The Global Front: Malcolm X’s Vision of a Unified Anti-Colonial Struggle
When we look back at the final year of Malcolm X’s life, we see a man who had outgrown the geographic boundaries of the United States. He stopped viewing the Black American experience as a localized "civil rights" issue and started seeing it for what it truly was: a human rights struggle and a crucial wing of the global anti-colonial movement.
Malcolm recognized that the systems of oppression in Harlem and the systems of colonization in Johannesburg or Nairobi were branches of the same tree.
Redefining the Struggle: From Civil Rights to Human Rights
Malcolm’s transition was marked by a shift in vocabulary. He argued that "civil rights" kept Black Americans under the jurisdiction of the very government that oppressed them, whereas "human rights" linked them to the United Nations and the world.
"We believe that our problem is one of self-defense, our problem is one of human rights... When you expand the civil-rights struggle to the level of human rights, you can take the case of the Black man in this country before the nations in the UN." — Malcolm X, "The Ballot or the Bullet," April 3, 1964.
The Colonial Parallel
Malcolm’s Pan-Africanism was rooted in the realization that Black Americans were, in essence, a colonized people living within the borders of the colonizer. He saw the police in American ghettos as an occupying force, no different from the European armies in Africa.
By framing the struggle this way, he bridged the gap between the African diaspora and the continent:
"The same racism that is practiced against the Africans in South Africa is practiced against the Africans in Angola, is practiced against the Africans in Rhodesia... and it is the same racism that is practiced against us here in the North and South American continent." — Malcolm X, speech at the OAAU Founding Rally, June 28, 1964.
The OAAU and the Bridge to Africa
To formalize this connection, Malcolm founded the Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU), modeled after the Organization of African Unity (OAU). His goal was to create a political structure that allowed Black Americans to communicate and strategize directly with African heads of state.
During his 1964 travels across Africa, Malcolm met with leaders like Kwame Nkrumah (Ghana), Gamal Abdel Nasser (Egypt), and Julius Nyerere (Tanzania). He wasn't just seeking sympathy; he was seeking allies.
"It is incorrect to classify the revolt of the Negro as simply a racial conflict of Black against white, or as a purely American problem. Rather, we are today seeing a global rebellion of the oppressed against the oppressor, the exploited against the exploiter." — Malcolm X, "Columbia University Speech," February 18, 1965.
Why the Connection Mattered
Malcolm’s Pan-African vision was strategic. He knew that if Black Americans saw themselves as a "minority" in the U.S., they would feel weak. But if they saw themselves as part of a global majority of dark-skinned people throwing off the yoke of colonialism, they would realize their true power.
He understood that a free Africa would provide the international leverage needed to force change in America. Conversely, he believed the struggle in America was the "vanguard" because it was happening in the "belly of the beast."
Sources for Further Reading
The Autobiography of Malcolm X as told to Alex Haley.
Malcolm X Speaks: Selected Speeches and Statements, edited by George Breitman.
The Last Year of Malcolm X: The Evolution of a Revolutionary by George Breitman.
Malcolm X didn't just want a seat at the American table; he wanted to break the legs of the table that supported global exploitation. His legacy reminds us that justice is indivisible, and freedom is a global project.
Malcolm X's Pan-African vision was one which recognized that the struggles of Africans in the United States was fundamentally an anti-colonial struggle which was not unlike the anti-colonial struggles being waged in Africa, which is why Malcolm sought to connect the two. pic.twitter.com/nVi9fYAlw5
— Dwayne Wong (@DOmowale) February 6, 2026
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