MR MODERATOR, Brother Lomax, brothers and anybody out. The question tonight, as I understand way of understanding it, it points toward either the ballot or the bullet.
Although I'm still a Muslim, ''discuss not here tonight my religion. I'm not here to change vUUl religion. I'm not here to argue or discuss anything that we differ about, because it's time for us to submerge our ditterences and realize that it is best for us to first see that we have the same problem, a problem problem yUl catch hell wherer you're Baptist, Methodist, or a Muslim, or a nationalist. Whether ilconcalcu literate, whether you live on the boulevard or in the alley, you're going catch hell just like I am.
We're all in the same boat and we all are going to catch the same hell from une same man. Just happens. be a white All of us have sufIllal. fered here, in this country, political oppression at the Has one woe a economic exploitation The nang. The white man, and social degradation at the hands of the wille mad.
Now in speaking like this, it doesn't mean that we're anti-white, but does ¡icall we're antiexploitation, were all. degradation, antioppression. And if the white man doesn't want us to be anti-him, let him stop oppressing and exploiting degrading us.
Whether we are Christians or Muslims or nationalists or agnostics or atheists, we must tirst learn to torget our differences.
Don't let anybody tell anything about the odds against you. If they draft you, they send you to Korea and make you face 800 million Chinese. If you can be brave over there, vou can brave Ton here. These odds aren't as great as those odds. And if you fight here, you will at least know" what you're fighting for.
Everything that came out of Europe, every blueeyed thing, is already ar American. And as long as you and I have been over here, we aren't Americans yet.
Well, I am doesn't believe in deluding myself.I'm not going to sit at your table and watch you eat, with nothing on my plate, and call myself a diner. Sitting at the table doesn't make you a diner; or the bullet unless eal Some of what's on that plate.
Being here in America doesn't make yul an TWENTY YEARS ago the great black American revolutionary Malcolm X was assassinated. All behind the murder. Malcolm X had begun to inspire US blacks to fight for their freedom independently of the racist and imperialist Democratic/Republican party system.
was labelled a racist publishers of the British version of his autobiography. As Malcolm himself pointed out, blaming the victim is always the response of oppressors.
Today Malcolm X's ideas have inspired a new generation of black freedom fighters in the United States. reject desse Jackson's presidential nomination campaign for the racist Democratic Party. Malcolm X's ideas are just as relevant for Britain.
of Malcolm's speeches on the need for black self-organisation breaks from capitalism and imperialism. It was written in the United States where there is not even a Labour Party to confront the capitals parties.
The refusal to recognise black sections at the last Labour Party conference, and the new demand for a 'loyalty oath' that constituencies will not acknowledge the votes of black sections in the re-selection of MPs shows the same resistance in Britain to black self-organisation that Malcolm X condemned in the United States.
American. Why, if birth made you American, you wouldn't need any legislation, you wouldn't need amendments to the ally Constitution, you wouldfaced with civilrights filibustering Washington, D.C., right LOW.
No, I'm American. I'm one of the 22 million nack people evidence points to the hand of the US government Malcolm X advocated black nationalism. For this he • a slander repeated by the They particularly showed why it was necessary to Below, to commemorate his anniversary we print one - organisation on a programme which who are the victims of One of the 22 million black people who ine victims nothing but disguised hypocrisy. So. I'm not standing here speaking to as all American, or a patriot, or a flag-saluter, or a flagno, not l. I'm Wave. speaking as a victim of this American system. And I see America through the eyes of the victim. I don't see any American dream; 1 see American nightmare.
These 22 million victims are waking up. Their eyes coming open. They're beginning to see what they used to only look at. They are realising that there are new political trends from coast to coast.
see these UCW political trends, it's possi ble for them to see that every time there's an election the races are so close that they have to have a recount.
They had to recount in Massachusetts to see who was going to be governor, it was so close. It was the same way in Rhode Island, in Minnesota, and in many other parts of the country And the same with Ken neay and nixon waen Ine) ran for president. It was so close that СЛеУ count all over again. Well, what does this mean? It means that when white people are evenly divided, and black people have a Doc or votes on lnerowa is left up to them to determine who's going to sit in the White House and who's going to be in the dog nouse It was the black man's vote that put the present administration Washington, D.C. Your vote, your dumb vote, your ignorant vote, your wasted vote put in an administration in Washington, D.C., that has seen fit to pass every kind of legislation imaginable, saving you until last, then filibustering on top of that.
your my leaders have the audacity to run around clapping their hands and talking about how much progress we're making.
It's got to be the ballot or the bullet The ballot or the bullet. If you're afraid to use an expression like that. vou should get on out of the country, you should get back in the cotton patch, you should get back in the alley.
They get all the Negro VULC the Negro gets nothing in and after they get it, return. 'All ther did when they got to Washington was give a few big Negroes big jobs. Those big Negroes didn't need big jobs, they already had jobs. That's camouflage. I'm trying to knock out the Democrats, the (Speech by Malcolm X on 3 April 1964 in Cleveland USA)
Republicans, we'll get to them in a minute. But it is true put the an e Democrats put you last.
The same government that you go abroad to fight for die the government that is in a conspiracy to deprive you your voting rights, deprive of your economic opportunities, deprive of decent housing, deprive you di decent education.
You don't need to go to the employer alone, it is the government itselt, the government of America, that is responsible for the oppressior LOI and degradation black people in this coun try. And you should drop it in their lap. This government has failed the Negro. This so-called democracy has failed the Negro. And all these white liberals have definitely failed the Negro.
from here? First, uve we need some triends need some new allies. The entire civil-rights struggle needs a interpretation, broader interpretation. We need to look at this civil-rights thing another angle _ from the inside as well as from the To those of us whose philosophy is black nationalism, the only way you can get involved in the civil-rights struggle is to give it a new tion. That old interpretation excluded us. It kept us out. So, we're giving a new interpretation to the civilpretation that will enable come into it, take part in it.
these handkerchief-heads who have been dillydallying pussyfooting compromising - we don'1 intend to let them pussyfoot and dillydally compromise any longer.
How can you thank a man lot giving you wildl s already yours? How then can you thank him for giving you only part of what's already yours?
And now you're facing situation where the young Negro's coming up They don't want to hear that 'turn-the-othercheek' stuff, In Jacksonville, those were teenagers, they were throwing Molotov cocktails. Negroes have never done that before. But it shows you there's a deal coming There's new thinking coming in. There's strately coming Molotov cocktails this month. hand grenades next month, and something eise next mon. th. It'll be ballots, or it'll be bullets. It'll be liberty. or it will be death. The only difference about this kind of death - it'll be reciprocal.
Three hundred and ten years we worked in this country without a dime in return - I mean without a dime in return. You let the white man walk around here talking about how rich this country is, but never stop to think how it got rich so quick. It got rich because you made it rich.
You take the people who are in this audience right now. They're poor, salary individually alloulils to hardly anything. But if you take the salary of everyone in here collectively it'll fill up a whole lot of baskets. It's a lot of wealth.
If you can collect the wages of just these people right here for a year, you'll be rich - richer than rich When you look at it like that, think how rich Uncle Sam had to become, nor with this handful, but millions of black people Your and my mother and father, who didn't wor eight-hour shift, but worked from 'can't see' in until 'can't the morning see' at night, and worked for nothing making the white man rich, making Uncle Sam rich.
This is our investment This is our contribution our blood. Not only did we give of our free labor, . WE gave of our blood. Every time he had a call to arms. we were the first ones in uniform. We died on every battlefield the white man had.
We have made greater sacrifice than anybody who's standing up in America today. We have made a greater con tribution have col lected less. Civil rights, fo: those of whose philosophy is black na. tionalism, means: 'Give i to us now. Don't wait fo: next year. Give it to u yesterday, and that's no fast enough.
Uncle Sam's hands are dripping with blood, drip. ping with the blood of the black man in this country He's the earth's number one hypocrite. He has the audacity - yes, ne nas imagine him posing as the leader of the free world The free world! - and you Ovel singing 'We Shall Overcome.' Expand the civil-rights struggle to the level O1 human rights, take it to the United Nations, where our African brothers Cai throw their weight on our side where our Asian brothers can throw their weight on our side, where our Latin-American brothers can throw thei: weight on our side, where million Chinamen are sitting there waiting to throw their weight on our side.
So you're dealing with a man whose bias and prejudice are making him lose his mind, his intelligence. every day. He's frightened. He looks around and sees what's taking place on this earth, and he sees that the pendulum of time is swinging in your direction The dark people are waking up. They're losing of the white man. No place where he's fighting right now is he willie Everywhere he's fighting he's fighting your complexion. And they're beating him. He can't win any more. He's won his last battle. He failed to win the Korean War. He couldn't win it. He had to sign a race.
Any time Uncle Sam, with all his machinery for war fare, is held to a draw by some rice-eaters, he's lost the battle.
'grip of sectarianism' on the LPYS.
But this move has not done by pathetic budget of the PYS (currently 1 per cent ¡ iotal Labour Party exenditure), nor supporting the in the LPYS. It has *roscary been acnieved changing the relationbetwee the Labour and trade on leadership The resolution has heraided F Labour prescription Labour's youth' But reality not scription for a healthy, 1• C Iliass moveent but one to remove y potential of building a cialist youth movement ch could be any serious litical or organisational allenge to dership.
The resolution reflects concerns of the Kinleadership ot the bour Party rather than working ass youth.
The first part of the solution was pitched to amed 'the grip of secrian politics on the YS the lack of campaignas sole...for the lack buth by Labour's youth prement.' The experience of the year does prove that CULICCUIS ch the LPYS and the resol of a mass campaigning youth movement in Brihas suddenly found new and unexpected supLabour Party leadership though verv different are blocks to building mass campagnig youtn The last year has been one of historic class strug. gle. Young alu men have led this struggle the mining communities. There has been a mushrooming of lesbians says miners groups, the women against pit closure groups, the black solidarity The political ideas of housands of young people have been forged in this battle. All this has added to the already existing struggles of Youth CND, the women's movement, the Irish solidarity movement, and all the struggles of the oppressed. has helped forge a class struggle current among youth. This strengthens the of the whole working class by taking up the specific concerns of al the oppressed Cxploited.
The approach of the leadership the LPYS during this historic struggle has been to ignore ine lessons of solidarity, and the self-organisation of the oppressed The leadership failed to organise even one national LP IS support of the miners. Its sectarianism led it to miss the win many thousands of young people to the LPYS. the leadership the Party proposes to attract these youth to the LPYS, given its complete scabbing role during the Has the Labour Party leadership become the friend of youth?
is a complete mystery however The second part of the resolution posed a 'solution' to the problem. Apart the whole campaigning recruitment to the LPYS the resolution includes discussing direct trade umon delegation to national regional LPYS conferences, and involving the Scottish counch ot the Labour much more directly in the affairs of the LPYS.
Greater involvement of young trade unionists in the LPYS is entirely to be welcomed. This is not proposed by the resolution however. Direct involvement by unions at a national and regional level today means concretely increasing the hold of the bureaucracy in the LPYS volvement of young workers. Without democratising the unions, real youth sections in the trade unions, making the leaderships accountable 'direct trade union delegations national regional LPYS conferences simply means the YS being brought more firmly grip the leadership of the trade The trade union youth sections which presently pade union - that is bureaucrats can as a block Control you their people of control of own organisation The need for such ORECA chang in the _PYS. an the potential for a mass youth move ment, have been proved beyond any doubt over the secure real political cha ge last year. The is to support the organisational independence of the LYS — not to undermine it. Young people, union bureaucrats, IBUS control their own Without organisation that it will never be built as alass force Activists in the Scottish LPYS who want to build a mass campaigning youth movement have organised around the Scottish LPYS Bulletin. Some of the most about the resolution adopted which unreated. organisational independence of the LPYS, were giving very little support to this Bulletin and its aims Lo sue a mass campaigning ILPYS and fight any witch hunting moves.
The stagnation of Labour's youth movement is a political problem. The Labour Partv leadershin 1s part of the problem posed in building a • illass movement movement does not just mean more campaigning. means paigning for socialist policies, supporting workers when they are on strike, and making leader.
accountable.
resoluton gues in exactly the wrong direction.
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sisters, friends and enemies: I just can't believe everyone in here is a friend and I don't want to leave
it, is 'The Negro Revolt, and Where Do We Go From Here?' or 'What Next?' In my little humble
ockly, and New Salesman ang Socialist: ort among sections of the Labour Party leadership. The composite resolution passed at the Scottish onference has been applauded as an attempt to end
Sassinlist Actina 29 Moreo 1985 Tribune, Labou
assed at Scottish Labour P erence on 10 March, it would seem that the