Malcolm X the Movie (HUM455/ HUM470)

This clip from the final scenes of Spike Lee’s biopic Malcolm X (available in its entirety here) addresses some of our current concerns in both Humanities of the Americas and American Autobiography. 455 students might note the emphasis of Ossie Davis’s eulogy on the social identity of Afro-American– a term Davis says he claimed because the category of Negro was “too puny.” 470 students might consider the role of gender in that eulogy– specifically Davis’s assertion that Malcolm represents “our living black manhood”– in light of our discussion on Thursday about slave narratives and masculinity.