Malcolm X; By any means necessary (Pgs. 122-155)

Summary:
In this section of the book we see a major turning point in  the life of the Muslim leader Malcolm X. His meeting with Fidel Castro drew more unneeded attention from the FBI to Malcolm and they kept a more watchful eye and ear on him. During 1962 and early 1963, the FBI continued to watch Malcolm, his friction with the sons of Elijah Muhammad, and his growing separation from Elijah. Meanwhile the increase in violence in Birmingham, Alabama, enraged Black America and pushed it to its breaking point. In response to this violence the black community decided to march to Washington and protest at the nations capitol. Malcolm was infuriated when he found out that the march was changed and that black leaders accepted whites as leaders of the march. His points of view on how to protest were very different than those of Martin Luther King Jr., who promoted nonviolence. This point of view was tested less than three weeks after the march when a Sunday School was bombed, four black children were killed in the bombing. Malcolm reasoned, "How could you turn the other cheek when your children were being killed?" Now as the separation between Malcolm and Elijah became more inevitable, Malcolm was in search of the true meaning of being Muslim. Then he met Cassius Clay, who would later become Muhammad Ali, a young boxer who he had seen at several Muslim meetings. Now is when the real change begins. Malcolm was saddened by his separation from the Nation of Islam but he knew he needed to make a pilgrimage to Mecca, the holy city of the Islamic religion. This Hajj would change his life forever. He learned the traditions of his religion and returned a renewed man.

Quote:
"There were tens of thousands of pilgrims, from all over the world. They were of all colors, from blue-eyed blonds to black-skinned Africans. But we were all participating in the same ritual, displaying a spirit of brotherhood that my experiences in America had led me to believe never could exist between the white and the non-white. - The Autobiography of Malcolm X"(Myers, 153)

This quote from Malcolm X really demonstrates the change in beliefs that Malcolm had while he was in Mecca and how this Hajj changed his views on what he had been taught in America and the truths of the Islamic Religion. I think that this pilgrimage to Mecca was exactly what Malcolm needed to do to really consider himself a true Muslim.

Reaction:
This section to me was by far the most important in the sense that it contained a lot of very important information and details that changed the course of his life. The events portrayed in this section of the book not only concerned him but also the nation as a whole. In addition, I believe that these events give us a clue as to what will occur later on in the life of this great man, Malcolm X.
    

Malcolm X; By any means necessary (Pgs. 76-121)

Summary:
In this section of the book we learn that Malcolm X was released from jail in 1952. At this time Malcolm was given a job at a furniture store where his brother worked. Now that he was out of jail he was free to practiced his new religion. Living with his brother, Wilfred who is also Muslim, allowed him to experience the life of a Muslim man. He then joined Temple Number One in Detroit. There he met Minister Hassan tho whom he listened to intently. In the temple he noticed that there were too many empty seats and made it his duty to recruit more blacks to the Nation of Islam. In about a year he had increased the number of members of Temple Number One by 300%. Due to his great dedication to the Nation he was named assistant minister. Then he met Elijah Muhammad, who had influenced him a lot when he was in jail. In a matter of years after being released from jail he was one of the most important members of the Nation of Islam. As he grew more and more famous he changed his last name to "X". He did this because he believed that his last name was a name given to his ancestors by their masters. In the mist of his fame he met a young, good looking girl, named Betty X. He later went on to marry her and have four daughters with her. As time went by he became one of the most influential and most outspoken Ministers of the Nation of Islam. His beliefs were influenced by the teachings of Elijah who had taught him to fight back but in 1957, while people in the north talked about the strength of Malcolm X, people in the south spoke about the strength of Martin Luther King Jr., and nonviolence.

Quote:
"The white man wants men to stay immoral, unclean and ignorant. As long as we stay in these conditions we will keep on begging him and he will control us. We never can win freedom and justice and equality until we are doing something for our ourselves! - The Autobiography of Malcolm X"(Myers, 89)

It think that this quote by Malcolm X really expresses what his message is to the people clearly. I agree that if the people do not do anything for themselves they will not get anywhere but the methods that he used to achieve his goals were no the best methods.

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After reading this section of the book I wish I would have been able to meet Malcolm X because he is a person that is very determined. Meeting him would have been cool because although this book tells a lot, it would have been cool to here more from him personally.      

Malcolm X; By any means necessary (Pgs. 43-75)

Summary:
In this section of the book we learn that Malcolm has stuck with his friend Shorty. He brought him into the shoe shinning business and was teaching him the swing of things. After this job, Malcolm got a job as a kitchen boy on a train. After some time working as kitchen boy he was given the job of sandwich man. It is safe to say that at this point he was doing well on his own in Massachusetts. During this time he realized that what he wanted the most was to bring value to his life. When he reached Harlem, New York, he realized he was not going to get the respect he wanted from black community. In Harlem he became a hustler, selling marijuana, gambling and running the numbers for big-time mobsters. He got away with this for a while but eventually he ended up in the ancient Charlestown State Prison. While in prison he received letters from a man named Elija Muhammad. The letters he received from Elija were life altering and, in jail, Malcolm joined the Nation of Islam.

Quote:
"You are not the criminal. The criminals are the whites who, through their racism, have forced you into the acts you have committed" (Myers, 68)
This quote shocked me because what Elija Muhammad just said to young Malcolm is very deep. I believe that what he just said is true to some extent because the whites were literally leaving the blacks with no options. This, in turn, does lead to crimes.

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I thought that this section, or part, of Malcolm's life was really important because it would be the begging of his long journey in the world of Islam. What he experienced in this time period was what influenced him to speak out against the oppression of the blacks.    

Malcolm X; By any means necessary (Pgs. 1-42)

Summary:
As I read this first part of the book I was immediately hooked by the authors style of writing. In this first part of the book I learned that Malcolm's family comes from a town called Reynolds, Georgia. His father, Earl Little, was a very tall, heavyset, dark man that was skilled with his hands and his mind. His mother, Louise Norton, was an attractive black woman who had come from the British island of Grenada. They met in Montreal, Canada, and in 1919 they married and settled in Philadelphia. The first few years of their marriage were tough because of them being black. This not only affected them but also the majority of the negro population of the United States. When the family moved to Omaha, Nebraska, Earl, brought the ideas of Marcus Garvey. Marcus Garvey was a well educated man that U.N.I.A. , the Universal Negro Improvement Association. On May 19, 1925, a boy named Malcolm was born. The next few years were tough because Malcolm's father led the Omaha chapter of the U.N.I.A. He received several threats from the Klu Klux Klan, until one of those threats put the life of his family in danger, was when they moved from Omaha to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Several years later Malcolm's father was brutally murdered and this cause a lot of pain and heartache to the family. This traumatic event affected Malcolm's life in such a huge way that it transcended with him for the rest of his life.


Quote:
"By the age of thirteen, Malcolm had seen his house burn down. He had been exposed to the violent death of his father, had known extreme hunger, had seen the slow breakdown of his mother, and had also seen brothers and sisters placed in homes" (Dean Myers, 32).


Reaction: 
This quote just made me feel bad and sorry that this young boy had experienced these horrible things. It made me thankful for what I have and what I have experienced in my life.