...many different types of people. Not only people with different personalities, but people with different types of race and ethnicity. In our present day it is very rare for you to go somewhere and notice that everyone is all one race or ethnicity. Going back many years ago, if one were to use the same bathroom as an African American you were viewed as a traitor and a bad person. Now imagine living that way today, imagine how difficult it would be to find a job or even do your daily routines, it would almost be impossible. The real question is what caused all of the racism to change or who can we thank for all of this? There are a great number of people who came up and made a stand against this which helps us live freely today. Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little on May 19, 1925 in Omaha, Nebraska. His mother, Louise Norton Little, was a homemaker occupied with the family's eight children. Louise father was Scottish which made Louise have a very light complexion, so light she could even pass for white. His father, Earl Little, was an outspoken Baptist minister and avid supporter of Black Nationalist leader Marcus Garvey. Earl's civil rights activism constantly received death threats from the white supremacist organization Black Legion, which forced the family to relocate twice before Malcolm's fourth birthday. Regardless of the Little's efforts to elude the Legion, in 1929 their Lansing, Michigan home was burned to the ground. Two years later, Earl's body was found lying across the...
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...compare to the enormous amount of impact that Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X had. Both men displayed a massive amount of courage while trying to put an end to racism when no one else dared to. They both stood up for what they believed in no matter how much they were ridiculed. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X were two of the most recognized leaders in history who both had the same objective of putting a stop to racism but had several differences in their background, philosophy, and influences. Although they were alike in many aspects, the location and setting in which they were raised caused a distinction in the way they led. When Malcolm was six years old his father was killed by the Black Legionaries. This played an enormous role in his mother’s break down, which put her in a mental institution. Malcolm’s mother, Louise, could not handle raising eight children during the Great Depression, especially without their father. This is what led to six of the children becoming wards of the state. One of those children was Malcolm, who soon thereafter began to live a life of crime including drugs, con games, and thievery. Just before he turned twenty-one years old Malcolm was sentenced to eight to ten years in prison for burglary. In prison, Malcolm had to educate himself, and developed his debating skills, and pledged to replace black self-hate with black self-esteem (Treanor 107). The fact that Malcolm educated himself was later reflected in his speeches when he used a language...
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...that Malcolm X became a positive black leader and a member of the Nation of Islam because of his services and achievements towards the civil rights movement and the NOI during the 1950's. Firstly, in his early life, X was sentenced to 8-10 years in prison for burglary charges and sleeping with white women, however he was granted parole after serving six years. While imprisoned X found self-enlightenment and began to study the teachings of Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam (NOI). Furthermore, X repeated Muhammad’s preaching’s about white supremacy that restricted Afro-Americans from empowering themselves and achieving political, economic, and social success. Secondly, X fought for African-American civil rights, this can be seen in the movie after the police mercilessly injure a fellow brother of his temple....
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...Malcolm X Malcolm X was a well-known civil rights movement leader as well as a great Black Muslim as well as a smart and powerful man. He was born as Malcolm Little in Omaha, Nebraska on May 19, 1925 to his parents Louis and Earl Little. His father was a well-known Christian preacher who followed the teachings of Marcus Garvey a former well established African American leader. Growing up and watching his father’s sermons would add to his knowledge of the racial tensions he would soon be faced with as he got older. His mother Louis Little was the product of the slave and master relations as she was mulatto and she hated herself for it as this also was a cause to his inspiration to become a serious activists in the civil rights movement. As he grew up he did very well academically and was very well liked by the whites who accepted him due to his lighter skin tone but as time went on he became very street minded in his ways as he grew up as a thief and street hustler as well as a pimp and drug dealer. All those events led him to prison where he was sentenced to 10 years and in that 10 years he became a changed man by joining the Nation of Islam and becoming a Black Muslim. He then changed his last name from Little to X as he did not want to take the name of a prior slave owner of his ancestors and eventually went on to become one of civil rights movement top respected leaders. I believe Malcolm X should be remembered by his successes such as his evolvement from a street minded...
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...1960's Diary Entry Aaron Cobb His-135 April 21st, 2013 Joseph Woodard 1960's Diary Entry Diary Entry #1 Today we have lost a legacy. Malcolm X was one of the greatest and most influential African Americans the world has ever known. He did so much to make us feel connected with our African American heritage. He would say the things we were thinking but were too afraid to say ourselves. He taught us to stand up for ourselves and our rights as black men. Who knew that a troubled young boy would become a powerful and educated leader? As a young trouble maker doing prison time, it was during his ten years in prison that he educated himself as well as introducing himself to the Nation of Islam teachings. After serving a couple of prison stints he even became a minister of numerous temples in Boston, Philadelphia and New York. He also started a newspaper titled “Muhammad Speaks” which touched on controversial views about his idea that blacks were superior. He became second in command to Elijah Muhammad but they butted heads and ended up going their own ways. Elijah stuck to his ideas of Nation of Islam, while Malcolm X focused on what true Islam taught. He felt that the Civil Rights Movement had the blacks begging the whites for freedom, and he was not a fan of begging. He instead advocated black power and black consciousness even if it resulted in violence. He had several famous speeches, including “Black Man’s History”, “The Black Revolution”, and “God’s Judgment...
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...Reading; A Blessing Or Curse Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Ahhh, but wait, what if you can’t? Then what? That paperboy trying to sell his papers sure isn’t going to tell you what’s going on because he would be losing a sale. So how are you going to get that juicy bit of news? How are you going to find out what is going on in the world around you? Sure, you can ask a neighbor or somebody else passing by, but that can only get you so far. The written word is here to benefit us all. Things we may not have thought of are out there somewhere written down to be shared with everyone. How could you not want to know what’s out there; what else lies beyond this sad little bubble that may encompass one sad illiterate, uneducated soul. Just the teensy tiny bit of curiosity can help you embark on a never ending wealth of knowledge. Question is, what will you do with this newly acquired knowledge? Will you read up on the atom bomb and find a way to make one and then threaten the world with it? Or maybe you’ll read about the atom bomb and protest its use and other nuclear devices, lobby for all of the world’s nuclear devices be dismantled and deactivated. How will you use this information? Reading can provide so much knowledge. Is there such a thing as too much knowledge? There are bound to be conflicting views on every topic out there. Pro-choice, pro-life, gun control, is the grass really greener on the other side? How do you know which side to choose? You may have had...
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...How Elijah Poole Muhammad’s Experience Growing up in Cordele, Georgia Shaped the Philosophy of the Most Influential Head of the Nation of Islam By Authur J. Nance African and Middle Eastern Religion Dr. Modeste Nyimi May 1, 2014 How Elijah Poole Muhammad’s Experience Growing up in Cordele, Georgia Shaped the Philosophy of the Most Influential Head of the Nation of Islam Elijah Muhammad, son of a sharecropper, was born into poverty in Sandersville, Georgia, on in 1887. He was one of 13 children of William and Mariah (Hall) Poole; his father was a sharecropper, and his mother was a domestic worker. He grew up in the same town I grew up in as a child and where I was appointed in 2009 as the first African American in history to serve as the Chairman of the Board of Commissioners, Cordele, Georgia. He attended school only through the fourth grade and dropped out to begin working in sawmills and brickyards. At an early age, Elijah witnessed extreme prejudice and violence toward blacks. He experienced lynchings, racist employers, marginal wages, and other social and economic maladies which all played a role in his exodus from Cordele. This essay will explore how Poole’s early life in Cordele played key role in shaping in role in the Nation of Islam, leadership, and later life and legacy. Elijah Poole Muhammad’s leadership transformed the Nation of Islam. Elijah Poole Muhammad’s early life began when his father, William Poole, Sr. and Mariah Hall joined in holy matrimony...
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...MALCOLM X Learning to Read Malcolm Little, born in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1925, was reborn Malcolm X in his twenties while imprisoned for burglary. (He considered "Little" a slave name and chose the "X" to signify his lost African tribal name.) His conversion to Islam under the Nation of Islam and his rigorous self-education led him to a life ofpolitical activism marked by hatred, violence, and hope. For a time, as the foremost spokesman of the Nation of Islam, Malcolm preached a separatist philosophy with racist rhetoric; on breaking with the Nation of Islam and converting to orthodox Islam after a pilgrimage to Mecca, Malcolm again changed his name (to El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz) and philosophy, moving closer to the integrationist goals of the mainstream civil rights movement. Not quite a year later, he was assassinated. "Learning to Read" is an excerpt from The Autobiography of Malcolm X (1965), which was written by Alex Haley from interviews completed shortly before Malcolm's death. While ghostwritten, Malcolm's fierce intelligence and passion are evident; it is easier to miss the sometimes surprising moments of humor, but look for them because they give a fuller sense of the man. It was because of my letters that I happened to stumble upon starting to acquire some kind of a homemade education. I became increasingly frustrated at not being able to express what I wanted to convey in letters that I wrote, especially those to Mr. Elijah Muhammad. In the street, I had been the...
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...“A Homemade Education” Malcolm X Time Log: 10 minutes Vocabulary: Envy 1. A feeling of discontented or resentful longing aroused by someone else's possessions, qualities, or luck. Slang 1. A type of language that consists of words and phrases that are regarded as very informal, are more common in speech than writing, and are typically restricted to a particular context or group of people. Articulate 1. (Of a person or a person's words) having or showing the ability to speak fluently and coherently. Correspondence 1. A close similarity, connection, or equivalence. Emulate 1. Match or surpass (a person or achievement), typically by imitation. Summary: In “A Homemade Education” by Malcolm X, Malcolm X takes you through his uplifting journey while in prison of becoming more literal by aiding himself with books, and other materials the prison library gave him. Malcolm X started his educational expedition at Norfolk Prison Colony, where he read Elijah Muhammad’s teachings. Shorty Malcolm got his hands on a dictionary, where he began studying the pages, looking over all of the words that he had never knew even existed; furthermore, he began copying the words down on his tablets- word by word, a page a day. He would write it all down, then read aloud his own handwriting, until he became comfortable reading aloud. Even though he was stuck inside prison walls he felt as if he had never truly been free until he fully understood how “to read and understand literature”...
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...To what extent did the black power movement hinder the success of the civil rights movement? The black power movement branched off from the civil rights movement; however it had a very different approach then the civil rights movement. The civil rights movement had a peaceful nonviolent approach to the improvement of the black condition in America, where as the black power movement believed in using militancy and self-defence if provoked. The black power movement can be seen as a failure and an obstruction to the civil rights movement however the black power movement also had its success. An example of the success are the impact black power had on troubled black youths of the ghetto and the impact it had on black culture whereas an example of its failures among many are the division of the civil rights movement the alienation of white liberals and the corruption within the black power itself. The most important reason why the Black Power Movement was a failure to a fairly large extent was because it divided up the Civil Rights Movement. The Civil Rights Movement had, by the time the BPM emerged, achieved quite a lot, it had managed to get the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 passed. This proves that the movement had been successful and through the emergence of the Black Power Movement, members of the Civil Rights Movement got divided up over whether this was right or not. On the one hand, Martin Luther King, the head of SCLC one of the top organizations...
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...ballot or a bullet. And if you're not ready to get involved with either one of those, you are satisfied with the status quo. That means we'll have to change you." (Malcolm X) While Martin Luther King promoted non-violence, civil rights, and the end to racial segregation, a man of the name of Malcolm X dreamed of a separate nation. Martin Luther King, Jr. was the conscience of his generation. A Southerner, a black man, he gazed upon the great wall of segregation and saw that the power of love could bring it down. From the pain and exhaustion of his fight to free all people from the bondage of separation and injustice, he wrung his eloquent statement of what America could be. (Ansboro, pg.1) An American clergyman and a Nobel Peace Prize winner, he was one of the principle leaders of the American Civil Rights Movement and a prominent advocate of nonviolent protest. King's challenges to segregation and racial discrimination in the 1950's and 1960's, helped convince many white Americans to support the cause of civil rights in the United States. After his assassination in 1968, King became the symbol of protest in the struggle for racial justice. ("King, Martin Luther, Jr.," pg. 1) In 1964, Malcolm X founded an organization called "The Muslim Mosque, Inc. In an interview conducted by A.B. Spellman on March 19, 1964, Malcolm...
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...as world community of al-islam in the west in 1975, but but ehy were called the nation of Islam, the members called themselves the “bilalian”. Its leaders are in favor of economic cooperation and self-sufficiency; they also impose on their followers the observance of strict Islamic codes of behavior, referring to issues such as food, clothing and interpersonal relationships. Members practice some of the Islamic religious rites and pray five times a day. HISTORY: In 1913, there was the arrival in Newark, New Jersey (USA), an African-American North Carolina named Timothy Drew. This, with the nickname of Noble Drew Ali founded the Moorish Temple of Science-American teaching that blacks were actually of Moorish origin and a black Jesus was crucified by the Romans, who were white. Much of his teachings came from The Aquarian Gospel, an occult text written by Levi Dowling. On the death of Ali, Wallace Ford said it was the reincarnation of Ali and who was born in Mecca, had been sent to America to free the black man "the devil Caucasian (white)....
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...stories of Black people through Black people’s eyes and decided to start the First African-American newspaper, the Freedom's Journal. Russworm said “We were truly invisible unless we committed a crime.” Thus, in its inaugural issue, the paper clearly stated “We wish to plead our own cause. Too long have others spoken for us.” With the start of this newspaper, and many newspapers following, Black people developed a sense of self. Their images were positive and commonplace, a far cry from being displayed in the major newspapers as criminals and thieves of chickens. I choose the following three images from Willis essay that I reason may influence African-American’s sense of self: * Couple with a Cadillac - James van der Zee, * Malcolm X with his Family – Richard Saunders; and * Photo of South African Woman – Barnett. Photo 1Couple with a Cadillac or, Couple in Raccoon...
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...THE HANDY RELIGION AN SWE R BOOK JOHN RENARD Detroit The Handy Religion Answer Book™ C O P Y R I G H T © 2002 BY VI S I B LE I N K PRE SS® This publication is a creative work fully protected by all applicable copyright laws, as well as by misappropriation, trade secret, unfair competition, and other applicable laws. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review written for inclusion in a magazine or newspaper. All rights to this publication will be vigorously defended. Visible Ink Press® 43311 Joy Rd. #414 Canton, MI 48187-2075 Visible Ink Press and The Handy Religion Answer Book are trademarks of Visible Ink Press LLC. Most Visible Ink Press books are available at special quantity discounts when purchased in bulk by corporations, organizations, or groups. Customized printings, special imprints, messages, and excerpts can be produced to meet your needs. For more information, contact Special Markets Director, Visible Ink Press, at www.visibleink.com or (734) 667-3211. Art Director: Mary Claire Krzewinski Typesetting: Graphix Group Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Renard, John, 1944The handy religion answer book / John Renard. p. cm. ISBN 1-57859-125-2 (pbk.) 1. Religions--Miscellanea. I. Title. BL80.2 .R46 2001 291--dc21 Printed in the United States of America All rights reserved ...
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