MALCOLM X

Malcolm X

Malcolm X

Introduction

Malcolm X was one of the greatest representatives in defending the rights of blacks in the United States. Born on May 19, 1925 in the city of Omaha, Malcolm Little was the son of Earl Little and Louise Little. When he was only six years old, his father, who was a member of the Association for the Advancement Universal Negro, was brutally beaten and thrown into train line. With the body almost broken in half, he died. His mother was born by the rape of a black woman by a white man, what did have a lighter skin color and therefore domestic jobs were more easily to her. Louise, his mother, came to support her family of eight children, but could not cope with what she received as a salary and the family came to an indigent condition. She denied ever offering her children up for adoption and the U.S. government began to question her sanity. Finally, the two older brothers were left to fend for themselves and the others were adopted and whole family was separated from each other. There have been many documentaries and biographies written on his story and character, but the most famous documentary was known as Malcolm X, which was released in 1974.

Discussion

Compare and contrast the meaning of that statement in relation to the documentary and the biography

The statement 'He was our own black shining prince' was quoted by Ossie Davis at the funeral of the great activist, Malcolm X, and this statement represented his whole life, and how after facing so many challenges, and a distressful childhood, he turned out to be some one, no one could imagine he had it in him. When he was young he turned out to be a very good student. But after being discredited by a teacher, he moved to Boston and started living a life of a Bohemian. Later he had a black companion named Sophia, but she left him for a white man and even after her marrying a white man, Malcolm continued to love her the same way. When Malcolm was young he pretended to be crazy and avoided to join any military service and instead did job related to crimes, related to environment and prostitution. It was not long before he also became a drug dealer and committed robberies. Malcolm was sworn death in Harlem and arranged for his friend to return to Boston. Back to this city, he formed a group with his friend who lived with him, Shorty and Sophia and her sister in order to rob houses. The first assaults were favorable to the group, but they were discovered and arrested. Malcolm was up to the highest penalty and among them included a total of eleven years in jail (Rummel, 1989).

How does the impact of Davis' statement vary from film to biography

Malcolm was known as Satan in prison for filing a rebellious attitude and anti-religious. But through the influence of his brother Reginald, converted to ...