Malcolm X Essays (Examples)

..I never will forget how shocked I was when I began reading about slavery's total horror. It made such an impact upon me that it later became one of my favorite subjects when I became a minister of Mr. Muhammad's. The world's most monstrous crime, the sin and the blood on the white man's hands, are almost impossible to believe." (Malcolm X, p. 1)

It was upon these revelations that Malcolm X would unknowingly prepare to make the ultimate sacrifice. He tells that he was during this time in his personal development addicted to gaining any knowledge that might help him better understand the plight of his people and how he could help them advance. It was this orientation that would eventually launch him into a position of momentous influence and dangerous visibility. Malcolm X would sacrifice his life as a consequence of the things he had learned during his…

He began receiving death threats and his house was burned down. On February 21, 1965, Malcolm was shot dead while delivering a speech in Manhattan's Audubon allroom. Malcolm was shot 16 times. Three men were convicted for the shots and they were all members of the Nation of Islam.

The funeral service was attended by a very large number of people and thousands of people came to pay their respects to Malcolm's body. The great number of people that came to pay their respects shows that Malcolm managed to reach during his lifetime many lives and that there were many people that followed the same principles that Malcolm was preaching. He was clearly a representative figure of the black community in America as he was always a supporter of the rights of black people.

The death of Malcolm X left regret in the hearts of the black community, as his…

Malcolm X: Director Spike Lee's Portrait Of An American Hero

Malcolm X was not a man who could be easily characterized and the same is true for Spike Lee's 1992 film. Malcolm X was a labor of love for Lee, who was only thirty-five at the time of the film's release. Lee had been a young child when Malcolm X was assassinated, so his knowledge of the man was not based on any personal recollections. Instead, he read The Autobiography of Malcolm X as a junior high school student and has said it changed his life forever (Hopkins, 2004). Lee's goal in making the film was to introduce Malcolm Little, later known as Malcolm X, to a new generation of African-Americans. He felt it was an important piece of history that may otherwise be forgotten. Lee realized that Malcolm X was a controversial figure, both in life and in death,…

Even Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. noted that the Emancipation Proclamation promised more than it delivered. Both men knew that America had a long way to go before true freedom for African-Americans could be realized.

Malcolm X dealt drugs and hung out with the underground African-American artists and musicians during the Harlem Renaissance, one of the greatest periods in African-American cultural history. This section of Malcolm X's Autobiography is one of the most inspiring. Here, a young black man from the South moves his way up the social ladder in the Big Apple. He does not sell out; he does not deign to take on low-wage jobs that would perpetuate poverty. hat Malcolm X did was to forge a new identiy for himself and thus for all African-Americans.

Malcolm X saw in the Honorable Elijah Muhammad this concrete alternative identity for African-Americans. Rather than bow down to the oppressors by…

Malcolm X, the most influential Black Muslim leader, was a man whose views and personality underwent so many changes that the final version of him bore little or no resemblance to the original one. In the book, 'Autobiography of Malcolm X', Alex Haley has highlighted all the changes that his political and social ideologies encountered and this helps us understand the complex multi-faceted personality of the man who had a profound impact on Black Muslims in America. The paper covers all the changes and carefully analyzes the events and incidents that caused those changes.

MALCOLM X

Malcolm X is probably one of the most controversial Muslim leaders of America because there are so many shades to his personality that it takes some time to figure out who the real Malcolm X was and what was it that he actually stood for. It is important to understand that during the course…

However, many other strands of thought have converged to create a collective black identity and historiography. For example, the syncretic slave religions that merged African practices with Christianity allowed slave families and communities to hold on to their ancestry and traditions in the face of physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual oppression. Similarly, the creation of the African Episcopal Church (AME) in the early nineteenth century marked a distinctive and unique sociological event in African-American history. African-American religious identity has been diverse but has always been defined by the ability to merge various historical and social realities within a collective spiritual framework.

The Nation of Islam and the embrace of Sunni Islam by African-Americans also reflect this tendency in African-American history. Malcolm X and others found in Islam a means by which to re-connect with their African roots and heritages. hile Islam was not the religion of their ancestors in Africa,…

He was eventually able to communicate directly with the leader of the Nation of Islam, Elijah Muhammad. Malcolm X's oratory skills also developed through his participation in a prison debate team.

Spiritually and personally transformed, Malcolm X was released on parole, and moved to Detroit to live with his brother who, like many of their other siblings, had converted to Islam. Malcolm X soon rose through the ranks of the Nation of Islam, became its first national minister, and grew in political clout. As his social and political notoriety grew, rivals within the Nation of Islam plotted against him, sent death threats, and eventually exiled Malcolm X from the Nation. Undeterred, Malcolm X went on to found his own spiritual-political society and traveled abroad on spiritual and political pilgrimages. His encounters with Middle Eastern and African manifestations of the Muslim faith had a powerful impact on Malcolm X, who refined…

" (Malcolm X, p. 1)

That he segues here into a discussion on how education has so often been used to spread a mythological history casting white men as heroic underscores the latent hostility toward the traditional education he was never afforded. By contrast, Rodriguez is afforded this education and yet, for many of the same reasons, is moved to decry it. Rodriguez tells by sharp contrast to Malcolm X of a life given over to opportunities, accomplishments, familial support and cultural pressure in the context of education. Rodriguez tells that "although I was a very good student, I was also a very bad student. I was a 'scholarship boy,' a certain kind of scholarship boy. Always successful, I was always unconfident. Exhilarated by my progress. Sad. I became the prized student -- anxious and eager to learn. Too eager, too anxious -- an imitative and unoriginal pupil." (Rodriguez, p.…

That is, my religion is still Islam. My religion is still Islam. I still credit Mr. Mohammed for what I know and what I am" (427). His philosophy was no pro-violence, he merely believed that one should not turn the other cheek when one was colonized: "The political philosophy of Black Nationalism only means that the black man should control the politics and the politicians in his own community...The political philosophy of Black Nationalism only means that if you and I are going to live in a Black community -- and that's where we're going to live, 'cause as soon as you move into one of their -- soon as you move out of the Black community into their community, it's mixed for a period of time, but they're gone and you're right there all by yourself again," he said (427). Malcolm X was so frightening to hites not simply…

Malcolm X while in prison decides to start writing to friends he had been with in the thieving and doping world who unfortunately never replied to his letters because they were too uneducated to write a letter. Some of his friends who were slick and sharp-looking and could be mistaken for Wall Street big pots unfortunately hired people to read them letters if they received one. Malcolm X was also caught up in that similar situation and would never reply to letters that were written to them (Blesok, 2012). These experiences made him acquire homemade education. While Malcolm X struggled with lack of education, ichard odriguez who was living in a working class neighborhood in Sacramento had a slightly different experience. His parents could afford education for him and his siblings. His elder brother and sister left their books on the table next to the door closed firmly behind them…

" This decision would inevitably move him towards becoming one of the most important black leaders of American history. It was one made of free will and it deeply impacted him in his time in prison. He later reflected, "Months passed without my even thinking about being imprisoned. In fact, up to then, I had never been so truly free in my life." The effects of Black Islam were evident on him and it dramatically changed the direction and focus of his life.

The final turning point occurred when he left the Nation of Islam to start his own Muslim Mosque Inc. This occurred because he realized that Muhammad, the leader of the Nation of Islam cheated on his wife. This decision was partly his own, but mostly the result of circumstance as it forced him to become disillusioned with the very organization and leadership that he devoted his life…

Malcolm X & Sophia

Malcolm first notices Sophia (a name given by Malcolm, we have no idea what her real name is) at a Negro dance at the Roseland Club in Boston, MA. Malcolm's date was Laura; Laura was an intelligent, well-brought-up, young, black woman. Laura is on her second date with Malcolm. Sophia walks into the club and immediately draws Malcolm's attention. The author describes her as a blond woman with shoulder length hair, well built -- but one can assume that she was well endowed. Sophia wears expensive clothes and drives a convertible. She is obviously well off. We see that Sophia, as a person, is self-assured -- almost brash. She walked into a venue for blacks to find a black man "for herself." This was unusual. Typically, white women who wanted alliances with black men often arranged it through agencies and pimps who exclusively catered to such…

Another angle into Malcolm's view of white America is presented in an article in the journal Phylon, in which the authors assert that after visiting Mecca in 1964 (according to Charles E. ilson), "...He became less and less doctrinairely antagonistic toward whites..." Malcolm is reported to have said, that morning in Mecca "...was the start of a radical alteration in my whole outlook about 'white men'." Meanwhile, the Reverend Albert Cleage later said that it was "a myth" to believe that Malcolm had changed the way he felt towards whites; and C. Eric Lincoln, who wrote the book the Black Muslims in America, said that those who saw "a new Malcolm X" after he returned from Mecca "were at best probably premature in their judgments." "Until the day of his death he remained an opponent of what is generally...understood...as 'integration'," said George Breitman, a friend and confidante of Malcolm who…

Though one can only speculate about what would have happened to Malcolm Little if he had never been arrested, it seems fair to suggest that he would have died in a violent manner, given that he lived in a violent manner. It seems unlikely that he would have devoted time to pursue his education. On the contrary, he may have continued his life of criminality. However, once he was incarcerated, he was removed from his life of crime. ith nothing better to do in jail, Malcolm became a voracious reader, giving himself the education he had not attained in the outside world. It was during Malcolm's incarceration that he heard from his brother Reginald, who had recently converted to the Nation of Islam. Malcolm pursued learning about the Nation of Islam, beginning contact with Elijah Muhammad, the leader of the Nation of Islam.

In addition, Malcolm's street life helped him…

Malcolm X

In what ways was Malcolm X's individuality denied him because of his race? One important expression of his individuality was his desire to become a lawyer when he was young. When his teacher asked him what he wanted to be, and he told the teacher he wanted to be a lawyer, the teacher told him he needed to be "practical." It wasn't practical for a black young man to try to become a lawyer. Blacks couldn't get into law school and usually couldn't afford law school anyway. Blacks weren't considered smart enough to be lawyers.

What personal experiences made him open to accepting the teaching that "the white man is the devil?" What reading in history? In what way did his hajj change his attitude? When Malcolm Little was a young child, white supremacists came one night and burned down his house. The didn't like what his father…

Some might also argue that unity of white people was also necessary to fix society, but this was certainly not Malcolm X's point.

He gets his point across even more emphatically in the second half of his speech by speaking directly about the differences in approach and effect between the main leaders of the Civil Rights Movement and the grassroots participants that made up the bulk of the people demanding their rights. Specifically, he mentions the arguments that grew over the handling of finances by Martin Luther King, Jr. In respect to several different inter-related organizations following the events at Birmingham (the bus boycott and related issues), noting how the leadership seemed to be disintegrating at a moment when increased activism was most needed. Even here, he seems to suggest that the power structure of the colored leadership of the Civil Rights Movement was somehow tainted by involvement with whites,…

Malcolm X's "A Homemade Education" documents the writer's attempts to enrich his knowledge by using a series of tools that he discovers in the process. He was initially unable to comprehend the general picture that stood before him, but he gradually began to learn more and more. This enabled him to gain a better understanding of the condition that he (and African-Americans in general) was in and of the fact that it was essential for someone to do something in order to have society acknowledge that race should not represent a reason to discriminate.

Malcolm's idea of homemade education made it possible for society to understand that it was, indeed, possible for individuals to learn a great deal of information on their own as long as they were determined to do so. He demonstrated that one did not necessarily need to have a lot of academic experience in order to…

malcolm x Learning to Read and richard rodriquez the achievement of desire, as wellas one contrasting the same two articles. It gives an overview of the prevailing situation at the time the stories were writen. This helps in providing an in depth understanding of the impact of the stories.

Learnin To Read by Malcolm X and the Achievement of Desire by Richard Rodriquez

The Achievement of Desire and Learn to Read are both intriguing stories. They are motivational stories of two great men with deep-seated desire to learn. During this time, people from their ethnic groups had many constraints in achieving education. Both the stories of Malcolm X and Richard Rodriguez are great example of how people can overcome barriers to achieve educational success. The two stories share similarities and few differences outlined here in.

Malcolm X, through the desire to learn how to read and write discovered a new…

Of course, it is also extremely important culturally that Malcolm's father was a minister who spoke out for Black rights, just as he became a minister and did the same thing.

LEGAGY

It would seem that a man as charismatic and determined would leave behind a legacy of children willing to follow his lead, but that is not really the case. Malcolm X fathered six daughters before his death. His wife raised them Muslim, but also raised them in a middle-class New York state neighborhood with very middle-class values. One daughter attempted to kill Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the movement, who she considers responsible for her father's death. Another works for the City of Yonkers, New York, and another is a motivational speaker and leader of a cultural organization hoping to bridge differences between cultural groups (Blake 114-116). While many serve on boards and as…

Reading Response
Malcolm X, Audre Lorde and Eldridge Cleaver all were examples of activism against the mainstream culture of WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) ideology. Each in their own way represented a voice of opposition to the aggression and oppression that the mainstream culture demonstrated in its various facets—whether it was in the crackdown of the black population through the unjust use of law enforcement, as Cleaver saw, or in the case of racist groups violently threatening and attacking the black population, as Malcolm X witnessed and experienced, or in the cultural misdirection that Lorde felt. This paper will show how The Autobiography of Malcolm X, “Power” and “Poetry is Not a Luxury” by Lorde, and Soul on Ice by Cleaver represent ways in which African Americans protested against the mainstream culture.
The Autobiography of Malcolm X shows how African Americans protested against the mainstream culture by relating the stories of…

Malcolm X's famous speech, The Ballot or the Bullet, and the thoughtful essay, hy omen Smile, by Amy Cunningham are very similar in their objectives, but rather different in their tones. Malcolm X's speech sought to stir the African-American population into fierce action against those who would limit their civil rights. Amy Cunningham softly pointed out the social expectation for women to smile, with a suggestion that perhaps this stereotype should change. hile Malcolm X's speech is fierce, and Cunningham's essay is soft, there are still incredibly subtle hints of an opposing tone in each work. The Ballot or the Bullet, although rigorous against whites, also seems to contain hints of compromise; hy omen Smile, while a gentle expression of dissatisfaction, also suggests an abrupt reversal in the role of women.

Despite the fact that the speech made by Malcolm X seems blatantly anti-white, it is also riddled with suggestions…

..That's why black prisoners become Muslims so fast when Elijah Muhammed's teachings filter into their cages by way of other Muslim convicts. 'The white man is the devil' is a perfect echo of that black convict's lifelong experience."

Prison solidified Malcolm X's -- and in his view, all African-Americans' -- position in society, and his faith clarified the predicament and gave an avenue both of understanding and of redress.

Everyone's childhood, family, and early adulthood influences the rest of their lives. The specific challenges and mistakes that Malcolm X faced and made, however, led to the development of a singularly influential personality. He found success in defining and opposing a racist power structure that ironically wished to reduce him to failure. this is the real lesson of The Autobiography of Malcolm X

ork Cited

Haley, Alex. The Autobiography of Malcolm X New York: Ballantine Books, 1965.

Alex Haley, The Autobiography…

Malcolm X and Leadership

The Leadership Styles of Malcolm X

Malcolm X was a natural born leader, according to Manning Marable in his biography Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention (2011:33). What made him so was his incessant drive and ability to command others through repetition of "pet themes" as well as his ability to speak rapidly and overtop others (Marable 2011:33). In his early days before his conversion to Islam, Malcolm X demonstrated a remarkable effectiveness as a "leader of the pack" of assorted hoodlum with whom he fraternized. In this sense, contingency theory best applies to this stage of Malcolm's life, because given Malcolm's social context at the time, his style of leadership -- assertive, combative, and harping -- fit the situation and the type of people with whom he operated: people who respected only muscle and might, of which Malcolm had the intellectual and willful kind. In…

Autobiography of Malcolm X by Alex Haley

The Autobiography of Malcolm X, published shortly after his assassination in February 1965, is a collaborative effort by Malcolm X and Alex Haley. Containing as it does the entire life history of Malcolm X, the book is a virtual kaleidoscope of the man's various philosophies, be it on African-American unity and integration; racism; religion; non-violence; or human rights. But the singular fact that stands out while reading the book is the many transformations that Malcolm X went through during his lifetime. The drastic shifts in circumstances, ideologies and life paths chosen make it extremely difficult to identify any one consistent philosophy that characterizes the man. Yet, it is precisely for that very reason that there is an identifiable underlying philosophy that shines through almost his entire life span. And that is, Malcolm X was a man who believed in the virtue of self-realization…

Malcolm X's ideas about education in America and its function in society. Malcolm X was self-educated, and he gained that education while he was serving time for robbery in prison. He believes this education helped turn his life around and give him the opportunity to change his life and create a passion for black rights and individual rights. Education changed Malcolm X as a person, and he believes that anyone can change his or her life through education.

This essay illustrates that education does not have to come from an institution of higher learning, as long as it is serious and taken seriously. It also shows how a good education can make a real difference in a person's life. Malcolm X learned to really read and comprehend what he was reading, while he was in prison and it changed the course of his life. He says, "I have often reflected…

A few thousand people gathered at the venue that evening, and when Dr. Martin Luther King took up the mike and spoke that he was 'tired' of being discriminated against and segregated all the time and that it was time to start changing. The principles to use, he stated were those of non-violence and non-co-operation, and these would bring about justice and freedom for his people who were undergoing constant humiliations at every step in their lives. Persuasion, and not coercion, and Christian love, and a basic desire to listen to one's own conscience and act according to the dictates of the conscience must be the motto to be followed, he said, and this would bring about more results than those of violence and bloodshed. During his speech, Martin Luther King Jr. stated that if his people would protest against these constant indignities with courage, and not with violence, with…

" He explained that the ballot of 1964 represented a catalyst for the time being, "When all of the white political crooks will be right back in your and my community ... with their false promises which they don't intend to keep." He stated further that the Democrats lied about their support of the civil rights bill and had no actual intentions of passing it. He stated that they were simply out to play games and were using African-Americans as bait. Essentially, Malcolm stated that all African-Americans must use the ballot or the bullet. They must defend themselves and also push for equality and black nationalism as well as human rights (Malcolm X).

The experiences of the Black Panther were decidedly more militant but took their inspiration directly from him. In Oakland, California, in October of 1966, Huey Newton and Bobby Seale founded the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. The…

Creative Minds Critical Thinking Famous Thinkers Paper Subjects: Martin Luther King Malcom XS

It is not easy to readily deconstruct the ideas and courses of action that Malcolm X advocated, for the simple fact that those ideas and courses of action changed so much during his relatively short lifetime. It is far easier to do so for Martin Luther King Jr., who was fairly consistent in his ideology and actions. However, when attempting to compare these aspects of these two salient African-American leaders in the middle of the 20th century, there are both points of similarity and of dissimilarity. For the most part, these men supported drastically different ways of accomplishing what was relatively the same objective. That objective, of course, serves as the primary similarity between these men -- each of them was actually working to solve the same problems that African-Americans faced during the Civil rights movement. If…

Derek's racist beliefs are cemented, and became the springboard to his activism and leadership of the skinheads when his father is killed by a black man, fighting a fire in a crack house in an inner-city neighborhood. hen two young African-Americans try to steal his car, Derek is determined that he, unlike his beloved father, will emerge the winner. The film makes it clear that Derek has been waiting for this to happen. Again, the film does not excuse the theft of his vehicle, but indicates that the world is filled with potential justifications for racism, and Derek is looking for such 'reasons' to engage in hateful action. Derek is both a product of his environment and his simmering male adolescent rage.

Derek sent to prison for three years. His younger brother tries to assume Derek's role by harassing immigrants and other non-whites. He also finds himself, like Derek, of…

Malcolm X

"A Homemade Education" is a chapter in The Autobiography of Malcolm X The chapter details the formative experiences Malcolm X had while in prison, teaching himself how to read, write, and also be critically aware of what he was reading and writing. "A Homemade Education" is important to the development of Malcolm X's ideas and his character. Learning how to read and write in prison empowered the author, and enabled him to become the powerful public speaker and influential political activist that he became. The chapter also reveals some of the rhetorical devices and strategies Malcolm X uses throughout the autobiography.

The chapter begins with X stating plainly, "It was because of my letters that I happened to stumble upon starting to acquire some kind of a homemade education." Just as Elijah Muhammad was having a great impact on Malcolm X's thought processes and worldview, the desire to…

Malcolm X on education

A school dropout, Malcolm X illustrates the dichotomy between a formal and what he calls a "homemade" education: "In the street, I had been the most articulate hustler out there -- I had commanded attention when I said something. But now, trying to write simple English, I not only wasn't articulate, I wasn't even functional," (171). Street smarts vs. book smarts: Malcolm X's survival and success depended on both. Practically illiterate when he first entered prison, Malcolm X wrote letter after letter to Elijah Muhammad, forging for himself a homemade education: "It was because of my letters that I happened to stumble upon starting to acquire some kind of a homemade education," (171). His desire to communicate with Elijah Muhummad was the initial spark that inspired Malcolm X to teach himself how to read and write. Painstakingly, he would copy page after page from the dictionary…

' It was much like a horse might be pulled up from the finishing line. And indeed this is what happened, in actual fact, to the 'underdog'-racing racing prospect, named eabiscuit, when the horse was a colt. Like Malcolm X's parentage to two strong parents, eabiscuit, the direct descendant great racehorse Man O'War, was born with great geological assets of speed and intelligence. But the horse was underestimated, and eventually used to train more promising racehorses by having jockeys pull up the animal, so that the animals being 'really' trained could gain confidence, however false.

eabiscuit, like Malcolm was judged harshly for his appearance. In eabiscuit's case, he was born a small animal in a sport that favored giants like the towering stallion War Admiral. eabiscuit was knock-kneed and had what some observers called an 'eggbeater' gait, rather than a proper galloping stride. This was why eabiscuit was put forth…

Learning a language: Gaining fluency in a language to be free

The acquisition of language is never a culturally neutral process. When someone learns his or her first or even a second language, that individual also acquires a status in the eyes of the world, based upon how that language is perceived. The race of the speaker, his or her perceived level of education, gender, and race all interact with the stereotypes that exist in the gazer's mind. In Christine Marin's essay "Spanish Lessons," Marin chronicles how her unsteadiness in Spanish did not initially bother her, given the fact that she grew up in a society that prized whiteness. Gradually, as she grew older and her attitude towards her heritage changed, her lack of fluency in her native tongue became a burden. Similarly, Malcolm X was forced to grapple with his complex relationship with the English language. On one hand,…

speak the word of peace and write to enable to establish the end of racism, poverty, and everything seems wrote wrong with the world. People such as Malcolm X, Richard Rodriguez and others wrote beautiful pieces on the importance on peace and harmony surrounding everyone in the world. Through the written word and the methods of the Contact Zone, these writers tried to accomplish their goal of making a difference in today's society, which the changes were for the better. Along with that, these writers have a great impact on how people view the world today on issues such as racism and harmony. Therefore, people like Malcolm X and Richard Rodriguez made a difference through their writings and speeches of peace.

Intelligent and articulate, Malcolm was appointed a minister and national spokesman for the Nation of Islam. Elijah Muhammad also charged him with establishing new mosques in cities such as…

The newsreels are a successful thematic device as they are used to guide the viewer through the details of the events. It was the decision more so of the studio executives to leave some things out as they only used what would drive the story of the horse. Only upon further investigation of the history does one gain a fuller knowledge. Still the filmmaker's intention of getting the story to the forefront of the American consciousness was successful and met critical review.

Malcolm X

In the film Malcolm X, Spike Lee misleads the viewer about the full nature of racism held by the Nation of Islam. The Nation of Islam characters in the movie say that whites are "blue-eyed devils," but never revealed to viewers is the doctrine about whites being eliminated in racial Armageddon. Furthermore, Lee did not limit the film's context to historical accounts; instead he chose to…

political representation of African-Americans in the southern United States. The author explores many different theories as well as the ideas of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King to explore the under presentation of Blacks politically. There were eight sources used to complete this paper.

African-Americans have come a long way since the nation's inception. From the days of slavery, to the present time many bridges have been crossed and many battles have been won. Gone are the days that Blacks were required to sit at the back of the bus.

No longer can Blacks be told they must eat at a certain restaurant. Black and white children go to school together daily, they grow up on the same streets and they marry into each other's race with increasing frequency. It is becoming the America that the founding fathers envisioned at the time the nation was created. One of the reasons…

The Black Arts Movement refers specifically to the rise of African-American literature in the 1960s. Writer and activist Amiri Baraka started the movement in Harlem in response to the assassination of Malcolm X and actively encouraged black writers to use their voices to tell their stories. The movement went outside of the realm of written art to include theater and other forms of expression. It led to the development of cultural studies programs at universities that focused on the idea that being black in the United States was a different cultural experience than being white, and helped highlight social differences between black and white America.

The Black Student Movement is an organization at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. It was established because of Black student dissatisfaction with both the growth of the black student population at the school and the NAACP chapter at the school. It became an…

Despite the more commercial and thrilling aspect of this film, Lee retains his trademarks, from close-up shots to his signature floating shot and infusion of music and athletic iconography.

Lee continues to infuse his films with social and political commentary. Although he has not made as many feature films in recent years as he did in the past, he continues to produce and direct works that focus on social issues, as well as the black experience. Although Lee may be outspoken at times, his viewpoints and socio-political beliefs have not changed during the course of his career. His ability to retain his identity in an ever changing world have made Lee a truly unique director.

Annotated Filmography

Jungle Fever. Dir. Spike Lee. United States: 40 Acres & a Mule Studios, 1991.

Jungle Fever explores the concept of interracial relationships and how they are viewed by the community. The film, like…

After World War Two, Carson realized the extent to which the government was permitting the use of toxic chemicals and wrote a book to expose the practice. That book was called Silent Spring, and it "challenged the practices of agricultural scientists and the government, and called for a change in the way humankind viewed the natural world."[footnoteef:8] Jensen includes an excerpt from Silent Spring to show that Carson was up against one of the most lucrative industries in the world, and that although her work is unfinished, Carson made a huge impact on raising awareness and eventually her work got DDT banned. [8: "The Life and Legacy of achel Carson," Accessed May 3, 2013, http://www.rachelcarson.org/Biography.aspx#.UYOWMCshKII]

Malcolm X's autobiography was arguably not a project undertaken as a form of muckraker journalism. The author started writing when he was in prison, and he comes to learn the power of the written word…

Mookie's frustrated acts show that violence is sometimes justified as a means of "self-defense," in Malcolm X's words. Bigger did not have access to the words of wisdom of either Malcolm X or Martin Luther King Jr. More importantly, Bigger did not have access to a community of like-minded African-Americans who could sympathize with if not totally condone the use of violence to preserve cultural integrity and pride.

Mookie and Bigger are remarkably similar, proving that little has actually changed for African-Americans in terms of gaining social and political power even after the Civil Rights movement. Richard Wright's novel Native Son illustrates the extent of racial discrimination during the early half of the twentieth century; Spike Lee's movie "Do the Right Thing" reveals the extent of racial discrimination during the latter half of the century. The protagonists in Native Son and "Do the Right Thing" live in different times and…

While his loss of accent brought himself and his teachers a sense of pride, it brought sorrow to his parents, who saw the change, however gradual, in their child. The author furthermore admits that for children like him, from a non-white American background, the home and school environment are at cultural extremes. This creates conflict that the young Rodriguez handled by conforming to his school environment. In effect he replaced the importance and roles of his parents in his life with those of his teachers, and as such became an academic success.

The author however admits that this is a shameful and lonely type of success. Nonetheless, it is a success that the author has chosen to conform to. Instead of therefore being successful because he has been educated, Rodriguez emphasizes that his success was chosen. He worked towards academic success with great passion, because this is what he wanted.…

African-Americans have been and are still continuing to be affected disproportionately by poverty, mortality rates for treatable diseases and employment discrimination, as recent studies show. A study last month resolved that black patients die from cancer at higher rates than whites, and still another study found that employers still practice a form of racial profiling that prevents many African-Americans from entering or moving up in the job market. While these and other finding point to the continued existence of institutional racism, conservatives have conducted efforts in the last years to dismantle affirmative action programs, arguing that they are no longer needed. Many say that the U.S. is unable to recognize and deal with contemporary racism because it has also been unable to deal with its past history of slavery, and with slavery's legacy.

One of the most influential and monumental leaders for the freedom of Blacks was one Malcolm Little…

Homemade Education" deals with how he learned to read and write in prison. The thing that impressed me most about this essay is that Malcolm X taught himself how to do these things instead of relying on someone else to show him the way. He decided that he needed to learn how to read and write, and he would not be able to do many of the things that he wanted to do otherwise, so he made sure that he learned. Asking for a dictionary and pencils and tablets in prison got him started, and it was nice to read about how seriously he took his task once he realized that there was so much that he could learn. He never knew that there were that many words and after he discovered them he could not leave them alone. It is part of made him such a good speaker, and…

Playwright Israel Zangwill

Is United States of America in the second decade of 21st century a melting pot -- the kind of melting pot that was envisaged by Israel Zangwill close to 104 years ago? The answer is an overwhelming no. Today more than ever there is no one idea of Americanness or American culture that is acceptable across the board. Most of this is attributable to the differences in the immigration patterns as they existed in 1908 and today. In 1908 most of the immigrants were of European background with a European heritage. Over a generation or two, these immigrants groups assimilated and integrated fully into American society as Americans. One notable exception was of course the African-American experience.

Latter half of the 20th century however saw migration from areas that were as diverse as China, Vietnam, the Indian subcontinent and the Arab world. These migrants have brought their…

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The Aftermath

Uncle Tom characters were common in both white and black productions of the time, yet no director before Micheaux had so much as dared to shine a light on the psychology that ravages such characters. By essentially bowing to the two white men, Micheaux implied that Old Ned was less than a man; an individual whittled down to nothing more than yes-man and wholly deprived of self-worth. At this point in the history of black films, with some of the most flagrant sufferings of blacks exposed to the American public, the only logical path forward that African-Americans could take was to begin making cogent demands to improve their collective social situation.

Slowly, black characters in film took on greater and more significant roles in film. Sidney Poitier was one of the most powerful film stars of the mid twentieth century. In roles like the 1950 film by…

Social Marginalization by Race: Economic Deprivation and White American Resistance in the allot or the ullet by Malcolm X

The rigorous history of African-Americanism and their emancipation within the American society reflects the struggles and perpetuation of discrimination among black Americans even during the 20th century. Malcolm X, considered one of the most radical and influential leader of the black American civil rights movement, centers on the issues of discrimination and white American resistance among the blacks in his famous discourse, The allot or the ullet, delivered in April 3, 1964.

The relevance and significance of Malcolm X's discourse must be put into context in the events happening during his time. Historically, the socio-political landscape of the United States during the 1960s is characterized by the emergence and development of the civil rights movement for the marginalized sectors of the society, such as the youth, women, poor, and particularly, African-Americans.…

Freire's discussion of the oppressive activities that discriminate students is similar to the racial discrimination experienced by the black Americans. Thus, even though Freire, Malcolm X, and King talked about various strategies, they ultimately aim to deter the effects and eliminate completely the occurrence of oppression in the society.

Reflecting on the significant contributions of each individual to the progress of the civil rights movement and educational reform in the history of American society, it is evident that there cannot be one superior or best strategy that must be adopted to eliminate or deter oppression. What these readings and analyses of the works of Malcolm X, King, and Freire say about social change is that history provides us with various ways or perspectives to find a solution to a problem; each insight is helpful to the improvement of social changes in society. Freire's critical analysis of the educational system is…

Of corse, there were some African-Americans like Malcolm X, an
otspoken champion of black activism, who felt that King's non-violent
ideals wold never work and ths spported the se of violence or at least
the threat of violence in order to win the concessions they demanded.
Ironically, Dr. King was assassinated in 1968 and in the weeks and months
that followed his death, the American Civil Rights movement seemed to
flonder in ftility while the militants like Malcolm X gained new
inflence and new followers among yonger African-Americans living in
rban/city ghettos and on college campses across the contry. Bt King's
legacy lived on and by the end of the 1960's, segregation had been otlawed
and all African-Americans achieved eqal rights related to employment,
voting and the ability to rn for pblic office at the state…

e must canonize our own saints, create our own martyrs, and elevate to positions of fame and honor black women and men who have made their distinct contributions to our history." (Garvey1, 1)

Taken in itself and absent the implications to African repatriation that we will address hereafter, this is a statement which seems to project itself upon both Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, mutually driven as they would be by a belief that African men had been deprived of a humanity which it was their duty to see restored. But it is here that we can also begin to observe the elements of Garvey's rather poetic and frequently biblical rhetoric as producing multifarious responses in its future champions. Certainly, the greatest and most daunting common ground between King and Malcolm X in this instance is in their mutual 'creation' of 'martyrs.' They would both sacrifice themselves to the…

In the "hard-core" sub-genre of hip-hop, one sees a much clearer emphasis on street and urban authenticity -- rather than on sampling. For N.W.A., hip-hop is an expression of lived life -- a kind of militant message passed down to urban blacks from men like Malcolm X

But not all hip-hop comes from such types. The Beastie Boys are an example of hip-hop artists who thrive on a different message. Much of their music is centered on adolescent/teenage angst -- white suburban kids enraged by suburban living, but moved by urban beats. They inter-mingle their own white perspective with samplings from an assortment of other artists -- thus making their mark on the hip-hop scene. Their aggression appears to be real, like 50 Cent's -- even if it is different in its source. The Beastie Boys are, of course, legends in hip-hop -- but Mickey Hess denies that their authenticity…

African-Americans are second only to Native Americans, historically, in terms of poor treatment at the hands of mainstream American society. Although African-Americans living today enjoy nominal equality, the social context in which blacks interact with the rest of society is still one that tangibly differentiates them from the rest of America. This cultural bias towards blacks is in many notable ways more apparent than the treatment of other people of color, such as Asian immigrants, as is reflected in disparate wages and living conditions experienced by these respective groups. Common stereotypes hold the successful, college educated black man or woman as the exception rather than the rule, whereas Asians are commonly thought of as over-achievers. Although any bias undermines social interaction in that it shifts attention away from individual merit, the bias towards African-Americans can be said to be worse than most, and lies at the root of discrimination and…

On the threshold of the Civil Rights movement, Baldwin would publish
Notes of a Native Son. Though 1953's Go Tell It On The Mountain would be
perhaps Baldwin's best known work, it is this explicitly referential
dialogic follow-up to right's
Native Son that would invoke some of the most compelling insights which
Baldwin would have to offer on the subject of American racism. This is,
indeed, a most effectively lucid examination from the perspective of a
deeply self-conscious writer enduring the twin marks in a nation of
virulent prejudice of being both African American and homosexual. The
result of this vantage is a set of essays that reaches accord with right's
conception of the socially devastating impact of segregation on the psyche,
conscience and real opportunity but also one that takes issue with the
brutality of Bigger, a decidedly negative image to be invoked of the black
man in America.…

Over time -- in fairly short order, in fact -- Davis got over this sense of secretiveness, and soon many of her actions were matters of national news. She reflects that this celebrity has made it difficult at times both for her to arrive at and explain the truth of her own role in the movement, and the motives and constructs that allowed for the movement to happen in the manner it did: "I know that almost inevitably my image is associated with a certain representation of Black nationalism that privileges those particular nationalisms with which some of us were locked in constant battle" (Davis 322). Davis (somewhat) clarifies this statement in explaining that the "nationalism" with which many typify the Civil Rights struggle -- especially the Black Panthers -- was perhaps radical but did not aim at isolation, and she cites several instances where cooperation with other marginalized groups…

Because of the fact that they ae Negos, they have been oppessed and intimidated on seveal occasions. Malcolm X also makes some histoical claims when demanding the civil ights. He states that Nego evolt has been going on since 1945 in the whole wold and in 1964 will see that it then emeges to be a black evolution. He claims that this evolution has been happening in Asia, Afica and Latin Ameica fo the not white individuals. The blacks who wee colonized by the Euopeans I Asia have been involved in the stuggle fo since 1945. Fo the Mexican-Ameican stuggle fo equality also involves some histoical statement especially in 1965 when efeing to Cesa Chavez who has had majo contibution fo the La Raza Unida quest fo the ights though non-violent means.

Reason fo the timing of the civil ights demands

In the Montgomey bus boycott, the people ae demanding…

Healthcare

Drawbacks that exist within the structure of healthcare institutions include the lack of universal implementation of the electronic health records, and the lack of consistency in service quality and delivery. Moreover, there are different systems for different classifications of patients depending on their insurance coverage. For instance, seniors on Medicare use different products and services within the system and may be processed differently at different institutions. The nature of healthcare insurance is also overly complicated. Because each state also has different rules, regulations, and healthcare issues, there is a potential for service disruptions and inconsistencies. Patients living in more than one state or who travel often will frequently encounter the inconveniences of the American health care system.

Not all healthcare institutions have the same structure, but many hospitals and other large healthcare organizations are structured similarly. Lack of consistency in healthcare is especially apparent among the elder population, which…

This is why people that had financial resources to move away from the agitated center often chose Harlem. At the same time however,

On the periphery of these upper class enclaves, however, impoverished Italian immigrants huddled in vile tenements located from 110th to 125th Streets, east of Third Avenue to the Harlem iver. To the north of Harlem's Italian community and to the west of Eighth Avenue, Irish toughs roamed an unfilled marshlands area referred to by locals as "Canary Island."

In this sense, it can be said that in the beginning, Harlem represented the escape place for many of the needy in search for a better life. From this amalgam, the Jews represented the largest group, the reason being the oppressive treatment they were continuously subject to throughout the world. Still, the phenomenon that led to the coming of a black majority of people in this area was essential…

Mis-Education of the Negro

Carter G. oodson was a historian and educator with a prominent role in the Black community and a great interest in issues facing the Black community. Especially in terms of the role of education in the first half of the twentieth century, aspects of the Black experience that impacted the education of Black people, and what they themselves might want to achieve through an education. His book The Mis-Education of the Negro addresses such issues in terms of a number of specific dimensions, such as the impact of slavery on the African-American psyche, the degree to which African-Americans had been mis-educated, the need for greater self-reliance among members of the Black population, that Blacks needed to develop their own social order and not imitate the white order, and the meaning of political education in the African-American community.

The Mis-Education of the Negro

oodson wrote his book…

acial Discrimination

The social problem studied in this paper is racial discrimination. acial discrimination is any discriminatory act against a person based on race. A subtype of racial discrimination would be racial harassment. The magnitude of racial discrimination is very high: according to the FBI's most recent HCSA report, 51% of reported hate crimes are based on race (Hate Crimes in America, 2015). However, as Blank, Dabady and Citro (2004) point out, "simply identifying an association with race is not equivalent to measuring the magnitude of racial discrimination or its contribution to differential outcomes by race" (p. 72). In other words, it is not easy to define the magnitude of racial discrimination because distilling the cause-and-effect relationship requires testing and in complex socio-economic environments, experiments are difficult to conduct with adequate controls. Nonetheless, a qualitative magnitude may be discerned in the narratives of men like Malcolm X and Martin Luther…

You carefully outline the four steps to your non-violent approach of ending segregation: determining the existence of injustice, attempting to negotiate, purifying and preparing individually and as a group, and finally engaging in peaceful direct action. The case you make for these points is strong, and the evidence in Birmingham supporting this pattern of behavior on your part, and on the part of our enemies as well, is equally apparent. I do not understand, then, why you insist that the same methodologies that have proven ineffective in the past will somehow work with continued pressure. Your insistence on this non-violent approach is no better than the constant cries of "Wait!" which you claim -- correctly -- echo so painfully in the ears of the so-called Negro men, women, and children who have yearned for freedom for centuries.

Another rising leader of the so-called Negro, Malcolm X, has insisted that "Truth…

Mookie is similarly conflicted. He rants about Italian-Americans after a falling out with Pino early in the film, calling as many stereotypes as he can name. When Sal uses the "N" word, Mookie feels betrayed and chooses to fight back. He "fights the power" of racism, and the institutions that he feels support racism. His act of violence was in express solidarity with Radio Raheem, who he pledged support to as a brother. Mookie also never seems to completely trust or even like Sal, in spite of Sal's kindness. His mistrust of Sal reveals Mookie's own internal prejudices that prevent racial harmony in America. Spike Lee demonstrates Mookie's attitudes by his cavalier approach to work and his not being willing to allow Pino to insult him. Mookie's lack of decisiveness is part of his personality, though, and does not have a bearing on his attitude towards Italian-Americans. Mookie is nonchalant…