Nightmare
Malcolm X
1-Mark Questions (Answer in a word or sentence)
1. Where was Malcolm X born?
Omaha, Nebraska.
2. Who was Malcolm X’s father?
Earl Little.
3. What was the name of the hate group that burned Malcolm’s house?
The Black Legion.
4. Which movement did Malcolm’s father support?
Marcus Garvey’s “Back to Africa” movement.
5. What happened to Malcolm’s mother?
She was sent to a mental hospital.
6. What was Malcolm’s skin colour compared to his siblings?
He was the lightest-skinned child.
7. What did Malcolm’s family grow in their garden?
Vegetables and peas.
8. How did Malcolm’s father die?
He was killed and run over by a streetcar.
9. What religion did Malcolm’s mother follow later?
Seventh Day Adventist.
10. What did the insurance company say about Earl Little’s death?
That it was suicide.
2-Mark Questions (Answer in 2-3 sentences)
1. Why did the Ku Klux Klan threaten Malcolm’s family?
Because his father preached about Black pride and Africa.
They didn’t want him to spread Marcus Garvey’s message.
2. How did the Black Legion destroy their first home in Lansing?
They set the house on fire at night.
Police and firemen didn’t help; they only watched.
3. How did Malcolm feel about his skin colour as a child?
He felt proud because he was light-skinned.
Later, he hated it because it came from a white rapist ancestor.
4. Why did Malcolm’s mother lose her job often?
She looked like a white woman, so people hired her.
But when they found out she was Black, they fired her.
5. Why did the welfare people separate Malcolm from his family?
They said his mother was mentally ill and couldn’t care for the children.
They sent each child to different homes.
4-Mark Questions (Answer in 1 short paragraph)
1. Describe Malcolm’s early experiences with racism.
As a child, Malcolm saw his family threatened by the Klan and the Black Legion.
Their house was burned, and his father was killed. Even police didn’t help. These events
showed Malcolm how deeply racism affected Black lives.
2. How did Malcolm’s family survive after Earl Little’s death?
They lived on a small insurance payment and welfare. Wilfred worked, and
Louise tried to find jobs but was often fired. The children helped in small ways. Still,
they struggled with hunger and poverty.
3. Explain why Malcolm was taken away from his mother.
Welfare workers said Louise was not mentally fit to care for her children. She
became depressed and spoke to herself. Malcolm was taken to a foster home, and later,
his mother was admitted to a mental hospital.
4. What were Malcolm’s thoughts about his father’s activism?
Malcolm admired his father’s boldness and bravery. Earl preached Garvey’s ideas
and tried to help Black people. Though it made white people angry, Malcolm felt proud
of his father’s work.
5. How did the system break Malcolm’s family?
Welfare officials didn’t support the family with care or respect. Instead, they
judged and interfered. They broke up the home, took the children away, and caused
Louise to break down mentally.
Essay Question
1. Explain how Malcolm X’s childhood was full of pain and struggle.
Malcolm X’s childhood was full of pain, fear, and struggle. He was born in
Omaha, Nebraska. Even before he was born, his family was attacked by the Ku Klux
Klan. They hated his father, Earl Little, for preaching Black pride and Marcus Garvey’s
“Back to Africa” ideas. The family had to keep moving from place to place for safety.
When they moved to Lansing, Michigan, a white hate group called the Black
Legion burned their house. Later, Earl Little was killed in a brutal way. Malcolm’s
mother believed he was murdered by white supremacists, but the insurance company
called it suicide and refused to pay. After Earl’s death, the family fell into poverty.
Malcolm’s mother, Louise, worked very hard to feed her eight children. She was
proud and didn’t like taking welfare. But she had to accept it because there was no
choice. Welfare workers came to the house often and treated the family badly. They
judged the children, separated them, and didn’t treat them like human beings.
Malcolm was taken from his mother and sent to a foster home. He loved his
mother and siblings, and the separation hurt him deeply. His mother later had a mental
breakdown and was sent to a mental hospital. Malcolm blamed the system for destroying
his family. He said the state treated them like numbers, not people.
Despite all this, young Malcolm learned from life. He saw how racism, poverty,
and injustice affected Black families. He became strong, observant, and angry at the
unfair world around him. His painful childhood helped shape the activist he would
become later in life.
A.S.M