1. Malcolm X & Historical Memory
Teaching About Legacy
Malcolm X & Historical Memory

2. Trends I see in high school historians…
History is stagnant and unchanging
Historical narratives fit in a perfect box and anything that deviates is confusing or must be untrue
History is what I have learned not what I can learn

3. Why teach about legacy?
The word legacy is one that students can connect with and define. It’s also a word that they can come in with a strong opinion about without any context...
What is a legacy? Are they good or bad things?
Who decides what a legacy is? Who creates legacies?
What kind of information is needed in order for a legacy to be created?
Why are legacies important to the study of history?
Can a legacy change? Can it be different for different people/groups?

4. Why teach about Malcolm X?
Malcolm X, and figures like him, are filled with emotion and memory (both real and contrived). So even with only a little background knowledge you can ask students questions about his legacy...
Write down as many facts as you can about Malcolm X. What do you know? (or think you know…)
Are these facts part of his legacy? Based off of the information you have gathered is his legacy, in your opinion, good or bad?
Where did you learn this information?
Could Malcolm X’s legacy be different to different people/groups?

5. Overarching Unit Goals/Objectives
Students will be able to…
Analyze an array of primary and secondary sources using the historical thinking skills we have been practicing throughout the year: (Stanford History Education Group)
When was the source produced? Who wrote it? What was its purpose then/now?
Use primary and secondary sources to develop a response, and a provable thesis, to the overarching question
Evaluate different perspectives on Malcolm X’s legacy and learn basic information about his life and the teachings of the Nation of Islam

6. Essay Question: Using the primary and secondary sources we have studied, answer the question → how are legacies created?
Helper Questions → Can a legacy change? Can a legacy be different to different people/groups? Who controls and creates legacies?

7. Station Activity
Goal with stations: Interactivity, build a balanced self created narrative, images that could make one this violence but also images that fight vehemently against that

9. Station 4 → Refracting Light: An Online Photo and Audio Exhibit on the Legacy of Malcolm X (Sapelo Square Blog)

10. Station 6 → Ozzie Davis Eulogy & Nelson Mandela Speech at the End of Malcolm X (Spike Lee, 1992)

11. Station 9 → Malcolm X barred from NYC School

12. Station 10 → Malcolm X in rap lyrics

13. Please see further the step-by-step lesson plan below.

14. How are legacies created? DBQ on Malcolm X
Aligned Illinois State Social Studies Standards:
SS.IS : Address essential questions that reflect an enduring issue in the field.
SS.IS : Gather and evaluate information from multiple sources while considering the origin, credibility, point of view, authority, structure, context, and corroborative value of the sources. SS.IS : Identify evidence that draws information from multiple sources to revise or strengthen claims
SS.IS : Construct and evaluate explanations and arguments using multiple sources and relevant, verified information.
SS.IS : Articulate explanations and arguments to a targeted audience in diverse settings. SS.H : Evaluate how historical developments were shaped by time and place as well as broader historical contexts.
SS.H : Analyze change and continuity within and across historical eras.
SS.H : Analyze key historical events and contributions of individuals through a variety of perspectives, including those of historically underrepresented groups.
SS.H : Analyze the factors and historical context that influenced the perspectives of people during different historical eras
SS.H : Analyze the relationship between historical sources and the secondary interpretations made from them

15. Teaser
On February 21, 1965, el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz (Malcolm X) was assassinated at the Audobon Ballroom in Harlem, New York City. After his death America was left with many questions about him and Nation of Islam, the religious philosophy he once called home. Malcolm X’s legacy continues to be shrouded in mystery for many Americans and can his life story can be seen as a point of controversy for many American teachers and students. Was his movement violent? How can we understand him as a product of his lifetime? How can we understand America’s relationship with Islam through his story? What should we remember about him and what is his legacy?
Where and when to use this lesson:
1. A study of legacy OR historical memory
2. As a closing activity to reading The Autobiography of Malcolm X
3. As part of a unit on the classical Civil Rights Movement
As part of a study on Muslim American history and voices
Overarching Unit Goals/Objectives
Students will be able to…
1. Analyze an array of primary and secondary sources using the historical thinking skills we have been practicing throughout the year: (Stanford History Education Group)
a. When was the source produced? Who wrote it? What was it’s purpose then/now?
2. Use primary and secondary sources to develop a response, and a provable thesis, to the overarching question
3. Evaluate different perspectives on Malcolm X’s legacy and learn basic information about his life and the teachings of the Nation of Islam

16. Overarching Essential Question: Using the primary and secondary sources we have investigated answer the question → how are legacies created?
Day 1 (45 minutes)
Activity One - Chalk Talk
1. Students should start out with a chalk talk discussion.
a. When students enter the space have large sheets of paper with the questions below written out on them. One question per sheet of paper. Explain to students that they are going to have a 15 minute silent discussion where they will walk around the room and respond to the questions out on the table and have a discussion with each other using only their pens. You can show them images of what chalk talks looks like and perhaps a video to help them see what you mean.
i. During the chalk talk have students answer the following questions:
1. What is a legacy? Are they good or bad things?
2. Who decides what a legacy is? Who creates legacies?
3. What kind of information is needed in order for a legacy to be created?
4. Why are legacies important to the study of history?
5. Can a legacy change? Can it be different for different people/groups?
b. At the end of the 15 minutes students return to their seats. You should save the students discussions and put them up where students can see them

17. Activity Two - What is Malcolm X’s legacy? (15 minutes)
1. In small groups have students answer the questions below. They are very similar to the questions they answered in the chalk talk but focus more on Malcolm X and will help them build a connection between the first activity and this one.
a. Write down as many facts as you can about Malcolm X. What do you know? (or think you know…)
b. Are these facts part of his legacy? Based off of the information you have gathered is his legacy, in your opinion, good or bad?
c. Where did you learn this information?
Could Malcolm X’s legacy be different to different people/groups?
Activity Three - Share Out (last minutes of class)
1. Return to a modified chalk talk format where one group member is assigned to one of the 4 questions at a new blank sheet of paper. These new groups have a chalk talk with only the people at their table about their question. Post these new conversations up after time is up.
Day 2 (45 minutes)
Activity One - Question Introduction & Basic Background Information (45 minutes)
1. Main Question → Using the primary and secondary sources on Malcolm X we have investigated in class answer the question → how is a legacy created?
a. Helper Questions → Can a legacy change? Can a legacy be different for different people/groups? Who controls and creates legacies?

18. 2. Background Information Study
a. Depending on your students knowledge I would strongly recommend you embark on a basic study of Malcolm X’s life and as part of that story information on the tenants of the Nation of Islam, X’s role in the organization and in American
politics in the 1950s/1960s. Be careful here, you want to try, as much as possible, to avoid using biased materials that speak to an image of Malcolm X your students may already have. Lastly, I would discuss the events of his later life focusing in on his changing Muslim identity.
Day 3-6/7 (or more) (45 minutes)
Activity One - Student Primary/Secondary Source Investigation
In small groups students should cycle through the stations outlined below. Each station has a specific theme and will help students to think about Malcolm X’s legacy in a different way. At each station students should focus their inquiry on the essay question and the helper questions given out earlier. You will probably need to give ~20 minutes per station, however some may need longer. Students should collect evidence at each station for their papers. If you need to modify this activity you could ask students to complete 5 of the 10 stations.
a. Station 1: Coates, Ta-Nehisi. "The Legacy of Malcolm X ." The Atlantic , May 2011.
(I recommend creating an abridged version depending on the needs of your class.)

19. b. Station 2: "Death and Transfiguration
b. Station 2: "Death and Transfiguration." Time Magazine, March 5, 1965, AND Worland, Justin. "On 50th Anniversary of Assassination, Malcolm X’s legacy continues to evolve." Time Magazine, February 20, (I recommend creating an abridged version depending on the needs of your class.)
c. Station 3: Images of Malcolm X that can be purchased
d. Station 4: (headphones and computers necessary) Refracting light: An Online Photo and Audio Exhibit on the Legacy of Malcolm X/Al Hajj Malik El Shabazz
e. Station 5: Have students read the section of your classes history textbook, or a couple of different books if available, that speak about Malcolm X. Even better, if you have a world history textbook that highlights Malcolm X to compare and contrast.
f. Station 6: (headphones and computers necessary) Ozzie Davis Eulogy (ending portion of the Spike Lee’s 1994 film Malcolm X); You may also choose to have students watch this other famous moment from the end of Spike Lee’s film where Nelson Mandela speaks about Malcolm X within the context of the end of apartheid in South Africa.
g. Station 7: Malcolm X’s (Al-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz) Letter from Mecca (excerpt from X, Malcolm, Alex Haley, and Sam Sloan. The autobiography of Malcolm X. New York: Ishi Press International, 2015.) taken from Malcolm X's (Al-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz) Letter from Mecca. Accessed July 25,

20. h. Station 8: Images of Malcolm X on hajj, in Saudi Arabia and North Africa
i. Station 9: (headphones and computers necessary) Malcolm X in rap lyrics. Some of the videos below may have language that you may deem is not appropriate for your students. I highly recommend you listen to all songs before giving this station to students. I would also recommend including lyrics with videos.
i. Stop the Violence Movement - Self Destruction ii. Lakim Shabazz - Black is Back
iii. Gangstarr - Tonz’O’Gunz iv. Malcolm/Garvey/Huey
v. “Bring the Noise” - Public Enemy
j. Station 10: Trapasco, Clare. "EXCLUSIVE: Queens, NY school barred student reports on 'bad' Malcolm X, parents say." Daily News New York, February 9, Accessed July 25, 2017
malcolm-x-parents-article
Assessment
Option A → A class period or two devoted to group discussion of the stations
A group discussion of legacy after the stations activity is over will be very useful to your students. It is an opportunity to try out ideas, see if certain “reasons” will make sense in their thesis statements, try out evidence, etc. I recommend trying to really steer students conversations towards the
evidence. This activity could be done as a large or small group and could include the writing of thesis statements and sharing of evidence with partners.

21. Option B → Move directly towards the writing process
At the end of stations activity students should be ready to engage in the writing process. Students should focus their energies on writing and proving thesis statements that work with the evidence
they have collected. It may be helpful to your students to post materials somewhere they can access them again as they work on their papers. Help guide students towards really responding to the original question instead of writing a paper on what they believe Malcolm X’s legacy is.
Other ways to use this lesson…
● Studies of other iconic Americans and or major events in American/world history