Losing Focus

What is the highest form of living? What is the most fulfilled life that one can lead? These are the thoughts I was left thinking after watching "Malcolm X."

Although this movie was released in 1992 I had never seen it. I was never interested in watching the movie or learning about Malcolm because I'd heard so many negative things about him. The most troubling thing I'd heard was that he was a racist and promoted hate in his speeches. Well I should have known better than to listen to the opinion of those who have never been oppressed.

Malcolm X originally looked to free his people from affliction through creating unity within his race and faith community. While his stance seems logical the one thing he failed to realize is that to gain equality you must believe that ALL people are EQUAL- and by equal I mean no better than others and no worse than others. After his trip to Mecca he realized this but unfortunately for his movement this revelation came too near the end of his life.

This movie compounds upon the awareness that I've been gaining in learning about the social movements of the 1960's and 1970's. During this time period there was a real spark that was ignited in the United State. This spark became a flame. A flame that challenged people to shine brighter and smoldered the temper of others. Numerous flames banned together to form an impenetrable fuse that spread throughout college campuses, inner cities, and even farming communities. During this time people stood up to become great leaders. Some of these leaders were Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., Harvey Milk, The Weather Underground, The Black Panthers, and The American Indian Movement. These people and organizations took a stand for the injustices and inequalities that existed in the United States. These people stopped living their comfortable lives and sacrificed everything to spread awareness of the importance of equality in our country. Why was this time period so full of activism? What kind of spark made these people so passionate?

I often wonder if this spark will ever happen again. So many things began in the 1960's but were extinguished before they had the chance to make a lasting change. I look around and think:
How much more will people take?
How can we just accept the world the way it is?
What will it take to get the spark going again?
I truly believe that everything happens for a reason and because of that belief I have a great source of confusion with this question:
Why were these movements sabotaged before our society was able to benefit from them? I can't come to any conclusion on this because it is hard for me to believe that these movements were meant to come to an end when they could have had such a positive effect on our society.