The Autobiography Of Malcolm X
The Autobiography of Malcolm “X”
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The Autobiography of Malcolm X as articulated by Alex Haley is a book based on the life story of Malcom X and his preaching on racism and segregation in the American society. Malcolm X was an anti-integrationist Muslim leader whose life story revolutionized America. In the book, Malcolm tells his life experiences as a black American to Alex Haley, a veteran writer and journalist. The autobiography recounts the life of Malcom X from a childhood plagued by racism to adult life as a drug dealer, prisoner, and a Muslim leader. It covers his spiritual conversion to Islam through Elijah Muhammad’s teachings in prison leading.
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The book outlines the racial problems plaguing the African-Americans and dehumanizing them. Malcolm’s father was murdered by a white hate group known as Black Legion because he spoke against racism. Malcolm experiences subtle racism in the book from his childhood to adulthood. His father loved him because he had a lighter skin color as compared to his siblings. In school, he was treated differently because he was black. For example his teacher told him “be a carpenter because the thinking of a lawyer was foolish for a Negro.” The book provides also a solution to racism through the unification of oppressed people.
Hustling is another topic addressed by the book. The book presents the life of a black American as a matter of survival in the urban areas. Malcolm does odd jobs for the whites such as “shining their shoes” and “carrying their dirty plates” to earn a living. Transformation is also addressed by Malcolm changing from a criminal to a religious leader. In Boston and New Yolk, Malcolm is depicted as a drug addict, burglar, and a criminal. However, in prison, following the teachings of Elijah, he reinvents himself to a devoted Muslim and fights for transformation of race relations in
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Malcolm was full of hatred for the whites to the extent of advocating for separation from them. However, his trip helps him to discover the true Islam which was contrary to his previous teachings. He changes his approach to civil rights and his opinions from hating all “white devils” for the evils they had committed to the blacks. He said that “Since I learned the truth in Mecca, my dearest friends have come to include all kinds” signifying his acceptance of all people despite their race. I find his trip to mecca transformative and his change of heart astonishing though for the
Malcolm X Book Report
971 Words | 4 PagesMartin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and the Civil Rights Struggle of the 1950s and 1960s. A Brief History with Documents written by David Howard-Pitney is a great history book that gives us an entry into two important American thinkers and a tumultuous part of American history. This 207-pages book was published by Bedford/St. Martin’s in Boston, New York on February 20, 2004. David Howard-Pitney worked at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project at Stanford University in 1986, and that made him a specialist on American civil religion and African-American leaders ' thought and rhetoric (208). Another publication of Howard-Pitney is The African-American Jeremiad: Appeals for Justice in America.
Haley's The Autobiography Of Malcolm X
575 Words | 3 PagesHe claimed that he got the name from “the white slavemaster name of ‘Little’, which some white blue-eyed devil named Little had imposed upon [his] paternal forebears” (203). Malcolm despised the name “Little” because he believed that it separated him from his original African roots. During his time as “Malcolm Little”, Malcolm lived a life of many obstacles. After Malcolm’s mother was sent to the State Mental Hospital in Kalamazoo, Malcolm and his siblings split up into different foster homes across Michigan. In the new environment, Malcolm faced challenges such as racism and keeping in touch with his family.
Malcolm X And Black Rage
946 Words | 4 PagesHence, they crave peer acceptance in both, receiving genuine approval from neither” (West 139). Another renowned description of this phenomenon by Malcolm X is a metaphor stating that there are two kinds of slaves, the house negro and the field negro. Malcolm says that the house negroes love and protect the white master while field negroes hate and resist him, while this rhetorical device can be useful in highlighting differences amongst black people it’s a broad over generalization, and plain negligence to try and fit a black person in one of the two categories. Nevertheless, Malcolm creates a clear analysis of the issue of double-consciousness, showing that he understands the complexity of the matter at hand and that he is knowledgeable on the subject, hence utilizing ethos. While Malcolm X strongly believes that “black self-love and black self-determination [will make black people] free of the tension generated by ‘double-consciousness’”
Malcolm X Research Papers
1088 Words | 5 PagesBy leaving the Nation of Islam, Malcolm created a hatred towards himself by the people he had taught and ministered for years; Malcolm’s separation from the NOI was the key factor in his assassination. Had he not left (or been removed from) the Nation, the hatred felt towards Malcolm would have stayed as petty jealousy from those Elijah trusted less and not have evolved into the actual hatred that caused Malcolm’s
Malcolm X Argumentative Essay
795 Words | 4 PagesThe book* kept very loyal to the character of Malcolm X, even though he was only mentioned in a conversation. They described him as a radical speaker in the civil rights movement. The characters spoke about him like that weird kid in the class that nobody talks to**, like he was a person the did not want to follow, instead trying to bring Martin Luther King Jr. to their town to hold a protest. In other words, like people in the real world thought about him.
Malcolm X Contribution To The Civil Rights Movement
841 Words | 4 PagesMalcolm X was an American Muslim leader who contributed to the Civil Rights Movement by spreading his ideas of black nationalism in the 1950s and early ’60s. He was an influential figure in a black Islamic organization, Nation of Islam, and served as a spokesperson for the organization. He was assassinated on February 21, 1965 while making a speech in Harlem. After his death, his life story was made well-known through his autobiography, The Autobiography of Malcolm X (1965) (Mamiya 1). Malcolm X is a man whose background and activism contributed to the Civil Rights Movement and America as a whole.
Annotated Bibliography: The Autobiography Of Malcolm X
1072 Words | 5 PagesThesis: In “The Autobiography of Malcolm X”, Malcolm X in his telling of his life to Alex Haley uncovers the theme of positive and negative environments unearthed by the interaction of African Americans and White Americans in his life and what those kinds of environments inherently produce. Annotated Bibliography Nelson, Emmanuel S. Ethnic American Literature: an Encyclopedia for Students. Greenwood, An Imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC, 2015.This encyclopedia points out that the negative interaction he held with the white man as a young hustler was countered by these same experiences pushing Malcolm X to reclaim his “African identity”. This shows, as described by the cited work, what a man pushed by his negative interactions with the oppressive white men is willing to do to find his identity (i.e. through hustling).
Malcolm X: The Leadership Qualities Of Malcom X
1060 Words | 5 PagesMalcolm X was a Muslim minister who was also African American. He was a activist for human rights, Malcolm was a bold and courageous spokesperson for blacks to have rights,Malcolm X declared America “white America” to have the most harshest of terms for it’s tenacious treatments against African Americans. In the year 1946, he was sentenced to prison because he was caught breaking and entering. When he was incarcerated, he was chosen to become a member of the Nation of Islam. This is when he changed his birth name from Malcolm Little to Malcolm X. Later he had written,”Little was the name that the white slave master … had imposed upon paternal forebears” After his parole in 1952 his popularity grew and became the organization 's most influential leaders, and served as the public face of the controversial group for a dozen years.
Malcolm X Central Idea Analysis
495 Words | 2 PagesThroughout the Autobiography of Malcolm X there are several key events the bring out the central ideas of the text. Some examples of the key events was when Mr. Ostrowski lectured Malcolm, when Malcolm was in jail and he learned the teachings of Elijah Muhammad, and when Malcolm made his pilgrimage to Mecca. A closer look at the central ideas would show that they build on one another. When Malcolm was going to school his teacher, Mr. Ostrowski, told home to give up his dream of being a lawyer,” Malcolm, one of life’s first needs is to be realistic.
The Struggle In Malcolm X's Early Life
543 Words | 3 PagesAs the years went by, Malcolm continued down the wrong path, filled with crime and pain. Due to the racial hate that followed him, he could never be seen as an equal. The government imprisoned him multiple times for his crimes and this added to his depression. He desperately tried to change the way society looked upon him, but eventually he looked to crimes and rebellion in order to
Summary Of Learning To Read By Malcolm X
79 Words | 1 PagesAs noted by Malcolm X in his essay Learning to Read, self-education can help bring awareness to the United States’ appalling history of oppression effectuated against African-Americans. In relation to the reading, Malcolm X assimilated prominent examples of oppression through personal anecdotes that descriptively stated what the “evil white men with whips and clubs and chains and guns” did (193). Correspondingly, the negative consequences society has put into place can be stemmed back to the history of European colonization.
What Is Malcolm X's Tone In Learning To Read
581 Words | 3 PagesAnalysis for Learning to Read by Malcolm X Malcolm X, who used X to signify his lost African tribal name, was an American Muslim minister and a human rights activist. He stated in his excerpt “Learning to Read” from The Autobiography of Malcolm X, “[People] will think I went to school far beyond the eighth grade” (Learning to read, X,3). Malcolm X was kicked out of the school after 8th grade, and went to the prison. He learned how to read in the prison. Ever since then, he started to read books and think about the fate of black people’s.
Summary Of Malcolm X's Speech By Any Means Necessary
395 Words | 2 PagesOver the course of Malcolm X’s life, his perspective of identity changed, particularly before and after he went to Mecca. In the speech By Any Means Necessary Malcolm stated, “The time for you and me to allow ourselves to be brutalized non-violently is passe….Be non-violent only with those who are non-violent to you”(Malcolm X). Essentially, Malcolm X is implying that we should have the rights to defend ourselves from those who cause harm to us. Before Malcolm x went to Mecca, he believed that white supremacy could not be conquered through love, but only through vigorous self-defence (“By Any Means Necessary”) .
Analysis: The Autobiography Of Malcolm X Writing Style
798 Words | 4 PagesThe authors tone of writing could at first be described as easygoing and unconcerned. He is aware of the obvious issue of racism and discrimination against African Americans, but feels as if it doesn't directly apply to him. As he grows up the style of the writing becomes even more laid back to fit Malcolm's nonchalant personality. The author commonly uses the slang used in the 1940’s. The Author makes a point of stating all the terms Malcolm used to be
How Did Malcolm X Impact Society
975 Words | 4 PagesOver the course of the American history, black people were oppressed and treated unfairly. A few ways that society treated black people is by segregating them from white people, beating them up, and taking advantage of them. As a consequence, African Americans grew up in an environment were limited in their abilities, had hatred towards the white, and had a constant judgment from white people. These factors contributed towards the way society viewed African Americans, flawed, uneducated, and poor. Yet, a notable person who overcame these obstacles and made the most out of his experiences was Malcolm X. He made a dramatic change not only in American history but in African American rights.
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