Malcolm X Learning To Read Summary

Learning, Knowledge, and the Search for Self Identity

Language and learning have a profound effect on human beings. Our identity is the core of which we are as individuals, and knowledge is at the forefront of perception and self-discovery. All people have potential, but all of humanity in afflicted by a certain degree of deafness, dumbness, and blindness, though painful knowledge can bring with it the unveiled truth. To know our world we must first look inside ourselves. To change your world or yourself, first you must change your mind, your perception of what you know. As we develop at a young age we begin to see our individual reality and as this happens we’re also developing the ability to capture and use language in relative perspective to our own culture. Through books we can discover ourselves and perceive the world in a different manner. Many students do not go to school with the right kind of spirit in their soul/heart. Knowledge is a right that everyone should take advantage of. But we must understand knowledge is power, and should be handled appropriately. Once we embrace who we are and the craving to be

mentally alive that is in all of us, learning can truly begin. We can truly learn because we understand what we are really getting out of the experience, what it adds to our lives, how it feeds the soul. I will be using four essays to explain and support my meaning throughout. The essays I will be referring to are Malcolm X’s essay “Learning to Read”, Sherman Alexei’s essay “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me”, Fredrick Douglass’ essay “Learning to Read and Write”, and Gloria Anzaldua’s essay “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”, all published in 50 Essays, edited by Samuel Cohen.
In Sherman Alexei’s essay “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me”, the reader is introduced to a story of Sherman Alexei’s interactions with education.
“A smart Indian is a dangerous person, widely feared and ridiculed by Indians and non-Indians alike. I fought with my classmates on a daily basis. They wanted me to stay quiet when the non-Indian teacher asked for answers, for volunteers, for help. We were Indian children who were expected to be stupid. Most lived up to those expectations inside the classroom but subverted them on the outside. They struggled with basic reading in school but could remember how to sing a few dozen powwow songs. They were monosyllabic in front of their non-Indian teachers but could tell complicated stories and jokes at the dinner table. … As Indian children, we were expected to fail in the non-Indian world. Those who failed were ceremonially accepted by other Indians and appropriately pitied by non-Indians” (Alexei, 17).
This quote appears about half way through Alexei’s essay. In this quote the Alexei is explaining the way Indian children approach education and how they are seen by non-Indians. The stereotypes around Indian children and education are that they are expected to be stupid and that they cannot succeed in a non-Indian world. Those who differ from this expectation are attacked by both sides, by Indians and non-Indians alike. Alexei is stating that he refused to conform to the stereotypes about Indian children and faced great adversity for this. It is also implied by Alexei that the Indian children may have responded better to an Indian teacher rather than a non-Indian one. Because the teacher was not Indian and was not part of their culture, the children resented the teacher and refused to listen, maybe feeling that they were turning their back on their culture if they did listen. The fear of adversity, of failure, and of change stopped them from seeing the harm they were doing to themselves and others of their culture. By buying into the stereotypes presented to them, they themselves fed the flame and the cycle continued.
Stereotypes in education do far more harm than they do any good. They lead to resentment towards the educators, and self-doubt and shame in children. They may believe they have to live up to the stereotype or they will be judged even worse. They may try to beat the stereotype and if they fail become discouraged and believe it themselves; it can cause serious psychological effects on a child, especially giving their background, genetics, and environment. As shown by many of the Indian children Alexei speaks about.
Though we don’t realize it but we are coming into ourselves our whole lives, learning, discovering, and changing constantly, yet we never truly know ourselves. Through our young lives we are adapting and changing consistently, forming opinions and changing them, finding things we like that then we don’t like. We are constantly discovering ourselves and learning about everything. The interactions and people we meet have a huge impact on our concepts of self. As a child I formed my opinion of myself based other people, I didn’t know a lot but I knew that other people (especially adults) did. As a child that meant they must be right, right? And as a child I was a sponge soaking up everything around me, even things I wasn’t aware I saw or heard. Children, in all essential purposes, are blank pages, and infinite sponges. They are open and new to everything, and they absorb much more than we think, and all of what they see and hear stay with them either consciously or unconsciously. In education there should be no fear of failure, or ridicule, no question of if you ‘fit in’. The most formative years of a person’s life are that of their elementary and high school education. Children should be encouraged to read, write, draw, and learn as much as they can about everything they could possibly want to know. As such, children themselves should understand the benefits of education on their health and happiness, but as children that is beyond most of their comprehension level. Until they reach college and self-discovery really beings. So it is up to society and educators to figure out a way to enthrall children with learning. Learning should be as natural as breathing, and you should feel as safe at home as you do at school.
In Malcolm X's essay "Learning to Read”, the reader is introduced to a story of a man overcoming tremendous odds to better himself as well as his understanding of himself, through learning and reading.

About half way through the essay Malcolm X exclaims "Anyone who has read a great deal can imagine the new world that opened.... and my reading of books, months passed without my even thinking about being imprisoned. In fact, up till then, I never had been so truly free in my life" (X, 275) X is explaining how once he could read a book and understand what it was saying his mind was open to new worlds. Through reading books, we can be taken to another place, a different world that deepens our understanding of our own and broadens our horizons. Through books, specifically history, X was able to discover himself and perceive the world in a different

manner.
In "Learning to Read" X faces many challenges at getting an education, he could barely write or read and he was in prison, these things strained and hindered his attempting to educate himself. All these things he overcame through his dedication and determination. This is seen when the author writes "In fact, prison enabled me to study far more intensively than I would have if my life had gone differently and I had attended some college. I imagine that one of the biggest troubles with colleges is there are too many distractions,... Where else but in prison could I attack my ignorance by being able to study intensively sometimes as much as fifteen hours a day?" (X, 282). In many ways X is right, most students do not go to college with the right kind of ideas in there heart and mind. What I mean can be explained by using this quote by X, "I have often reflected upon the new vistas that reading opened to me.... reading had changed forever the course of my life. As it today, the ability to read awoke inside me some long dormant craving to be mentally alive.... My homemade education gave me, with every additional book that I read, a little bit more sensitivity to deafness, dumbness, and blindness that was afflicting the black race in America “(X, 281). X is talking about his own culture and how they feed into the generalizations about them. The quote can be used to refer to students. College is the opportunity to discover who you are at your roots, to reflect and grow so you may have the skills needed to succeed for the rest of your life. Far too many students go to college with the wrong ideas about what they need to get out of it, why they're there, and who they are. Many go so they can say ‘look I have a degree, give me more money’, or they think learning one particular thing will sustain them for life. Students should realize the opportunities which lie at their feet when attending any college. These things we must internalize. The first being, that books hold an insurmountable amount of knowledge; you can learn anything you need to know through books. The second is, all people have potential, but all of humanity is afflicted by levels of deafness, dumbness, and blindness. Much like X exclaims about his culture in his essay. Third is the most important, through books we can start to remedy this. We all must seek out our true selves, the essence of which we are, essentially our souls. Once we embrace the craving to be mentally alive that is in all of us and who we are as individuals, learning can truly begin. With every little bit of understanding we develop toward who we are we gain more of the ability to absorbs the things around us. Once we are at peace with ourselves we can truly absorb the positive effects of the world around us, we can truly learn because we understand what we are really getting out of it and what it adds to the rest of our lives, that it feeds our souls. This is not a process that happens quickly it is one followed for life and it may not even be conscious to you. Peace with yourself and the world around you lets you vibrate as one with the infinite capabilities of the universe. You may never get to peace, but as long as you try you are on the right path.