For this paper, I had the privilege of interviewing my mother, Ms. Avianne Philbert. Born and raised in Trinidad and Tobago, at the age of 12 she and her family moved to America as many did in order to find a better opportunity to raise their family. Upon asking her what her take on American history is, we got to talking longer and discovered that her favorite American History movie is Malcolm X. She reflected on what black history and religion in the movie meant to her, and how it relates to America from its creation to its current state. At the end of the interview, her ultimate view was that Malcolm X and his change from the beginning of his journey to the end is much like America then and now, in that when the past is used as a learning tool, even the staunchest of ideologies can change for the better.
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However, she does believe that America and Malcolm are alike in that they both are capable of change in order to make progress and do the right thing for the future. The hatred Malcolm showed throughout his life for white people almost became who he and the Nation of Islam was defined by. The idea being that whites had bamboozled Blacks into thinking that we were far less valuable than a White man, thus made to believe the lower standing in society that Blacks possessed was exactly where we belonged. His power and passion was one that garnered many followers, a characteristic that Elijah Muhammed, the leader of the Nation, planned on taking full advantage of to spread the word of the Nation. X stated that, “We did not land on Plymouth Rock, Plymouth Rock landed on us!” and now it is time to empower ourselves and move passed their oppressors. In Avianne’s opinion, though his mind was in the right place, the influence that Muhammed had over him blinded him from his true
However, she does believe that America and Malcolm are alike in that they both are capable of change in order to make progress and do the right thing for the future. The hatred Malcolm showed throughout his life for white people almost became who he and the Nation of Islam was defined by. The idea being that whites had bamboozled Blacks into thinking that we were far less valuable than a White man, thus made to believe the lower standing in society that Blacks possessed was exactly where we belonged. His power and passion was one that garnered many followers, a characteristic that Elijah Muhammed, the leader of the Nation, planned on taking full advantage of to spread the word of the Nation. X stated that, “We did not land on Plymouth Rock, Plymouth Rock landed on us!” and now it is time to empower ourselves and move passed their oppressors. In Avianne’s opinion, though his mind was in the right place, the influence that Muhammed had over him blinded him from his true