Preview

When Did Malcolm X Change His Life

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
508 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
When Did Malcolm X Change His Life
Can you turn your life around? well , anything is possible, there is no task that cannot tremble in defeat. Malcolm X changes that theory, In Malcolm X's biography he describes exactly how he defeats that theory. Malcolm X is an inspirational figure. He changed his life, taught himself an education, and his amazing message.

Malcolm X is an African American who dropped out of school and had little education,yet, he changed his life. He grew up as a hustler with a lack of reading and writing skills, he quotes “I picked up a book had a few sentences…I just skipped those words. Of course, I had no idea of what the book actually said.” (123) He had little capability of reading and understanding the book. He went to jail for burglary and that is where he changed his life. He practiced reading and writing by himself and became an ace speaker and writer once he got released from prison. He
…show more content…
The fact that he was in jail and he still felt free is astonishing. He read books and studied and he didn’t feel imprisoned, he even stated “I never felt more free in my life than when I was in prison”. ( ) Surprising you would think once you get out of prison you felt free right? Well, for Malcolm it wasn’t because in jail, he was learning, he was reading, writing and having all the peace he wanted to have. Without peace you will never have a life without mayhem. This is significant because it goes throughout his life and everyone whose life he inspired.

So even if something is impossible to do there is always a way around the problem to conquer the solution. This is why X is an inspirational figure to not just us, but to the world. It is because his proof of him changing his life, teaching himself an education from poor standards, and his message he gives out. I am inspired by Malcolm’s life and it proves how you can change your life. work for it and if it's something to achieve, then achieve

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    In Learning to Read, Malcolm X, one of the most articulate and powerful leaders of black America during the 1960s, describes his struggle of self-education while being incarcerated. Malcolm X composed his journey of self-in order to convey the message that the reader should strive to look for more than what is taught to them by the public school system, to, in a way, look outside the box.…

    • 1048 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Celeste Michelle Condit & John Louis Lucaites argues that, Malcolm X the most thorough and relentless revolutionary dissident of the 1960s, who loudly implored his Black brothers and sisters to use “all means necessary” to bring about social and political justice and equality for Black America. It was impossible to know whether or not Malcolm X’s evolutionary vision would ever have produced a positive and peaceful program of political action capable of effectively organizing, motivating, and directing Black America against the system that oppressed it, for he was robbed of the opportunity to try at the age of 39.…

    • 386 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    After being in jail for a reasonable amount of time a lot of things have happened and turned Malcolm X’s life around. He started to view things in a different way that many didn’t seem to understand at first. Malcolm has converted to the nation of Islam, changed his eating habits, changed the way he viewed the world and the treatment of African Americans in society. The most significant thing that happened was the changing of his last name. Malcolm had went from Malcolm Little to Malcolm X. Many people change their last names generally during marriage or divorce but for one to drop the name they have grown into since they day they were born is something significant. Malcolm had experienced an awakening or an epiphany while incarcerated; the…

    • 363 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Now with Malcolm his story is different. He had the free will but he appointed at the beginning of his life to do poorly. Being only 13 and jumping from foster homes to foster homes did the man some damage. Soon he became a criminal, going to prison for breaking and entering. But being in prison really changed Malcolm X. Just like Frederick he needed to find an escape, although Frederick was metaphorically imprisoned Malcolm X was actually in prison and turned to reading hoping it’d free his mind and indeed that’s what it did. Not only did he feel free when he read he felt it was the way of life. Malcolm X then wanted to prove he was more than just a prisoner that he was put on the earth to do more than just commit crimes. When Malcolm X got out of prison, he used his love for reading to influence the world with his beliefs and became a motivational speaker. Sadly like many of the greats Malcolm X was assassinated for speaking out what he believed in he didn’t stop he continued to read he was eager to change the world and in a way that’s exactly what he did so in a way he died for doing what he loved which was…

    • 676 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    MHS Student 
on August 15, 2012

Reply

Christian Alex Amezquita- Malcolm X has had a lot of events happen early in his life that has affected/shaped him throughout his entire life. For example, there was that time when the welfare workers came to Malcolm's house to split up his family and send his mom to an insane asylum (Kalamazoo). In addition, Malcolm was put with a white family whom treated him like an over glorified dog. He never could feel as if he was one of them, but always felt that he was beneath them. Furthermore, Malcolm's teacher telling him that he could not become a lawyer because of his color really had an impact on him. All of these events gave Malcolm a good reason to become a Civil Rights leader. These events where the wood to his fire and Elijah Muhammad was his flint and steel.…

    • 2021 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Malcolm showed a lot of character to push away his hatred of the white people and realize that people need to be one in the community. This transformation is the one that impacted the life people live today. Malcolm had a lot of respect from those who believed in what he was preaching. He was a man who knew what he wanted and was going to change the way things were. Malcolm did not have the odds to make something of himself. He overcame those odds and became one of the most inspiring and important people in the struggle for equality. Malcolm turned his life around for the better and left a huge impact to those around him. Malcolm (Little) X is one of the people who made the biggest influence on the 20th Century. People came a long way…

    • 170 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Malcolm X was a man who changed the lives of the African Americans, especially in Harlem. During his time of living, Malcolm X fought, worked, and struggled to help make Harlem a better place for the Afro-Americans at a young age. He was a big influencer to the African American world, but he was assassinated, but little did he know he would leave his legacy with Harlem to, later on, spread to the world. Of course, there were some who had some negative things to say about Malcolm X, but the ones who really got to know him begged to differ because they knew how much he impacted the African American community. Malcolm X used his strong words to an advantage to lift the weak and weary.…

    • 198 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Back in the 1960s, Malcolm X was an influential public speaker. He protested for equal rights of African Americans. At that time, in the United States, African Americans did not have the same rights as white people. He had a rough upbringing; he was born into a large family and had eight siblings. By the time he was twelve years old, his mother had been sent to a mental hospital, and his father had been killed after being hit by a car. He then spent the rest of his childhood in foster homes. In 1946 he was then arrested for stealing and was sent to prison. This is believed to be a significant motive for making his speeches.…

    • 520 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Growing up, Malcolm started getting into trouble at school. He was sent to a detention home when he was 13. When Malcolm came back from the detention home, he received good grades and was elected president of his class. He told a teacher that he wanted to become…

    • 423 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    What motivated Malcolm X to educate himself was his inability to express himself in an appropriated way. In the streets, Malcolm X was someone important, someone who could express himself without problem “In the streets, I had been the most articulate hustler out there- I had commanded attention when I said something” (X 189). Nevertheless, during his time in Charlestown Prison, trying to write a letter for Mr. Elijah Muhammad, Malcolm X comprehended that he was not able to explain his thoughts or feelings clearly in words without using the language of the streets. Malcolm X realized that his language skills as writing, reading and speaking were unskilled “But now, trying to write simple English, I not only wasn’t articulate, I wasn’t even…

    • 155 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    It quickly became apparent to Malcolm's family that white society would never give blacks fair treatment. Before Malcolm was out of grammar school, Malcolm's father had been murdered and his mother, who was left to take care of his eight siblings, was put in an insane asylum. This resulted in Malcolm moving to New York to live with his relatives. Malcolm initially was a very successful student. However when his 8th grade teacher informed him that "Niggers can't be lawyers," a profession he intended to peruse, his educational inspiration quickly faded. Malcolm's new found obsession was the streets. Malcolm got involved in drugs, gambling, pimping and burglary. In 1946 Malcolm was arrested and put in prison. However, his imprisonment turned out to be a rebirth rather than a punishment.…

    • 738 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    homemade education

    • 279 Words
    • 1 Page

    Analysis: Malcolm X seperates this story into 3 seperate portions, that all seem to play off each other. He begins with how he taugh himself to read and write in prison by using tablets and a dictionary and wrote from every night. This part was important, because as he states; he doesn't, "think anybody ever got more out of going to prison than he did" (203). In the next part Malcolm X begins to explain how he became interested in the part of history that white men left out. The history of minorites interests him greatly, and he begins to read more and more to fully understand these topics. He talks about some of these happenings in history, and his strong feelings about them. The last part of his story is Malcolm X reflecting back on how much he owed to his time in prison, and exactly what that gave him. He states, "I have often reflected upon the new vistas that reading opened to me" (202). He also calls books his alma mater, showing how he owes everything he knows to those…

    • 279 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Malcolm X Contribution

    • 1500 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Malcolm X, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. reached high points in their life, with some help from family members and mentors who gave them courage for what they accomplished. When Malcolm X was in prison, for dealing drugs and stealing he went totally downhill, while he was in prison he learned a lot from his inmate. He taught him to like books, Malcolm checked out every book from the prison library he could. “Malcolm was young and uneducated when he was sent to prison in 1946. Six years later, he left prison an educated, articulate man with many ideas.” (Malcolm X Biography) Malcolm Improved greatly after…

    • 1500 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “You can't separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom”- Malcolm x. He is widely recognised for his work in the human rights movement and was a prominent Black Nationalist leader. Malcom x, born 19th May, 1925 in Omaha, Nebraska, United States is known as one of the world’s most controversial and influential figures in history. Malcolm x faced many adversities from an early age and was tested with patience throughout his lifespan. His father was a Baptist minister and received many death threats from the KKK (white Supremacist group). In the year 1931; his father was killed by street cars and believed to be done by one of the members of the KKK. Malcolm was only six years old when he lost his father…

    • 844 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Here he educated himself and completely changed his mindset. Malcolm transitioned from being a hustler to being a follower of Elijah Muhammad. During the time Malcolm spent in jail he was very atheistic; his family would say that they would pray for him to get better and they would send him good thoughts. Hearing this only irritated him. His bad temper at the time came from his withdrawal from drugs. Malcolm didn't think that praying would help him, it was a waste of time to him and he felt like he didn't need the help. It wasn't until a fellow prisoner named Bimbi showed him he did need the help and put Malcolm on the tracks to become an educated and faithful man. Under Bimbi's leadership Malcolm would start to educate himself using the small library provided to the prisoners. In the books provided in the library Malcolm found many stories of racial oppression. He also found stories of segregation, where Mr. Yacub made a "beached out white race of Devils" (page168). Malcolm read many stories about black history and formed the opinion that separation of races was the best solution for blacks and whites. Malcolm's time spent in prison gave him educated opinions that helped him form his views on integration and…

    • 968 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays