Malcolm X Learning To Read Summary

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Learning, Knowledge, and the Search for Self Identity
Language and learning have a profound effect on human beings. Our identity is the core of which we are as individuals, and knowledge is at the forefront of perception and self-discovery. All people have potential, but all of humanity in afflicted by a certain degree of deafness, dumbness, and blindness, though painful knowledge can bring with it the unveiled truth. To know our world we must first look inside ourselves. To change your world or yourself, first you must change your mind, your perception of what you know. As we develop at a young age we begin to see our individual reality and as this happens we’re also developing the ability to capture and use language in relative perspective to our own culture. Through books we can discover ourselves and perceive the world in a different manner. Many students do not go to school with the right kind of spirit in their soul/heart. Knowledge is a right that everyone should take advantage of. But we must understand knowledge is power, and should be handled appropriately. Once we embrace who we are and the craving to be …show more content…

About half way through the essay Malcolm X exclaims "Anyone who has read a great deal can imagine the new world that opened.... and my reading of books, months passed without my even thinking about being imprisoned. In fact, up till then, I never had been so truly free in my life" (X, 275) X is explaining how once he could read a book and understand what it was saying his mind was open to new worlds. Through reading books, we can be taken to another place, a different world that deepens our understanding of our own and broadens our horizons. Through books, specifically history, X was able to discover himself and perceive the world in a different

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