Reflection on Malcolm Xs autobiography His 202, Jie Bai Cambridge College Professor: Liliana. Testaverde Aug.4.

2008

Reflection on 2 He was a fighter for African-Americans, who were struggling for the social and economic equality (Autobiography of Malcolm X, 1992); He was a Muslim leader; He was once put into jail, which located in Boston area; and he was later killed during one speech in 1965. His name is Malcolm Little, and he changed his surname to X in 1952. Autobiography of Malcolm X is a book descripts Malcolms life. This Islams Americans hero used his whole life to fight for African-Americans rights. Therefore, many African-Americans are still respect him, and even some schools, use Malcolm to name their school, in order to honor their hero. However, many people also judge him as separatism, and people blamed him because he denied using nonviolence strategy during the civil right movement, and even thought the African-Americans should use anything possible to protect themselves. Learning to Read, is one part of Malcolms autobiography. In this part, he described his reading life he had during his seven years in Norfolk Prison. Malcolm spent all his time on reading in those seven years. From his reading, he learned about the white mans atrocities: how the white man had colonized the worlds non-white people, as well as the slavers in the United States. By reflecting on Colonial history, he realized that American black men should fight for their human rights; also from his reading, Malcolm gained so much knowledge about history, especially black history. Therefore, the content he learned in prison really helped him later when he involved into the civil rights movement. From knowing nothing to becoming a movement leader, his impressive life really attracts people. In 1946, Malcolm was arrested, and put into Norfolk Prison around Boston. At the beginning of his prisons life, Malcolm could not read English books because he did not know enough vocabulary. Malcolm said that when he was reading the book, and skipped those words he did not know, but really ended up with little idea of what the book said. Then he riffled through the dictionary and decided to remember all the words in the dictionary. As he described, I copied into my tablet everything printed on

Reflection on 3 the first page. Then, aloud, I read back, to myself, everything Id written on the tablet (Autobiography of Malcolm X, 1992). The next day when he got up, Malcolm received an amazing resulthe could remember most of the words. While Malcolm copied the dictionary, he also learned about people, places and events from history. He said, The dictionary is like a miniature encyclopedia. By the time Malcolm finished copying the dictionary, he began to read books about black peoples history, about colonization and about the white devils. From books, Malcolm learned about the old black empires, and the early Negros way to freedom. He learned about slaverys horror: the white man had brought upon the worlds black, brown, red, and yellow people (Autobiography of Malcolm X, 1992). The knowledge that Malcolm gained truly freed him in later days. When he read Carter G. Woodsons Negro History, which about the big African empires, Malcolm knew that black people had a brilliant history in the old times, and could become strong again. When he read about Nat Turner, he realized the importance of defending against white mans atrocities, in order to making the society become fair. When he read the histories of various nations, he learned that the white man in this world had acted as devils, raping and bleeding the non-white people (Autobiography of Malcolm X, 1992). Malcolm also realized that the movement was the only way for non-white people to get peace and fairness. The books Malcolm read opened up his mind, and allowed him to know that only civil rights could make the black men to think of themselves as only an internal United States issue, and if black people did not think about their human rights, they would never have freedom. All Malcolms knowledge let him wake up. The knowledge he learned empowered him and gave him the chance to fight for freedom. In general, the time in the prison could be one of the most important periods Malcolm had in his life. Because of learning, Malcolm could wake up; because of learning, Malcolm could fight for freedom; because of learning, Malcolm and his contribution can always be remembered by the people

Reflection on 4 across the world. All his philosophy ideas came from the books he read in the prison, such as: Separatism, Self-defense or white people are evil, which is not true at all. Therefore, the knowledge he had at that time became a fundamental theories, which grown in his mind, helped him to fight for the civil rights, also motivated him a lot.

Reflection on 5 Reference Malcolm X (1992). Autobiography of Malcolm X, New York: Ballantine Books.