I know that Spike Lee's movie Malcolm X came out fifteen years ago, but sometimes it takes a while to get to view a movie, and so it is with me.
Fortunately there's the DVD to watch and finally I've had the opportunity to view the life of this powerful African American leader whose message was definitely unsettling in the 1950s and 1960s. Malcolm was a powerful speaker who could move groups of people to take action.
Malcolm X is not as honored a Black leader as Martin Luther King, but as Malcolm seems to understand himself, his radicalism made Martin look more palatable to whites. It's quite possible that Malcolm's vision scared White politicians to agree to Martin's demands.
The movie itself, which is based on Alex Haley's The Autobiography of Malcolm X, brought Oscar nominations to Spike Lee and Denzel Washington in 1992. It is a long but powerful portrayal of Malcolm's journey from a young man caught up into a life of crime to a convert to the Nation of Islam in prison, on to leadership in the Nation and finally a break with the Nation of Islam and Elijah Muhammad shortly before his assassination in 1965, at the age of 39.
Malcolm X was a powerful speaker and leader, whose message was "Black Nationalism." It was infused with the ideology of the Nation of Islam, but later as he adopts true Islam he separates his Islam from his political program, which was separatism and Black self-help.
Denzel Washington has done a great job in bringing to life Malcolm's life, and it is a life that needs to be attended to. As a white Christian, I'm of course, closer in philosophy to Martin Luther King, but Malcolm's message was a powerful one. That he lost his life so young, before he could fully develop his philosophy is a shame.
If you've not yet seen it, get the DVD and pay close attention. If you're interested in listening to Malcolm X the speaker click here.
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