A Homemade Education Barbara Graham Analysis

Richard Wright and Malcolm X are two African Americans that struggled so much in the pursuit of knowledge in other to gain power and figure. Richard wright is from Natchez, Mississippi; he was in the south around the year 1925 and worked for the white men helping them get books from the library. During the process of obtaining books for the white men, he wants to read and know of the black history. Malcolm X is from Omaha, Nebraska, he was in prison for burglary, during his time in prison then came the passion for knowledge and he wants to build his vocabulary on how to speak, and write letters appropriately to Mr. Elijah Muhammad. Richard wright becomes motivated when he comes across an article that made mention of H. L. Mencken being a fool and wants to know the reason for such a saying, Richard wrights’ difficulties was how to get a library card without cut reading the novel of H. L. Mencken. Richard Wright becomes transformed greatly not only has his vocabulary improved but had known a great deal of black history. Malcolm X is motivated to read so he can write good letters to Mr. Elijah Muhammad. His difficulties was learning how to read, write and himself not having enough time to read because the lights had to go off and they were watched by a moving guard, he becomes transformed by studying the dictionary to improve his knowledge of vocabulary in reading, speaking and writing good letters to Mr. Elijah Muhammad.

Baca and Malcolm X, learnt how to spend their time with more beneficial works in the prison and started to gain knowledge by reading and writing. Baca writes, “ It saddened me to realize that I had been in a prison… But I was hopeful too...One of the guys showed me how to address my letter and where to put the stamp. Then, feeling flushed with achievements” (199). He didn’t learn knowledge in reading and writing at his young age due to the environment he brought up. For instance, Baca received an assist from his inmates on how to deliver a letter in prison. With the assistance from people, he was able to find out the interesting knowledge that he never experienced before. Due to his curiosity in finding out knowledge is interesting, he wanted to learn more knowledge no matter what kind of environment he was in. With this in mind, Baca used the limited learning material such as dictionary to gain more knowledge, without delay his time in prison, he started to learn about reading and writing in English by using the dictionary. As long as he was willing to gain knowledge, no matter what kind of environment it will be, he still able to learn more about reading and writing. For instance, other people gained knowledge in school while Baca gained knowledge in prison. By having different kind of learning environment, he was able to gain knowledge where he never thought to do it before. Baca became the famous author who experienced many things in his life. From the experience of learning new knowledge in a different environment, Baca will able to adopt the changes of environment easily in his life. Due to Baca’s limited learning environment compared to Malcolm X, this made him appreciate everything that could help him to become literate. Malcolm X states, “ Between Mr. Muhammad’s teaching ... , months passed without me thinking about being imprisoned” (237). Malcolm X gained more knowledge despite

In his essay, Malcolm X writes about how learning to read and write opened his eyes to the oppression that surrounded him and the world. Malcolm is a black man that was put in prison when he noticed that he felt uncomfortable when he did not understand anything that he read and that he could not write correctly. His incapacity to read and write was what inspired him to request a dictionary, something to write on and a pencil. That initiative changed his life forever. He copied down the whole dictionary, which helped him to learn words and their meanings. “ With

The author’s purpose for writing the book was for the reader to gain knowledge of Malcolm X as an individual and not as a phenomenon. He wanted to deliver truths that spanned his brief lifetime.

Fredrick Douglass was a slave, who secretly learned how to read and write in many different forms such as his mistress and pieced together the elements of literacy through outside sources such as old books, and writing tools from young children. Unlike Malcom X, he received an education although it was limited, and went to prison where he accessed books from the library. Malcom X stated in his essay Learning to Read, “An inmate was smiled upon if he demonstrated an unusually intense interest in books.” Meaning reading was not allowed for slaves. Unlike Douglass situation, if he would have shown interest in a book he would have been punished for it. Being a slave Douglass had to keep his development in reading and writing hidden while Malcolm insisted on writing letters to Elijah Muhammad with his new acquired vocabulary. This proved that Malcolm’s education was easier to gain unlike Fredrick Douglass, through slavery reading and writing was much

Throughout Malcolm X's "Learning to Read" his tone and attitude frequently changes. Although the emotions are faintly projected, his tone and attitude are caused by a change in his own emotions, which correspond with the beginning, middle, and end of the passage. The essay not only expounds his lack of reading skills while young, it expounds upon the importance of reading to him today. If a thorough assessment is made, he exclaims that reading is important to readers' lives as it was to his, aiding to shape ones morals and principles. Without the ability to read, a basis for intellect and perception, it becomes increasingly difficult to build your own ethical views.

In his autobiography, he writes about his time in prison and his frustration in not being able to communicate properly to Elijah Muhammad. Malcolm X started copying words from the dictionary and everything on the page down to the punctuation and began reading books on history, philosophy, and religion. He writes, “I copied into my tablet everything printed on that first page, down to the punctuation marks. . . As my word-base broadened, I could for the first time pick up a book and read and now begin to understand what the book was saying.”

He saw educated prisoners achieve a certain celebrity status and desired these skills as well as status. Malcolm X describes these inmates and the status they possessed: “There were a sizeable number of well-read inmates, especially the popular debaters. Some were said by many to be walking encyclopedias. They were almost celebrities” (212). He envied these educated men and became determined to grow to be educated. In pursuing his self-taught education, “Malcolm X emerged as the leading spokesman for black separatism, a philosophy that urged black Americans to cut political, social, and economic ties with the white community” (intro 210). Not seeking the prestige or degree for his education, his efforts made him a leading advocate for the civil rights and liberties of African Americans and a leading spokesperson for the Nation of Islam.

In the excerpt “Learning to Read” from his 1965 Autobiography, Malcolm X argues that he had more opportunity to learn about the world and specifically black history in prison than he would have received in a formal education setting. He describes the process in which he essentially taught himself how to read and write, and how it lead to an awakening of his desire to learn everything he could through voracious reading. X illustrates to the reader the painful histories that he read about and the powerful knowledge which he gained to show that one needs little more than access to a book collection and the motivation to learn in order to become educated. This reading resonated with me as a learner whose love for independent learning often takes a backseat to the demands of academia and provides a key concept which I plan to instill in my students as a future teacher.

Through his readings and new found religion, the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X finds self-pride. He starts to become proud of who he is and where he came from. He realizes that before, all he was trying to do was act like someone he wasn’t and all it had gotten him was seven years in prison. The letters he got from Elijah Muhammad and his family encouraged all of this. He strives to admit his guilt, and “implore the forgiveness of God” (170). He would often “be startled to catch [himself] thinking in a remote way of [his] earlier self as another person” and marvel at how much he had changed (170). All the reading he did “awoke … some long dormant craving to be mentally alive” (179). His trip to prison opened up new doors for him because he gained knowledge that made him rethink his niche in life.

Malcolm X truly loved reading, he spent all of his time reading he forgot that he was even in prison, he felt free. The Norfolk Prison Colony library was in the school building, where there was classes being taught with debates from instructors that came from Harvard and Boston universities. There were so many collections of books in the library, such as Parkhurst and many older ancient history books. Being in prison and a book lover had many people smiling at you; those inmates that read were the ones that were in the debates classes they were like celebrities, everyone knew them and spoke highly. Malcolm X would stay up all night reading his books, he would get outrage when ten P.M lights out happened. There were lights outside of the cell gate, which Malcolm X used when the lights went out. There was interval of one hour that guards would walk around and he would sprint to bed and act like he was sleeping, then once they left he would get to reading. He would stay up in the middle of the night until three, four o'clock, he only needed three to four hours of sleep a night and he would be alright. Malcolm X soon became the minister of Mr. Muhammad and studied around

Malcolm X is an extremely critical figure that contributed in shaping American social life. He was a famous man who articulated the struggle, anger, and beliefs of African Americans. He was a radical man who fought for change despite the situation. His struggle for equality for the black nation landed him in prison. While in prison, Malcolm was able to study, and earned a college degree. However, most importantly while in prison, Malcolm X was introduced to the Islam faith by one of the prisoners. He received teachings from the Muslim faith, which made him realize that, his people were being oppressed and abused by the whites. While out of prison, he went to visit honorable Elijah Muhammad and later on went around preaching Elijah

By learning to read, Malcolm X gained a universal knowledge that helped him to become in one of the most articulate and famous spokesman. He didn’t just learn the appropriate English grammar; he went beyond to more serious readings. These readings helped him to discover a new world of knowledge “Anyone who has read a great deal can imagine the new world that opened” (X 190). Moreover, his interest for Mr. Muhammad teachings led Malcolm to want to know more about black people history through the time. Books as Will Durant’s Story of Civilization and Negro History gave him some knowledge about the topic “Book after book showed me how the white man had brought upon the world’s black, brown, red and yellow peoples every variety of the suffering

This opened up the world for him, because there is unlimited knowledge in books. Even though he spent seven years in prison, the final years he was freed by language and its ability to allow him to express himself. Although Malcolm X and I differ in more places than not, I am able to connect to his story in one area. Not being able to connect with others and feeling

In 1946 Malcolm Little was convicted of robbery and received a 10 year sentence in Charlestown prison. Here he taught himself how to read and write, using materials provided by the prison’s library to aid in his education; consequently, he also learned about the racial injustices throughout history. After 7 years, Malcolm X was granted parole and released from prison and joined the Civil Rights Movement under the name Malcolm X. In a section of his autobiography Malcolm X argues the importance of critical thinking in educational and research purposes. Critical thinking allows the reader to gauge whether the information gained from a particular source can be accepted as fact, depending on how it fits into the information given by other sources. He uses his experiences, the texts that he used in his education, pathos arguments, and metaphor to further his point.