Have you ever heard of Billy Joel? You may have heard of his song “It’s still rock n roll to me” or maybe even “Piano man”. But what about the song “We didn’t start the fire”. If you have heard it you would know that he lists major, significant events and people from the time he was born to 1989 (when the song was written). But what makes these events and people significant?

Well that was exactly what we were looking at in this unit. We were given the choice of looking into one of the topics he mentioned with only one restriction, that it couldn’t be from the 80’s or earlier.

We were told to think as a class as to what makes an event significant and need to know questions we had regrading this project. Out of that we were told that we would be presenting our research in a 5 minute presentation to the class in 2 weeks. We would also need to create an artifact of in other words something to reflect our thoughts and learning.

With all this in mind and a multitude of subjects to choose from I finally decided on the choice to research Malcom X. At first I was unsure if this was a smart decision because in this project I wanted to punch myself outside of my comfort zones and was worried that since we had previously done a civil rights movement that this would be to close of a subject and I wouldn’t find it challenging. But oh how I was wrong.

My driving question regarding Malcom X and his significance was:

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How did Malcom X’s controversial opinion on the civil rights movement cause him to be a significant figure to this day? 

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So with that in mind we had a few classes to begin our 5-10 page research paper. Click here for it. I found doing this research I found out things I had never known before but was very intrigued by. For example I had heard of Malcom X however didn’t truly know what he stood for or who he was. I learned that growing up he had a very tough life which then lead him into a life of crime. And once in state prison for the third time he met a man who changed his life for ever and caused him to join the Nation of Islam. That Malcolm X as a result of his past and that one interaction was then an activist for racial integration being the primary goal for black freedoms and was a prominent figure for the Nation of Islam. And that his controversial opinions on freedom have caused people around the world to be treated differently.

As for the artifact I decided to write poems. Now I have never thought of myself as a good writer and have never been confident in my work so this truly was a challenge. I decided to take the poems not literally talking about Malcom X but instead about his ideas and how he has changed the world.

To read my other poems as well Click here.

It was then time to present all of our hard work to the class. I decided to present mine through support of a keynote and so here it is:

A key aspect of this project was communication. So analyzing how we share our ideas when we write, speak, and represent.I believe I was able to express my ideas in an interesting format through use of my poems. By analyzing the information I learned about and then putting it into my own words and thoughts truly you could see my learning. Another form of communication that I would like to improve on was the public speaking during my presentation. I have never been a confident public speaker and have struggled with just talking to small groups even. I feel that was evident in my keynote presentation as I was presenting to the class because I began very quite and focused on the teacher rather than looking at the whole class. However slowly as I began to get more comfortable I grew in confidence and began to speak louder and focus on others a little more. This is definitely was a challenge at times and something I would like to improve on however I am proud of how I communicated in this project.

Overall this was a very interesting project that I learned a lot about what makes an event significant as well as Malcom X himself. Being able to find out just how important one man was and how much he has influenced our world was amazing. I learned that the most important factor of significance is how much it affects people both presently and for the future. In order for a moment or person to be significant they must affect people. Whether that means it has affected one person or the entire world it has still affected someone. What I think my biggest struggle was coming up with how to express myself. This was difficult because despite feeling passionate about the subject and understanding it, it is such an important topic and felt as though it was so important to say what I wanted in the right way.

And in regards to what I was most proud of, I was proud of what I leaned as well as the poem. Usually I don’t think of myself as a writer or a public speaker however surprised myself in both aspects.

Overall I very much so enjoyed this project and can’t wait for the next unit!

Citations:

Greenspan, Jesse. “7 Things You May Not Know About Malcolm X.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 20 Feb. 2015, https://www.history.com/news/7-things-you-may-not-know-about-malcolm-x.

History.com Editors. “Malcolm X.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 29 Oct. 2009, https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/malcolm-x.

Shawki, Ahmed, et al. “The Legacy of Malcolm X.” Jacobin, https://www.jacobinmag.com/2016/02/malcolm-x-]passassination-legacy/.

“The Autobiography of Malcolm X.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 17 Dec. 2019, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Autobiography_of_Malcolm_X.

Carter, Joe. “9 Things You Should Know About the Nation of Islam.” The Gospel Coalition, The Gospel Coalition, 18 Oct. 2019, https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/9-things-you-should-know-about-the-nation-of-islam/.

Mamiya, Lawrence A. “Malcolm X.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 5 Sept. 2019, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Malcolm-X.

Coates, Ta-Nehisi. “The Legacy of Malcolm X.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 21 Feb. 2018, https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/05/the-legacy-of-malcolm-x/308438/.

Cone, and James H. “Malcolm X: The Impact of a Cultural Revolutionary.” Questia, https://www.questia.com/magazine/1G1-13323486/malcolm-x-the-impact-of-a-cultural-revolutionary.

Dachtler, Matthias. “GRIN – Malcolmania: The Cultural Rebirth Of Malcolm X As Pop Icon.” Publish Your Master’s Thesis, Bachelor’s Thesis, Essay or Term Paper, https://www.grin.com/document/110505.

Felber, Garrett. “Malcolm X Assassination: 50 Years on, Mystery Still Clouds Details of the Case.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 21 Feb. 2015, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/feb/21/malcolm-x-assassination-records-nypd-investigation.