What kind individual?

of

childhood

did

Malcolm

have?

How

might

this

affect

an

Malcolm X was born as Malcolm Little to Earl Little, an active supporter of Marcus Garvey (a leader of Black Nationalism) and an outspoken member of the Universal Negro Improvement Association. This attracted many threats to the family and they were forced to relocate many times until ultimately Malcolms father was found dead. Although there was no official conviction, there was little doubt that Black Legionnaires were responsible. Malcolms mother never recovered from the shock and was eventually transferred to a mental hospital which resulted in the splitting up of the eight children into different orphanages. in pre-Integration America, Malcom was continually discouraged by his school teachers from pursuing a career in law. There is no doubt that such a disturbed childhood cannot have a positive impact on any individual. The unfortuate events of his life inculcated a feeling of dejection and disconnection with the world which resulted in his indulgence in drugs and crimes. Childhood events shape perceptions and behaviors to a large extent and a childhood farugt with due to violence and uncertainity leads to psychological degradation; manifesting in young Malcom as self-hatred: All Negroes are angry, and I am the angriest of all. However, as an individual Malcolm had a very strong and independent personality and adding that to certain other turn of events Malcolm eventually became an inspirational leader for other misdirected people.There is nothing better than adversity. Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance next time. http://www.malcolmx.com/about/bio.html

How did prison change Malcolm? What views did he develop there? What do you think of his views at this time? Malcolm X was imprisoned in 1946 due to his dealings in various crimes over a number of years. He had not only fallen into bad habits but had lost all self-respect and developed a sense of shame and self-hatred. He says that it was a time when I had joined that multitude of Negro men and women in America who are brainwashed into believing that the black people are inferiorand white people superior It makes you wonder if the Negro has completely lost his sense of identity, lost touch with himself. This attitude changed while Malcolm was in prison because during that time his brother introduced him to the Nation of Islam, a religious movement led at that believed in the black superiority. He was very impressed by the ideas that this group was spreading although initially he had been a man skeptical of all religious beliefs. He started believing in self-reliance of the blacks and began abstaining from drinking, smoking and eating pork. When he came out of prison he was a completely new person, changing his name from Malcolm Little to Malcolm X. As he said in his autobiography later, "the Muslim's 'X' symbolized the true African family name that he never could know. For me, my 'X' replaced the white slave-master name of 'Little' which some blue-eyed devil named Little had imposed upon my paternal forebears." I believe this

change in his views was a very positive step towards achieving some direction and purpose in his life. Malcolm was a very intelligent person and having a purpose in life meant putting all that intelligence and energy into creating a better difference in the world instead of creating havoc in the world and in his own life as he was doing so earlier. http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Malcolm_X.aspx