Protest, Prophecy, and Prudence in the Rhetoric of Malcolm X

Prophetic speeches such as "Black Man's History," which Malcolm X delivered while a Nation of Islam minister, encourage a politically passive isolation. "The Ballot or the Bullet," however, delivered after Malcolm left the Nation of Islam, illustrates the rhetorical invention of an oppositional prudence that encourages his audience to deliberate and act in ways that defy the expectations of the dominant culture.