Reading opens new doors...#2

Chapter 11

Saved

Reading, in a way, saved Malcolm X. Reading has not necessarily saved my life, but the stories and books i read have had such impact on my life by opening new vistas for me.

"I have often reflected upon the new vistas that reading opened to me. I knew right there in prison that reading had changed forever the course of my life," (Haley 182).

Reading has the power to bring out emotions that someone has never felt before. It opens new doors for people to travel through and it broadens their knowledge and horizon. Whether someone reads historical, fiction, non-fiction, or religious books, reading, no matter what, has a positive impact on people. Malcolm, while in jail, turned to books and he learned that time flies by when buried in a good book. I can agree with Malcolm that looking back at the books that I have read really have had an impact on my life. Reading Malcolm X has had a huge impact on my life so far because before reading this autobiography, I too was some-what blind to how badly blacks where and still are portrayed in a white society. Reading this book, as well as many others, has led me to discover the impact people can have on other's lives. Books have taught me the negative impact people can have on one another and this book in particular has opened my mind to seeing the negative impact whites have on blacks. Malcolm learned a lot from reading the dictionary, Oriental philosophers writings, Parkhurst, Gregor Mendel, and Uncle Tom's Cabin (Haley 178). Some of my favorite writer's whom I have learned a lot of life lessons from are Jodi Picoult, Kristin Hannah, and Mitch Albom. Books and readings have powerful impacts on a person's life, and when someone is in need to feel emotions they can't feel, or grasp ideas they can't touch upon...find the right book and it will be able to capture your thoughts and offer insightful ideas.

An example of how books are influential and powerful.

^ I find it amazing, even looking at myself, how books are able to help guide you through life. Whether life at the time is rough, happy, nerve racking, or scary, there will always be a book to help guide your emotions and yourself through the journey you're about to take.

Blindness...

Chapter 11

Saved

"America's U.N. Ambassador Adlai Stevenson complained not long ago that in the United Nations 'a skin game' being played. He was right. He was facing reality. A 'skin game' is being played. ...Because who in the world's history ever has played a worse 'skin game' than the white man?" (Haley 182).

This quote goes back to what the class was discussing a week ago about how whites are more privileged than other races. In Malcolm X, when Red China started their anti-white campaign and closed their doors to the Western white world, America's U.N. Ambassador, Adlai Stevenson, complained that the Chinese were playing a "skin game" (Haley 181-182). Whites have the satisfaction [or privilege one might say] of not having to care about the racism that goes on around them because it is not specifically directed towards them. Whites are threatened when racial remarks or even something as "hate-white" campaigns are sprung against them. However, whites are blind to the fact that these are the feelings that are spread among others of other races such as black people. Whites are able to see the hate that is pushed their way but they are blind when it comes to realizing their own mistakes in judging other people from different races because of their skin color or ethnicity.

This is the list of privileges that we read over in class a couple of weeks ago. If you go onto the next website though, it highlights some other aspects as well...

This is a political blog but it really does highlight the aspects of the privileges white people have that blacks would be accused of for being irresponsible and stupid. (Read the first four or so paragraphs. It is a really an interesting way to look at what we had discussed in class).

Malcolm #2 (over break reading) ... #1

Chapter Eight

Trapped

The more you read into the bibliography of Malcolm X, the more one can see the devastating life Malcolm is living. He lives a life centered around narcotics and danger.

"The amount of dope I put into myself within the next several hours sounds inconceivable," (Haley 133).

Malcolm always needs to be high. Getting opium and smoking it, next taking benzedrine tablets to make him less drowsy, then smoking marijuana. By now, Malcolm had opium, benzedrine and reefers in his system and when he went to Sammy's house, he soon had cocaine in his system. The way Malcolm describes his high as timeless is unreal. How is someone able to live a life without really being there to live it? How can someone live their life high 24/7? 

Chapter Nine

Caught

Sometimes in order to change your life around, it means having to look over your life and see the bad and the good in it. Malcolm sunk to the very low of the American white man's society before he realized that changing his life was an essential task he had to complete.

"But I am spending many hours because the full story is the best way that I know to have it seen, and understood, that I sunk to the very bottom of the American white man's society when--soon now, in prison--I found Allah and the religion of Islam and it completely transformed my life," (Haley 153). 

When there is nothing left to lose, turing to religion and having faith seems like the best answer. When someone does something that is unforgivable they learn to accept their Lord, turning to them, asking for forgiveness and guidance. I have watched someone turn to their savior in time of need and transform their life into a more religious and preservative way of living. This person completely transformed himself from the dangerous person he was to someone who was so much more spiritual and spiritually guided. I have watched this person who is very close to me change their life around completely by reading the bible. I watched this man rework who he had become over the years and put all his trust, guilt, and sorrow into his savior, God. I watched this man develop year after year asking the Lord for forgiveness for the sins he had committed in his earlier years. It amazes me how someone who had done wrong in the world can change their life around by simply living and learning the life of their Lord. This man learned and saw the importance of changing his life around. He sunk to a time in his life that was very low, but out of it came this whole new life that he is living by today. As bad as making mistakes are, I feel it is necessary for people to make them. If people do not make mistakes, there would never be a chance for someone to seek the change that is needed in order to remold their life. Malcolm's younger years were so non-religion based that I am exited to see where Allah and the Islam religion is going to take him.

In an article I read from the New York Times, I learned that federal prisons nation wide are getting rid of religious books and materials. These prisons nation wide want to suspend religious readings and materials because they do not want to encourage the gatherings of Islamic and other "militant" religious groups. I feel that religion in prisons is important because it gives the prisoners a chance to change themselves into better people. Although having faith and knowing their Lord is always listening, I feel that these people need to read and learn more about their religion in order to really understand and accept it. I do not agree with what has happened in this article because without faith and religion, Malcolm X and the person I know would not be guided in the right direction.

what it means to be privileged

In today's class, I had so many strong opinions about a variety of topics. First off, I know that white people have so many privileges than other races do not. Some people may not care that they are white or that others are black but they don't understand that that is just one more privilege whites can add onto their lists; whites don't have to worry that they are white because people accept them just for that reason. However, blacks have been degraded for so many years that they see themselves as a burden in society. They constantly want to fit the white persons image in order to be accepted into a society that realistically is a society that isn't just made up of one religion, ethnic group, or race; it is a society filled with people of different skin colors, religions, beliefs, and ethnic groups. Yesterday I was in the car with my mom, brother, and my brother's two frienda. I found this situation to be a perfect example of what we are learning about in class. My brother's one friend is a white boy and the second is a black boy. it was dark outside when we were driving the two boys home. We dropped my brother's frist frien off at his house and when he opened the door to get out, the lights when one. I heard my brother's black friend say, "Oh look!  Now you can see me!" That's when it came to me that black people will make fun of their own skin to sort of get the sense of acceptance. Although me, my mom, and brother, along with many others don't judge blacks because they are a few shades darker than us, I kind of got the feeling that someone who is black will more likely make fun of his skin color than someone who is white.  

movie

Between today's class and the movie yesterday, so much has built up inside me that I want to speak about. I wish I could speak about it in a class discussion but everyday English flies by and there is just not enough time for everyone to voice their opinions and thoughts. I am passionate about the topics we discuss in class such as race and what it means to be privileged. I would first like to talk about the movie we watched on Wednesday, February 11.

The movie about how blacks have been portrayed throughout the years really got me frustrated. I found it heart aching how constantly African Americans were portrayed as animals. There were many examples in the movie such as how the "mammy" of the house would breast feed the white child. To white mistresses, this was viewed as dirty and something a lady should not do. The white mistresses saw nursing their child as something an animal would do. The way that cartoonist portrayed blacks as wild and crazy and always out in the yard also added on to the racist image that blacks were animals. Also, the way that the cartoonist portrayed blacks with extremely over exaggerated lips really stuck to me. I was shocked to become familiar with the way the white people in that time saw blacks. To judge someone on the size of their lips really took the racism to the next level. It shocked me how ignorant the white people were back then when it came to African. At the end of the movie, there was a book called "Ten Little Niggers". This book is extremely controversial because of the way that it portrays black children as prey to other animals. Also, I feel that this children's book from long ago can relate to a more modern children's story called "Five Little Monkeys". I don't want to be or sound racist but i'm not sure how to explain myself properly. My thoughts on this are that the monkeys in "Five Little Monkeys" = the ten little black children. This goes back to the old cartoons and how the blacks in them had big lips. Monkey's are seen to have over sized lips, just as the blacks were seen as having over over sized lips back then too. Monkey's are animals that live in nature, and back then, African Americans were viewed as animal like, always out in the yard or near the streams. I personally feel that 5 Little Monkeys was based off the old story of "Ten Little Niggers". This may rise other questions about other children books as well; which may have racism in them and what are they teaching kids?

Malcolm X #1

So far, I'm really enjoying the autobiography of Malcolm X. I find it extremely interesting the struggles Malcolm is faced with as well as all the opportunities that arise in his life. In chapter 2, Mascot, I found it interesting the way that Malcolm felt accepted by the people around him, but in reality he wasn't. Malcolm was blind to this until one day, his teacher, Mr. Ostrowski, began a conversation with Malcolm about the careers he wished to pursue later on in life. Mr. Ostrowski shot Malcolm's dream down when he said he wanted to become a lawyer. He told Malcolm to be realistic about his career choices and think of a career Malcolm could actually become. Malcolm talking of Mr. Ostrowski, "What made it really begin to disturb me was Mr. Ostrowski's advice to others in my class--all of them white. Most of them told him they were planning to become farmers. But those who wanted to strike out on their own, to try something new, he had encouraged" (38). Malcolm was one of the smartest kids in his class. However, his teacher did not see the potential Malcolm had to become what he wanted to be just because of his skin color. I think it is insane that people judge others on their physical features, not their personalities and intelligence. Numerous times, Malcolm was judged on the color of his skin, and although he was a very intelligent child, no white person acknowledged that characteristic about him. A little while into chapter 3, "Homeboy", Malcolm becomes associated with people of his skin color and the real feeling of acceptance swarms over him. However, Malcolm changes his whole outside appearance to suit the likings of what white people want blacks to be. I think Malcolm is extremely hypocritical because he always talked of how he wished black people would wake up and not fall into the hypnotism of the white "expectations". But, in chapter 3, Malcolm himself falls into that "expectation" by conking his hair and by buying a zoot suit. Malcolm talking of self shame, "But I don't see how on earth a black woman with any race pride could walk down the street with any black man wearing a conk--the emblem of his shame that he is black" (57). I think this quote is extremely meaningful because it shows how the black man is so desperate to be accepted by whites that he will shame his own race by simply changing the style of his hair into a style the white people approve of. However, in reality, the white people always see the blacks as blacks; they never see them as equals, no matter how much they change their outside appearance.

Catcher3

Holden and his little sister Phoebe have a really close relationship for siblings. Holden says that he can tell Phoebe anything and whenever he has nothing better to do, she's the person he wants to talk to. I think the reason him and Phoebe are so close is because Phoebe, in a way, takes the place of Allie, the younger brother Holden lost. I think he is close with Phoebe because he feels that is the only way to protect her.

I think the other person Holden would get close to would be Jane. I know everyone wants Jane to save Holden and make him change into a better person but i don't think that's going to be the case in this book. J.D. Salinger has a way to make you think one thing is going to happen but it falls through. I think Holden wants Jane to save him, but at the same time he doesn't. I think he doesn't want to get close with Jane because he is scared of losing someone else he cares about. I think the death of his younger brother Allie has affected Holden's life in ways he yet doesn't even understand.