Malcolm X Can Change Your Life Even In Prison

Prison is a place of confinement or involuntary restraint where choices are made for you. However, in the articles “Learning to Read” by Malcolm X and “Yes, One book can Change Your Life, Even in Prison”, by Dwayne Betts shows how a bad situation can turn into a better outcome. Malcolm X and Dwayne were put into situations where everything was taken away from them except their state of mind. Within this situation Malcolm and Dwayne through different approaches were determined to leave prison with more sovereignty over their education.

Even though they were trying to gain more knowledge, their educational background differed. Malcom’s education didn’t go beyond the level of 8th grade, but he was very articulate. As Malcolm stated “In the street, I had been the most articulate hustler out there – I had commanded attention when I said something. Nut now, trying to write simple English, I not only wasn’t articulate, I wasn’t even functional. ” He himself had to start from the basics by simply reading the dictionary to learn words so he would be able to sound like and educated black man.

However, with Betts learning had always been a passion of his. Betts stated that “numbers came easily to him and as he grew the most important things to him were

math and philosophy”. He had somewhat of an education prior to prison unlike Malcom who had to teach himself simple things that came easily to Betts.
Motivation is the key to success.

Both of these men had an ambition to learn, but their motivation was totally different. Betts was a misguided teen who got into the wrong situation and ended up being charged with six felonies. During his trail the judge stated “I don’t have any illusions that the penitentiary is going to help you, but you can get something out of it if you want to.”, and that’s exactly what Betts did. Instead of letting his state of mind being consume by negative thoughts, he turn to reading as an escape and took his education to another level. Betts would read material by Charles Dickens, George Orwell, Max Weber etc., which sparked his interest in poetry and eventually making it his

passion.
Unlike Betts, Malcolm had to teach himself. Malcolm didn’t have an education beyond the 8th grade so often he would get frustrated at not being able to express his thoughts in letters, especially the ones to Mr. Elijah Muhammad. As Malcolm stated “How would I sound writing in slang the way I would say it.” Hence, he started to right down every page in the dictionary and would study those pages until he gained a good vocabulary and writing skills. Not only was he committed to writing but also reading, even past curfew a lot of nights just so he could sound educated enough to his mentor Elijah Muhammad.
“Do something today that your future self would thank you for.” With their experience in prison both Betts and Malcolm used what they learned to their advantage. By Betts gaining a passion for learning in prison, once he got out he started community college and would eventually apply to higher learning institutions and got into both schools and became a writer. Malcom never went to a higher learning institution .People assumed he did because of how articulate he was and the way he carried himself. Malcolm X is known for being a great speaker and leader which all came from his ambition to learn and teach himself the basics while in prison. Even though their passion for reading, what they read or how they used their education were different, both men didn’t let their current situation become their permanent situation. Betts and Malcolm are both prime examples of how your circumstances don’t control you.