Revolutionary Black Liberation Leader in the U.S.
1925-1965
If you aren’t careful, because I’ve seen some of you get caught in that bag, you run away hating yourself and loving the man—while you are catching hell from the man. You let the man maneuver you into thinking that it’s wrong to fight him when he’s fighting you. He’s fighting you in the morning, fighting you in the noon, fighting you at night and fighting you all in between, and you still think it’s wrong to fight him back. Why? The press. The newspapers make you look wrong. As long as you take a beating, you’re all right. As long as you get your head busted,you’re all right. As long as you let his dogs fight you, you’re all right. Because that’s the press. That’s the image-making press. That thing is dangerous if you don’t guard yourself against it. It’ll make you love the criminal, as I say, and make you hate the one who’s the victim of the criminal.
Excerpt from Malcolm X speaks with Dick Gregory at the Aududbon Ballrom on December 13, 1964
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