How to Celebrate the Life of Malcolm X

On the world stage of the 1960s, Malcolm X played a starring role in a turbulent, strident and often violent drama. He was - and, 35 years after his death, still is - worshipped, feared and reviled. But he will never be taken for granted.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Malcolm X Video
• Plane Or Train Tickets To Chicago

1. Look at the life of Malcolm X from his perspective: read his autobiography.
2. Attend a Malcolm X memorial program in your town, or take in the one on February 21 at Malcolm X College in Chicago.
3. Listen to Malcolm X speak about his struggle for racial equality at Voices of the Civil Rights Era (see voicesofcivilrights.org).
4. Rent a video of "Malcolm X" starring Denzel Washington and flash yourself back to the '60s.
5. Let yourself evolve. Malcolm did, from a child surrounded by hate, violence and poverty to a young man imprisoned for drug dealing and theft, to a radical black leader preaching retaliation and racial hatred, and - finally - to a mature man seeking racial justice and harmony.

Tips & Warnings

• Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little on May 19, 1925 in Omaha, Nebraska. In the 1940s he joined the Nation of Islam (the Black Muslims) and took the name Malcolm X. Toward the end of his life, he renounced the group's violent methods, converted to Orthodox Islam and changed his name to El-Hajj Malik El Shabazz. He was assassinated at the Audubon Ballroom in New York City on February 21, 1965.