‘X’ Hits the Target : Tolerance: A church arranges for youths to see Spike Lee’s new film. The teen-agers give it rave reviews, saying the director makes strong statements on courage, identity and faith.

Amid applause, laughter, tears and rapt silence, 75 teen-agers from a South-Central church watched Spike Lee’s epic movie “Malcolm X” during its opening weekend at the Baldwin Theater.

Outside the theater and at a spaghetti dinner at the Faithful Central Baptist Church that evening, the young people shared their impressions.

“The movie was straight in-your-face action,” said Jemela Suttle, a 14-year-old at Washington Preparatory High School in South Los Angeles. “I really think it was a positive movie. Black and white people should go see it because it makes a strong statement about our struggles.”

LaNej A. Tolbert, an aspiring actress who attends the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts at Cal State Los Angeles, said she was inspired by the performers.

“Denzel Washington did everything my teachers tell me to do,” said Tolbert, 16. “He became his character. He was Malcolm X. He did him justice.”

Leaders of the Faithful Central Baptist Church organized the movie excursion. They saw it as a springboard for a history lesson as well as an example of Christian tolerance of Malcolm’s Muslim faith.

“Malcolm X has been given a bad rap,” said Jordan Allen, 43, a minister at the church. “The movie was about a man who went through a massive metamorphosis, and the media and a lot of us can only focus on the Malcolm that said, ‘Kill whitey.’ . . . We wanted the kids to know as much about him as possible, as a historical black leader, whether we as Christians want to accept him or not.”

Carlton Allen, 13 of Yorba Linda, who is reading “The Autobiography of Malcolm X,” said though it was “great to visualize what I’ve been reading about, I wished (Spike Lee) had included from the book . . . about (Malcolm X’s) conversion to Islam.”

Neil Webb’s favorite scene was of Malcolm X and members of the Nation of Islam confronting New York City police over the beating of a black man.

“It showed a lot of discipline and strength for them to stand outside the hospital until they knew (the injured man) would be OK,” said Webb, 15.

Webb and others applauded when the imprisoned Malcolm Little (his name before he became known as Malcolm X) challenged a prison chaplain about a blond, blue-eyed depiction of Jesus and declared Christ was a man of color.

“He was not afraid of anything,” Suttle said. “He stood up for what he believed in.”

Though bombarded by Malcolm X T-shirts, buttons, caps and other items, the teen-agers said commercialization of the assassinated leader may encourage people to learn more about him.

“I think the hype is good,” Suttle said. “People should hype it up. Then others will go to the movie or read the book.”

Born a generation after the civil rights era, the teen-agers said their knowledge of Malcolm X and his beliefs encourages them to confront racial inequities they feel still exist.

“He was a strong black man. He was opinionated, and he believed in what he was doing,” Suttle said. “That gives me a sense of pride and a sense of being a strong black person, to know what you believe in and not to let anybody knock you down. And if you get knocked down, you stand prouder and stronger than ever.”

Cheneka Wright, 14, said she appreciated the trip and discussion.

“Church is even more important if you go to a predominantly white school like I do,” Wright said. “The school I go to, they’re not really into blacks. We don’t have Black History Month or anything like that. At church, you learn more about your culture and who you are.”