The Infamous Detroit Red and the Ever-changing Malcolm X
In a time full of zoot suits and whiskey bars, it was only natural that a youth would get caught up with the current trends. For Malcolm Little, life was all about his "image," or what he wanted people to see him as. Throughout his life he spent his time identifying who he really was and what he felt in his heart to be right. Throughout certain periods, he allowed outside circumstances to influence the way he felt about things, yet in the end, he was able to come to his own conclusion about his life, and the lives of his fellow men.
Early after his childhood, Malcolm moved to Harlem, New York, where he decided from then on that he wanted to pursue the life of a hustler. During that time, the lifestyle of the rich and famous was glamorized and for Malcolm, that was the life for him. He soon adopted the name "Detroit Red," in the fact that he lived close to Detroit and he had unmistakable red hair. Malcolm soon immersed himself in the streets of Harlem, becoming more and more acknowledged around town for robbery, pimping and drug dealing. Eventually he gained the mentality that in order to survive in his world, he had to look out for himself, and only himself. His life of crime eventually caught up with him, and in 1946 he was arrested and sentenced to seven years in prison. It seemed that in prison, his life made a sudden change, he realized that in order to truly free himself, he could not rely on his street smarts, and hustling ways. It was then that he immersed himself in the teachings of Elijah Muhammad.
During his stay in prison, Malcolm continually lashed out at the guards and fellow inmates. After realizing that this would never get him anywhere, he began to study the teachings of Islam. With the aid of a fellow convict he cam to the mindset that it was his new mission in life to convert fellow blacks in order to unify them as a people. He felt that there was no real way that blacks and whites could come to a mutual agreement in America, and the only solution would be a great Diaspora back to his "homeland" of Africa.
The experience of prison was eye-opening for Malcolm and helped him make some pretty big decisions. Malcolm soon began reading to educate himself while later converting to Islam. When Malcolm was released from prison, he changed his last name to X because he believed that his true heritage was lost when his ancestors were forced into slavery.
Malcolm X didn’t have it easy. Being in prison means there wasn’t a whole lot of opportunities to do much. While he was in prison he tried to not fall into the crowd the kind of assembly where individuals of men or a group of men would want. It is where men try and act tough to be someone whom people follow while in prison. That’s why Malcolm turned into becoming someone better than the rest of the men who were in prison as
Malcolm believed that the underlying purpose for his incarceration was not to punish him for robbery, but to give him the opportunity to discover Allah and to educate himself. Before he was arrested, Malcolm chose to live a wild life in the slums of Harlem, New York. His various "hustles" included number running, "steering", gambling, drug dealing, and robbery, which would later lead to being forever removed from the immorality of Harlem ghettoes. Since all of the occupations Malcolm chose were potentially hazardous, Malcolm believed it to be so wondrous that he had survived that it had to be destiny that landed him in jail. He knew that he had lived evilly in the ghetto, and...
Malcolm Little, his birth name, was a very gifted child growing up. He managed to receive straight A’s and become the president of his junior high school. The book got more in depth than the movie in that aspect of his life. For example, the book talked about how Malcolm told his English teacher, Mr. Ostrowski that he wanted to become a lawyer. Even though this teacher encouraged the less intelligent white students to aspire any dreams, he told Malcolm that he would be better off becoming a carpenter. That was a very important part in Malcolm’s young life. It can be considered the turning point of his views with the white community. The movie would not be able to fit all of the information of his childhood that the book displayed. The film gave us an insight on how his brothers and sisters saw life as a young child around Malcolm, a time I am sure they will not forget.
Malcolm was third youngest child of eight other brothers and sisters. Malcolm X’s father was an inspiration to his life. Earl Little shaped Malcom’s thoughs of equality. He was a Minister of a Babtist church and leader/organizer for the Marcus Garvey Universal Negro Improvement. Little studied and spoke about equality and rights of his fellow people. Little edid he know that it would rub off so much on his child.
He realizes that he has “sunk to the very bottom of the American white man’s society” (pg. 153). In prison, he meets a man named Bimbi who inspires him to broaden his education. He also discovers the Islam religion; it was first introduced to him by his brother Philbert, and his brother described Islam as the “natural religion of the black man” (pg. 158). Malcolm’s other brother Reginald tells Malcolm to not eat any more pork, smoke any more cigarettes, or do any more drugs, all of this was supposed to help him get out of prison. Malcolm learned of The Nation of Islam and of Elijah Muhammad. The sole purpose of The Nation of Islam was to improve the lives of African Americans in the United States. This religion truly does change Malcolm 's life; he finds his knees bent in prayer when they were used to being bent only to pick locks as a burglar. It is believed that the African American race was the first indigenous race of this land and that they must take back the leadership role from the white man. This philosophy resonates throughout Malcolm’s soul, and he dedicates his time in prison schooling himself and writing letters to his family and Elijah Muhammad. The beliefs of the Nation of Islam makes Malcolm even more anti-Christian and
Malcolm X had an interesting childhood that ended up shaping how he would end up as an adult. Malcolm had a very large family, he was one of eight children. His mothers’ name was Louise Norton Little. She was a stay at home mom and cared for her children. His father, Earl Little, was a very outspoken Baptist minister and an avid supporter of the Black Nationalist leader Marcus Garvey. This is where his life started to get interesting. Earl's civil rights activism prompted death threats from the white supremacist organization Black Legion, forcing the family to relocate twice before Malcolm's fourth birthday. ( www.malcolmx.com p 1). Earl wanted nothing to do with violence and wanted to keep his family safe from harm. He tried to put as much distance between him and the Black Legion. Despite his efforts to elude the Legion, in 1929, their home in Lansing, Michigan, was burned to the ground. Two years later, Earl's body was found lying across the town's trolley tracks (www.malcolmx.com p 1). Police declared that both of these incidents were in fact accidents and not attacks on the family by the Black Legion. This violent end to Malcolm’s father’s life ...
In 1941, he went to live with his half sister, Ella Collins, in Boston, Massachusetts. While in Boston he worked a variety of railroad jobs but he also became increasingly involved in selling drugs and running numbers. Malcolm X was arrested in 1946 for larceny as well as breaking and entering; he was sent to prison in February 1946. While incarcerated, Malcolm X became a follower of Elijah Muhammad, leader of the Temple of Islam. After X’s parole in 1952, he became Minister Malcolm X, using X in place of the African name that was taken from his slave ancestors.
Malcolm X is born Malcolm Little in Omaha, Nebraska. His life is full of discrimination and racial violence. When Malcolm as a child he moved to Michigan with his family where they continue to experience persecution and violence. White people murder Malcolm’s father and forced his mother into a mental hospital. Malcolm moves to Boston, to live with his half-sister, Ella. In Boston Malcolm quickly becomes involved in urban nightlife. Malcolm was into gambling, drinking, doing drugs, and dating an older white woman, Sophia. He then moves to New York, where he begins working as a hustler in Harlem. Malcolm’s various jobs there include running numbers, selling drugs, and steering white people to black brothels. When life becomes too dangerous is Harlem, he returns to Boston, where he becomes a house burglar and is eventually arrested. In prison, Malcolm transforms himself, converting to the branch of Islam promoted by the Nation of Islam. Inspired by faith, Malcolm stops using drugs, he reads voraciously, prays, and studies English and Latin. The prison releases Malcolm on parole. Malcolm rises quickly from the rank of temple assistant in Detroit to the Nation’s first national minister. Malcolm X becomes known throughout the United States, even outside of Muslim circles, as a fiery advocate for black unity and militancy. The Nation of Islam’s leaders resent and fear Malcolm despite his allegiance to their cause, and they suspend him from the organization. The Nation of Islam’s frustration with Malcolm intensifies, and Malcolm begins receiving death threats. After a divisive argument with Elijah Muhammad the leader of Nation of Islam, Malcolm leaves organisation.
Malcolm dropped out of school after 8th grade when a teacher told him to try and be a carpenter instead of a lawyer he then turned to crime and became known as “Detroit Red”. He was later arrested and sentenced to 10 years in prison, but was let out on parole after serving seven. After he was released he went to the Nation of Islam to follow behind Elijah Muhammad in hope to learn more about his beliefs and to become a part of the Nation of Islam.
Malcolm X is an extremely critical figure that contributed in shaping American social life. He was a famous man who articulated the struggle, anger, and beliefs of African Americans. He was a radical man who fought for change despite the situation. His struggle for equality for the black nation landed him in prison. While in prison, Malcolm was able to study, and earned a college degree. However, most importantly while in prison, Malcolm X was introduced to the Islam faith by one of the prisoners. He received teachings from the Muslim faith, which made him realize that, his people were being oppressed and abused by the whites. While out of prison, he went to visit honorable Elijah Muhammad and later on went around preaching Elijah Muhammad’s teachings. Through his preaching’s, he was able to bring many people into the Muslim faith. He later on decided to visit the Middle East and make a holy pilgrimage/ Hajj in Mecca. Malcolm X’s views about the potential for real change in America changed, after visiting Mecca and breaking with the Nation of Islam.
Malcolm X had many difficult times throughout his life, but he never let that stop him from becoming a human rights activist. Although many didn’t agree with his methods, he still found a way to make people hear about what he believed was true. In Malcolm X’s life change was one of the only things he could rely on because it was always happening. Malcolm X wanted peace among all, and he also just wanted to be free from all the hate that was going on in the world.
The teaching of the Nation of Islam helped him grow his ideas of racism and his view of white people while he was in prison. Malcolm’s opinion about the Nation’s belief that black people were seen as good and whites were seen as bad. When Malcolm X was released, his ideas change. Men were seen as being good or bad based on their action and no longer determined by their skin color. Malcolm traveled to Mecca cause another deep change; as the Nation of Islam had taught him, he realized that white people he had detested and fought in America was not so much matter of skin color but a matter of attitude and behavior. Being white did not make a man evil; but being a white American, nevertheless, mainly did indicate particular standard of behavior and particular attitudes about race. In this manner, Malcolm X began to believe that the only way that America could avoid racial trouble was to amend its social composition.
result, he dropped out of after the eighth grade and moved to Boston, Massachusetts where he worked several different jobs. Soon, Malcolm became associated in a gang and sold and used drugs, and was involved in many other criminal activities. His gang "career" ended when he got into some trouble due to a bet with the gang leader.
Malcolm X served prison for seven years. During the times in prison, he changed to a whole new different person. Before he was sent to prison, he was a hustler, drug addict, thief, and etc. jobs was discriminated against the colored skin people during Malcolm’s time and the jobs he was able to achieve was low status. He had many reasons why he went rogue. Malcolm’s mental model “Doing Time” was Influence by his social relations and material conditions in prison.