A man who stands for nothing will fall for anything.
Malcolm XRead
No, we are not anti-white. But we don't have time for the white man. The white man is on top already, the white man is the boss already ... He has first-class citizenship already. So you are wasting your time talking to the white man. We are working on our own people.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the need for marginalized groups to focus on their own advancement rather than attempting to seek approval or assistance from those in power.
Malcolm X's quote highlights the frustration of marginalized communities who feel that engaging with those in power, particularly the white majority, is futile. Instead of seeking validation or support from a group that already holds a privileged position, the focus should be on empowering and uplifting one's own community to foster self-reliance and progress. It serves as a call to action for people to prioritize their own issues and development rather than waiting for approval or assistance from those who have historically oppressed them.
Themes
EmpowermentSelf-RelianceCommunityMarginalizationAdvancement
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used during a discussion on social justice to emphasize the importance of community work.
More from Malcolm X
All quotes →I have more respect for a man who lets me know where he stands, even if he's wrong, than the one who comes up like an angel and is nothing but a devil.
Malcolm XRead
When you want a nation, that's called nationalism... Black nationalism. A revolutionary is a Black nationalist. He wants a nation.
Malcolm XRead
So over you is the greatest enemy a man can have — and that is fear. I know some of you are afraid to listen to the truth — you have been raised on fear and lies. But I am going to preach to you the truth until you are free of that fear...
Malcolm XRead
Usually when people are sad, they don't do anything. They just cry over their condition. But when they get angry, they bring about a change.
Malcolm XRead
Time is on the side of the oppressed today, it's against the oppressor. Truth is on the side of the oppressed today, it's against the oppressor. You don't need anything else.
Malcolm XRead
Similar quotes
It is hard to let old beliefs go. They are familiar. We are comfortable with them and have spent years building systems and developing habits that depend on them. Like a man who has worn eyeglasses so long that he forgets he has them on, we forget that the world looks to us the way it does because we have become used to seeing it that way through a particular set of lenses. Today, however, we need new lenses. And we need to throw the old ones away.
Kenichi OhmaeRead
It's not a cold that you can get over. There is no anti-racist certification class. It's a set of socioeconomic traps and cultural values that are fired up every time we interact with the world. It is a thing you have to keep scooping out of the boat of your life to keep from drowning in it. I know it's hard work, but it's the price you pay for owning everything.
Scott WoodsRead
She did not believe that things could remain the same in different places, and since the portion of her life that lay behind her had been bad, no doubt that which remained to be lived would be better.
Gustave FlaubertRead
We all have the chance to create a world where extreme poverty is the exception rather than the rule.
Bill GatesRead
I think that to acknowledge a new generation is to acknowledge some degree of obsolescence in yourself, and that is very hard to do and often comes with undeniable anger.
Douglas CouplandRead
I am running into a new year and the old years blow back like a wind that I catch in my hair like strong fingers like all my old promises and it will be hard to let go of what I said to myself about myself when I was sixteen and twenty-six and thirty-six but I am running into a new year and I beg what i love and I leave to forgive me.
Lucille CliftonRead