We fear, but what else is there?

There have been many influential and inspirational activists who have committed themselves for the sake of what they believe it whether it be fighting for their human rights, or trying to fight against fear; each activist has definitely succeeded in one thing, being an activist. Two particular influential and inspirational activists who dedicated their lives to their work were the wonderful Aung San Suu Kyi and the incredible Malcolm X. Aung San Suu Kyi’s Freedom from Fear speech accentuates the idea of fear playing a great role in the development of a nation and person, while Malcolm X’s The Ballot or the Bullet speech reveals that the white man is the reason behind the oppression of the Black community; it is revealed through these two texts that the oppression and development of individuals are based on fear.

Even though Aung San Suu Kyi and Malcolm X’s speeches emphasize fear as the biggest obstacle for an individual, they both have some differences as well. Suu Kyi believes that “the root of human responsibility [is based on] the concept of perfection, the urge to achieve it, the intelligence to find a path towards it, and the will to follow that path,” while Malcolm X believes the root of human, particularly the African Americans’ responsibility is to go against the false promises of the white man and get their deserved rights, by going “towards either the ballot or the bullet,” to make that change. Suu Kyi sees action as going against fear that leads to corruption, and Malcolm X believes in going against the apparently “most powerful legislator,” the white man.

Aung San Suu Kyi’s Freedom from Fear speech powerfully underlines the idea that “it is not power that corrupts but fear.”  Suu Kyi believed that fear was the reason behind the development of a nation, but most importantly an individual. Suu Kyi’s quintessential revolution starts in the “spirit, born of an intellectual conviction,” which means that the basis of fear comes from the mind. Suu Kyi says that not only does fear result in corruption, “deviation from the right path,” or “aberration due to ignorance,” fear is also the main obstacle in an individual’s path from doing what’s right. Suu Kyi’s political philosophy supports this idea of fear being the main obstacle to the right path for an individual, which she has ultimately overcome. Malcolm X implicitly states that the reason behind the lack of activism in the Black community was because of fear of the white man. He, like Suu Kyi believes “in action on all fronts by whatever means necessary,” because to overcome fear “merely bodily courage [isn't enough] but absence of fear from the mind” is essential too. Both influential activists believed that fear was the reason behind an individual’s choices to do right, or do nothing. However, both activists’ speeches complement each other in the sense that both believe that fear is the greatest obstacle holding an individual from acting against injustice, whether politically or mentally.