MALCOLM X
"Be peaceful, be courteous, obey the law, respect everyone; but if someone puts his hand on you, send him to the cemetery."(Moncur 1) This is a quote said by Malcolm X, and this is typical of how he approached everything. Malcolm X was a civil rights activist in the 1950s and 60s who fought against racism. Malcolm first thought that whites caused all the suffering for the blacks, so they should just stay separate, but it wasn't until later in his career that his views changes and realized violence wouldn't solve his problems. Malcolm X is remembered today for preaching his beliefs, encouraging the end of racism, and being a great influence on the civil rights movement.
Malcolm Little was born May 19, 1925 to Earl and Louise Little. Preaching the end of racism was in Malcolm's blood; his father was a Baptist minister who encouraged blacks to fight for their equality. When Malcolm was young, his family received threats and even had one of their houses burnt down, but nothing was done by the white firemen, and the house burned completely. When Malcolm was young, he was known to be a well behaved child and student, but then a few incidents happened that unleashed a different Malcolm. One day he told a teacher he wanted to be a lawyer, but the teacher told him that being a lawyer was not a job for niggers. It was then that his hopes for the future left him. Another horrible moment in his childhood was when he was six and his father was killed by a white man's car (Crushshon 12).
When Malcolm's father died, the whole family became a mess. Malcolm's mother was left with eight children, and it soon led her to a mental breakdown, so she was sent away to an institution and eight children were left with no one. ...
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...erent ideas in his life. He started with the belief that blacks should stick with each other until he experienced the world and found that all races should work together. Malcolm was a brave man and who made a difference. For all of the things he went through, he should be remembered as a man he fought for his people and was not afraid to speak out.
Works Cited
Crushshon, Theresa . Malcolm X-Journey to Freedom. Chanhassen, MN: The
Child's World, 2002.
Encyclopedia Britannica "Malcolm X." Encyclopedia Britannica. 13, Apr 2005.
< http://search.eb.com/Blackhistory/article.do?nKeyValue=50305>
Haberman, Barbara. "About Malcolm X." The Official Web Site of Malcolm X.13,
Apr 2005.
Meyers, Walter Dean. Malcolm X-A fire Burning Brightly. New York: Amistad
Press, 1992
Moncur, Michael. "Quotations by Author." The Quotations Page. 13, Apr 2005.
Of the people whose names are mentioned in history, some men like Thomas Edison are praised for their genius minds, while others such as Adolf Hitler are criticized for leaving a depressing legacy behind. While it is relative easy to notice the type of legacies these two men left, legacies of other men are often vague and they seem to be imbedded in gray shadows. This is how many people view the life of Malcolm X. Malcolm X during his lifetime had influenced many African Americans to step up for their rights against the injustices by the American government. One on hand, he has been criticized for his hard stances that resemble extremism, while on the other hand he has been praised him for his effort in raising the status for African Americans. The extremes in viewing his life from the modern day perspective have often come from reading his climatic speech The Ballot or the Bullet that he gave in many cities across America in 1964. When he was with the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X favored Blacks to be separated from the Whites, and during this time he strongly opposed White Supremacy. This also seems quite prevalent in his speech The Ballot or the Bullet. However, one events during the last year of his life reveal that he wanted the Blacks and the Whites to coexist as peaceful Americans.
On the other hand, Malcolm X believed in the utilization of any denotes indispensable to reach his goals. The one area is the kindred attributes between the two. In fact, one could verbalize that Martin Luther King and Malcolm X were consummate antitheses. Martin Luther King was able to enlighten the world an edification. He showed us that goals can be reached without violence. Although , Malcolm X may have reached his goals, but he engendered nonessential violence along the way.. You may argue that even though Martin Luther King’s protests were halcyon, violence still occurred. The difference in my opinion is that the Hangings and attacks that African Americans faced were out of their control. It was the decision of those that they were protesting against to bellicosity beat them and kill them. Malcolm X on the other hand was many times the initiator of violence. He brought violence to his protests and ergo engendered extra violence, which can be deemed to be nonessential. At the terminus of the day many would favor of the lessons which Martin Luther King Jr uplifted as his decisions and outcomes can influence the decisions of future generations in times of conflict. Malcolm X’s conception of doing anything to reach his goals is not a good representation for future generations as it remotely
“I’m for the truth, no matter who tells it. I’m for justice, no matter who it is for or against. I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole” (X). This quote by Malcolm X represented his attitude towards equality and self-empowerment. The true Malcolm X was a passionate human rights activist as well as an extremely outspoken man during the fifties and sixties. X encouraged millions of African Americans to fight for what they believed in and to take pride in their ethnicity. X persuaded a multitude of African Americans that they are supreme and should not be degraded for their skin color. He learned at a very early age if he wanted something in life, he had to make some noise
In contrast, the book could not let the reader know everyone’s reactions to this unfortunate death. In the film, we are made aware that both of Malcolm’s brothers, Philbert and Wilfred did not attend his funeral because of the precautions of their own safety. Also, we could see and hear the emotion that people felt when he was assassinated. Another interesting fact obtained from the movie was coincidentally the name of the film; Make it Plain. Prior to coming out to speak, Malcolm always told the speaker before him to “make it plain” implying that he did not want any special introduction. His half sister, Ella Collins, still goes to bed every night with the idea that “one day I’ll get even.” Finally, the book failed to show that when Malcolm was buried, his followers shunned away the professional grave diggers to dig up his grave themselves. That alone shows the effect this man had on all that he encountered.
He was born Malcolm Little, to a Baptist lay speaker and a Grenada-born homemaker, Malcolm’s family had to be relocated several times because of constant death-threats toward his father. At the age of six, Earl, Malcolm’s father was killed in a streetcar accident that the family believed was the work of a white supremacist group called the Black Legion. At thirteen, Malcolm’s mother was institutionalized at a mental hospital, leaving her children to be separated into foster homes. Although an excellent student in junior high school, Malcolm dropped out of school when a white teacher told him that his dream of practicing law was “no realistic goal for a nigger”. After a youth of petty crime and a young adulthood of larger infractions, Malcolm found himself in jail for larceny and breaking and entering.
The autobiography of Malcolm X captures the personal growth and the journey of Malcolm Little, also known as Malcolm X. Throughout his life, Malcolm’s experiences shaped him into the human rights activist that we are all familiar with today. In his early age Malcolm believed every white person was malicious, he was a criminal, and he believed that Christianity prevented the progression of African Americans- later on in life, Malcolm became a controversial human rights activist, believed that white people were “well-meaning” people, and was a devout Muslim (pg. 383).
Malcolm X had an interesting childhood that ended up shaping how he would end up as an adult. Malcolm had a very large family, he was one of eight children. His mothers’ name was Louise Norton Little. She was a stay at home mom and cared for her children. His father, Earl Little, was a very outspoken Baptist minister and an avid supporter of the Black Nationalist leader Marcus Garvey. This is where his life started to get interesting. Earl's civil rights activism prompted death threats from the white supremacist organization Black Legion, forcing the family to relocate twice before Malcolm's fourth birthday. ( www.malcolmx.com p 1). Earl wanted nothing to do with violence and wanted to keep his family safe from harm. He tried to put as much distance between him and the Black Legion. Despite his efforts to elude the Legion, in 1929, their home in Lansing, Michigan, was burned to the ground. Two years later, Earl's body was found lying across the town's trolley tracks (www.malcolmx.com p 1). Police declared that both of these incidents were in fact accidents and not attacks on the family by the Black Legion. This violent end to Malcolm’s father’s life ...
Malcolm X was particularly firm in his opinions of the nonviolent strategies advocated by Martin Luther King, Jr. During a November 1963 address, Malcolm ridiculed the theory that African Americans could achieve their freedom nonviolently. "The only revolution in which the goa...
Malcolm X is born Malcolm Little in Omaha, Nebraska. His life is full of discrimination and racial violence. When Malcolm as a child he moved to Michigan with his family where they continue to experience persecution and violence. White people murder Malcolm’s father and forced his mother into a mental hospital. Malcolm moves to Boston, to live with his half-sister, Ella. In Boston Malcolm quickly becomes involved in urban nightlife. Malcolm was into gambling, drinking, doing drugs, and dating an older white woman, Sophia. He then moves to New York, where he begins working as a hustler in Harlem. Malcolm’s various jobs there include running numbers, selling drugs, and steering white people to black brothels. When life becomes too dangerous is Harlem, he returns to Boston, where he becomes a house burglar and is eventually arrested. In prison, Malcolm transforms himself, converting to the branch of Islam promoted by the Nation of Islam. Inspired by faith, Malcolm stops using drugs, he reads voraciously, prays, and studies English and Latin. The prison releases Malcolm on parole. Malcolm rises quickly from the rank of temple assistant in Detroit to the Nation’s first national minister. Malcolm X becomes known throughout the United States, even outside of Muslim circles, as a fiery advocate for black unity and militancy. The Nation of Islam’s leaders resent and fear Malcolm despite his allegiance to their cause, and they suspend him from the organization. The Nation of Islam’s frustration with Malcolm intensifies, and Malcolm begins receiving death threats. After a divisive argument with Elijah Muhammad the leader of Nation of Islam, Malcolm leaves organisation.
They later moved to East Lansing, Michigan, where harassment continued, and in 1929, their house was set on fire by a group called the Black Legion, a white fascist group (J. Simon, 26). Two years later, Earl was found dead on streetcar tracks. His death was ruled a suicide, even though it was very likely that he was killed by racists. Later in 1937, Malcolm’s mother Louise, who never got over her husband’s death, was admitted into a mental institution. Malcolm and his other siblings were split up to various foster homes (Malcolm X bio, 2013).
Even though Malcolm X was speaking violence into the minds of many fellow African Americans, he persuaded them to use violence against people but only if it seemed necessary. Many people went against what he believed in because of this. They did not agree it was the right way to handle this situation especially since there was already violence present from the racist.
When Malcolm hit the eighth grade his English teacher Mr. Ostrowski asked what he would like to do for a career when he was an adult. Malcolm said that he would like to become a lawyer. Mr. Ostrowski’s retort would be burned into Malcolm’s head for eternity. “A lawyer-that’s no realistic goal for a nigger. You need to think about something you can be.” Malcolm left Lansing and went to Boston to live with his sister Ella, because she had gotten custody of him and life in Lansing was unbearable. Malcolm stated “Whatever I have done since then, I have driven myself to become a success at it.” Malcolm was now mad at the world for the hardships it had given him, and he was determined to not let it get in the way of him being what he wanted to
Malcolm X is one of the prominent activist and outspoken public voices of the Black Muslim. He was born as Malcolm little and he changed his last name to X to signify his rejection of his “slave” name. Malcolm X is a charismatic and eloquent, Malcolm became an influential leader of the Nation of Islam, which combined Islam with Black Nationalism. After Malcolm X’s death in 1965, his bestselling book The Autobiography of Malcolm X popularized his ideas, particularly among black youth, and laid the foundation for the Black Power movement of the late 1960s and 1970s.
I am going to explain more about the Malcolm X that many admire and respect. While he was a child he received the best grades in an all white school and was even class president once. His aspiration was to be a lawyer, but his favorite teacher had told him that he could not keep dreaming unrea...
Malcolm X was a freedom fighter like Dr. King who fought for the right and freedoms for black Americans. Unlike Malcolm, Dr. King called black Americans blacks while Malcolm called them Negros. Malcolm used violence in his fight for freedom when he said, “Revolution was based upon bloodshed”. Malcolm was ready for anything as far as blacks will gain the respect and freedom they needed. In Malcolm’s black revolution, he made it clear how blacks were treated differently no matter their age, what school they came out of, no matter what their intellectual or professional level was, they were still recognized as a boy and were not given the respect they deserved. He also pointed out how whites made them think they had different goals and objectives.