Early on, Malcolm X was aware of racism. As a young child, he recalled his house being burned down and his father being murdered by a white supremacy group called the Black Legion. As a teenager and young adult he witnessed and lived the impoverished hustler life on the streets of Harlem. While in jail, he was introduced to Elijah Muhammad’s church, the Nation of Islam, which preached for the advancement of black men and the evil of white supremacy. Upon release, Malcolm X rapidly gained prominence in the Nation of Islam and traveled the United States, founding new mosques in many cities.
While Andy is serving his sentence he comes across a man named Ellis Boyd “Red” Redding, played by Morgan Freeman. Ellis is serving a life sentence and has become well customed to the traditions during his imprisonment. Red’s area of expertise inside the prison is the “import/export” business. Red’s first impression of Andy is that he is quite different from the average inmate, which of course works against Andy’s favour. As the movie continues Andy begins to befriend many of his fellow prisoners as well as the guard in order to reap the benefits only they could provide.
Also it began to stir up conflicts among the beliefs of the churches over time. The printing press was an amazing invention that became so extraordinary that it was used to print almost anything such as religious books, advertisements, and even literary works. These prints probably traveled across the continent faster than it took to write them. In 1493 Columbus sent a handwritten letter to the King of Spain (Doc. 6).
He was very outgoing and care very much about his students. From the beginning of the semester, he had told the whole class that his class was not going to be easy and much dedication was going to be needed in order to pass his class. All his lectures straight the textbook just reworded and summarized. Professor Hammontree talked very fast and hardly looked up while lecturing, but if a students could not understand something being discussed in his lecture, he would take the time to discuss it after class or was able to meet with you one-on-one in his office during his office hours. His exams, on the other hand, were essay question exams and were very difficult especially when someone didn’t study.
In Prison Studies by Malcolm X he shows how rearding it is to be able to read and comprehend literature. Malcolm X was more free reading in prison then he had ever been. Prison Studies show how drive and determination can push a person to excel on completing a task. In this story Malcolm X showed the drive and determination to become a scholar all because he wanted to take control of a conversion like his cellmate Bimbi. “It had really begun back in the Charlestown Prison, when Bimbi first made me feel envy of his stock of knowledge” (21).
The Nation of Islam advocated black nationalism and racial separatism and condemned Americans of European descent as immoral "devils." Muhammad's teachings had a strong effect on Malcolm, who entered into an intense program of self-education and took the last name "X" to symbolize his stolen African identity. After six years, Malcolm was released from prison and became a loyal and effective minister of the Nation of Islam in Harlem, New York. In contrast with civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X advocated self-defense and the liberation of African Americans "by any means necessary." A fiery orator, Malcolm was admired by the African American community in New York and around the country.
The media has taken over so much of our life that the average teenager no longer sees reading as a daily obligation but more of an option along with surfing the Internet or watching TV. Although there are exceptions, based on the lifestyle they grow up in, teenagers are more concerned about pop culture than incredible pieces of literature such as Angela’s Ashes. In the obituary, Grossman said about McCourt: “Although he quit school, he continued to read whenever he could.” Currently, there are more high school dropouts than before. Most aim to get their GED and move on to college while others simply jump straight into work. McCourt didn’t have the luxury to go to school and get a proper education at a young age.
I, for one, think that our educational system needs to be revamped almost completely. There are definitely a broad range of reasons Ungar gives in his essay backing up studying and receiving a degree in Liberal Arts and Sciences. Ungar acknowledges that a degree in the Liberal Arts is ‘a luxury that most families can no longer afford.’ (191) He then uses the rest of his essay to persuade you of the many reasons that this is not the case. I agree that having a degree in the Liberal Arts is a ‘luxury’ for many Americans nowadays because my experience as a current college student confirms it. Only I think of the ‘luxury’ as being able to step into and attend college classes daily.
Bayard Rustin, an openly gay black man, helped introduce Gandhian nonviolence to the African-American civil rights movement. His pacifism landed him in jail for refusing to participate in World War II. While in jail, he organized protests against the segregated seating in the dining halls (Spartacus). He was part of the first Freedom Rides in 1947, helped to found the Congress for Racial Equality, and was National Field Secretary for the Fellowship of Reconciliation. Following his release from prison, Rustin began to travel widely, giving speeches on discrimination and other issues.
I actually want to my best this year in college to get straight A’s and learn as much as I can. So I guess my worst college fear won’t really be a problem at all. The other fear I am worried about is that I will take all these college classes and still have no idea what I want do as a career. I am a pretty indecisive person so I am really going to have to love something to decide to do it for most of my life. Maybe I will have the opposite problem and I will like a whole bunch of things and won’t be able to decide between them.