X-treme history: Malcolm X (graphic novel)

There are very few books I actually make my students read, but Malcolm X by Andrew Helfer is one of those novels. The book is actually a graphic novel based on The Autobiography of Malcolm X and the graphic novel actually pulls in other history during Malcolm's lifetime.

I love teaching this book because it makes for great discussions with the students. I teach at a predominantly white, rural career center (once called a vocational school) and it's great to teach about racism and history being "white washed" head on. It's also great to have a safe place for students to really inspect the U.S.'s history, particularly regarding racial relations and it's good for my students to really think about what it means to be Black in America.

Malcolm X is a short (about 100 pages) of American racial history from the early 1920s to the mid 1960s (Malcolm lived from 1925-1965). As well, it's interesting to see how little students actually know about Malcolm and it's even more amazing to see what preconceived notions they had about Malcolm and then watch them learn the truth and revel in how far off they really were.

The story starts with Malcolm's life with his mother, who later goes crazy, his father, who dies a suspicious death, and later it progresses into his life in a foster family after he'd been separated from his siblings. The following sections recount his "hustling days" and his descent into illicit activities which eventually land him in jail. While in jail he's introduced to the Nation of Islam (a Black Nationalist religious group loosely based in Islam) and he becomes inspired to take up a preacher's life and with this he essentially becomes a self-taught religious speaker and civil rights activist.

The book is wonderful for getting students to notice inconsistencies in stories and notice how people are easily manipulated through lacking education and naivette. I love using this book as a springboard for discussion because it allows the readers to really dig deep and think about such things as the civil rights movement, McCarthyism, Islam v. the Nation of Islam and how powerful leaders such as Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr. and the Kennedy Brothers threatened the status quo. Lastly, it's a great teaching tool for readers to investigate their own prejudices and really reflect on stereotypes and the harm that they've done to those who believe in them and those who've fallen victim of them.

Overall, I'd highly recommend this read for anyone 14+ years of age. Anyone younger than this age will probably be missing the firm historical based to really appreciate this visual and textual masterpiece. As well, Malcolm X, a film by Spike Lee based on Malcolm X's life is a great complement to the book because it poses his life using clips of his actual speeches in addition to fabulous acting by Denzel Washington. Lastly, Malcolm X ties the racial struggle in the U.S. and abroad back into ongoings in the mid 1990s when the movie was made-- which shows how far we've come, but also how far we have yet to go.