These sites include the three schools that Malcolm X attended during his time living in Lansing and the greater Lansing area. Malcolm was first enrolled at Pleasant Grove Elementary School for kindergarten in 1931. In 1939, around the age of 14, Malcolm began attending West Junior High School, however, he was expelled after leaving a thumbtack on his teacher's chair, and he was sent by the state to a detention home located in Mason, Michigan. In 1939, Malcolm was enrolled at Mason High School where he attended for his seventh and eighth grade years before dropping out and moving to Boston to live with his sister, Ella.

The course of Malcolm's education was primarily shaped by factors of white supremacy. When Malcolm's mother was sent to the Psychiatric Hospital in Kalamazoo, MI, and Malcolm's family was torn apart by the government, Malcolm's behavior in school worsened and he was sent by the state to the Swerlin's detention home located in Mason, MI. Around this time Malcolm was enrolled into Mason High School for his seventh and eighth grade years. At Mason, Malcolm faced further displays of white supremacy. For instance, when Malcolm told his English teacher, Mr. Otrowski, that he had aspirations of being a lawyer, Mr. Otrowski told him that he would never be able to accomplish this goal simply because he was African American. This discouraged Malcolm, led to a drop in his grades, and caused him to drop out of school and move to Boston. The practices of white supremacy that Malcolm faced throughout his early life clearly had a tremendous effect on him, and shaped the course of his education.