Lee and Haley’s last defect in presenting the autobiography of Malcolm X is their presentation of his views after his trip to Mecca and before his death. In order to understand this misrepresentation the context surrounding Malcolm’s life is important. In April of 1964 Malcolm made a trip to Mecca and then Africa, UK, and France. On this trip, Malcolm’s views towards black rights continue to morph. Upon returning to the United States, Malcolm continues to give speeches presenting his somewhat altered visions. Also upon his return, Malcolm begins to receive death threats from members of the Nation of Islam. Malcolm is then assassinated on February 19, 1965. In the last thirty minutes of the film, Malcolm gives a speech based on a real speech …show more content…
Malcolm’s beliefs appear to make a very small shift from the beginning of his popularity to the end of his life. However, this does not mean that the changes that Malcolm does make do not hold significance, but it is important to emphasize the continuity in Malcolm’s philosophy despite these transformations. Next, interestingly, Manning Marable argues that Malcolm’s philosophies stem from his childhood and remain almost completely consistent through his entire life. “ But what I find in my own research is greater continuity than discontinuity. What I see in Malcolm is that his father Earl Little and Louise Little were committed Garveyites, advocates of black nationalism and Pan-Africanism in Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association, joined in the 19-teens and '20s; that Earl Little was the leader of the UNIA chapter branch in Omaha, Nebraska, then in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in East Chicago, Indiana, and then finally in Lansing — in Detroit, Michigan; that there was a long legacy and a foundation of Malcolm's evolving politics”. It is difficult to confirm the continuity of Malcolm’s beliefs before his speeches, interviews, and conversation were recorded and presented towards the public. However, the autobiography and Malcolm’s family members confirmed the idea that Malcolm was exposed to black nationalist politics early in his life by his mother and father. Despite the unknown about Malcolm’s beliefs during his upbringing and young adulthood, Lee paints a much more straightforward picture than reality. Lee presenting Malcolm in this fashion allows him to shatter the myth about Malcolm typically held outside of black communities. Presenting him as having the potential of becoming an integrationist easily dismantles the idea that Malcolm was anti-white. However, his actual position towards the struggles of African Americans in the
The Autobiography of Malcolm X as told by Alex Haley is the story about a man who greatly impacted American history. Malcolm Little, or Malcolm X as he is more widely known, taught what he believed in regards to segregation, racism, and discrimination. Growing up in a large family with a father Earl Little, a Baptist minister, and his mother Louis Little who was a homemaker, Malcolm’s life at the time seemed very promising. His father’s involvement in support of the Black National gained him many death threats at the hands of white supremacists. In 1929, they lost their house to a fire, and two years later the body of Malcolm’s father was found mutilated. This lead to the emotional breakdown of Malcolm’s mother and in turn she was institutionalized. Malcolm and his siblings were separated and placed in foster homes, and from then, his life began a path of drugs, sex, and crime. It was not until he was imprisoned in 1946, that he decided to make some changes for the better. This essay will assess and discuss those changes whether negative or positive, on a micro, mezzo, and macro level. It will also cover some of the effects of racial prejudice on human behavior, and how society today keeps the ideology of Malcolm X alive.
Being that the school system I encountered prior to college barely educates you on black history, I can only imagine how the education system was in Malcolm’s time. At this time in his life when he was Malcolm Little, he had little to no education about his history which is most likely the reason he carried himself the way that he did in the very beginning of his life. One who does not know where they come from nor value their history typically tends to fall into a stereotypical existence; the only way to break this cycle is the awakening of the mind. Something has to occur to drastically changes a man or woman’s life, whether it's in a positive or negative form.
Throughout his life Malcolm X faced oppression from white people. From having his family’s house burned by the KKK, to having his father killed by a white supremacy group and leaving his mother destroyed, Malcolm had a deep sense of hatred towards white people in America. This resulted in Malcolm developing this philosophy that black people should in no way accept the help of white people. While he was in prison learning about the nation of Islam, his views on “white” America grew strong. Leading to his advocacy to Pan-Africanism. Malcolm shares in the book, “that freedom, independence and self-respect could never be achieved by the Negro in America, and that therefore the Negro should leave America to the white man and return to his African land of origin.” He simply believed that unless black people create a black nation, blacks in America could never be economically stable due to the discrimination they will continuously face. Later on in the book, he contradicts himself after his trip to Mecca and changes his views. Neglecting his past belief of Pan-Africanism, Malcolm came to the realization that blacks in America could be successful with the participation of whites fighting alongside them for equal rights. This came to be as a result of Malcolm witnessing race problems from different perspective around the
Malcolm X, an African American leader and prominent figure in the Nation of Islam, was a significant individual in the African American fight for justice and equality. In contrast to the mainstream Civil Rights Movement with its nonviolent pursuit of integration, Malcolm X voiced concepts of race pride and Black Nationalism during the 1950s and '60s. Although many argue that Malcolm X did not actually “do” anything for the black community, his nontraditional programs brought a new perspective to the Civil Rights Movement, and this perspective is of relevance today in the black community.
At the beginning of the book, Haley describes how Malcolm’s father, a Baptist Minister, played an enormous role in his life. He taught Malcolm how be a strong independent man and provided him with a structure of beliefs. Most of his beliefs came from the teachings of Marcus Garvey, the founder of the U.N.I.A (Universal Negro Improvement Association), which was dedicated to raise the banner of black purity and exhorting the Negro masses to return to their ancestral African homeland. Haley then moves on to explain how Malcolm and his family faced a lot of discrimination throughout their lives. X even drops out of school at age 15 because his teachers told him that a black man will never become a lawyer. Malcolm would then go down a slippery slope using and selling drugs.
Malcolm X, Malcolm Little or El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, are all different names to one heroic figure. No two people can differ on the impact that Malcolm X has left, not only on the African-American society, but also on the world as a whole. Born in Omaha, Nebraska USA in May 19, 1925 Malcolm X ideologies in life and philosophy were really a result of several life events that he struggled with and experienced while growing up. Between loosing his parents, being bullied in school and finally having Prison sentence, El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz decided that some changes should be arranged in the society’s function. Starting from there, he became a man with a message and a mission. Malcolm X was seeking a change, a step forward and a ray of light. After going through a lot in his life, Malcolm X was detriment to be the burning candle that illuminates the roads for others. Almost 50 years later since his death, a lot of people still look up to him as a spiritual leader and still consider him an icon when it comes to civil and human rights movements. Today, in a world that is moving in the path of equality and unity, we can only think of those who built the early stages of this ground we all stand equally tall above. Thanks to influential people like Malcolm X, we can today see the impotency and the growth of the seeds he grew back in his days. In spite of the fact that he is a well-respected and loved man, there is still a group of people (23%) who thinks Malcolm X should not be
The Autobiography of Malcolm X as told by Alex Haley is the story about a man who greatly impacted American history. Malcolm Little, or Malcolm X as he is more widely known, taught what he believed in regards to segregation, racism, and discrimination. Growing up in a large family with a father Earl Little, a Baptist minister, and his mother Louis Little, who was a homemaker, Malcolm’s life at the time seemed very promising. His father’s involvement in support of the Black National gained him many death threats at the hands of white supremacists. In 1929, they lost their house to fire, and two years later the body of Malcolm’s father was found mutilated. This lead to the emotional breakdown of Malcolm’s mother and in turn she was institutionalized. Malcolm and his siblings were separated and placed in foster homes, and from then, his life began a path of drugs, sex, and crime. It was not until he was imprisoned in 1946, that he decided to make some changes for the better. This essay will assess and discuss those changes whether negative or positive, on a micro, mezzo, and macro level. It will also cover some of the effects of racial prejudice on human behavior, and how society today keeps the ideology of Malcolm X alive.
Malcolm X was one of the primary religious leaders and reformers of the 1960, where he fought for and ultimately gave his life for racial equality in the United States. His father was a reverend who believed in self-determination and worked for the unity of black people. Throughout Malcolm’s life he was treated horribly by white people, hence shaping his misconceptions of all white people and developing his strong belief in black separatism. It wasn’t until years later where he embraced his black identity and discovered all races could live and work together for a common goal, brotherhood.
The author uses pathos and logos in the autobiography of Malcom X to tell us that he fought throughout his life and preceding the events that occurred which made him a strong African American leader in history up till date. Everything being talked about Malcolm’s storyline has to do with race, knowledge, prejudice and transformation. It will be noticed if critically examined that common arguments made all through the book are how blacks were maltreated making them inferior to white folks. It all starts from the intrusion by breaking Malcom’s home window by the hooded Ku Klux in Omaha, Nebraska. His father Earl little was the target, a fearless and strong Georgian Baptist preacher and also a member of universal Negro improvement Association (UNIA) which fights for the return of American blacks to Africa. Louise little, Malcolm’s fair- skinned mother, an educated woman was a homemaker occupied with the family’s eight children.
The Autobiography of Malcolm X as told to Alex Haley is an account of Malcolm X’s evolving perspective on racial justice. Malcolm X was a prominent figure in the Nation of Islam who advocated for black nationalism and separatism. The man who became one of America’s most powerful voices for African Americans was deeply affected by the terrors of racism, which shaped his view of social justice and the condemnation of the white man. The way Malcolm X narrates his experiences changes as his views on race change. At first, he wants readers to feel the destructiveness of racism, so he conveys his experiences through provocative language. When he aims to promote universal peace, he takes on a more optimistic tone. As a
The attempts to diminish Malcolm’s influence were futile. Author James Baldwin called his dead “A major setback for the Negro movement.” “Master spell-binder that he was, Malcolm X in death cast a spell more far-fling and more disturbing than any he cast in life.” At the time of his
Malcolm X, also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz’s legacy is about one’s personal transformation of a self-made man. A man who once associated himself with hustling and crime as a ghetto pup; then to a staunch radical activist, to a political figure, and to becoming one of the most influential African Americans in history. To some he was admired as a courageous human rights activist for blacks, and in some others eyes, he was a man who preached racism and violence towards the whites. Before his last two years of adapting to a peaceful outlook as an activist; before, on one hand, he was undeniably repulsed by the racial discrimination and violence against black Americans, and on the other he originally believed that America offered
Throughout history, different people in society have viewed Malcolm X in different lights. To some, Malcolm X is the shining light that spoke to a population that was in need of wisdom and help. However, other people saw Malcolm X as an threat to society and the pillars that were built to keep everybody safe. In the end, a person would have to be blind if they didn’t recognize the impact of Malcolm X character in the Civil Rights Era. Whether you saw him as a positive of the negative aspect, Malcolm X was a powerful figure of the era. Therefore, we most praise the power and strength of a Malcolm X figure in society. Malcolm X displayed the moral authority so great that it continues to attract people to his ideology in recent times. Malcolm displayed a charismatic quality: he fixed his mind and sight of the racial goals to be obtained and pursued them with an unvarying, uncompromising attitude. In the light of all of these realities and difficulties of the cinema representing a mans life that has been plagued with myths and romance, Spike Lee’s Malcolm X serves as a inspirational achievement. Lee’s Malcolm X serve as a richly textured and relevant nuance of the life and legacy of Malcolm X and the times of American paradox: a racist whose fame has been shaped to display his belated universal appeal.
From April 13, 1964 until his return on May 21, 1964, in Mecca, Malcolm X accomplished the Hajj. A mandatory religious Islamic pilgrimage to their most holy city that must be carried out at least once a lifetime. He went on this annual trip seeking a personal and spiritual enlightenment through the Middle East and West Africa. While on his way he stopped to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Ghana, and Morocco sharing his beliefs and thoughts. He also was learning the meaning of universal brotherhood and self respect as well as respect for other races. He was slowly beginning to see that you didn’t have to be black to be a muslim but he said he had been with “ blonde-haired, blued-eyed men I could call my brothers.” -( Malcolm X )
The history of the world has had its encounters with separation and segregation when it comes to race. For a long time the world has seen racism as a large problem and this has caused ethnic groups to be looked down upon or forced into a lifestyle of difficulties and suppression. Due to this situation, races, in particularly African Americans, have been forced to deal with unequal opportunity and poverty, leading to less honorable ways of getting by and also organizations and support change. Malcolm X is an example of an African American man who fell into this type of hate and acted against it. Malcolm X united people to promote the advancement of African Americans and change when it comes to his own race.