"Nonviolence is fine as long as it works"

Malcolm X's quote "Nonviolence is fine as long as it works" recommends that he thought in the power of nonviolence as a means of achieving social change, however just if it worked. He was a proponent of self-defense and thought that violence might be utilized as a last option if peaceful ways of demonstration stopped working. He was vital of the civil liberties movement's dependence on nonviolence, arguing that it was not always reliable in attaining its goals. He believed that nonviolence needs to be used tactically which it needs to be combined with other techniques, such as financial boycotts and political organizing, to develop genuine change. He argued that nonviolence should not be utilized as a blanket policy, however rather as a tool to be utilized when it was most reliable. Eventually, Malcolm X believed that nonviolence could be an effective tool for social modification, but only if it was used strategically and effectively.