civil Rights Movement Ohoud Al-Awadhi Ibrahim Al-Hiyari American Literature 12/1/13 Malcolm Little was born in Omaha, Nebraska, on the day of May 19, 1925. He decided to withdrawal from middle school at the age 15. This resulted in the him being convicted of robbery and as a result, being sent to prison at the age of twenty one. In that facility, the Nation of Islam which were a group of Black Muslims, were a group of which he found interest in. After he left prison in 1952, he devoted himself to helping the Black Muslims, and later adopted the name; Malcolm X. Unfortunately, the group eventually decided to overthrow him, due to remarks made about John F. Kennedy (Helfer 34). This led him to depart from that movement. During March, 1964, he was occupied in arranging first the Muslim Mosque, Inc., and the Organization of Afro American Unity. He travelled twice to Africa and the Middle East also in the same year. That would end only three months after he returned (X &Perry 14). Once he landed in United States, he was assassinated in the city of New York on February 21, 1965. Since his child hood, Malcolm X was born into a society that embarked the ideas of radical Black tradition. Once he left prison, Malcolm joined the Nation of Islam and was taught by Elijah Muhammad. As with all Nation of Islam members, Malcolm little transformed to Malcolm X, to counter his slave name...
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...Anika Her 10/18/15 ENG 5 Guerin The Ballot or the Bullet Speech Analysis Malcolm X gave his speech by persuading African Americans to inundate their differences, only to learn that they all had the same issue: “political oppression, economic exploitation, and social degradation at the hands of the white man.” Noting that 1964 was the year of the elections, he asked his audience to choose whether they wanted to merge with white communities as one to receive equal rights along with voting for who will sit in the White House and who will sit in the dog house, or to stand up through the years of injustice they have received. He then warns them by declaring that it will end up in a situation where bullets will take place instead of not putting in a ballot. While delivering his speech, it is seen that he attempts to reunite all African-Americans by using rhetoric. Malcolm also mentions that every human should be treated equally and given equal rights no matter what race you were. In addition, he also impersonated these issues into his perspective for his audience and to hopefully persuade them as well by providing characteristic uses of both language and imagery. Then, he reveals how democrats are deceivers and portrays that as long as the Americans had control of both the Senate and House, the African-Americans will never gain a helping hand from them. His describes himself through a quote by stating that he was not an anti-democrat or an anti-republican. All he wanted was...
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...The piece that is being used for this assignment is a speech by Malcolm X titled, “The Ballot or The Bullet.” The whole speech can be found here, although a few segments of the speech will be used, http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/speeches/malcolm_x_ballot.html. The first logical fallacy found in this speech is one that appeals to emotion. To be specific, this quote appeals to the fear of the audience who listened to it. In paragraph 3, Malcolm X stated, “Whether you're educated or illiterate, whether you live on the boulevard or in the alley, you're going to catch hell just like I am. We're all in the same boat and we all are going to catch the same hell from the same man. He just happens to be a white man.” This is an example of the appeal to fear fallacy because of the fact that Malcolm X stated that no matter who you were, you were going to be affected negatively by the same person. In this case, he was using the fallacy as a way to worry the crowd about the upcoming elections in that year. Because of this, he is increasing the prejudice, or...
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...he is probably the most famous person associated with the civil rights movement. The speaker of the last speech is Malcolm X, who was another prominent figure during the Civil Rights era. Malcolm X gave an alternative view to the movement, where he advocated for the establishment of a separate black community (instead of integration) and for the use of violence in self defense. 2. Compare the main ideas of each of the three speeches. What do they have in common and where do they differ? JFK's Civil Rights Address was the first time that a president called on Americans to recognize civil rights as a moral cause to which all people should contribute. The main idea of the speech was that Americans should work together to finally end discrimination against and provide equal treatment to African Americans. Martin Luther King's speech, "I have a dream" was not only about equality for blacks and whites, but for equality in general. He wanted not only tolerance, but acceptance. The main idea of the speech was for equality for everyone, no matter their skin color. Lastly, Malcolm X's speech, "The ballot or the bullet," was more focused on the voting right's for blacks. He emphasized the importance of voting as a solution to ending discrimination against blacks. He said, "Since blacks were denied their civil liberties, either the ballot or the bullet is next." This means that blacks will either get their rights, or they will rebel against the government. All three...
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...happy ending but in reality, racism didn’t fade because by then black people had so much anger toward white people and seen white people as their enemy because of how they were treated for so long. There were many significant figures that took a stand in the history of United States to stop racism. One tried to show that we are not animals and that we can be in the same establishment without being inferior. Some stand out by speaking in public being peaceful while others use form of media such as novel and movies. Some of these figures that stand out by speaking in public was, Martin Luther King JR and Malcolm X they are probably the most famous one. Martin Luther King JR is famous for his “I have a dream” speech. Martin Luther King JR spoke in public and try to persuade everybody to see that violence will solve nothing and that violence itself is root of all evil. While Malcolm X, unfortunately used...
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