Throughout history there have been many people who have stood out and made an impact in the way we think and comprehend things. During the late 1950's and early 1960's, Malcolm X was no exception. His militant views that Western nations were inherently racist and that black people must join together to build their own society and value system had an important influence on black nationalist and black separatist movements of the 1950s and 1960s. At the beginning of the movie, Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little. He was a young child trying to adapt to society's changes. He was looking so hard that he fell into the wrong crowd. Malcolm bumped into a man named Archie who was a big time thief. Archie ran a numbers system in the streets and he convinced Malcolm to join him. Malcolm became a scoundrel with an evil demeanor. Malcolm's business partner, was a white woman by the name of Sophia. They were on drugs and even robbed a house. Because of their antics, the law was on their trail!.
They eventually caught and sent to prison. Malcolm was sentenced to 8 years in prison while Sophia was only sentenced to 2 years because she was white. This relates to the social organization of arrest, which suggest that police arrest blacks at a higher rate than whites. While Malcolm was in jail, he was well known to the guards. One time he was asked to state his number, but instead he said he forgot his number. The guards beat the hell out of him and sent him to the darkroom. In the darkroom he met Brother Baines. Baines was a man everyone respected including the guards. He was know as the real man and gave speeches about Islam. Malcolm didn't want to listen to him at first, but Baines's cool style helped Malcolm realize that Islam is for him and that the white man is the devil. While in prison, Malcolm read widely and developed an interest in the Nation of Islam, a Black Nationalist religious movement whose members were known as Black Muslims.