Khalen Cumberlander

African American Philosophy

November 14th, 2013

Malcolm X

The life of Malcolm X was a very disturbing and interesting one. I say that, because Malcolm X was criminal, minister, a powerful leader, and an icon to his religious followers. Born Malcolm Little, before converting to the Nation of Islam, young Malcolm grew up around a lot of segregation and racism. Growing up in Omaha, Nebraska he had to deal with the KKK (Ku Klux Klan), especially because his father was a preacher, who preached the word of God and rights for African American. After the mysterious death of his father which was heard that the KKK took him and tied him to the train tracks, as a train killed him. Young Malcolm moved to Boston where he became a petty thief and pimp. He eventually went to jail in February 1946 for breaking and entering, and was sentenced to eight years in prison at the Charlestown State Prison. Manning Marable goes into great detail about ups and downs of Malcolm X’s life. He talks about the highs and low, the disappointments and the great success he had. The two chapters in this book that really caught my eye while reading was chapter three and chapter ten. Both chapters have great detail about the individual, and gave you a vivid picture of how Malcolm X really was. Chapter three is all about him becoming the great leader, speaker, hero, father and husband that will all remember him by, thus name of chapter being titled “Becoming X.” This significant chapter goes into detail describing all the hardships and minor set-backs he experienced, so that he could be man he became. This chapter tells us how Malcolm X was a petty thief and a pimp. He was in the robbing business, such as home invasions. He eventually got arrested for breaking and entering and larceny, and sentenced eight years. While in prison he found it very difficult to concentrate and