Change He Believed In

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Malcolm X

Asking for 22 million people to “wake up” was a pretty tall task, but in 2008, Malcolm X wasn’t too far off. 20 Million people voted for the first time in 2008 with 2 million of them being young African Americans. Although it took 44 years, Malcolm X finally had his call to service answered.

             In his 1964 speech at Cory Methodist Church in Cleveland, Ohio entitled “The Ballot or The Bullet,” Malcolm X called his fellow African Americans to the polls. He said “it was the black man’s vote that put the present administration in Washington, D.C., your vote” (Malcolm X 3). In 2008 this rang true, but this time, Malcolm X would have had a much more positive opinion of this vote. Barack Obama, the nations first African American presidential candidate, garnered 95% of the African American vote. This was the highest percentage of unified black voters in our history at that time, only to be eclipsed in 2012. 

Making History

Furthermore, in his speech, Malcolm X warned the audience and the nation that if African Americans don't cast a vote, then they were going to end up in a predicament where they would have to fire a bullet. Young African Americans held the gun in their hands in 2008, but choose the ballot. Again, for the first time in history, African American’s from age 18-44 had the highest voter turnout percentage among all other ethnic groups. This demographic played a pivotal role in Obama’s election. Malcolm X called for 22 million African Americans to vote, and although that number will probably never be reached, he would have accepted this fact as a step in the right direction.

 African Americans couldn’t do it alone. Malcolm X noted in his speech that when African Americans enter the voting realm, they “will need new friends, we need new allies “ (Malcolm X 9).  He also noted the importance of the African America’s Asian and Latin American brothers also participating in the ballot takeover. In 2008, Asians and Latin American’s showed a significant increase in votes cast. Votes were not only cast by these two ethnic groups, but cast in accord with the African American vote. An overwhelming majority of both Asians (62%) and Hispanics (67%) voted for democratic candidate Barack Obama. For Obama and Malcolm X alike, cooperation was the key to success.

Malcolm X's Assassination

Malcolm Little was assassinated in New York City in February of 1965. Three gunmen shot him as he was addressing the Organization of Afro-American Unity. It is a shame that Malcolm X got the bullet when he did so much for the African American community. However, his legacy and words have outlasted his physical presence. Barack Obama’s campaign ran on the slogan “Change.” Malcolm X was calling for change, albeit in many more words, 44 years before Barack Obama’s presidency. Many of Malcolm X’s requests from his 1964 speech will never be fulfilled, but his overall goal was successfully reached in 2008. African Americans chose the bullet, and chose wisely.