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ken taylor's avatar

99+ ideas here to contemplate.

Two things that make Malcolm X stand out to me. Intelligent, of course, but a self-taught street intelligence that assimilated street experience into developing his understandings that began as Malcolm Little and evolved into the denunciation of being little as applicable to that experience of being an Alkebulanian in America---even before embracing that experience into an X. While Alex Haley wrote his autobiography and I don't know how much was Haley; Haley left out his fantastic courage of confrontation to stand between the aroused on both sides of the spectrum. Therein is not only brilliance but the courage of his intellect to speak directly to the white man with the will of backing them down with his intellect and change their mood to negotiation. I see a direct link to Fredrick Douglass who exhibited the same brilliant courage. I don't know how to quite define in words how not only their words but the courage their words required in the face of the E-A's who were forced into eating their own worst inclinations. To face the reality, at least while they were being spoken to, that these E-A's were hearing the truth about themselves.

It is somewhat of an irony to me, that MLK is often credited to having precipitated violence wherever he spoke. That the violence was precipitated by the E-A's is generally ignored.

But by threat that violence could occur by the Alkebulanian, and confronted with their own ignorance and the fears that ignorance in the, E-A's almost never (I won't claim never, but I am unaware of any eruptions of violence by the E-A's against the aroused Alkebulanians confronting the E-A's with their own atrocities of behavior), when confronted with the prospect and the reality of Malcolm's words, generally had a better (less violent) outcome than King's "peaceful" marches.

While we would all like peaceful demonstrations to bring us peace, the prospective outcome is too frequently an opportunity to use violence against the peaceful protesters that is almost an insurmountable temptation by the weak and fearful minded.

Eventually, I suppose it is inevitable that organized confrontations will occur on a national or worldwide basis. Unfortunately (at least from the historical perspective) not very promising for the uprisers.

Until someone rises with the intellectual courage to unite the Alkebulanian ( & downtrodden in general, if possible) with the prospect of violence that can prevent the E-A's confronted with the truths and the realities of their own diminishment that their actions have led them to internalize, these E-A's will continue to let themselves to be emboldened.

Perhaps, Mr Kenyatta you may be that man. Your words often stir in me the same recognition of the realities that Douglass' and X's words often bring to me. You bring to the forefront the undeniable realities of apartheid fears bring to the table necessary for the door to the E-A's deportation of his own inner soul that has succumbed to the passions of group fear.

And this article may be your best.

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John D. Pearce's avatar

What, if anything, can European-Americans can do that would, I want to say "help" but think "not hurt" may be more appropriate, other than just getting out of the way?

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