Malcolm X at the Uline Arena: 1961
Malcolm X holds up money collected at a “Freedom Rally” June 25, 1961 sponsored by the Nation of Islam at Washington, D.C.’s Uline Arena at the 1100 block of 3rd Street NE.
10,000 Nation of Islam members from all over the country traveled to Washington, D.C. to hear Elijah Muhammad speak on “Separation or Death” but Muhammad took ill and his young, rising protégé Malcolm X was called on to deliver the keynote address along with Muhammad’s son Wallace D. (Warith).
Malcolm blasted the “’so-called Negro’ in America who has been ‘brainwashed’ into a desire for integration.”
He continued, “We are not for integration. We are not for segregation. But what?” The crowd responded. “Separation!”
Malcolm told the crowd that, “We don’t intend to turn the other cheek. We are a peaceful people, but can cause a great deal of trouble.”
He added that the Nation’s black Muslims can cause the death of 1,000 persons a minute for every minute that we last” in any showdown with the “forces of oppression.”
Malcolm continued, “Any Negro trying to integrate is actually admitting his inferiority, because he is also admitting that he wants to become a part of a ‘superior’ society.”
“America is the last bulwark of white supremacy. Forced integration will not work. We are fed up with segregation. What we want now is immediate separation... The white man is captain of his own ship. All we want to do is get out of your ship and into our own. If we stay here any longer we're liable to capsize your boat.”
“The white man was surprised that so many black people would show up in support of complete separation, rather than for integration.”
George Lincoln Rockwell, head of the American Nazi Party, showed up at the rally and sat in front, along with several white supporters.
When the black leader called for the crowd to fill collection buckets “for separation,” Rockwell pulled out his wallet.
From the stage, Malcolm announced gifts as they came in, “$20 from who? George Lincoln Rockwell! Good to have it!”
The crowd erupted in applause. Malcolm joked, “We got $20 from George Lincoln Rockwell and you got the biggest hand you ever got didn't you, Mr. Rockwell?” More applause.
Rockwell's only qualm was the location for the proposed black separatist society: ‘‘They want a chunk of America and I prefer that they go to Africa.”
By March 1964, Malcolm X had grown disillusioned with the Nation of Islam and its leader Elijah Muhammad. Expressing many regrets about his time with them, which he had come to regard as largely wasted, he embraced Sunni Islam.
After a period of travel in Africa and the Middle East, which included completing the Hajj, he repudiated the Nation of Islam, disavowed racism and founded Muslim Mosque, Inc. and the Organization of Afro-American Unity. He adopted the name el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz and continued to emphasize Pan-Africanism, black self-determination, socialism and black self-defense.
He specifically called out George Lincoln Rockwell and warned him that further attacks on black people would be met in kind.
In February 1965, three members of the Nation of Islam assassinated him.
For more information and related images, see flic.kr/s/aHskGZytV3
The photographer is unknown. The image is an auction find.
Malcolm X at the Uline Arena: 1961
Malcolm X holds up money collected at a “Freedom Rally” June 25, 1961 sponsored by the Nation of Islam at Washington, D.C.’s Uline Arena at the 1100 block of 3rd Street NE.
10,000 Nation of Islam members from all over the country traveled to Washington, D.C. to hear Elijah Muhammad speak on “Separation or Death” but Muhammad took ill and his young, rising protégé Malcolm X was called on to deliver the keynote address along with Muhammad’s son Wallace D. (Warith).
Malcolm blasted the “’so-called Negro’ in America who has been ‘brainwashed’ into a desire for integration.”
He continued, “We are not for integration. We are not for segregation. But what?” The crowd responded. “Separation!”
Malcolm told the crowd that, “We don’t intend to turn the other cheek. We are a peaceful people, but can cause a great deal of trouble.”
He added that the Nation’s black Muslims can cause the death of 1,000 persons a minute for every minute that we last” in any showdown with the “forces of oppression.”
Malcolm continued, “Any Negro trying to integrate is actually admitting his inferiority, because he is also admitting that he wants to become a part of a ‘superior’ society.”
“America is the last bulwark of white supremacy. Forced integration will not work. We are fed up with segregation. What we want now is immediate separation... The white man is captain of his own ship. All we want to do is get out of your ship and into our own. If we stay here any longer we're liable to capsize your boat.”
“The white man was surprised that so many black people would show up in support of complete separation, rather than for integration.”
George Lincoln Rockwell, head of the American Nazi Party, showed up at the rally and sat in front, along with several white supporters.
When the black leader called for the crowd to fill collection buckets “for separation,” Rockwell pulled out his wallet.
From the stage, Malcolm announced gifts as they came in, “$20 from who? George Lincoln Rockwell! Good to have it!”
The crowd erupted in applause. Malcolm joked, “We got $20 from George Lincoln Rockwell and you got the biggest hand you ever got didn't you, Mr. Rockwell?” More applause.
Rockwell's only qualm was the location for the proposed black separatist society: ‘‘They want a chunk of America and I prefer that they go to Africa.”
By March 1964, Malcolm X had grown disillusioned with the Nation of Islam and its leader Elijah Muhammad. Expressing many regrets about his time with them, which he had come to regard as largely wasted, he embraced Sunni Islam.
After a period of travel in Africa and the Middle East, which included completing the Hajj, he repudiated the Nation of Islam, disavowed racism and founded Muslim Mosque, Inc. and the Organization of Afro-American Unity. He adopted the name el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz and continued to emphasize Pan-Africanism, black self-determination, socialism and black self-defense.
He specifically called out George Lincoln Rockwell and warned him that further attacks on black people would be met in kind.
In February 1965, three members of the Nation of Islam assassinated him.
For more information and related images, see flic.kr/s/aHskGZytV3
The photographer is unknown. The image is an auction find.