Jun. 17, 2012 at 6:38pm with 181 notes
Anonymousother

Anonymous asked: What about Malcolm X? And the Black Panthers?

The Panthers’ main objectives were defending their neighborhoods from, and in the absence of, police forces. You know what their largest program was: feeding breakfast to poor children before school. Not sure why people try to equate the Panthers to the Klan or something. The Klan lynched niggers. The Panthers fed them breakfast. Yes, I agree with their approach of self-reliance and self-defense.

Brother Malcolm’s tone was more radical than Martin’s or the Panthers’. I think that’s important. Both sides are needed in any equality movement. You need the activists who are going to talk about hand holding and singing on the mountain of prosperity, but you also need activists who are going to speak to that anger that many people of color feel. White folks don’t understand that sometimes because a lot of them see the world as a dichotomy. It’s not that simple. I can simultaneously be angry with white supremacy and love white people. I can be in love with a white woman and hate her ignorance at her own white privilege. I can get so frustrated with racism that I barely want to be around any white people, and I can share that with my white friends over a few drinks.

You might think that’s confusing. You might even call it hypocrisy. I call it being a person of color.