NAME_____________________________
DATE___________
Describe the opening scene of the movie.
Why do you think the filmmaker chose to include footage of current events (when the movie was
made in 1992)?
Today we respect Malcolm X for his role in the Civil Rights movement, but before Malcolm’s
assasination, he received a lot of criticism from white and Black Americans, including MLK.
Why do you think white people would criticize Malcolm?
Why do you think Black people would criticize Malcolm?
Why do you think Malcolm and other Black men around him “conked” their hair even though it
used harsh chemicals and could be very painful?
Describe what happens in at least 2 flashbacks in the movie?
Flashback 1:
How does this flashback help the viewer understand Malcolm’s ideology?
Flashback 2:
How does this flashback help the viewer understand Malcolm’s ideology?
Why was Malcolm discouraged from becoming a lawyer? How do you think his story would have
been different if he had gone to law school?
How does Malcolm's sentencing exemplify racism in the criminal justice system? Connect this event
to issues in the criminal justice system that persist today using specific examples from current
events.
1. Malcolm’s sentencing exemplifies recism in the criminal justice system because
2.
This is similar to issues in our criminal justices today such as
Why do you think this film was made?
Discussion Questions
Describe the opening scene of the movie. Why do you think the filmmaker chose to include footage
of current events (at the time of the filming)? Why do you think this film was made?
Describe Malcolm as a young adult. Why does Malcolm Little straighten his hair? What motivates
Malcolm to choose Sophia over Laura? What does Malcolm's treatment of Sophia reveal about him?
What are some healthy and unhealthy reasons why people get in relationships?
Why do you think the filmmaker uses a nonlinear structure to tell this story? Describe Malcolm's
childhood. What are some events that occurred in Malcolm's family that contributed to his beliefs
about race? Why was Malcolm discouraged from becoming a lawyer? How do you think his story
would have been different if he had gone to law school?
How does Malcolm gain the attention of West Indian Archie? How does Archie influence Malcolm?
Why does Malcolm quit working for Archie? What are the consequences? Why is it easier to become
associated with bad influences than to disassociate with them? Why is Malcolm arrested? How does
Malcolm's sentencing exemplify racism in the criminal justice system? Connect this event to issues
in the criminal justice system that persist today using specific examples from current events.
Malcolm X is a deeply unappreciated figure; not just to Americans, but also to the world.
When I was growing up learning about the Civil Rights Movement in my English class,
Martin Luther King was always viewed as the poster boy for the movement; I'm
non-American so I grew up in a country where the Civil Rights Movement were taught a bare
minimum, that MLK led this movement because of him and the success of the Civil Rights
Act of 1964 was widely credited to his effort.
I believed that for years, until I heard of Malcolm X the first time.
My initial impression of Malcolm X was that I saw him as a radicalised activist; just like the
Black Panthers were. His views during his time in the Nation of Islam are universally
acknowledged as polarizing and controversial, and because of this I saw his views as
detrimental to African-Americans in general; that his views are what caused the movement
that he preached to fail, and that his views are the reason why worldwide history school
textbooks choose to neglect the influence he had over the Civil Rights Movement.
To me, he was a black terrorist.
But I was wrong. So wrong.
My views on Malcolm X changed when I found myself enamoured and in love with hip hop
culture over three years ago; a culture that embraced Malcolm X as a hero. His name is
frequently mentioned by many rappers that I've looked up to, especially rappers who
themselves constantly speak on black struggle, racism and racial identity.
Contrary to my beliefs, I discovered through hip hop that many African-Americans of then
and now, still adore and admire Malcolm X. Because of this, I made an entire effort to
understand why. I wanted to understand why Malcolm meant so much to the people,
despite his controversial views. And with the help of a few friends, I eventually did.
The reason why Malcolm X stands out to me as the single greatest African-American hero
of the Civil Rights Movement was because short and simple; he was nothing but a realist.
What I mean by this is that rather than focusing and envisioning a perfect future, Malcolm
understood the obstacles and challenges that black people were currently facing instead of
putting his head into a fairy tale utopian world where everything is sunshine and rainbows;
no. He refused to conform to that and like he said best at the same time MLK was
advocating his ideas of the Civil Rights Movement;
"I don't see any American dream, I see a nightmare."
Malcolm understood the harsher reality of prejudice, hatred and struggle during his time,
and let's face it; even with the Civil Rights Act, what little things really have changed for
since it was passed almost 60 years ago?
I consider Malcolm to forever be a hero to African-Americans because he understood
everything his people were going through and he made it his entire goal and mission to
preach to his people that regardless of what they believe in or what they do, they were
equivalent to living like pilgrims in an unholy land. He was the first to see that and be
truthful about it; because Malcolm understood damn well enough that sugarcoating the
truth with fairy tales helps nothing now, and the future.
The sad part about him? Malcolm never got the credit he rightfully deserved in American
history as he should be. As far as I'm even being told, American schools don't even teach
about him, and I see that as nothing but a cruel injustice to not only young African
Americans in years to come, but Americans in general.
Despite this I'm not attempting to deny or demonize MLK's work for the Civil Rights
Movement; like Malcolm he is an important figure to the movement and his legacy will
forever be written in history books. But for Malcolm, history books have yet to put him
alongside MLK because why? American history doesn't see him that way.
Or I dare even say it, Americans refuse to see the black rights movement from his side.
Because to America, Malcolm X doesn't fit the mould.
Violent, radical, insane, terrorist. That's what America wants their people to see him as.
But to me he was a liberator, a freedom fighter, a realist, a warrior, a poet and a hero. One of
my heroes.
That's Malcolm X to me.