What Is The Racial Equality Movement In Michael Mann's Film Ali

Michael Mann’s film Ali covers a decade in the life of the Louisville Lip during the racial equality movement of the 1960s. The movie provides insight on Muhammad Ali and his affiliation with the self-righteous group known as the Nation of Islam, founded by Elijah Muhammad and initially advocated by Malcolm X. Elijah remains behind the scenes for the majority of this film since it focuses on a spontaneous Ali and Malcolm’s fall out with the rigid, yet hypocritical teachings of Elijah Muhammad.

Originally born as Malcolm Little in 1925, he supposedly lost his father, a preacher, to a homicide by white supremacist and his mother was placed into a mental institute when he was 13. After an unforgiving childhood heading to what seems to be a pointless future, he acquired some jail time for breaking and entering. While in prison, he joined the Nation of Islam (NOI) and adopted the last name “X”. His inflammatory oratory enabled him to advance within the organization quickly, and positioned him in the opposition to the teachings of the pacifist Dr. Martin Luther

In doing so, he feared for his own life from within the Nation” (Drash, CNN.com). It wasn’t until the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy that Elijah Muhammad suspended Malcolm X for his remark of the tragedy: “the chickens coming home to roost.” While this scenario was crucial during the racial equality movement because it led to the excommunication of X, it was overlooked in the film and lacked context explaining why Ali no longer affiliated with “Brother Malcolm,” as his colleague's would