ACTIVITY 2: INTERVIEWING MALCOLM X

Instructions

This activity provides you with an opportunity to act as an interviewer of Malcolm X by first reading a quotation from him (all of which have been used as samplings in hip-hop recordings) and then writing your question in the textbox provided for you. Furthermore, reflect on the kinds of quotations that rap and hip-hop artists have incorporated into their creative works, in part to understand better the legacy of one of the most important figures in twentieth-century American history.

The sampling of Malcolm X's voice has been a prominent feature of hip-hop tracks since the 1980s. Many hip-hop artists--including Paris, Ice Cube, Stop the Violence, Tupac Shakur, and others--have used Malcolm's words in their creative productions to bolster the message and meaning of their own lyrics.

The following quotations from Malcolm X have been gathered from samplings from rap and hip-hop recordings. These quotes not only provide an interesting catalogue of some of Malcolm X's crucial ideas and thoughts but also allow an entry into the world of hip-hop itself.

Malcolm X is also known for the many controversial and stirring interviews he gave throughout his public career. From broadcasts on local radio and TV stations, to the now famous Playboy interview with Alex Haley, to the archival film footage on "The Hate That Hate Produced"--the 1959 Mike Wallace documentary on the Nation of Islam and black activism in the 1950s--Malcolm X remains one of the most talked-about interviewees of the late twentieth century.

This activity involves framing questions relevant to the quotations provided below. If you were a journalist, what questions would you have asked to elicit the responses given by Malcolm X?

To complete this activity, print this page or simply cut and paste the text below into your word processing program.

Example

All other revolutions in history have been bloody. The Russian revolution was bloody. The Chinese revolution was bloody. The French revolution was bloody. The Cuban revolution was bloody. Revolutions historically are always bloody. Now America is in a unique position to involve herself in a bloodless revolution by giving the 22 million Afro-Americans the ballot. And if they don't give the 22 million Afro-Americans the ballot and make possible a bloodless revolution then they are going to force the Afro- Americans to use a bullet...."

Your Question:

Must all revolutions use violence to acheive their aims?

Your Question:

"I will be more successful than all those that went before me. Because the time is right, the season is right, you are right, the traditions are right. We must go free! Now! Now is the time!"

Your Question:

"We don't care who likes us or not. As long as we know it's the truth. Much of what I say might sound different, but it's the truth. Much of what I say might sound like it's stirring up trouble, but it's the truth."

Your Question:

"You don't need any blades. You don't need any switchblades. All you need is the truth. They put you in jail for tearing a blade but they can't put you in jail for telling the truth."

Your Question:

"But when it comes to protecting the lives of 22 million Afro-Americans then all of a sudden Uncle Sam becomes very conscious of legality."

Your Question:

"Any means necessary for survival."

Your Question:

"If violence is wrong in America, violence is wrong abroad. If it's wrong to be violent defending black women and black children and black babies and black men, then it's wrong for America to draft us..."

Your Question:

"Speaking as a black man from America, which is a racist society. No matter how much you hear it talk about democracy it's as racist as South-Africa or as racist as Portugal or as racist as any other society on this earth. The only difference between it and South-Africa: South-Africa preaches separation and practices separation. America preaches integration and practices segregation. This is the only difference. They don't practice what they preach. For in South-Africa preaches and practices the same thing. I have more respect for a man who let me know where he stands, even if he's wrong, then one who comes up like an angel and is nothing but a devil."

Your Question:

"If Martin Luther King, Roy Wilkins or any of these compromising negroes who say exactly what the white man wants to hear, is interviewed anywhere in the country you don't get anybody to offset what they say. But whenever a black man stands up and says something that white people don't like then the first thing that white man does is run around and try and find somebody to say something to offset what has just been said. This is natural, but it is done."

Your Question:

"The only thing power respects, is power."

Your Question:

"They take one little word out of what you say, ignore all the rest, and then begin to magnify it all over the world to make you look like what you actually aren't."

Your Question:

"Much of what I say might sound like it's stirring up trouble, but it's the truth!"

Your Question:

"No! It can be either this or that. This or that! If you're wrong you're wrong and if you're right you're right."

Your Question:

"No compromise, no sellout!"

Your Question:

"If you're afraid to tell the truth, God, you don't even deserve freedom."

Your Question:

"We declare our right on this earth to be a man, to be a human being, to be respected as a human being, to be given the rights of a human being, in this society, on this earth, in this day, which we intend to bring into existence by any means necessary."

Your Question:

"The government will not protect us or defend us or find those who have brutalized us and made us the victims for the past 400 years, that it is time for us to do whatever is necessary to defend ourselves."

Your Question:

"You don't catch hell 'cause you're a Methodist or a Baptist. You don't catch hell because you're a Democrat or a Republican. You don't catch hell because you're a Mason.... And you sure don't catch hell 'cause you're an American 'cause if you was an American you wouldn't catch no hell. You catch hell 'cause you're a black man."