X, The Life and Times of Malcolm X

Act One

Scene 1 - Lancing, Michigan, 1931

The members of The Universal Negro Improvement Association are waiting for Reverend Earl Little to return home and begin the meeting (‘Africa for Africans’). It is unlike him to be late, and is a cause for concern. Mrs Little knows the danger that black people face every day, and fears that her husband has been killed on his way home by some extremist group, like the Klan (Louise’s Aria: ‘Earl should have been home by sunset’). Her suspicions are confirmed when a white policeman knocks at the door and tells them Revered Little was found dead on the tracks (‘A man was on the tracks’).

A social worker deems the family incapable of caring for the children, and separates Malcolm and his siblings from their mother (‘What’s going on here’). As a young boy, Malcolm does not understand why he cannot be with his mother, and why his teachers are telling him he will never be anything, despite being top of his class (Young Malcolm’s Aria: ‘Momma, help