"The Ballot or the Bullet" speech is a human rights political speech delivered by Malcolm X on April 3, 1964. He advised African Americans to exercise their right to vote and cautioned that if the government continued to prevent blacks from attaining full equality, it might be necessary to take up arms. This was significant because because it motivated the government a little bit, because they didn't want to cause any major riots and keep protesting.

Malcolm X described how powerful and potent of a weapon that the ballot could be if it was exercised with care. With every single black vote, they could easily put a candidate in power if they had the right intentions and were attentive to the needs of our communities. But, if they keep trying to take their rights and don't have the right needs and intentions in mind for African Americans, Malcolm X then states that he would rather not vote at all.

"A ballot is like a bullet. You don't throw your ballots until you see a target, and if that target is not within your reach, keep your ballot in your pocket." -Malcolm X

Malcolm X warned that if the government and its politicians failed to keep their promises to African Americans, they would make violence inevitable. He predicted that if the civil rights bill wasn't passed, there would be a march on Washington in 1964, which would consist of an All-Black "non-violent army" with one-way tickets.

Malcolm X started off his speech stating that he was a Muslim, but then added that no religion or any other issues should divide African Americans. No matter the differences, they should submerge them to deal with the common problem. They might have different backgrounds and stories, but they all have one thing in common- and they should all unify together and fight for their rights.

Malcolm X thought they should elevate from African American civil rights, to human rights. Civil rights was just a domestic matter, but people in developing countries would agree as human rights is an international problem. He says that giving rights to blacks is being considered just a problem in the US, but humans should deserve rights as humans all over the world, and that's what he tried to escalate the problem to.

Malcolm X addressed that if "the government is unable to defend the lives and property of negros," African Americans should be able to defend themselves. He also said that if white people didn't want African Americans to arm themselves, then the government should do its job. Why should it be fair for whites to bear arms and assault blacks if they can't even do the same to defend themselves and their own families?

1. Was Malcolm X passive or aggressive?

2. Do you agree with his belief of black nationalism, which is believing that African Americans should govern their own communities?

3. What would Malcolm X and his supporters do if the government didn't take action?

4. Could blacks sway the vote if candidates were attentive to the concerns of African Americans?

This speech made a positive impact to civil rights and to today's society. It let African Americans know that if they unified and stuck together to protest for what they want, they could get their way. Look where we are now, we have equal civil rights for all races.