Independent Reading Project

Context: The first few chapters of The Autobiography of Malcolm X , one of which this scene is based off of, primarily discuss Malcolm’s interactions with white people as a child. Malcolm recollects others casually referring to him with the use of the n-word, which he never found particularly bothersome, considering those people did not mean it in an offensive manner. The word had been so common in casual conversation that it had lost all its meaning, including to Malcolm. However, after a trip to Boston with his half-sister, Ella, where Malcolm spends more time with fellow black people as opposed to the white people he is accustomed to, he begins to feel uncomfortable with the way white people treat him. This scene takes place when Malcolm discusses his future with a teacher, from the teacher’s point of view. Malcolm describes the teacher as a kind man who meant well, but was simply too deep in the culture of casual racism. The majority of dialogue used here is taken directly from the...

      Out of the 400ish pages and 19 chapters of Malcolm X's autobiography, I've read 2 chapters (40 pages). For anyone who doesn't know, Malcolm X was a civil rights activist like MLK. However, Malcolm X's philosophy was about as far from the nonviolence of MLK as possible. I had no real idea of what I wanted to read as my nonfiction book, but I chose this because Michael recommended it to me. I'm enjoying the book so far, much more than most autobiographies I've read. I recall reading the autobiography of Chris Frantz, Remain in Love, and really disliking the part about his childhood. However, the first 2 chapters have been entirely about Malcolm's childhood and I've been really enjoying them (probably because his childhood was actually interesting). He had a pretty rough childhood, with his father being murdered by a racist legion and his family being torn apart by state workers, leading to his mother's downward spiral into delirium. I find it par...