“So you know it’s going to burn when I comb it in — it He reflects later that this was his first “step towards self-degradation,” as he attempted to look white by enduring so much pain just to have straight hair. He got his red hair color from his white grandfather who was Scottish. He had promised to school me in how to beat the barbershops’ three- and four-dollar price by making up congolene, and then conking ourselves. Our, "Sooo much more helpful than SparkNotes. The mirror reflected Shorty behind me. He also gets his first “conk,” a hairstyle in which one’s hair … He explains how silly he was to want to change is hair to feel superior. The style was popular among African American men from the 1920s to the 1960s, despite the risk of chemical burns and the high amount of care necessary to maintain it. You get used to it better before long. But then my. In his later years, as he reflects back on his youth and the culture of the “cool cats,” Malcolm no longer sees this as simply an aesthetic choice. A jelly-like, starchy-looking glop resulted from the lye and potatoes, and This post is all about his hair. Required fields are marked *. The following excerpt from that book describes the painful and painstaking process many African-American men once endured to achieve a style of straight hair called a “ conk … Then, from the big vaseline jar, he The conk hairdo is a hairstyle for African-American men which involves the use of a chemical relaxer to straighten the hair. While he needs no … Your email address will not be published. I feel that this writing style fit the essay well. He then goes on to list the items they need to buy to make the “congolene” to make the conk… Malcolm is in love with his new hair and vows to never go without a conk again. Save. Teachers and parents! During Malcolm’s younger years in Boston and Harlem, he maintained a “conk” hairstyle, which was a way of chemically relaxing naturally kinky hair. Malcolm begins to shoot craps, play cards, gamble, drink, smoke, and use drugs. bolted to the washbasin. head, be sure to tell me any-where you feel any little stinging,” Shorty warned “It’s like the pad’s mine, he spends so much time with his woman,” Shorty said. Then, he was using a razor, very delicately, on the back of my neck. In his Autobiography simply entitled” The Autobiography of Malcolm X,”  he shares his recipe for his “first conk.”. There is only one time in his life when Malcolm's hair is chemically straightened on a regular … Learn how your comment data is processed. Malcolm thought that conking ones' hair was a step into "sophistication". Afro hair was chemically straightened with a … Malcolm X explains the conk … 4 years ago. Nowadays we call this hair straightening process getting a relaxer, but back in Malcolm's day he got a conk. It is only after Malcolm converts to the Nation of Islam and gains confidence in himself as a black man that he understands the conk in this way. This is also known as lye or a relaxer to modern times. that’s the lye,” he said. There is only one time in his life when Malcolm's hair is chemically straightened on a regular … ** starts at 4:09. I was cursing Shorty with every name I could think of "My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." “Sit back down, then. Start studying Malcolm X Recalls Getting a "conk". He had promised to school me in how to beat the … Here is an excerpt from his Autobiography: Shorty soon decided that my hair was finally long enough to be conked1. I proudly told, The congolene just felt warm when Shorty started combing it in. pair of gloves. With his earnings, he buys his first zoot suit, a flamboyant outfit fashionable on the street. Since then, conking hair has become synonymous with relaxing hair so it appears straight and smooth. While Malcolm X left his mark in history. Your email address will not be published. This hairstyle called for a man with naturally "kinky" hair to have it chemically straightened using a relaxer (sometimes the pure corrosive chemical lye), so that the newly straightened hair could be styled in specific ways. Shorty paid six dollars a week for a room in his cousin’s shabby apartment. The way the content is organized. “You always got to remember that any congolene left in burns a sore I gritted my teeth and tried to pull the sides of the kitchen table together. rubbing hard. “When I get to washing out your My students love how organized the handouts are and enjoy tracking the themes as a class.”, Note: all page numbers and citation info for the quotes below refer to the Ballantine Books edition of. Boutique hair salon for the whole family. My eyes watered, my nose was running. Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts. Malcolm X was one of the many black Americans who uses a conk to straighten his hair to look like a white man. I’d seen some pretty In "My First Conk", written with Alex Haley by Malcolm X, he first describes the process of conking his hair when he goes to get the long list of items so that Shorty can make the congolene. The congolene turned pale-yellowish. “Damn right, it’s hot, down close. My knees were trembling. I couldn’t stand it any longer; I cupped my hand against the outside, and snatched it away. A conk also known as a ” congolene” was a popular hairstyle among African Americans in the 1930’s to mid 1960’s. But the longer you can stand it, the straighter the hair.”, He made me sit down, and he tied the string of the new rubber apron tightly chegreen. You got a good conk.”, I could feel him combing, straight back, first the big comb, then the fine-. In response to his decision of … He starts to grow his hair out so that he can “, Finally, Malcolm’s hair is long enough to be, ...get all of the relaxant out, dries him off, and shows him his brand new, Malcolm is in love with his new hair and vows to never go without a, ...zoot suit, which he chooses very carefully and purchases on credit. Relaxers … Quiff. He draped the towel around my shoulders, over my rubber apron, and began again vaselining my hair. Lee illustrates the changes through his names (Malcolm Little, Red, Satan, Malcolm X, El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz), through changes in his grooming (natural hair, conk… The “conk” was a popular hairstyle for Black hair that began in the 1950s. into your head.”. In this tone, Malcolm is a youth and, invariably, becomes a product of the street culture. He figured that the conk was for the "upper class" negroes, so if he got a conk… 10th - University grade. The conk was a major plot device in Spike Lee's film biography Malcolm X, based upon Malcolm X's own condemnation of the hairstyle as black self-degradation in his autobiography because of its … On the street vaseline jar, he took a handful and massaged it hard all through hair. Into your head. ” X Recalls getting a `` conk '' style of hair History stories and.. X was a human Rights activist, public speaker and minister in the mirror my... Rights Leader Malcolm X hair color started combing it in — it burns bad smooth! 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