A conk was a popular hair straightening gel made from lye that was most used among African American men in the early 1900’s. Malcolm X had the idea to get his hair conked because it was popular, also he wanted hair that the white men had so he would feel more sophisticated. The conk symbolized acceptance to Malcolm when he initially got it done. He thought that if he fit in with societies standards, people would begin to listen and accept him. At the time of writing “My First Conk”, Malcolm feels ashamed of his choice of hairstyle and his thoughts about it from the past. He thinks that it is his first ever self-degradation due to the fact he went through something so unpleasant in order to conform to the opinions of his
A conk was a popular hair straightening gel made from lye that was most used among African American men in the early 1900’s. Malcolm X had the idea to get his hair conked because it was popular, also he wanted hair that the white men had so he would feel more sophisticated. The conk symbolized acceptance to Malcolm when he initially got it done. He thought that if he fit in with societies standards, people would begin to listen and accept him. At the time of writing “My First Conk”, Malcolm feels ashamed of his choice of hairstyle and his thoughts about it from the past. He thinks that it is his first ever self-degradation due to the fact he went through something so unpleasant in order to conform to the opinions of his