Did you know that parents of Malcolm X, Earl and Louise Little, were avid followers of Marcus Garvey and members of Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association?
Garvey taught Black Americans to stand up and think for ourselves, and Malcolm X would later say that “the image of [his father] that made me proudest was his crusading and militant campaigning with the words of Marcus Garvey,” whose meetings young Malcolm attended. That early experience helped Malcolm X see the world from a perspective of freedom, collective economics and self-determination.
OneUnited Bank, the largest Black-owned bank in America, introduces BankBlack X and the BankBlack Card to represent those same values – freedom, collective economic and self-determination!
We are organizing new leaders, who understand the power of technology to receive and share information, are smart enough to understand the issues affecting Black America and advocate for those issues…by any means necessary.
Our new leaders are people just like you – socially conscious, purposeful and smart – and we want you to be part of our network.
You are the X-Factor to take the #BankBlack Movement to the next level. We want you to take actions to build your own net worth and help share the information needed to build the net worth of our community.
We are all that we need. Join us in this fight. We are so much stronger together. #BlackExcellence
Malcolm X spoke forcefully about freedom. He felt Black Americans were entitled to secure their rights “by any means necessary”. Here are some his notable quotes:
“A man who stands for nothing will fall for anything.”
“Don’t be in a hurry to condemn because he doesn’t do what you do or think as you think or as fast. There was a time when you didn’t know what you know today.”
“There is no better than adversity. Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance next time.”
“They put your mind right in a bag, and take it wherever they want.”
“We didn’t land on Plymouth Rock, Plymouth Rock landed on us.”
“A race of people is like an individual man; until it uses its own talent, takes pride in its own history, expresses its own culture, affirms its own selfhood, it can never fulfill itself.”
“I believe that there will ultimately be a clash between the oppressed and those that do the oppressing. I believe that there will be a clash between those who want freedom, justice and equality for everyone and those who want to continue the systems of exploitation.”
“If you’re not ready to die for it, put the word ‘freedom’ out of your vocabulary.”
“When a person places the proper value on freedom, there is nothing under the sun that he will not do to acquire that freedom. Whenever you hear a man saying he wants freedom, but in the next breath he is going to tell you what he won’t do to get it, or what he doesn’t believe in doing in order to get it, he doesn’t believe in freedom. A man who believes in freedom will do anything under the sun to acquire . . . or preserve his freedom.”
“You don’t have to be a man to fight for freedom. All you have to do is to be an intelligent human being.”
“I want Dr. King to know that I didn’t come to Selma to make his job difficult. I really did come thinking I could make it easier. If the white people realize what the alternative is, perhaps they will be more willing to hear Dr. King.”
“I am not a racist. I am against every form of racism and segregation, every form of discrimination. I believe in human beings, and that all human beings should be respected as such, regardless of their color.”
“You can’t separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom.”
