Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X were two of the world’s most influential African-American civil rights activist. However, these men held opposing views on how to change and evolve the lives of African Americans. In his work, The Ballot or The Bullet, Malcolm X focuses on the advancement of African Americans by recognizing their current struggle. X asks the African American people to choose the ballot or the bullet because their choice has a preponderance of value in their communities and in the political system of America.
In the Speech to the MIA Mass Meeting at Holt Street Baptist Church, King addresses the unifying of all people by denouncing the racial injustice within America, and keeping God as the center in every decision in order to mobilize the country in a new direction. This idea would ultimately create a more perfect union between all people regardless of race, creed, and religion. In our current time, many African Americans have chosen to use a metaphorical bullet. However, the question stands as if they are using this bullet properly. Has the new generation educated themselves on racism and classism? If so, are they really “woke,” or are they indulging in a trend? This could indeed be a trend because of the overbearing amount of narcissism, and obsession with being famous, while totally negating the idea of values.
Malcolm X
The audience is instantly given an understanding of X’s tone within the first line In The ballot or the bullet. Malcolm X greets the people in the audience by categorizing them as his friend or enemy, he continues by saying; “ I just can’t believe everyone is my friend, and I don’t want to leave anybody out”. X’s first sentence informs the audience that he is knowledgeable of his enemies. Furthermore, Malcolm X then introduces his religion, however, he does not use his religion as a driving force or a symbolic figure, in fact, he references his religion as “ his personal belief”, notifying the audience that his religion is not of importance. Malcolm X, continues to allude to the “White man” as the enemy, but then contradicts himself by saying that “ it doesn’t mean we’re anti-white, but anti-exploitation” What he is saying is that he is not against any white people, but he is against being treated unfairly and being oppressed. He then announces to the audience the importance of voting and how white men in politics are taking advantage of African American communities and using African Americans for votes, or voting for a promise based politician that will not deliver his promises ultimately.
Malcolm X also states that African Americans need to start their own businesses, in their communities, because the "white man” will dominate their community and their money if they do not start to control their own neighborhood. Moreover, X states that America does not consider Black people Americans. He also states how Blacks are not afforded the same opportunities or privileges and how Black people are continually discriminated against. Malcolm X continues to focus on the topic of black nationalism, which literally means “the advocacy of separate national status for black people” (dictionary.com). This is contrasted in King's speech, where he introduces the idea of peace between all ethnic groups, and the love of God being bestowed upon all of the human race.
Dr. Martin Luther King
In the Speech to the MIA Mass Meeting at Holt Street Baptist Church, King addresses the unifying of all people by denouncing the racial injustice within America, and keeping God as the center in every decision in order to mobilize the country in a new direction. This idea will ultimately create a more perfect union between all people regardless of race, creed, religion etc. King never denounces the white man, however, King makes it known that he is fed up with the inequality in America. Though King recognizes inequality in America, he never says he’s not an American, unlike Malcolm X. King classifies himself as an American who is “determined to apply his citizenship to the fullest of its meaning” because of Dr. King’s strong belief in democracy he chooses to fight for it by transferring his belief into action but in a peaceful yet impactful way.
#BlackTwitter
Unlike the philosophies of King and X, Black Twitter has been the most successful tool of highlighting racism in the 21st century. Black Twitter is one of the most powerful sources that African Americans have, and its power holds within something as simple as 140 characters on a social media network. Black Twitter is the name given to the phenomenon of African American Twitter users, who use the platform to talk about social, political, and pop culture issues. In 1998 President Bill Clinton urged students to search for democracy on the web at MIT, and twenty years later social media serves as the voice of the minority.
Black Twitter has created three famous hashtags, such as “#solidarityisforwhitewomen” “#Iftheygunnedmedown” and the most famous“#BlackLivesMatter”. Solidarity is for white women is a movement created by a black womanist Mikki Kendall. This movement focuses upon how mainstream feminism caters to white women, while women of color are not highlighted and in some ways invisible. If they gunned me down is a movement on twitter that started after the shooting in Ferguson missouri, while police officer Darren Wilson killed unarmed Michael Brown. Tyler Atkins tweeted a photo of him wearing a T-shirt and a bandanna and another photo of him with a prized saxophone. He said that if the police were to gun him down then the media would show the photo of him wearing the T-shirt and bandanna, opposed to the photo of him with the prized saxophone.
#Black Lives Matter
Black Lives Matter is the most famous movements. This movement was created by activists Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi. Collectively these women felt that African Americans received unequal treatment from law enforcement. They said, “Black Lives Matter is an ideological and political intervention in a world where Black lives are systematically and intentionally targeted for demise. It is an affirmation of Black folks’ contributions to this society, our humanity, and our resilience in the face of deadly oppression."
Many scholars and political figures however, question if Black Twitter is serving as the idealistic purpose of civil rights like Dr. King and Malcolm X. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump met with T. Milton Street Sr., a former Pennsylvania state senator, Trump and Street discussed the Black Lives Matter movement. Street said, “I told Trump that I opposed the Black Lives Matter movement. Why should the deaths of Black youth only matter when a white person kills them? Where were they when 3000 black youth were killed from 2007 to 2011?" Many African Americans, political and diplomatic leaders do not agree with the Black Lives Matter movement. Because, they believe that they highlight white on Black crime, but hush upon Black on Black crime.
In The Ballot Or The Bullet, Malcolm X brings up the point that African Americans need to stop arguing amongst each other, and begin to argue and fight against the cruelty and injustice of the white man. Black on Black crime is a problem, and for a long period of time has been. So, to only cry Black Lives Matter when White on black crime occurs is hypocritical. This must change, if not the danger of the Black community will continue.
Black Ivy League
Morehouse and Spelman are the two most prestigious historically black colleges in the Nation, they are considered to be part of the "Black Ivy League". Students from these institutions wanted to share their comments on this controversy. Lauren Jenay Kelley, a Freshman at Spelman College, said “People often follow the Black Lives Matter movement because it’s trending on social media. Likes, favorites, and retweets are the motivation instead of actually making the change. It starts with one.” Juan Clarke a freshman at Morehouse College said “Yes, I believe that Black Lives Matter is a trend. Black people are excellent at acknowledging the problem but never actually resolve it. Black Lives Matter on social media takes away from the actual cause because people want retweets over justice”.According to this data, we can gather that some of the nation’s top black scholars believe that some people are no longer concerned with the initial premise of Black Lives Matter, but instead concerned with the popularity received when speaking about social issues. This is a problem, because some people of the black community are using their power for evil. Ultimately, this power becomes harm to the black society once more.
In The Ballot Or The Bullet, Malcolm X continues to allude to the “White man” as the enemy, but then contradicts himself by saying that “ it doesn’t mean we’re anti-white, but anti-exploitation”. What Malcom X is saying is that he is not against white people, but he is against being treated unfairly and being oppressed. King never denounces "the white man", however, King makes it known that he is fed up with the inequality in America. But a percentage of the new Black generation has become their own enemy, because of the infatuation of their own narcissism. Some, have forgotten about the meaning of fighting against white supremacy and racism, because of the fame gained from their Twitter notifications. They are the new oppressors of their own community.
The Impact
DailyBeast.com said that “There is also a growing criticism that Black Twitter is just the social media version of a hyper-reactionary watchdog group; a crew of “race-baiters”. However, Dr. King, says In the I'm Black and I'm Beautiful speech that “Somebody told a lie one day. They couched it in language. They made everything Black ugly and evil. Look in your dictionaries and see the synonyms of the word Black. It’s always something degrading and low and sinister. Look at the word White, it’s always something pure, high and clean. Well I want to get the language right tonight."
Essentially, King is saying that anything made by Black people, no matter how much value it has, will have a negative connotation upon it. Black Twitter, is a prime example of King’s claim. Though there are people apart of Black Twitter who are not interested in attacking racial issues simply because of them being a human being. There are activists, philanthropists, and intellectuals on Black Twitter using every character to deliver a message of hope for a new America. Black Twitter is the platform to display Black excellence in the new generation of African Americans and to attack racial and political issues that are harming the Black community. Black Twitter has become a community that gets together on every major event to speak on everything, and is the most popular voice in today’s society.
