The founding rally of the OAAU
Audubon Ballroom, Harlem, 28 June 1964. The speech that gave the book its title, with the organization's aims read out one by one.
By Any Means Necessary
Malcolm X
About Malcolm X
The story, briefly
Spoiler-freeBy Any Means Necessary is a collection of speeches, interviews and one letter by Malcolm X, edited by George Breitman and published by Pathfinder Press in New York in 1970.[1] The title comes from the founding rally of his Organization of Afro-American Unity at the Audubon Ballroom on 28 June 1964. There he said the organization wanted freedom, justice and equality by any means necessary.[2] The book also carries his talk at a meeting in Paris and a statement on being barred from France.[3] Pathfinder published a second edition, with a new introduction and an index, in 1992.[4]
The story, in more detail
George Breitman had already edited Malcolm X Speaks in 1965. For the second book he gathered more speeches and interviews from the last year of Malcolm X's life.[1] The 1970 edition carries the words "A Merit book" on its title page, the name of the house that had published Malcolm X Speaks.[1][5]
The founding rally speech takes up more than thirty pages. BlackPast reprints it from pages 35 to 67 of the 1970 edition.[2] In it Malcolm X reads out the aims of the new Organization of Afro-American Unity, point by point, and comments on each. The education point is where the line about education being "our passport to the future" comes from.
Pathfinder's description lists the subjects the book covers: political alliances, women's rights, American intervention in the Congo and Vietnam, and capitalism and socialism.[6] The second edition of 1992 runs to xix and 191 pages, with photographs and an index.[4]
What's inside
The 1992 second edition opens with an introduction. The first items are an interview by A. B. Spellman and answers to questions at the Militant Labor Forum in New York.[3]
The middle of the book prints three pieces from the Organization of Afro-American Unity: the founding rally, a talk called "Harlem and the political machines", and the second rally of the organization. Next comes "A letter from Cairo".
The later pieces come from the winter of 1964 and 1965: "At a meeting in Paris", "An exchange on casualties in the Congo", the homecoming rally of the organization after his return from Africa, and an interview with the Young Socialist.
The book ends with "On being barred from France" and a section of short statements. The second edition adds an index.[3][4]
Themes and analysis
Where the title comes from
Malcolm X founded the Organization of Afro-American Unity at a rally at the Audubon Ballroom in Washington Heights on 28 June 1964. He had left the Nation of Islam in March and come back from Africa on 21 May. The new group was political, not religious, and he modelled its name on the Organization of African Unity.
In the speech he told the audience the organization's motto. He said they wanted freedom by any means necessary, justice by any means necessary and equality by any means necessary. He repeats the phrase many more times in the same speech, about self-defense, about teaching history and about human rights.
The phrase is usually quoted on its own. In the motto it ends three sentences, one each for freedom, justice and equality. Near the end of the speech it closes his claim to be respected as a human being. Breitman chose it as the title six years later.
Paris, and the refusal at Orly
Two items in the contents deal with France. One is headed "At a meeting in Paris" and the other "On being barred from France". Malcolm X spoke in Paris on 23 November 1964, on his way home from five months in Africa and the Middle East. Le Monde reported a meeting at the Mutualité where French-speaking Black students questioned him.
On 9 February 1965 he flew back to Paris to speak again, at the invitation of Afro-Americans and Africans living there. French officials met him at Orly airport, refused him entry and put him on a plane to London. The Schomburg Center in Harlem holds his papers, including the file on the cancelled Paris meeting.
George Breitman's note in Malcolm X Speaks says the French government barred him without explanation. Moshik Temkin's study of Malcolm X in France follows the argument over French motives that came later. Malcolm X was shot dead in Harlem on 21 February 1965, twelve days after the refusal.
Quotes from By Any Means Necessary
We want freedom by any means necessary. We want justice by any means necessary. We want equality by any means necessary.
We declare our right on this earth to be a man, to be a human being, to be respected as a human being, to be given the rights of a human being in this society, on this earth, in this day, which we intend to bring into existence by any means necessary.
Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs only to the people who prepare for it today.
Why we recommend it
The phrase in its own sentence
The founding rally speech shows what "by any means necessary" was attached to when he said it: freedom, justice, equality and the rights of a human being.
The organization he built after the break
Three of the pieces come from rallies of the Organization of Afro-American Unity, the political group he founded after leaving the Nation of Islam.
The Paris meeting and the refusal at Orly
The book prints his Paris talk of November 1964 and his statement after France turned him away in February 1965.
What this book explores
Bring it to book club
- Malcolm X always gave "by any means necessary" an object: freedom, justice, equality. Why do you think the phrase travels without them?
- The founding rally reads out a program point by point. Which points were new for him after leaving the Nation of Islam?
- Why might France have been worried by an American speaking to Africans and Afro-Americans in Paris in 1965?
Inside the book
At a meeting in Paris
Malcolm X's talk on his stop in Paris in November 1964, on the way home from Africa.
On being barred from France
His statement after French officials turned him back at Orly airport on 9 February 1965.
Timeline
1964
Malcolm X founds the Organization of Afro-American Unity at the Audubon Ballroom on 28 June and announces its motto.
1964
He speaks at a meeting in Paris on 23 November, on his way home from Africa.
1965
French officials refuse him entry at Orly on 9 February. He is killed in Harlem on 21 February.
1970
Pathfinder Press publishes By Any Means Necessary, edited by George Breitman.
1992
Pathfinder publishes a second edition with a new introduction, photographs and an index.
Book editions
- Paperback
- Pathfinder Press
- 1970
- 9780873481502
- Paperback
- Pathfinder
- 1992
- 9780873487542
- Hardcover
- Pathfinder
- 1992
- 9780873487597
Reader reviews
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Read our takeThe End of White World Supremacy
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Four speeches from before the break with the Nation of Islam, for comparison.
Read our takeBy Any Means Necessary: frequently asked questions
Where does the phrase "by any means necessary" come from?
Malcolm X used it at the founding rally of the Organization of Afro-American Unity in Harlem on 28 June 1964. He said the organization wanted freedom, justice and equality by any means necessary. The speech is printed in this book.
Who edited By Any Means Necessary?
George Breitman, who had edited Malcolm X Speaks in 1965. Pathfinder Press published the collection in New York in 1970.
What is in the book?
Speeches, interviews and one letter from the last year of Malcolm X's life. They include the first two rallies of the Organization of Afro-American Unity, a letter from Cairo, a meeting in Paris, an interview with the Young Socialist and a statement on being barred from France.
Did Malcolm X speak in Paris?
Yes, on 23 November 1964, on his way home from Africa. The book prints his talk under the heading "At a meeting in Paris". When he tried to return on 9 February 1965, French officials refused him entry at Orly airport.
Is this the same as the Spike Lee book of the same name?
No. Spike Lee's By Any Means Necessary (1992) is about the making of his film Malcolm X. The 1970 book prints Malcolm X's own speeches, edited by George Breitman.
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References
References
The sources below include the primary text, editions, scholarship, archival materials, and other records that informed this page. They document By Any Means Necessary, its publication, and its place in literary history.
1abcBy Any Means Necessary: Speeches, Interviews, and a Letter — Library of Congress catalog record for the Pathfinder Press first edition, edited by George Breitman (LCCN 74108718)
ArchiveLibrary of Congress, 1970Used forLibrary of Congress record for the 1970 first edition: editor, publisher, collation and the "A Merit book" note.
5↑Malcolm X Speaks — Library of Congress catalog record for the Merit Publishers first edition, edited by George Breitman (LCCN 65027410)
ArchiveLibrary of Congress, 1965Used forRecord of Merit Publishers as the publisher of Malcolm X Speaks.
6↑By Any Means Necessary — publisher's page
WebsitePathfinder PressUsed forPublisher's description of the subjects the book covers.
7By Any Means Necessary: Speeches, Interviews and a Letter
NonfictionPathfinder Press, 1970Used forThe book as cited elsewhere on the site for the founding rally's printed wording.
8Malcolm X à la Mutualité
PeriodicalLe Monde, 1964Used forContemporary report of the Paris meeting of November 1964.
9Malcolm X Part 34 — France entry refusal clippings and memoranda
Official recordFederal Bureau of Investigation — The Vault, 1965Used forClippings and memoranda on the refusal of entry at Orly.
10Malcolm X collection — finding aid
Official recordNew York Public Library, Schomburg Center for Research in Black CultureUsed forSchomburg Center finding aid, including the file on the cancelled Paris meeting.
11Malcolm X in France (Moshik Temkin)
WebsiteMoshik TemkinUsed forMoshik Temkin's account of Malcolm X in France and the debate over the refusal.
12Malcolm X — Open Library author and edition records, used to confirm that every ISBN listed here resolves to the book named
ArchiveOpen LibraryUsed forOpen Library edition records, used to check that each ISBN belongs to this book.
13HathiTrust copyright determinations for Malcolm X Speaks (1965), By Any Means Necessary (1992), The End of White World Supremacy (1971) and Malcolm X: The Last Speeches (1989), checked 23 September 2026 — every volume returns rights code "ic" (in copyright), search-only in the United States
ArchiveHathiTrust Digital Library, 2026Used forHathiTrust copyright status of the 1992 edition: in copyright, search-only.
14The Pilgrimage of Malcolm X (review of The Autobiography of Malcolm X and Malcolm X Speaks)
PeriodicalThe New York Review of Books, 1965Used forI. F. Stone's 1965 review, for the date Malcolm X came home from his first trip to Africa.
15Malcolm X Speaks: Selected Speeches and Statements
NonfictionGrove Press, 1965Used forMalcolm X's own account of the Paris invitation and his five months abroad, in "After the Bombing", and Breitman's note on the refusal.
16By Any Means Necessary
NonfictionMalcolm X, 1970Used forThe primary text represented by this page, used for descriptions of the work’s contents and for any quoted passages shown here.
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Why these sources are here
The primary text is the baseline reference for every book page. Additional references document publication history, interpretation, and historical context where that evidence is available.
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