WHO TAUGHT YOU TO HATE YOURSELF?

This week marks the 60th anniversary of the assassination of Malcolm X (1925-65), a pivotal figure in the Pan-African revolutionary movement, who was assassinated on 21 February 1965 in New York City.

Malcolm X's profound impact on Black empowerment and consciousness came from his efforts to help people of African descent rediscover and embrace our true heritage and disregard colonial institutions, fostering a sense of self-worth within the community.

On 5 May 1962, he delivered a powerful address at a memorial service for Ronald Stokes, a secretary of a Los Angeles mosque whom police k*lled while assisting fellow Nation of Islam members whom police had stopped for questioning.

Malcolm's message is that discrimination instilled a deep-seated self-loathing among many Black people in the US. He asserted, ‘The worst crime the white man has committed has been to teach us to hate ourselves.’ This self-hatred resulted in a loss of identity, prompting Black people to alter our natural hair, disconnect from our communities, and leading many to engage in criminal activities and substance abuse.

The strategy of divide and conquer remains a potent tool employed by imperialists to oppress Africans, both on the continent and in the diaspora. In this clip, Malcolm X passionately emphasised the need to take pride in our identity and recognise our distinctiveness, which is essential for our growth as individuals and as a global nation, wherever we may be on Earth.

Video credit: The Melanin Project (@TheMelaninPRJCT on X)

Sources:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oz3xtNixcgo&t=40s

https://genius.com/Malcolm-x-who-taught-you-to-hate-yourself-annotated

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/09/i-hate-being-a-black-man

https://www.diverseeducation.com/demographics/african-american/article/15093963/the-culture-of-self-hatred-still-present-among-some-black-folk

https://library.csun.edu/sca/peek-stacks/ronald-stokes

https://www.cinema.ucla.edu/blogs/archive-blog/2021/05/04/malcolm-x-press-conference