This is an image and time when people were attempting to identify with culture. The image itself has so many different perspective(s); that I refer back to when Malcolm X first went to Mecca. What happened was that he was able to visually see that things were not just black and white. In Mecca, when as a Muslim you go for Haj"Prayer". This is a trip that the average person takes once in a lifetime. The beauty of it is that when you stand in the ranks of men for this prayer session you witness that the rainbow of life is placed upon you. That rainbow is equated to men/women of every nationality and from every where in the world they have travelled to get their. Well, Malcolm X - coming from the United States, self-educated about the world until his acceptance in to the Nation of Islam where he were lead conducted in belief that every thing was black and white was at that very moment served with reality and acceptance of people along with the difference in there cultures.
The picture alludes too:
Ballot or Bullet, Be proud to be Black "man/women" and people not just my own will lie!
The picture is also emblematical of self respect and belief in one's own self!
Upon Malcolm X's return to the states he recanted his position in the Nation of Islam and took his Islamic Oath again as a Sunni Muslim.