From Spike Lee's famous 1992 film 'Malcolm X' starring Denzel Washington, to the various portrayals of the controversial and influential Black Nationalist leader in films like 'Ali' (2001), 'Selma' (2014), 'One Night in Miami' (2020), and documentaries like 'Malcolm X: Make It Plain' (1994), 'Blood Brothers: Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali' (2021), and the Smithsonian's 'The Lost Tapes' (2018), there have been numerous attempts to capture the essence of who Malcolm X really was. And still there is much debate about his history and character to this day.
Though it's a near-impossible task to summarize the African-American Muslim human rights activist and his complicated life—a story that has passed through the tampering hands of history—there are some things we know that the films got right, and some things that have been left out.
Click through to get a clearer look at Malcolm X.