In writing an author will use their text to express their ideas or to respond to events or ideas. Speeches are a very important part of expressing opinions and getting people to listen and react. In the speech Message to the Grass Roots given by Malcolm X, he is responding to the oppression of the African Americans by the white man. His point is to recognize the continuous hate of the black race alongside many other races. Malcolm X states that all white men believe themselves to be better than everyone else. He also states that they are trying to make sure that everyone sees them this way. The racism affect more than the black race, it affect all races that are not of direct European decent. His evidence comes from the historical facts that can be seen from the years of slavery and worldwide conferences that have been oppressed through racism. 

The main historical event that has influenced Malcolm X to write Message to the Grass Roots, would be slavery. Africans were forced over to America by the white man to become slaves. They were forced to work endless hours for little to no pay and very few slaves were able to work themselves free or become free by any other manner. On December 6th, 1865 slavery was abolished and slaves were no longer forced by law to remain with their owners. Although African Americans were now considered free, many of the slaves were so oppressed by their owners and so unsure of the security of this new law that many stayed with their owners, continuing their lives as slaves. This emphasizes the continuous oppression that Malcolm X expresses in his speeches (National Archives). 

The Bandung Conference was a conference of Africans and Asians coming together to discuss how to end the tension created from the cold war. This conference is another example that is used by Malcolm X to explore the continuation of racism against all races. The conference was held from April 18th to the 24th in 1955 (A&E History). It was comprised of twenty-nine countries all over the west. This conference excluded Americans along with Europeans, so that they could discuss the tensions, from the cold war and the colonialism by the west and the French Europeans, over many African countries. This conference proved that once the white man was taken out of the picture and did not have a say in politics that relate to tensions caused by race, differences and problems could be calmly discussed and relevant issues could be worked through, while not offending religions or belief systems (A&E History)..

To the Grass Roots responds directly to the events of slavery and all events and occurrences having to do with the White man's oppression. The majority of his speech is directed to African Americans. Malcolm X wants the African Americans to recognize all of the oppression that they have been forced through and to recognize that if it is not stopped then these events will continue to happen and more and more people will be forced through this oppression. Malcolm X evoked these ideas of oppression and many others were able to understand the oppression that he was referring to in his speeches. Many people started to react and respond to his words, in forms of other speeches, rallies, songs and text. Lorraine Hansberry wrote and directed the play A Raisin in the Sun. This play was originally expected to fail considering the audience was meant for African Americans and many of them were not finically stable enough at the time to be able to go to the theatre. A Raisin in the Sun was a huge hit and there was a boom in the number of African Americans at the theatre (Brantley). African Americans were becoming very aware of the oppression that was being forced on them. The storyline of an average African American family having to work through their oppression and trying to fight for a better life, was very relatable, allowing for its popularity (Brantley). This play invoked the emotions of African Americans to stand up for themselves.

African Americans heard Malcolm X speeches and recognized the importance of his words. They became very upset and felt the anger that he felt and that he was expressing. There were large numbers of people that tried to follow him but there were an even greater number of people who were unsure. Many Americans were unsure that anyone would be willing to fight back. That there are too many oppressors and that there was too little organization that went with his ideas and that there would be too many ways that plans would fall through. On the other end many people agreed with the idea of standing up against the oppression but the means that Malcolm X had been expressing had been leaning towards violence. Many people did not want this violence and so they followed Martin Luther King Jr. He had the same will to fight against the White man, but he did not condone the violence that Malcolm X did and he believed that there was no need for such violence. This left many people unsure and unorganized but still ready to stand up for what they knew was right.

Malcom X brought up the Bandung Conference of 1955 in his speech. He also brings up smaller events that all have the same theme of oppression. At this time the news was not spread as quickly and it was harder to know that everyone got the news. This meant that many people would not know of the Bandung Conference. Even the people that knew about this conference could not have known about every topic discussed in this conference because they were not there for the conference. Malcolm X uses these outside sources to support his speeches but he ends up having to re-explain the events that he uses because not everyone is familiar with the subject. 

In addition to having sources that people are unfamiliar with, it allows the listeners of his speeches to become better educated in the events that are happening. It exposes them to more problems that are repeating over time and that need to be fixed. The problem with using these outside sources is that people are unable to know if they are credited or uncredited, so they have to do further research. This could been seen as a good thing because it forces the people who want to make a change to do more researching and find out how history proves the oppression has been continuous. The research also slows down people from being able to get out of the house and actually act on the oppression.

The historical facts that are used to back up Malcolm X's speeches as seen in Message to the Grass Roots are only small examples of the racism. Malcolm X has many other speeches and there were many other followers that were gained in the exploration of racism. His plans that came from these speeches were to use this oppression and get those who were being oppressed to stand up for themselves. After many years of fighting and fatalities, America has finally saw the Black Rebellion, strong fights against racism. We saw the beginning of a change in the oppression and a start in the end of racism. People like Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. are major leaders in American and they inspire people to stand up for differences that need to be made and they show how to stand up for a better America. The more that racism is recognized in cultures around the world, the closer we are to demolishing hate.

