Context/timing
Racial tensions built during this time frame
what is the early 1940s
High waisted, ballooning trousers paired with a long coat and padded shoulders
What is a Zoot Suit
For this many nights, American sailors cruised Mexican-American neighborhoods in search of "Zoot-suiters"
what is 10 nights
This Mexican American youth subculture used style, music, and language as a form of cultural resistance long before the riots erupted
Who are the Pachucos
This jazz‑infused poetry style became a subtle form of resistance, celebrating Black identity while challenging racist stereotypes in early 20th‑century America
What is Jazz poetry
The Zoot Suit riots occurred during this war
What is WWII
straightened, slicked back hairstyle
what is "conk"
After the riots, this city’s officials temporarily banned the wearing of zoot suits in public, claiming it would reduce violence.
What is Los Angeles
For this person, the zoot suit, the lindy hop, and the distinctive lingo of the hep cat simultaneously embodied these class, racial, and cultural tensions
Who is Malcom Little
This musical genre, rooted in African American communities, became a cultural force that challenged segregation by drawing diverse audiences into shared spaces
What is Jazz/Bebop
Riots occurred during this time frame
when is 1943
sot out to challenge middle-class ethics and expectations, carving out a distinct generational and ethnic identity
who are the soot-suiters and hipsters
This major Los Angeles newspaper inflamed public opinion by portraying Mexican American youths as criminals, helping set the stage for the riots.
What is the Los Angeles Times
This group of young Mexican-Americans were sent to prison for the murder at the sleepy lagoon
What is the 38th Street gang
This group of activists, many of them women, organized to defend the wrongfully accused Sleepy Lagoon youths, mirroring Harlem’s tradition of community‑driven resistance.
Who is the Sleepy Lagoon defense committee
a revolutionary style of small-band modern jazz developed in the early-to-mid 1940s
what is Bebop
These music styles underwent a revolution during the Zoot Suit Riots. black musicians' rebellion against white-dominated swing bands
what is Blues, swing, religious, and Jazz music
This 1964 event in Harlem, sparked by the police killing of a Black teenager, became a revolutionary moment that exposed nationwide racial tensions and influenced later civil rights activism.
What is the Harlem Riot of 1964
This figure introduced Malcom to the Zoot Suit and taught him about the pleasures, practices, and possibilities of hipster culture
Who is "Shorty"
At these places a number of styles converged to create a place where individuals who were discriminated against could recuperate, and take back their bodies.
What are Urban Dance Halls
a white cop shot and killed a black soldier in a scuffle involving a black woman causing Harlem to explode on which day
What is August 1, 1943
Malcolm prompted this future novelist to reflect on the political Significance of the dance styles and attire of black youth
who is Ralph Ellison
This many young Mexican-Americans were suspected for the Sleepy Lagoon murder
what is 600
This band leader, a close friend of Malcolm's, linked bebop with oppositional black politics
Who is Lionel Hampton
African Americans opposed the war, and they opposed spilling their own blood for a country that didn't respect them. This caused how many black men to be imprisoned for not complying with the Selective Service Act
What is 2,000 men