Quitting Was Not An Option For Malcolm X

The history of Malcolm's dedication to black people, like that of his father, may have been motivated by a long history of oppression of his family. As a young child, Malcolm, his parents, brothers, and sisters were shot at, burned out of their home, harassed, and threatened. This culminated in the

He studied hard to get high grades and he was even elected as the class president. He was doing his best, until his teacher went up to him and told him that his dream to be a lawyer, is not possible all because he is black. Instead, he insisted him to become a carpenter. From then, something started to changed within him. Malcolm sees the limit to the white acceptance, and the inevitable truth of what life awaits for the colored. He starts believing that in the white society he was living in, there is no success nor future. Spike Lee never really focused on Malcolm's childhood in the film, except for this particular part. He chose this moment to highlight, because this scene single handedly explains why he hated whites, why he became a hustler, and why he became a civil rights activists. It was the hatred against the whites. From then, he stopped accepting the whites. This was the moment when Malcolm's view on integration between whites and blacks became possible, to impossible. The historical figure of Malcolm X’s philosophy started here, with the hatred of his enemy. Malcolm X in his speech, preached that the black man should have their own power, by separating themselves completely from the white society, similar to what his father was preaching. His childhood tragedy gave him the reason to fight for, and the belief for uniting the black race for separating them from the cruelty. Malcolm X we all know of, would have never existed without

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.

The Autobiography of Malcolm X is the story of Malcolm X, an African American male growing up in the United States in the mid-1900's. At this time in America prejudice and segregation were widespread and much a part of everyday life. Malcolm takes the reader through his experiences with American society, which rejects him. This rejection, along with the inferiority cast upon all Black Americans, forces these males to search for acceptance. They are forced to search for purpose in causes greater than single individuals. As the book shows, this is evident in Malcolm throughout his life and in the life of other African American males. The Autobiography shows how during this time in American history

Throughout his life Malcolm X faced oppression from white people. From having his family’s house burned by the KKK, to having his father killed by a white supremacy group and leaving his mother destroyed, Malcolm had a deep sense of hatred towards white people in America. This resulted in Malcolm developing this philosophy that black people should in no way accept the help of white people. While he was in prison learning about the nation of Islam, his views on “white” America grew strong. Leading to his advocacy to Pan-Africanism. Malcolm shares in the book, “that freedom, independence and self-respect could never be achieved by the Negro in America, and that therefore the Negro should leave America to the white man and return to his African land of origin.” He simply believed that unless black people create a black nation, blacks in America could never be economically stable due to the discrimination they will continuously face. Later on in the book, he contradicts himself after his trip to Mecca and changes his views. Neglecting his past belief of Pan-Africanism, Malcolm came to the realization that blacks in America could be successful with the participation of whites fighting alongside them for equal rights. This came to be as a result of Malcolm witnessing race problems from different perspective around the

Maxlcom X was born on May 19, in Omaham Nebraska, also knows as Hajj Malik Elshbazz, His family lived in in Omahan his father was a preacher of a Baptist church he was an active man where he dedicated himself to preaching to the community of blacks his father Belonged to a movement called Marcus Garvey. Maxlcom X and his family received many threats from the Ku-klux klan group where many times they had to move through the established threats. However one of those groups of racists set fire to their house. After that, Malcolm Little named so grew up with much hatred towards the white race. His mother Louise was a housewife with eight children. After the death of her father, the mother lost custody of her children where she underwent break-out and was submitted to a psychiatric hospital when she saw the separation of her children where they were scattered in orphanages. - After living in orphanages. At an early age Malcolm X showed his vocation for advocacy he was one of the best students in his class when one of his teachers gave him a justification that he managed to quit school. “Malcolm was a bright student and, in fact, was at the top of his class in junior high school. In the eighth grade, however, one of his favorite teachers told him that his dream of becoming a lawyer was “no realistic goal for a nigger” At that point he lost interest in formal education and

Malcolm X was orphaned early in life. At the age of six his father was killed and it has been rumoured that white racists were responsible. Seven years later his mother passed away after which he lived in a series of foster homes.

Instead of going to school to get a traditional education, he dropped out of school at fifteen and learned the ways of the streets. Malcolm associated himself with thugs, thieves, dope dealers, and pimps. He was convicted of burglary at age twenty and remained in prison until he was twenty-seven. During his prison sentence, he became a changed man. He educated himself and he learned about and joined the Nation of Islam, studying the teachings of Elijah Muhammed. Elijah taught Malcolm how history had been “whitened by the white man” (p.184) and he echoed “the black convict’s lifelong experience” where “the white man is the devil,” (p. 186). This thought process encouraged many black inmates to discover the Nation of Islam.

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

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 begins to realize that all the white people surrounding him as constantly either indirectly or directly telling him that he does not belong in their world, and they would not let him in even if he was qualified, due to his color, and that was a popular thing for black role models in the 60's. At this point he knows he must leave this area and leaves his foster home to live with his sister in Boston. Although Malcolm finds work, they are dead end jobs and this leads him to have to earn money in less acceptable ways such as drugs, betting, and stealing. This is how many problems occur in poor communities today, due to the lack of

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

Despite his dismal upbringing, Malcolm was able to graduate from his junior high school at the top of his class. He was aspiring to become a lawyer, but after one of his teachers told him that trying to be one was, "no realistic goal for a nigger", he decided that school was not for him and moved to Boston for awhile and made a living working a number of jobs, none of which were permanent. Eventually he would find himself working as a waiter at a restaurant called Small's Paradise in Harlem, New York. It was at this time that Malcolm Little began using and then selling drugs and even committing burglary. In 1946 he would be arrested for burglary and sentenced to ten years in prison. It was during his stay at the Charlestown, Mass. Prison that he would make maybe the most significant change of his life. Malcolm would begin studying the teachings of Elijah Muhammad, the leader of a small cult-like Islamic group that called themselves the Nation of Islam, he also began to study the Koran (the Islamic holy book). It was during these long years in prison that Malcolm was able to educate himself fully and came to the conclusion that he wanted to join Elijah and the Nation of Islam and fight for equality between blacks and whites.

Malcolm X had a difficult childhood. His first memory was of the KKK burning down his home, his father was murdered, he watched his mother go through severe struggles, and he was taken by the state and placed into foster care. Everyone around him brought him down in some way, whether it was society, the state, his home life, or his teachers. His childhood and adolescence shaped him into the man that he became, truly beginning when his life had spiraled completely and he went to jail. He finally turned his life around when his brother wrote to him during his last prison sentence and told him about a new religion.

In his book, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Malcolm faced with adversity from the beginning of his life. Malcolm was born May 19th, 1925, during times of extreme racial violence and harsh discrimination . His family moved to Lansing, Michigan to avoid the persecution of local white groups, but they could not escape racial injustice. White supremacists burned Malcolm’s family home and murdered his father. Overcome with grief, Malcolm’s mother was confined to a mental hospital. Malcolm was then given to foster parents. He felt out of