<P> But, Malcolm said, there was still time to prevent this situation from developing: </P> <P> Lyndon B. Johnson is the head of the Democratic Party . If he's for civil rights, let him go into the Senate next week and...denounce the Southern branch of his party . Let him go in there right now and take a moral stand--right now, not later . Tell him, don't wait until election time . If he waits too long...he will be responsible for letting a condition develop in this country which will create a climate that will bring seeds up out of the ground with vegetation on the end of them looking like something these people never dreamed of . In 1964, it's the ballot or the bullet . </P> <P> "The Ballot or the Bullet" served several purposes at a critical point in Malcolm X's life: it was part of his effort to distance himself from the Nation of Islam, and it was intended to reach out to moderate civil rights leaders . At the same time, the speech indicated that Malcolm still supported Black nationalism and self - defense and thus had not made a complete break with his past . "The Ballot or the Bullet" also marked a notable shift in Malcolm X's rhetoric, as he presented previously undiscussed ways of looking at the relationship between blacks and whites . </P> <P> In its advocacy of voting, "The Ballot or the Bullet" presented ideas opposite those of the Nation of Islam, which forbade its members from participating in the political process . </P>

The ballot or the bullet malcolm x speech