FROM AN OUTCAST TO THE PROPHET: THE EVOLUTION OF MALCOLM X’S RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 192-209
Author(s):  
Andrey A. Shumakov
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
African American ◽  
Black Population ◽  
The Political ◽  
Malcolm X ◽  
Far Right ◽  
Related Factors ◽  
Political Views ◽  
American Society ◽  
The 1960S

The figure of the radical African-American preacher Malcolm X has always occupied and continues to occupy a special place in the history of the protest movement of the 1960s. This is due to a number of reasons, the main of which was the pronounced ambivalence and inconsistency of the political philosophy of this public figure, who was noted for both ultra-radical religious sermons and rather progressive revolutionary and national liberation ideas at the final stage of his life. The latter, in fact, made him one of the main characters of the “rebellious decade”. While the far-right radicalism of the Harlem preacher faded into the background and began to be perceived as some “mistakes and misconceptions” that were later rethought and overcome. The question of assessing the legacy and personality of Malcolm X has always caused a lot of controversy. On the one hand, his contribution to the development of the movement of the struggle of the Black population for their rights and the formation of the African-American mentality is undeniable; on the other — it can be said that in the academic environment for all this time they practically were not subjected to critical reflection. If, during his lifetime, the ideas of the Harlem preacher were perceived by the vast majority of Americans as frankly marginal, then after his tragic death in 1965, Malcolm X became one of the most popular and iconic figures in recent US history. Any criticism of him began to be perceived extremely painfully. In this article, the author tried to trace the process of formation and evolution of the ideological and political views of Malcolm X, which was the main goal of the study. The main difference from other works on this topic was that in this article, this phenomenon is considered in dynamics, the causes of transformations and the influence of related factors are noted. At the same time, the author tried to identify certain “variables and constants” of the religious and political philosophy of Malcolm X, not only fixing them, but assessing the degree and depth of changes. That led to rather unexpected conclusions on a number of issues, the main of which was the explanation of the reasons for the incredible popularity of Malcolm X in modern American society. The main method of research is materialistic dialectics, which allows considering the political philosophy of Malcolm X in dynamics in accordance with the principle of historicism. Special attention is paid to the issues of radicalism, the transformation of ideological and political views and attitudes to religion, the debunking of myths, stereotypical and hyperbolized ideas about this figure, and the key milestones of his biography. As for the specific historical methods, the historical-genetic and historical-typological approaches are used in this work.

scholarly journals Dialectics of the development of the Black rights movement in the United States in the 60s of the XX century on the example of its outstanding representatives

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 44-63
Author(s):  
A. A. Shumakov
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
African American ◽  
The United States ◽  
Black Nationalism ◽  
Malcolm X ◽  
Main Research ◽  
Political Views ◽  
Eldridge Cleaver ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Definition Of

This paper examines and explores in detail the key theoretical aspects and leading ideological and political trends of The black rights movement in the United States in the 1960s. As the main sources, the author uses the works and speeches of its most famous representatives, such as: Martin Luther king, Malcolm X, Stokely Carmichael, Huey Percy Newton, Robert Seal, Eldridge cleaver, highlighting the main trends and dominant trends. Materialistic dialectics is suggested as the main research method. This makes it possible to consider the process of formation of the Movement for the rights of african americans directly in development. The author not only conducts a comparative analysis of various trends and ideological and political views of the most prominent representatives of this movement, but also does it in dynamics, explaining the nature and mechanism of qualitative changes taking place using the laws of materialistic dialectics. In particular, the opposing classical concepts of integrationism and black nationalism, which underlie the definition of the notorious ambivalence of african-american consciousness, were replaced in the second half of the 1960s by revolutionary black nationalism and revolutionary socialism, which negate the previous two and are simultaneously closely related to them. As a conclusion, the concept of understanding the qualitative transformations of The black rights Movement in the United States is proposed, and parallels are drawn with the current rise of the socio-racial movement, taking place within the same discursive Reld, which was finally formed in the 1960s and continues to dominate the protest-minded part of the african-american population to this day. This gives the author the opportunity to make a forecast for the future development of the situation in the United States and the scenario of the Movement.

Arte ConTexto

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 29-52
Author(s):  
Antonio Bellisario ◽  
Leslie Prock
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Political Violence ◽  
Pictorial Representation ◽  
The Political ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Political Dimension ◽  
Political Views ◽  
Socialist Government ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
The Military

The article examines Chilean muralism, looking at its role in articulating political struggles in urban public space through a visual political culture perspective that emphasizes its sociological and ideological context. The analysis characterizes the main themes and functions of left-wing brigade muralism and outlines four subpolitical phases: (i) Chilean mural painting’s beginnings in 1940–1950, especially following the influence of Mexican muralism, (ii) the development of brigade muralism for political persuasion under the context of revolutionary sociopolitical upheaval during the 1960s and in the socialist government of Allende from 1970 to 1973, (iii) the characteristics of muralism during the Pinochet dictatorship in the 1980s as a form of popular protest, and (iv) muralism to express broader social discontent during the return to democracy in the 1990s. How did the progressive popular culture movement represent, through murals, the political hopes during Allende’s government and then the political violence suffered under the military dictatorship? Several online repositories of photographs of left-wing brigade murals provide data for the analysis, which suggests that brigade muralism used murals mostly for political expression and for popular education. Visual art’s inherent political dimension is enmeshed in a field of power constituted by hegemony and confrontation. The muralist brigades executed murals to express their political views and offer them to all spectators because the street wall was within everyone's reach. These murals also suggested ideas that went beyond pictorial representation; thus, muralism was a process of education that invited the audience to decipher its polysemic elements.

Navigating Civil Rights and Black Power Struggles

2020 ◽  
pp. 137-158
Author(s):  
Joe William Trotter
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
American Politics ◽  
Black Power ◽  
The Political ◽  
Color Line ◽  
Power Struggles ◽  
Urban League ◽  
National Headquarters ◽  
The 1960S

By the mid-1960s, the political and social terrain on which the Urban League worked had changed dramatically. The Pittsburgh-born children of southern black migrants had come of age and pushed hard against the color line in the city's economy, politics, and institutions. National headquarters and local branches across the country worried about the increasing black nationalist turn in African American politics. But the ULP had helped to establish the postwar groundwork and even models for the fluorescence and even militance of Pittsburgh's Civil Rights and Black Power struggles of the 1960s and early 1970s.

Introduction

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
GerShun Avilez
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
African American ◽  
Mass Culture ◽  
Black Nationalism ◽  
Philosophical Tradition ◽  
Nation State ◽  
Black Power Movement ◽  
Universal Negro Improvement Association ◽  
The 1960S

This introductory chapter provides a background of Black Nationalism. Black Nationalism is a political philosophy that has played an integral part in African American social thought from the nineteenth century forward. There are two main threads of this philosophical tradition: classical and modern. Classical Black Nationalism is a political framework guided primarily by concerns with the creation of a sovereign Black state and uplifting and “civilizing” the race. With regards to Black Nationalist thought in the twentieth century, two moments loom large: Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) in the 1910s/1920s and the Black Power Movement in the 1960s/1970s. Modern Black Nationalism is characterized by two specific shifts away from the foundational ideas that governed the classical form. It departs from its predecessor in the general lack of an explicit emphasis on an independent Black nation-state. It also shifts attention to mass culture and Black working-class life.

Campus Politics

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Zimmerman
Keyword(s):  
Free Speech ◽  
The Political ◽  
Racial Justice ◽  
The Us ◽  
In Loco Parentis ◽  
Political Left ◽  
American Society ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Political Right ◽  
Campus Politics

Universities are usually considered bastions of the free exchange of ideas, but a recent tide of demonstrations across college campuses has called this belief into question, and with serious consequences. Such a wave of protests hasn't been seen since the campus free speech demonstrations of the 1960s, yet this time it is the political Left, rather than the political Right, calling for restrictions on campus speech and freedom. And, as Jonathan Zimmerman suggests, recent campus controversies have pitted free speech against social justice ideals. The language of trauma--and, more generally, of psychology--has come to dominate campus politics, marking another important departure from prior eras. This trend reflects an increased awareness of mental health in American society writ large. But it has also tended to dampen exchange and discussion on our campuses, where faculty and students self-censor for fear of insulting or offending someone else. Or they attack each other in periodic bursts of invective, which run counter to the “civility” promised by new speech and conduct codes. In Campus Politics: What Everyone Needs to Know®, Jonathan Zimmerman breaks down the dynamics of what is actually driving this recent wave of discontent. After setting recent events in the context of the last half-century of free speech campus movements, Zimmerman looks at the political beliefs of the US professorate and students. He follows this with chapters on political correctness; debates over the contested curriculum; admissions, faculty hires, and affirmative action; policing students; academic freedom and censorship; in loco parentis administration; and the psychology behind demands for "trigger warnings" and "safe spaces." He concludes with the question of how to best balance the goals of social and racial justice with the commitment to free speech.

Prison Religion and Prison Justice

2020 ◽  
pp. 153-192
Author(s):  
Joshua Dubler ◽  
Vincent W. Lloyd
Keyword(s):  
Mass Incarceration ◽  
Religious Practices ◽  
The Political ◽  
Malcolm X ◽  
Court Decisions ◽  
Ethnographic Fieldwork ◽  
Conversion To Islam ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Martin Luther King ◽  
The Church

Using trial records, court decisions, and ethnographic fieldwork, this chapter tracks how the disruptive religious practices of the prisoners’ rights era, including prison strikes, became the accommodating religious practices of America’s prisons today. In other words, it tells the story of the rise and fall of the collectivist prisoners’ religion of the 1960s and the subsequent ascendency of the depoliticized, accommodationist religious forms better suited to the controlled conditions of mass incarceration. Touching on a range of incarcerated people’s writings and rituals, including Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and his conversion to Islam, the Church of the New Song, and the black naturalist sect MOVE, the chapter explores how highlighting the politicizing force of prison and reclaiming the political-theological voices of prisoners might allow us to see new possibilities for justice beyond the prison. With an eye toward what has been repressed, the chapter concludes with the abolitionist promise of the new surge in prisoners’ political organizing.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document