1960's Diary Entery

1960's Diary Entries

HIS 135

Shauna Pena

September 9, 2012

Witness to the assassination of Malcolm X –Journal Entry #1

February 21, 1965

Today we have lost a legacy. Malcolm X was one of the greatest and most influential African Americans the world has ever known. He did so much to make us feel connected with our African American heritage. He would say the things we were thinking but were too afraid to say ourselves. He taught us to stand up for ourselves and our rights as black men. Who knew that a troubled young boy would become a powerful and educated leader?

As a young trouble maker doing prison time, it was during his ten years in prison that he educated himself as well as introducing himself to the Nation of Islam teachings. After serving a couple of prison stints he even became a minister of numerous temples in Boston, Philadelphia and New York. He also started a newspaper titled “Muhammad Speaks” which touched on controversial views about his idea that blacks were superior. He became second in command to Elijah Muhammad but they butted heads and ended up going their own ways. Elijah stuck to his ideas of Nation of Islam, while Malcolm X focused on what true Islam taught.

He felt that the Civil Rights Movement had the blacks begging the whites for freedom, and he was not a fan of begging. He instead advocated black power and black consciousness even if it resulted in violence. He had several famous speeches, including “Black Man’s History”, “The Black Revolution”, and “God’s Judgment of White America” (also known as “The Chickens Come Home to Roost”). These are the speeches he gave during the Nation of Islam. When he was transitioning to true Islam he gave “The Ballot or the Bullet”. After his transition to True Islam he gave a speech at Ford Auditorium.

Today at 3:10 PM we were gathered at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem to watch him address the Organization of Afro-American Unity when three of Elijah Muhammad’s followers brutally...