How we cite our quotes: (Chapter. Paragraph)
Quote #7
"How can you condemn Portugal and South Africa while our black people in America are being bitten by dogs and beaten with clubs?" I said I felt certain that the only reason black Africans—our black brothers—could be so silent about what happened in America was that they had been misinformed by the American government's propaganda agencies. At the end of my talk, I heard "Yes! We support the Afro-American . . . morally, physically, materially if necessary!" (18.66)
History tidbit: Portugal was the first European power to create a colony in Africa. At the time that Malcolm X was speaking, it was in the middle of a massive colonial war with Angola, Mozambique, and Portuguese Guinea over their independence. Just to give you an idea of how bad this war was, some people call the Portuguese Colonial Wars "Africa's Vietnam." Malcolm X isn't trying to say that the Civil Rights Movement is as bad as these wars, but that both are terrible things and shouldn't be happening.
Quote #8
Or right here in the Western Hemisphere—probably 100 million people of African descent are divided against each other, taught by the white man to hate and to mistrust each other. In the West Indies, Cuba, Brazil, Venezuela, all of South America, Central America! All of those lands are full of people with African blood! On the African continent, even, the white man has maneuvered to divide the black African from the brown Arab, to divide the so-called 'Christian African' from the Muslim African. Can you imagine what can happen, what would certainly happen, if all of these African-heritage peoples ever realize their blood bonds, if they ever realize they all have a common goal—if they ever unite?" (18.101)
Did you know that the largest population of people from African diaspora is actually in Brazil and that these people would be considered Hispanic in the United States? Malcolm X's point is that if members of the diaspora would ignore religious and other categorizations besides African origin and join together as a political force they'd be pretty darn powerful.
Quote #9
Why Black Nationalism? Well, in the competitive American society, how can there ever be any white-black solidarity before there is first some black solidarity? (19.60)
Do you agree with that? Can there be severity between black and white people if black people do not have solidarity amongst themselves? Why or why not?