On the 57th anniversary of Malcolm X’s assassination, we look at some of the activist’s most memorable quotes. Malcolm X was a prominent human rights activist who rose to fame as the Nation of Islam’s chief spokesperson.
He was recognised for laying the foundation of the Black Power movement in the United States and being an advocate for Black empowerment.
The leader was assassinated while giving a lecture at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem in 1965; and he was pronounced dead at 3:30pm (20:30GMT) on February 21. He would be 96 years old, had he lived.
Below are some of Malcolm X’s most famous quotes:
On optics in the media
In his autobiography, written with Roots author Alex Haley and published after his death in 1965, Malcolm X said:
“If you’re not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.”
On media he said:
“The media’s the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that’s power. Because they control the minds of the masses.”
On learning and education:
During a speech at the founding rally of the Organization of Afro-American Unity on June 28, 1964, the leader said:
“Education is an important element in the struggle for human rights. It is the means to help our children and our people rediscover their identity and thereby increase their self-respect.
“Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs only to the people who prepare for it today”
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