1965 Malcolm X

In 1965, there were many beneficial and disrupting events that reshaped the world and its culture. During this time, racial hate crimes were peaking in the sixties; space programs were advancing greatly and the Vietnam War was still raging on. Abstract art set in as Picasso's "Self-Portrait" became popular. The most important thing I learned from this year was that abstractness in art and society leads to disaster. Since abstract arts were flowing, music and culture took the same turn into the odd and interesting. The civil rights movement took some severe destructive blows around this time in the 1960s.

Malcolm X was a Black Muslim activist for a large portion of his life. Since meeting a Black Muslim in prison, Malcolm had decided to dedicate himself as much as possible to being an activist, as well as a supremacist, for the black race. His strong intimidating debate skills were formed in prison. He joined a prison debate team and competed with students from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard. Malcolm's orating skills improved through his education in prison. After Malcolm's release from prison, he joined the Nation of Islam and spoke on the streets about injustice to black people. Malcolm believed that he was called to help change the majority of the world's rule over to black people. The Islam's believe that the world was ruled by whites for 6,000 years, and that now it was time to hand the universe over to the blacks for another 6,000. Malcolm was kicked out of the Nation of Islam ultimately because of his outward happiness that John F. Kennedy's assassination brought him in 1964. Even though Malcolm conformed to a non-supremacist worldview in 1964, he was still assassinated for what he had been and for what his past caused him to be. Malcolm X was killed on the second assassination attempt of his life. The house where Malcolm lived was firebombed without hurting anyone. The kids and wife of Malcolm were actually only a few feet away from Malcolm when he was shot. The death of Malcolm X will always be remembered as an unjust act that severely hurt the civil rights movement in America in the 1960s. The views that Malcolm had used in his life reflected the 1960s very well; they were unsure and confused.8

Another way in which 1965 was expressed was through literature. John Berryman wrote a three-part poem in 1965 called "77 Dream Songs." This poem expressed bizarre and uncanny situations in which there was no foreshadowing to future events. Ironically, this reflected 1965 very well. Everything in the sixties was so unpredictable and odd as events went on. Since there were so many different civil and political views that were exchanged in the world at this time, chaotic and unprecedented events occurred. Different forms of bad language also were expressed in Berryman's poem. Berryman was probably caught up in the ways of the sixties. It seems that whenever conflict occurred in this poem, a fight, bad language, or other violent acts would occur. This poem was almost a perfect mirror image of 1965. If there was one word that described this poem it would be "unusual." Poetry usually talks about peace, love happiness, sadness, and other topics in a proper and unoriginal way. That is what made this poem original, vulgar, ill natured, and very reflective of the times it was created in.8

Another great popular work from 1965 was The Sound Of Music. Although it wasn't clear, this movie contributed to the strange nature of 1965. A popular movie star by the name of Julie Andrews starred in this movie. The Sound Of Music won its popularity before it even came out. Julie Andrews had starred in Mary Poppins in 1964, which was a huge success at the box office. Even Though Mary Poppins had been a crashing hit, The Sound Of Music did better in ticket sales. In fact, The Sound Of Music set a record at the box office by shattering the old record Gone With The Wind had set. No movie hit the box office harder until 1978, when Grease! came out. The Sound Of Music was definitely a movie for all ages. It had drama, music, a love story, a little bit for the kids, and everything a movie needed to please just about any audience that stood before it. The producer/director of the "Sound of Music" was Robert Wise, who previously had produced and directed the West Side Story in 1961. Julie Andrews, who had previously won the Best Actress Academy Award in her part in Mary Poppins, added here good singing voice and beauty to the film. She helped make the beloved songs in the movie by recording the songs "Maria," "The Sound Of Music," My Favorite Things," "You Are Sixteen, Going On Seventeen, "Climb Ev'ry Mountain, "Do-Re-Mi," and "Edelweiss." Because of the great actors, good music, good screenplay, and beautiful