Autobiography X Malcolm X\'s Autobiography Provides Poignant

autobiography X

Malcolm X's autobiography provides poignant insight into the life of the man, but also offers insight into the historical and cultural context in which he wrote. Malcolm X delves into issues of race, class, gender, and power in the book, showing how these issues are interrelated in his personal life as well as in American society. As such, Malcolm X is very much a quintessential American, whose identity is fractured due to pulls in various directions related to race, class, and identity.

The murder of his father at the hands of white supremacists has a tremendous impact on young Malcolm Little. He experiences first hand, with as much emotional intensity as possible, the real effects of racism in America. Malcolm X understands that it may not be possible for people of color to achieve social, economic, or political parity with their white counterparts. The deep fissures in identity that the death creates are evident both in Malcolm X and also in his mother, who becomes unable to deal with reality after the loss of her husband. It is as if all the hope and idealism the family had when moving to Michigan were completely shattered. Malcolm X's home life is subsequently marred by the loss of both his parents, one to assassination and the other two mental illness. The early trauma fosters Malcolm X's sense of alienation, as he floats from subculture to subculture attempting to root himself and ground himself in an identity that is meaningful.

Deviance is Malcolm X's primary means of coping with the fractured identity and trauma. Without access to legitimate means of acquiring wealth and cultural capital, Malcolm X figures out the power of the black market. His keen sense of enterprise and people skills make him unwaveringly street smart. He spends a long life dealing drugs, pimping, and stealing to support himself; shifting from Harlem to Boston. Malcolm X becomes a real street hustler, and finds a brief glamorization of the career while in Harlem in the wake of its cultural renaissance. Malcolm X rubs elbows with jazz greats as he prowls the nightclubs for business.

After getting busted for armed robbery, Malcolm X's life is transformed yet again. With deviance no longer an option, Malcolm pores over all the books available to him in prison. Illiterate due to lack of access to a stable home life or education, he teaches himself how to read and write like a scholar. His eloquence surprises even himself. As a result, Malcolm X develops keen rhetorical skills in the prison debate society and begins to write letters. Also in prison, Malcolm X discovers the Nation of Islam. The Nation of Islam provides African-Americans with a religion that is alternative to Christianity: which can easily be framed as the religion of white oppression of blacks. Christianity was in fact used to justify slavery and it was also used as a means of social control; Islam is set forth as a faith counter to Christianity. Islam is a faith that becomes a political statement: something that resonates immediately with Malcolm X As he also appreciates the spiritual message of Islam's total surrender unto God, Malcolm X begins to contact the leaders of the Nation of Islam.

When Malcolm X is released from prison, he delves deeper into the organization. He penetrates to its political core and soon adopts his new name, changing it symbolically from his "slave" name of Malcolm Little to his name in liberation and rebirth, "Malcolm X" The rebirth in the Nation of Islam is the most formidable moment in the life of Malcolm X Malcolm X learns about the history of oppression, and realizes the structural reasons for institutionalized racism in America. The Nation of Islam suggests that African-Americans have never been given their promised access to social, political, and economic parity after slavery was abolished. Malcolm X's father died because racism was permitted to fester in the United States. Realizing how systemic racism is, Malcolm X sees promise and potential in the Nation of Islam in providing African-Americans with community leadership, community empowerment, and personal empowerment.

Because Malcolm X is impassioned by the Nation of Islam, he soon rises to the ranks and meets the organization's leader: the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. At this time, Malcolm X is living in Detroit. He becomes leader of the local chapter, and later, a national representative. Elijah Muhammad recognizes in Malcolm X the potential for public speaking and inspiring his audiences. With his wife at his side, Malcolm X becomes a political and spiritual leader for African-Americans. Elijah Muhammad subsequently starts to resent Malcolm X When the two start to differ in their core beliefs about where the organization is headed and what kinds of values and missions the Nation should have, Malcolm X is ostracized from the community. The rift is not viewed as being one that is personally objectionable to Malcolm X By the time he has a falling out with Elijah Muhammad, Malcolm X has already become disillusioned with Elijah Muhammad and much of the Nation of Islam leadership. As Haley puts it in the introduction of the autobiography, Malcolm X doubted the "authenticity" of the Nation of Islam (xxix). Malcolm X mainly believed that the Nation of Islam has lost its path and its soul by diverging too much from the heart of Islam: the Quran.