Find X

Who was Malcolm X?

That's a question which, if I take nothing else from his autobiography, I hope to answer after reading it. This is a man whose vision and ideas have been distorted and warped by history, and who very few people understand and know. Sadly, nowadays it seems that the only way to completely understand this great historical icon and his message is to read his autobiography, and see what his own words have to say.

I was slightly surprised, while coming to the completion of the first half of Malcolm X's autobiography, to see that the book wasn't divided into two parts. Yes, it's an autobiography- a journey through the life of one man- and breaks aren't common in autobiographies. People live one life, not multiple ones. But I thought it would help the reader to see who Malcolm X really is, since he lived a more or less two-part life. Part 1, a life as a young black boy and an adolescent hustler, and part 2 as a revolutionary black leader advocating for racial separation and black nationalism.

We've basically finished reading Malcolm X, part 1. This was his life story through childhood and his childhood stories- memories of the Ku Klux Klan's attacks on his family, memories from growing up in Michigan, the white people who murdered his father, the welfare people, the family he lived with, his crushed dreams from his teacher, living with his half-sister Ella in Boston, meeting Shorty, working in a drug store, as a shoeshiner, an on a train line, geting conks and zoot suits, and his hustles in Harlem. This all came to an abrupt end with his arrest, which started Part 2 of his life.

It is really interesting to me that history does't remember Part 1 of Malcolm X, which is quite fascinating  and had a huge impact on who he came to be. Malcolm X stood out from other civil rights leaders due to his extreme ideas and his fiery passion, brought about by his early adversities. He lived the life of the average African-American suffering in America and knew well the challenges and unfairness the white America created. That's the one thing I would characterize Malcolm X as, and one thing that I overlooked- his passion. No other civil rights leader went through so much as he, and its evident in his passion he had for civil rights.

That's what we find when we look to "find x." A struggle to live in white society as part one of his life, and a call to action in part two. By looking at his entire life, especially part one, we can "solve for x" and see who Malcolm X truly was- a passionate civil rights leader using his struggles in a past life to make a new life better for his fellow man.