Quest for Manhood Malcolm X

Throughout the matriculation of a black boy 's’ life, there are many, (labeled natural, yet are culturally, socially and institutionally based) factors, that govern the holistic views and beliefs entailed to the child. From that moment on, challenging the social structures that these norms entail suggest a sense of sensitivity, homosexuality or weakness, ultimately emasculating the highly regarded social stigmas attached with being a man. Despite being indoctrinated into the minds of black boys from an early age, there are many long lasting effects of masculinity that are in turn reciprocated in the role of black fathers, husbands, brothers and friends. Black masculinity is the self-deteriorating idealisms that attack the identity and social positions black men ascribe to.

Malcolm X was one of the most prominent civi right activists at the time. He preached Black Nationalism, where blacks separates themselves from the whites completely. He is often known as the intellectual, charismatic hero. Although, he was not always that faithful. He was a thug. A hustler. He committed crimes. How did a hoodlum, became a historical figure of Malcolm X? There was many events in his life that changed him, and shaped him to be that somebody. If we trace back his footsteps, his life as Malcolm Little, his life as a thug, his life as a inmate, and his life as a national minister of Nation of Islam, all contributed in creating him and his name of Malcolm X.

“Ignorance of eachother is what made unity impossible in the past. Therefore we need enlightenment… Light creates understanding, understanding creates love, love creates patience, and patience creates unity.”(Malcolm X, Advice to the Youth of Mississippi) Time, it seems, has a way of putting a shadow over those who were once so prominent and so demanding that they permanently etched themselves into the minds of anyone willing to lend an ear to their desperate pleas. What we as a generation do not understand is the pain and sorrow that people of other ethnicities, races, and religions have experienced throughout history. For those not willing to speak, he was their voice; the beaming light through the narrowest of cracks that continued to shine, to inspire, and to awe. For some he was Malcolm Little, for others, Malik Shabazz. To many he was simply referred to as hope. Malcolm X was a minister, a human rights activist, and political rights leader for the Nation of Islam in the mid-1900’s. Malcolm may have been a controversial character, but one aspect of this man stands true: he reinvigorated a race that had long been dormant, and reminded them that they are not powerless in the fight against racism.

The Autobiography of Malcolm X as told by Alex Haley is the story about a man who greatly impacted American history. Malcolm Little, or Malcolm X as he is more widely known, taught what he believed in regards to segregation, racism, and discrimination. Growing up in a large family with a father Earl Little, a Baptist minister, and his mother Louis Little who was a homemaker, Malcolm’s life at the time seemed very promising. His father’s involvement in support of the Black National gained him many death threats at the hands of white supremacists. In 1929, they lost their house to a fire, and two years later the body of Malcolm’s father was found mutilated. This lead to the emotional breakdown of Malcolm’s mother and in turn she was institutionalized. Malcolm and his siblings were separated and placed in foster homes, and from then, his life began a path of drugs, sex, and crime. It was not until he was imprisoned in 1946, that he decided to make some changes for the better. This essay will assess and discuss those changes whether negative or positive, on a micro, mezzo, and macro level. It will also cover some of the effects of racial prejudice on human behavior, and how society today keeps the ideology of Malcolm X alive.

address the struggle of Black males begins in his own experience as a man and expands

First, in his third paragraph Malcolm begins to talk about the ways white people were treating African Americans with cruelty and inequality. “We will never communicate talking one language and he’s talking another. He’s talking the language of violence...Let’s learn his language. If his language is with a shotgun, get a shotgun. If he only understands the language of a rifle, get a rifle.” Malcolm uses parallelism to show African Americans they need to give to the white people what they were giving to them. Also, towards the end of the paragraph Malcolm explains that if showing violence was so bad or uncivilized, why was no one stopping whites from beating up women and

Matthew Jones declares that black masculinity is defined in three overarching categories: perception, expectation, and representation (Jones). The stories, Fences, by August Wilson and A Lesson Before Dying, by Ernest Gains, the main characters are forced to live with many hardships. Yet only a few of them can declare value of their lives, and redeem themselves, despite these hardships. The stories both of the main characters are unhappy angry men the only difference is that one of the characters progressed while the other stays the same. This paper will compare and contrast them both.

When Malcolm X refers to freedom in the final sentence, he is referring to being at liberty. He is saying that he is no longer constrained by his lack of education and his inability to read. Malcolm X carefully studied the dictionary to solve the problem of his own illiteracy. Having risen from a world of thieving, pimping, and drug pushing to become one of the most articulate African Americans. What an enormous frustration he must have felt writing numerous letters that fell on deaf ears. Knowing that he had something to say but not being able to convey it in letters. According to a study conducted by the U.S. Department of Education and the National Institute of Literacy, thirty-two million adults in the U.S. cannot read. That is fourteen percent of the Population. These numbers are astonishing! Furthermore, nineteen percent of high school graduates cannot read. There are many benefits that come with being able to read and write. Some of these include economic security, access to health care, and the ability to actively participate in public life. Malcolm X went behind bars partially because of negative educational opportunities. He ends up finding freedom when he learns of the connections between culture and education that society has denied him. He did this by copying and studying the pages of the dictionary, page by page. He would also stay up at night reading, and was careful to make sure that the guards at the prison did

Malcolm Little commonly known as Malcolm X was born in Omaha Nebraska. Malcolm’s trouble has started before then even while he was in the womb of his mother. Clansman would often circle his house in search of his father who was a preacher who talked about the evils of the clansmen and wished for a day when African Americans will return to the ancestral homelands in Africa. In chapter 1 of the Malcolm X book I will describe his childhood has rough he seen his father killed been relocated to 4 or 5 different houses and at the end of it all his mother was killed. Malcolm little commonly known as Malcolm X have been through a lot in his upbringing. He was separated from his seven siblings and put into foster care Change would be one word to describe his childhood as he was in and out of schools and by the age of 13 he was in a reform school. The book takes a major shift when he heads out to Boston with his sister Ella. From here he tours the town and find other African Americans who are just like him. One in particular by the name of shorty becomes one of his closest friends. He introduces them to the locals and takes Malcolm under his wing. One thing in particular that Malcolm falls in love with is the Roseland Ballroom. With the help of shorty he gets a job as a shoe polisher. While doing this he falls in love with a new dance called the Lindy Hop. This ultimately leads to him quitting from shoe polishing in a short time because he cannot do both. However he only works there

Malcolm X states that nonviolence is only taught to black people. He doesn’t favor violence but he thinks blacks should at least protect themselves if attacked by a racist. He also gives an example of KKK and states why don’t people go to the group and teach them nonviolence. The main idea is that black people should protect themselves when attacked by a racist. Malcolm’s philosophy doesn’t make sense for America because if blacks try to fight back, it is more likely that it would encourage whites and kill even more blacks.

Malcolm states, I can feel him combing, straight back, first the big big comb, then the fine-tooth one. Malcolm can feel the barber combing his head, and his sense of touch tells him how big the comb is, depending on how it feels.It’s evident that the sense of touch does let you know what kind of object is touching you because Malcolm knew what two objects touched him

“The Klansmen shouted threats and warnings at her that we better get out of town because ‘the good Christian white people’ were not going to stand for my father’s ‘spreading

black man fights against, constantly trying to identify himself. At the same time, black men have found approaches to detach from this narrow minded image that society has created for them including; sports, education and family. The black male struggles to gain his own identity because there is already a firm image created for them that the white man visualizes the black male and the expectations of the black male. However, it isn’t just the society that plays a role in the development of the black males identity, there is also the consideration of how black males are brought up or raised in their current lifestyle situations. For example, athletes,

Malcolm X first in incident with racism happened at an early age, his house was broken into by Ku Klux Klan members. Who were looking for his father Earl Little because he works for the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), that supports black Americans returning to Africa. Malcolm would occasionally attending the UNIA meetings with his father learning that life is stacked against blacks. Throughout his life Malcolm goes through four transformations from the streets, jail, muslim and trip to mecca.

     “ No, I’m not an American. I’m one of the 22 million people who are victims of Americanism, one if the victims of democracy, nothing but disguised hypocrisy. So, I’m not standing here speaking to you as an American, or a patriot, or flag-saluter, or a flag waver. No, not I. I am speaking to you as a victim of the American system. And I see America through the eyes of a victim. I don’t see any American dream. I see an American nightmare!