Although the Nation of Islam is most widely known for their outspoken leaders and aggressive methods, the Nation of Islam is one of the most important black activist groups of the 1960’s. In a matter of just a few years the Nation of Islam’s members had increased from 400 to 400,000 (Taylor par.19). During the 1960’s, the emergence of the Nation of Islam constituted a change in the minds of many African-Americans. Therefore, caused a major influence in the Civil Rights Movement. Before the Nation of Islam came to its existence, there were other activist groups that influenced the Nation of Islam. Prior to the emergence of the Nation of Islam in the 1960’s, there were other successful Black Nationalist groups such as Garveyism (Talhami …show more content…
Firstly, the Nation of Islam strongly believed in self-education of African-Americans. A popular endorser of this philosophy was Malcolm X whom heightened his vocabulary and furthered his education in jail by copying the dictionary word for word (Taylor par.16). The Nation of Islam instilled that in order to conquer your future you have to first conquer your past. Many members of the Nation of Islam spent time traveling throughout America teach the history of blacks because they believe that to identify with one another, the group must share the pat and reference the past frequently for the history to be passed on from generation to generation (Tinaz 155). They brought to light a new religion to the African-American population due to the belief that “There is a close correlation between religion and identity. Religion appears to be one of the vital sources of identity” (Tinaz 153). The Nation of Islam sought out African-Americans to converge together and create their own national identity (Tinaz 152). “Rather it acts as a ethno-religious movement and attempts to contend with global forces by constructing its own interpretations of that development, in terms of its own local communities of resistance” (Tinaz 152). Blacks looking for a new identity which needed to start with a religion to call their own which was Islam (Tinaz 152). One of the main …show more content…
During the 1960’s, the emergence of the Nation of Islam constituted a change in the minds of many African-Americans. Therefore, caused a major influence in the Civil Rights Movement. President Lyndon B. Johnson said it best himself: “We have talked long enough about equal rights in this country. It is now time to write the next chapter and write it in the books of law” in a speech to congress in January of 1964. Despite the violent and radical methods, the Nation of Islam has been remembered and has gone down in history as one of the most important black activist groups that America has ever
Malcolm believed that Negro in America were lost. He was a strong advocate for tying race religion and together. “We don’t separate our color from our religion ”(25pg ). Islam is the native religion of black people, but when they
Martin Luther King Jr. played a huge role for the black power movement, and many other younger black activists’ leader such as handsome Stokely Carmichael, Malcom X, and Rosa Park. Martin and Rosa and many others being a symbol of the non-violent struggle against segregation were he launched voting rights campaign and peaceful protesting. Rosa Park is one of the most important female that contribute a little but a huge factor of the Black Power Movement. One day riding the bus coming from work, a white bus driver told her and other African American to move to the back to give up their seats. Rosa being fed up with it she refuse, causing here to be put in jail, causing a huge movement for a bus boycott and Freedom Riders. Unlike Malcolm X and who epitomized the “Black Power” philosophy and had grown frustrated with the non-violent, integrated struggle for civil rights and worried that blacks would lose control of their own movement. Malcom X joined the Nation of Islam and the Black Panther. Black Panther played a short but important part in the civil rights movement. Being from California, the Black Panther party had four desires: equality in education, housing, employment and civil rights. In other words they were willing to use violence to get what they wanted. Bobby Seale, one of the leader had vision Black Panther party. Seale
In 1930 Wallace D. Fard gave birth to the Nation of Islam movement. He began in Detroit going door to door preaching to black families about his remedy for their problems. He tried replacing their beliefs with his own, for solving their problems. Fard had three main ideas that laid the foundation for his “remedy”. He wanted black separatism, everyone to know that white men are evil (which was not hard for African Americans to believe since the idea already lived within their minds), and to show the inadequacy of Christianity to African Americans. During this period Fard recruited Elijah Poole, changed Elijah’s name to Elijah Muhammad and developed him into his Chief Minister. With the mysterious disappearance of Fard in 1934, Elijah took over the movement. Elijah was born in Sandersville, Georgia in 1897 as the seventh of twelve children. He barely finished the third grade before dropping out to work in the fields to help support his family (Muhammad 1+). During his childhood Elijah witnessed a lynching right before his eyes; different accounts vary on whom he actually saw lynched. In Baldwin’s account in “Down at the Cross,” he says he saw his father lynched befo...
The Nation of Islam, which Malcolm X was an important member of, is not a religious organization as the name suggests but rather an organization whose goal was to make the lives of African Americans better instead of actually teaching the proper ethics of Islam. One of the main objectives of this organization was Black Nationalism, through which Black leaders can control the areas where there is a majority of African Americans. This cause was greatl...
The second edition of “African American Religious History: A Documentary Witness,” covers the religious experiences of African Americans—from the late eighteenth century until the early 1980s. My paper is written in a chronological order to reflect on the progress blacks have made during the years—by expounding on the earliest religion of Africans to black religion of today. Race Relation and Religion plays a major role in today’s society—history is present in all that we do and it is to history that African-Americans have its identity and aspiration.
The concepts of Reform and Revolution are nearly polarizing by their very nature, with one seeking to modify, and the other seeking to destroy and rebuild. If an organized Black movement was to find itself in an opportunistic position -whatever that may be- with which to attempt a radical movement (in either case; reform or revolution, the resulting movement would need to be large and radical if it would hope to accomplish its goals before the opportunity for change ceases to present itself) it would only serve to befall their efforts if they found themselves in a splintered state of conflicting ideologies. But, in either case, be it reform or revolution, a reconfiguring of the thought processes behind how one looks at the nature of American politics is undoubtedly necessary in order to look into the potential for future Black liberation.
Malcolm X became one of the leading figures during the civil rights movement with his great ideas and speaking abilities. Elijah Muhammad and Malcolm X led the Nation of Islam in the United States. The Nation existed as a growing organization and the government felt that it would turn into a violent association. The FBI became intensely interested in Malcolm after his joining with Elijah Muhammad and began to tap Malcolm X and try to find charges against him so he...
(71) The author states that fear creates the need for power. The Nation of Islam was fearful of the Whites dominating over the Blacks. Fear always dominated the minds of black people. This fear caused Elijah to strive for power to liberate the community. The Nation of Islam wanted absolute control of the White society.
Race and religion are two concepts in American culture that can really tie people together, or clearly separate them apart. A group forged by strong common roots in both race and religion can be a powerful societal force, if it wants to be. The Nation of Islam is a small but growing religion in America that has become somewhat of a social movement because of its strong and radical ideas on race. In this paper, I will try to explore the beliefs of the Nation of Islam, and the ramifications it could and has had on racial relations in America. The Nation of Islam, or NOI, is a relatively new religion. The first temple of Islam was established in Detroit by Master Fard Muhammed in 1930. Much of the theology was based on the simple facts that: "Allah is god, the white man is the devil, and the so-called Negroes are the Asiatic black people, the cream of the earth."(1) And, in accordance with their bizarre view of creation, involving a mad scientist creating the white race from the black race, the twentieth century represents the time for black people to regain their rightful position as god¹s chosen people. (1) The Nation of Islam was spawned from Orthodox Islam, an age-old religion. However, Orthodox Islam has openly denounced the NOI as a heretic sect for three main reasons: the NOI¹s rejection of the belief in an afterlife, its tendency to view human leaders as deified figures, and its strong racist attitudes. (2) For a brief time, during the seventies, Wallace Deen Muhammed became the leader of the NOI and tried to take it in a new direction, more conforming to "true Islamic beliefs." This group is now called the American Muslim Mission and still exists in small numbers today. (1) ...
This paper will discuss the different stages of thought processes the former Nation of Islam minister, Malcolm X went through during his lifetime in terms of how he viewed white people, but more specifically “the white man” in America. The reason the focus is on White Americans is because these were the people outside of the Nation of Islam that shaped his life good or bad and put him on the path where he eventually transformed from Malcolm Little to Malcolm X who was one of the most polarizing and controversial figures during his lifetime and even nearly 50 years after his death the name Malcolm X causes certain people to shudder. Malcolm X became a well-known figure during the 50’s and 60’s during the civil rights movement which involved figures such as Martin Luther King Jr. This was a pivotal era in American history because for the first time that there was major push towards full rights for African Americans. When Malcolm X came on the scene he put fear into White people because they weren’t used to hearing the truth about race relations in America and many of them felt that things were just fine because they themselves were living life high on the hog while at the same time exploiting Blacks. Because this type of talk from a black person was new to them they misinterpreted his views as “hate speech” and accused him of trying to incite violence when he was simply trying wake his people up to properly deal with what was happening to them.
When the NAACP was formed it was because of the practice of lynching. It started a big riot in Springfield. After the NAACP was official it put a halt to the violence that was committed against black people. The organization letter was released on the centennial of Lincoln's birth. Most of the people’s rights where guaranteed in the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the United States Constitution. These amendments went along with the NAACP. It promised an end to slavery, the equal protection of the law, and universal adult male suffrage, respectively. The main principals for the NAACP were to ensure political, educational, social and economic equality. It eliminated racism and prejudice. The NAACP eliminated so many issues when it was created (100 Years, 2009-201...
The NOI was founded by Wallace D Ford in 1930, with Elijah Mohammed as the “prophet,” later replaced by the more famous. Malcolm X. The Nation of Islam hated white America as much as white America hated them. They are all a lot. They campaigned for equality but segregation to remain. separate, but to gain the same facilities as white people had and not.
In the 1960s it was a hard time for black Americans. There was a revolution being driven by two well know black civil rights leaders. The first phase of the revolution was driven by a young Islamic black man, Malcolm X, who was a spokesperson for the Nation of Islam. Malcolm X was adamant that blacks needed to take care of their own business. In the issue of black integration in American culture.
F. Hasan, Asma Gull (2000). American Muslims; The New Generation. New York. The Continuum International Publishing Group Inc.
In 1963, the Black Muslim movement, known as the Nation of Islam (NOI), was experiencing a transitional period. Discontent and division among the Nation members were at an