Malcom X: Speaking Out Against Evil
Hey friends,
Welcome to this week’s bonus thinkers. This post won’t be emailed and will live on the Substack website feature. Enjoy!
Malcolm Little changed his name to Malcolm X when he was paroled on 7th August 1952: the ‘X’ signified his original, lost tribal name, the surname Little having been imposed on his ancestors by their slave master.
Malcolm X was destined to fight for the lives of black people. He was subjected to harassment from the Ku Klux Klan since he was young. They burned down his home when he was just four years old and four of his uncles were murdered by white racists.
He was an excellent student but dropped out of school after a white teacher told him that it was unrealistic for a young black boy to have aspirations of being a lawyer. He lived a typical African American life at the time, facing discrimination and racism, going into crime and ending up in jail.
But it was his jail sentence that turned Malcolm Little into Malcolm X.
Learning and books
“What is your alma matter?”
“Books! People don’t realise how a man’s whole life can be changed by one book”
Malcolm X was arrested in 1946 for engaging in criminal activities. It was while in prison that he became a voracious reader. He credits this time while he was in prison for his education - he never went past the eighth grade at school. He read anything and everything on African history he could find, as well as Oriental philosophy and Asian history, particularly in regards to the rise and fall of white power.
“I knew right there in prison that reading had changed forever the course of my life. As I see it today, the ability to read awoke inside me some long dormant craving to be mentally alive. I certainly wasn’t seeking any degree, the way a college confers a status symbol upon its students. My homemade education gave me, with every additional book that I read, a little bit more sensitivity to the deafness, dumbness, and blindness that was afflicting the black race in America.”
Many of the problems that we face in modern society are incredibly complex. Racism is one such complex problem. We cannot face complex problems without sufficient education and reading books was Malcolm X’s way of learning.
The unsung heroes
There is much more potential to do good with very small gestures than many of us realise. Every conversation we have and every piece of writing and art we make could hugely influence the life of someone else. Very small amounts of your effort can change the course of history.
“Who was able to convince this guy to consider Islam? Who had the ability to change Malcolm’s mind? Who met him during his trip to the Middle East? Whom did he meet in Europe and how were they able to change his mind?”
These people shaped the person that Malcolm X became. The book recommendations, conversations and arguments that others would have had with Malcolm influenced his thought for good and for bad. A conversation that he had at Mecca with a fellow Muslim may have seemed like a small thing.
But it might have changed the course of Malcolm X’s thinking. There is no action or gesture too small that makes it not worth doing. You never know the impact that it may have.
Speaking out against evil
At a time when racism and discrimination was rife in America, black men who spoke against it put their lives in grave danger. Four of his uncles were killed by white racists. His father might have been. He was followed by the FBI and there are many questions surrounding his eventual murder.
But Malcolm X knew this. And he knew that he didn’t have a choice.
“I’m for truth, no matter who tells it. I’m for justice, no matter who it’s for or against.”
We learn that Malcolm X was violent before we learn about white colonialism and that Colombus did a genocide.
Please use the internet and books to learn more about the complex problem of racism. Please understand that every little gesture that you make could influence someone and change the world. And please speak out against the actions of others that you deem inappropriate.
Thanks for reading, it means a lot. It takes a while to research and write these newsletters so please make sure two people you like see it. Make sure they benefit from my research too!
Take care, stay safe.
Jack.
This was exceptional Jack. Thank you