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“We didn't land on Plymouth Rock. The rock was landed on us.”

Malcolm X

Speech at Founding Rally http://www.panafricanperspective.com/mxoaaufounding.html of the Organization of Afro-American Unity (28 June 1964) <br class="br">Context: We are African, and we happened to be in America. We&#x27;re not American. We are people who formerly were Africans who were kidnapped and brought to America. Our forefathers weren&#x27;t the Pilgrims. We didn&#x27;t land on Plymouth Rock. The rock was landed on us. We were brought here against our will. We were not brought here to be made citizens. We were not brought here to enjoy the constitutional gifts that they speak so beautifully about today.

“I'm not going to sit at your table and watch you eat, with nothing on my plate, and call myself a diner. Sitting at the table doesn't make you a diner, unless you eat some of what's on that plate.”

Malcolm X

The Ballot or the Bullet (1964), Speech in Cleveland, Ohio (April 3, 1964)
Context: I'm not going to sit at your table and watch you eat, with nothing on my plate, and call myself a diner. Sitting at the table doesn't make you a diner, unless you eat some of what's on that plate. Being here in America doesn't make you an American. Being born here in America doesn't make you an American. Why, if birth made you American, you wouldn't need any legislation; you wouldn't need any amendments to the Constitution; you wouldn't be faced with civil-rights filibustering in Washington, D. C., right now.

“Read absolutely everything you get your hands on because you'll never know where you'll get an idea from…”

Malcolm X

Source: Malcolm X Speaks: Selected Speeches and Statements

“They cripple the bird's wing, and then condemn it for not flying as fast as they.”

Malcolm X

Malcolm X on Zionism (1964)

“There is nothing in our book, the Qur'an, that teaches us to suffer peacefully. Our religion teaches us to be intelligent. Be peaceful, be courteous, obey the law, respect everyone; but if someone lays a hand on you, send him to the cemetery. That's a good religion.”

Malcolm X

November 10, 1963
This was said before Malcolm X left the Nation of Islam and as he himself stated, before he truly understood Islam.
Malcolm X Speaks (1965)

“Nobody can give you freedom. Nobody can give you equality or justice or anything. If you're a man, you take it.”

Malcolm X

Variant: Nobody can give you freedom. Nobody can give you equality or justice or anything. If you're a man, you take it.
Source: Malcolm X Speaks: Selected Speeches and Statements
Source: Malcolm X Speaks (1965), p. 111