Malcolm Little's Autobiography Of Malcolm X

Malcolm Little is one of the most understood civil rights activist to have ever lived. Malcolm

Little was a man who in order to understand and truly get we need to go back to the days of his early

life. Malcolm's life was surrounded by hate, grief, poverty, hustle, and most of all violence. Malcolm

wrote this autobiography to show his supporters, enemies, and the world exactly how he came to be.

Exactly what he had done, and the steps that led him to be the man we know as Malcolm X.

To me the most important sentence in the book comes from page 1. The sentence in itself shocks

the reader into knowing what kind of a life the author had. What kind of rough and violent life he had

to stand against. Malcolm

says “When my mother was pregnant with me, she told me later, a party of

hooded Klu Klux Klan members galloped up to our hoe one night in Omaha Nebraska”. The fact that

he was not even fully alive and around in this world and he already faced this type of controversy and

hate says a lot about his life, and it was not an accident that he put this as his first sentence. This

powerful sentence speaks loudly about how even before birth he faced hate.

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Malcolm's family was pushed to the very edge by the white man and he explains exactly how it

happened as well. The white man was around to kick his family down his entire childhood. A white

man killed nearly half of the men on his father's side and the reason of his mothers light complexion

was the effect of a slave master raping a slave. When Malcolm was young, a man killed his father and

his after tied him to the railroad tracks to be run over. When Malcolm's mother had struggled to keep

the family together the government social workers tried to face the family against each together and

eventually, literally drove his mother insane. This is the life Malcolm had experienced before the age of 13.

Malcolm now had no parents and for the first time was alone. He lived with strangers who were

white although they treated him well he would've much rather had his parents back. He was at the top

of his class and well liked by everybody. He was a “good negro” which is a horrible thing to call

someone but that is what he was known as. When he visited his sister in Boston his life would take

a

turn however. One for the better or worse it is up to the reader and it is one that he says on page 40 “All

praise is due to Allah that I went to Boston when I did”. Upon Malcolm's return from Boston he had a

new found pride in being African America. The final straw for him was when he told his teacher that he

wanted to be a lawyer and his teacher completely diminished his dream. After that Malcolm went to

Boston to be with his people and become a new man.

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When he arrived in Boston he was a young man who was getting great grades and on the right

path. Systemic oppression kept him away from a good job and he started to hang around the wrong

crowd. Little by little Malcolm began making the wrong decisions. Malcolm had been pushed into a

life of drugs and crime. He was finally caught stealing and the worst part of it was that he was with two

white women. The normal sentence for a first time offender was about 2 years, however him and his

friend shorty were given 10 years in prison. On page 153 Malcolm was spot on when he said” But we

weren't going to get the average-- not for our crime”.

While Malcolm was in prison he was introduced to the nation of Islam.He was introduced to

Elijah Muhammad and his teaching while in prison. He instantly clicked with this new religon which

was ironic because he was known as Satan in prison. Malcolm began to learn. He began reading and

improved his education significantly. He now had knowledge facts and a better understanding. He was

now a leader. Malcolm was taught by his teachers however that all problems came from the evil white

man. The devil.

Malcolm became know as a radical and irregular activist. Although he did things differently he

uses his strong story telling and hard facts as well as some opinion to show us what made him become

the man he is. Malcolm faced challenges, but he found a way around them. He always made a way and

he tried his very best to show his people the true way of Allah. He tries to better his people and lead

them down the right way of life so that they do not live the harsh life that he has and so that they can

become anything they want in life despite what the system does to try and shut you out, and despite the

color of your skin.