Ballot or the Bullet by Malcolm X

Cleveland Ohio, April 3rd 1964 Malcolm X gave one of his many highly anticipated speeches during the Civil Rights Movement. During that time African American's we're fighting for their freedom and equality in America, the movement stirred many different emotions from anyone and everyone. Malcolm X was empowering the black community to fight against the "white man" and vote. Malcolm refused to sit around and wait for equality among blacks, he believed in taking full action. Voting was the civil way to go about things, the bullet was where the violence came in. 

"So it's time in 1964 to wake up. And when you see them coming up with that kind of conspiracy, let them know your eyes are open. And let them know you -- something else that's wide open too. It's got to be the ballot or the bullet. The ballot or the bullet. If you're afraid to use an expression like that, you should get on out of the country; you should get back in the cotton patch; you should get back in the alley. They get all the Negro vote, and after they get it, the Negro gets nothing in return. All they did when they got to Washington was give a few big Negroes big jobs. Those big Negroes didn't need big jobs, they already had jobs. That's camouflage, that's trickery, that's treachery, window-dressing. I'm not trying to knock out the Democrats for the Republicans. We'll get to them in a minute. But it is true; you put the Democrats first and the Democrats put you last."

- Malcolm X

Malcolm constantly uses the word "you" in the beginning of his speech to let his audience know he's talking directly to them, setting up a serious tone but at the same time setting up a friendly gesture. When he keeps telling the audience what they need to do, and why the audience feels as though hes looking out for them. Building his credibility to the audience by making them feel as though hes with them.  X automatically grabbed his audiences attention through one important line, "Ballot or the Bullet". The ballot symbolized the right to vote, a thing that was denied to African-American's for so long. The bullet symbolized something else. It symbolized the dark side of the civil rights struggle. It symbolized the desire of the African American population to come together and act violently against the mistreat they faced all these years. With this opening statement, X captured the audience’s attention and never let them go.