writingformixon

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Self-Assessment #3

Self-Assessment of Entire Quarter

In the beginning of the quarter, my strengths in writing was my well-crafted diction. When I had something of substance to write about, I could easily crunch out enough pages to call it a solid essay. However, the opposite of this also applied to me as well - if I did not have interest in the topic or anything substantial to write about, I would be stuck for days staring at a blank paper. One of my biggest weaknesses was not being able to properly outline and execute a paper by the deadline. Writing for me came in sporadic bursts of energy; I’d have to wait until I got the burst, until which the creative juices would finally start flowing. This problem was magnified in this paragraph of my first RA essay draft:

“In juxtaposition to character narratives, Whitehead places an equal significance on setting and location. Whitehead begins his story with character narratives, then follows it with the location. The book itself is named after the infamous “Underground Railroad”, which is remembered for its location in Northern United States with routes to Canada, Mexico, and Caribbean Sea (Society). Already from the title, we know that location plays an important role in the development of Whitehead’s story. For example, in the chapter “Ridgeway”, Whitehead describes the backstory of a slave catcher named Ridgeway. He describes his upbringing in a white supremacist environment. He shows us how and why he becomes the slave catcher he is today. Following this chapter, Whitehead then describes the story of Cora and her escape from Ridgeway. Whitehead integrates characteristics of Ridgeway’s character into how he views slaves like Cora. (Whitehead) Whitehead ties a character portrait to a specific location, which then allows readers to put context into where these characters are coming from and their setting.”

This is an excerpt from my first RA draft about narrative structure in the Underground Railroad. I remember particularly that this paragraph was one of the worst paragraphs in the essay, because I did not have enough substance to back up my main point, and so my writing was equivalent to that of a middle schooler. I did not use sophisticated diction or syntax, provide any evidence to back up my points, or analyze the text as much as I could have. This bad writing was largely due to my lack of outlining the essay beforehand; it was mostly just free writing with no preparation prior to writing the draft.

I realized that my bad habit of not outlining my essay would catch up to me. So during my second revision of my RA, I decided to create an intensive outline, which looked like this:

Introduction

State selected rhetorical device

Explain what effect of complex narrative, what it does, how it situates with history of genre

Integrate narrator’s presence

Body paragraphs

Describe components of neo slave and how it relates to text

Use examples and background information

Topic sentence, explicate quote for reader

PIE

Point - state thesis

Illustration - use quote

Explanation - explain use of quote

Body paragraph #1

Character narrative

Ajarry

Cora

Caesar

Ridgeway

Ethel + Jasmine

Stevens

Body paragraph #2

Location / setting

Central Africa

Georgia

North Carolina

Tennessee

Body paragraph #3

How Whitehead connects character and location

Themes he uses in both narratives that create one continuous storyline

Conclusion

Whitehead alternates between character and location

His purpose of doing this, how he does it, and what effect it has

Notes

Chapters about stories: reveals how slavery racism affects groups of people Connects characters to a certain environment Creates context for readers Illustrates how a certain character’s trait impacts the stigma of slavery Examples: Ridgeway growing up hating blacks > slave catcher > how this affects Cora, Ethel growing up with Jasmine > may be lesbian, has maternal instinct to take care of black people out of burden (white man’s burden)

Under each outline point, I wrote my paragraphs based on the skeleton that I had created. This forced me to incorporate more sources into my paragraphs as evidence, create more structure in each paragraph, and form smoother transitions from one paragraph to the next. It even made me realize that I had to change my entire thesis in order to craft a better RA. Going through this painful experience of writing, revising, erasing, changing my thesis, revising again made me become a better writer.

I utilized this method of outlining my essay with my new RIP essay. With this RIP essay, I had much more creative freedom in my topic. I knew that this creative freedom would be an advantage for me because when I am passionate about my writing, I am able to write a lot better and faster than I would with other essays. I outlined my RIP essay, chose the sources that I needed to use, then wrote the first draft all in a couple of hours. Outlining my essay beforehand made it even more efficient to write the essay. The process of writing my RIP was a lot smoother than my experience of writing the RA. I think it was because I was able to use the methods that I had learned from writing the RA in this new RIP.

Particularly, one of my favorite excerpts of writing from this quarter is my conclusion in my RIP essay:

“Malcolm X is often misunderstood. The separatist “prophet of rage”, the violent civil rights leader that white Americans loathed: these are the flattened caricatures that people liked to see him as. But Malcolm was much more than that. He was not the rival against Martin Luther King Jr; he was the complementary civil rights force needed to balance with King. King was for peace, and Malcolm was for violence. King would not be able to fight equality with peace alone, and Malcolm’s violent methods would be catastrophic to the movement (X 256). But despite these differences, both men shared one trait that leveraged the civil rights movement into the right direction: passion. What really matters is the difference that they made for all blacks in American society, not the way they achieved their goals. Without these two leaders, the black community would not be where it is today.”

The reason why I liked this conclusion so much was because I actually explicated further on the topic, and incorporated my own philosophical opinion into it. I didn’t just sum up my essay, but I was able to expand more on why my topic is so significant to today’s society. I hadn’t done this in my RA essay, and I noticed that it did not have the same resonance as my RIP essay has now.

Overall, I think my writing has improved in regards to my outlining and formulating the plan of my essay. However, I think that my syntax and diction still has room for improvement. I also think that I should work on analyzing things in more detail, and not just succumbing to merely summarizing the plot.

[writingformixon]

Self-Assessment #2

Emily Vu

November 7, 2017

It was 5 pm on Saturday, November 4, the weekend that my final RA was due. I had once again procrastinated an entire week and trapped myself in this easily avoidable situation of finishing a 100-point essay by Sunday night. What had I done on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday that hindered me from completing this essay? On Saturday, I woke up, ate lunch, sat down, opened my laptop, and reread my haphazardly written essay. It was a skew of weak paragraphs sewn together by TLC (tired, lethargic care). I cringed at the sight of this mess of an essay; I was disappointed in my writing skills and my lack of ability in being able to clearly express my thoughts on paper. My friend, seeing me in distress, sat down and told me to reflect on my essay in its current state. Using my writing abilities, how could I transform this essay into the best version of itself?

I analyzed my strengths and weaknesses and how those were reflected in my essay. In my RA, my strength was my thesis. I crafted a well-thought out argument of Whitehead’s use of narrative structure in his novel to add new perspectives to his neo-slave narrative. I had a solid amount of evidence from primary and secondary sources to back up my main points. In my head, I had brainstormed my analysis of his rhetoric, gathering evidence from the chapters in his novel. I was very excited to start this essay and present to my teacher everything I had to say about Whitehead’s novel. However, I soon realized that my biggest weakness was being able to execute this. I needed to improve my syntax and diction. I needed to create a hook in my introductory paragraph. I needed to create better transitions between paragraphs. I needed to incorporate the right quotes at the right time.

Expectations vs. reality

What did I learn from this experience in writing my RA? Writing is hard. I think I hate it more than I like it. But when I am able to craft a beautiful text, the reward is so, so, satisfying. Even though it’s hard, Writing 39B is one of my favorite classes because I express my opinions and thoughts in an artistic way. Even though I had to write about a more serious topic, I loved that I had to truly comprehend the topic that I was writing about, and also understand the context that Whitehead’s novel was coming from. Going through this process of writing my RA has helped me hone my skills, and it will definitely benefit me in the future.

[writingformixon]

Self-Assessment #1

Emily Vu

October 9, 2017

My grandfather and father were fond of writing. My grandfather, who passed away before I was born, was a successful poet and writer in Vietnam. My dad recalled stories of how he sat with his dad in the cafes of Saigon, where my grandfather would spend hours writing away. It was an enjoyable time for my young dad; the endless hours in the Parisian city of Saigon fostered my dad’s appreciation for Parisian culture. Thus, through my dad’s cultivated love, I grew a love for Paris as well.

One day, I was rummaging through my dad’s library in our study room. It was not until I was 15 that I had decided to do this because at this point my brain was developed enough to appreciate the type of knowledge that was stored within those pages. I discovered many classic literature novels that were often required reading assignments for high school and beyond: John Steinbeck’s “Grapes of Wrath”, Leo Tolstoy’s “War and Peace”, George Orwell’s “A Collection of Essays”, Jack Kerouac's “On the Road”, and Ernest Hemingway’s “A Moveable Feast”. I picked up Hemingway’s book and read the summary. A story about Hemingway’s time in Paris with his wife--right up my alley. I began to read it, and I was immediately drawn to his writing style. This wasn’t a story; this was a glorified diary. But isn’t that what a story is? We write about how we experience the world; our views on how other people experience the world; how we feel; how we feel about how other people feel; and so on. Ernest Hemingway’s writing was clear, simple, straightforward. His narrative affected my way of thinking, and also how I approached writing.

Following Hemingway’s straightforward style, I wrote many of my high school essays with that same tone. It sometimes came out a bit bland. I never tried to employ sophisticated vocabulary, nor did I try to expand my own. While his style taught me to write in a concise manner, it was at some points limiting (especially for high school essays).

Upon discovering Jack Kerouac's “On the Road” in my dad’s library, I was enlightened to a whole new way of writing: beat poetry. His sentences ran on; they were messy and unedited. The beauty of Hemingway’s books were the messages that he conveyed through his writing; the beauty of Kerouac��s was the flow and rhythm of the writing itself. It was a beautiful synthesis of storytelling and poetry. My style then pivoted towards free writing and free verse poetry. I loved the new feeling of the words flowing out with no edit or filter; it transformed writing into an art for me. Naturally, I began to incorporate this form of writing into my high school essays (not such a great idea). It was often misinterpreted as unedited, sloppy writing. I formed a bad habit of never revising any of my drafts, and thus points were docked.

At this point in my education, I have now developed my own writing style that I feel comfortable with, and that is also acceptable for school classroom standards. I am still young, and I am ready to see where college takes me regarding my writing. In my time in college, I hope to  expand my vocabulary. I hope to express my thoughts more clearly in a sophisticated tone. I hope to expand my knowledge, so I can mature in my opinions and views on life and current events in the world.

[writingformixon]

The Underground Railroad: Understanding Slavery Through Character Narratives

By Emily Vu 

November 5, 2017

In the era of slavery, thousands of slaves, each with their own unique emotions and experiences, experienced the constant suffering of the plantation life, often risking fates worse than death. There are many sides to the history of slavery, but often times, the one that is usually shown is through a white person’s perspective. Neo-slave narratives remedy this by creating a more accurate portrayal of the first-hand effects of slavery. The intimate, raw, and emotional stories of both the freedom-seeking slaves and the predatory slave catchers are brought to life by Colson Whitehead in his novel, The Underground Railroad. By incorporating these character narratives, Whitehead captures the unfiltered essence of slaves’ struggle for freedom and conveys a deeper understanding of the history of slavery.

Whitehead’s use of character narratives in his novel is essential in understanding the genre of neo-slave narratives. According to the Oxford Bibliographies, neo-slave narratives are fictitious accounts of slavery that emphasize personal experiences of the detrimental effects of slavery (Kennon). In Judie Newman’s novel, Slave Narratives and Neo-Slave Narratives, Newman, in describing how the neo-slave narrative works, states, “Even inside the narrative itself, the reader encounters a whole host of conventional elements, including the struggle for literacy, whippings, cruel masters, despair and a failed escape, conversion or epiphany, a successful escape, renaming, and celebration (qualified or not) of freedom” (Newman, ch. 2). In neo-slave narratives, the readers are provided with a more intimate view of the injustices faced by the slaves, providing a deeper understanding in their reasons for chasing freedom.    

In his character narratives, Whitehead particularly focuses on slaves and whites of different ages, genders, and backgrounds. He depicts the different mindsets and outlooks on life that each individual person has adopted. Whitehead expounds on the unique mentality of each character in order to reveal a broader picture of how slavery affects people. (Olney) Whitehead’s intimate look into the lives of the characters allows readers to further understand the incentives, motives and actions of the characters, which can then be reflected in the attitudes on slavery that are prevalent in society as a whole.

Whitehead begins his novel with a first-generation slave’s journey from her homeland in Africa to North America. Throughout her journey, Ajarry, the female slave, suffers many traumatic experiences: she was sold multiple times, forced onto a ship with foreign strangers, gang-raped, and attempted suicide twice. (Whitehead) Through these experiences, Ajarry observes the cultural dynamics of slave culture, and so do the readers: “She learned to quickly adjust to the new plantations, sorting the n***er breakers from the merely cruel, the layabouts from the hardworking, the informers from the secret-keepers. Masters and mistresses in degrees of wickedness, estates of disparate means and ambition. Sometimes the planters wanted nothing more than to make a humble living, and then there were men and women who wanted to own the world, as if it were a matter of the proper acreage” (Whitehead 6). In this chapter, Whitehead uses Ajarry’s story to reveal themes that were pertinent in slave society: the status between blacks and whites, the physical and mental abuse experienced by slaves, the overall systematic uprooting of blacks from Africa to America, and the different attitudes that people held about slavery. Whitehead also uses Ajarry’s story as a preface for the introduction of the novel’s main character, Cora. With Ajarry being Cora’s grandmother, readers can see the delineation of Cora’s heritage and how it would lead to Cora being born as a slave in America. These character narratives allow readers to form a connection and empathize with the character on a personal level.

Whitehead does not limit himself to slave character narratives, but includes white narratives as well. In the chapter “Ridgeway”, Whitehead describes the life of a young white man who would grow up to become a slave catcher. He illustrates Ridgeway’s childhood and the external forces that would influence his growing hatred towards slaves and blacks. “It worked again and again, his own iron fact, in alleys and pine barrens and swamps. He finally left his father behind, and the burden of that man’s philosophy. Ridgeway was not working the spirit. He was not the smith, rendering order. Not the hammer. Not the anvil. He was the heat” (Whitehead 80). Through Ridgeway’s story, Whitehead explores the theme of nature vs. nurture. Is white supremacy an inborn, inherited trait, or is it something that is cultivated in one’s environment? Ridgeway’s upbringing shows that he was moreso cultivated by his environment, but his own inner insecurities led him to grow a strong hatred that was unmatched by others in his town, who were just blacksmiths working to live. By including a white character narrative, Whitehead provides more insight to the impact that slavery had not only on blacks, but on whites as well.

The purpose of neo-slave narratives is to prevent the misrepresentation of the history of slavery. Neo-slave narratives bring to light the suffering and trauma that often went undocumented due to the sheer lack of power that slaves held. In his novel, John Sekora introduces the concept of the “black message in a white envelope” (Fast 3). The “white envelope” is an analogy for the modification of first-hand slave narratives through a white man’s point of view. John Sekora summarizes the importance of first-hand slave narratives, stating, “The first-person voice presents the particularity of point of view that allows the narrator-protagonist the distinctive advantage of projecting his image, ordering his experiences, and presenting his thoughts in the context of his own understanding of black reality as it had worked itself out in his own life...It is a persistent defining and interpreting of personal, human, and moral identity, hence one's worth, on the slave narrator's own terms rather than on terms imposed by the society that has enslaved him or her” (Sekora 484).  The “black message in a white envelope” is why first-hand character narratives--in which we delve into the mind and body of a black slave--must be included in a modern-day book such as The Underground Railroad. Simply providing an objective historical context, or a fictitious storyline of a black slave, is insufficient in providing readers a complete perspective of the history of slavery.

The Underground Railroad is a neo-slave narrative that brings to light the injustices of slavery that often went undocumented. In his novel, Whitehead uses character narratives to illustrate the suffering and trauma that were experienced by slaves themselves, and, on the other end of the spectrum, illustrate the cultivation of white supremacy and how slave culture affected whites individually. Whitehead reveals to the readers different aspects of racism that are embedded in the institution of society and also the morals of the people.

Works Cited

Fast, Robin Riley. “Brothers and Keepers and the Tradition of the Slave Narrative.” MELUS,

vol. 22, no. 4, 1997, pp. 3–20. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/467986.

Kennon, Raquel. “Neo-Slave Narratives.” Oxford Bibliographies , Oxford University Press, 26

July 2017, www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780190221911/obo-9780190221911-0017.xml.

Newman, Judie. “Slave Narratives and Neo-Slave Narratives (Chapter 2) - The Cambridge

Companion to the Literature of the American South.” Cambridge Core, Cambridge University Press, Aug. 2013, www.cambridge.org/core/books/the-cambridge-companion-to-the-literature-of-the-american-south/slave-narratives-and-neo-slave-narratives/7B95FD2035591349CCF66203EA274344/core-reader.

Olney, James. “‘I Was Born’: Slave Narratives, Their Status as Autobiography and as

Literature.” Callaloo, no. 20, 1984, pp. 46–73. JSTOR, JSTOR,

www.jstor.org/stable/2930678. Sekora, John. “Black Message/White Envelope: Genre, Authenticity, and Authority in the

Antebellum Slave Narrative.” Callaloo, no. 32, 1987, pp. 482–515. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2930465.

Whitehead, Colson. The Underground Railroad: A Novel. First edition. New York: Doubleday,

2016.

[writingformixon]

RIP Essay: A Rhetorical Analysis of My RIP Project

Emily Vu

December 10, 2017

From the era of slavery to the civil rights movement to the #BlackLivesMatter movement, there has been a recurring theme of black inequality in America. The civil rights movement was one of the most historically significant events of 20th century America, particularly due to great leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Both figures contributed to the success of the civil rights movement, but many often stigmatized Malcolm X due to his controversial and less peaceful methods of protest. Because Martin Luther King Jr. is so glorified in American history, it is deemed equally as important to focus on his so-called “counterpart”, Malcolm X. In my RIP project, I used the genre of creative nonfiction to develop a full portrait analysis of Malcolm X. Using this genre, I am able to create empathy for Malcolm X by descriptively illustrating Malcolm X’s difficult upbringing; establish his credibility by describing his growth in maturity through his conversion to Islam; and highlight the importance of his role in the civil rights movement in comparison to Martin Luther King Jr. Limelighting the lesser-appreciated Malcolm X gives the audience a new perspective not only on the leader, but on the civil rights movement itself.

In my analysis of Malcolm X, I wanted to communicate my information to the readers in such a way that they would be educated on the topic of Malcolm X and the civil rights movement while also enjoying a creatively written read (Kasia). I decided to write an exposition on Malcolm X in a long-form journalism piece that falls under the genre of creative nonfiction. Forms within this genre include biography, autobiography, memoir, diary, travel writing, literary journalism, and personal essays (Gutkind). All of these forms educate the readers while also keeping them engaged by leveraging the creative freedom that these forms of writing permit, such as colloquial vocabulary, narrative storytelling, descriptive details, and other creative rhetorical devices. These forms are reports on the world that are written with a particular sensibility from the author’s life and perspective of others. (Borich) As simply stated by the “godfather of creative nonfiction”, Lee Gutkind, creative nonfiction works are “true stories, well told.” (Gutkind)

The genre creative nonfiction allowed me to vary between different types of tones, diction, and syntax in order to craft a more interesting essay. I brought my essay to life through the use of detailed and artistic imagery, creative syntax, and a storyline narrative (Figueroa). I wanted to introduce Malcolm X using a creative artistic writing style in order to hook the readers: “At first impression, it’s easy to label Malcolm X as a sort of villain, but given the way that whites treated blacks with extreme brutality, it makes sense that Malcolm had seen no other way. In order to understand his ideologies, one must understand the origin of his passion and rage” (Vu). By setting this tone for my essay, I could transition into using a storyline narrative for the rest of my essay, which would create a good flow to my long-form article. I could thus start my essay with sentences such as, “This is the context of his story. It’s the late 1950’s; blacks continue to experience segregation and discrimination in both the North and South...” or “Several years later, Malcolm X took a Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca to learn about the Muslim religion. During the trip, Malcolm spent eleven days in the Muslim world, where he lived among white Muslims” (Vu). By starting my paragraphs in this way, I could capture the reader’s attention in such a way that news reports cannot. Subconsciously, the reader feels as if they are reading a novel that has a beginning, middle, and end. There is something that lies ahead in my article, and they must continue to read the article to find out what it is. A news report does not have this same enticement because their purpose is to simply inform; however, my purpose is to go beyond that by encouraging critical thinking in my essay.

Another advantage of using the creative nonfiction genre is the freedom I have in including my personal opinions in my essay. (Nordquist) For example, I describe how Malcolm X’s tough upbringing fostered his violent mentality: “In the ghetto, Malcolm noticed that there was a strong omnipresent hatred among the people. But it wasn’t towards the whites–it was towards themselves...At this point in his life, young Malcolm’s rage had taken him too far. He had believed that blacks could not feel like men until they could defy whites. As on a seesaw, blacks could only be up if whites were down. But nonetheless, Malcolm’s core philosophies still had good intentions” (Vu). By describing Malcolm X’s life story in detail, I am able to create empathy in the readers by showing them how difficult it was to grow up as an African-American in 1950’s America. Utilizing pathos appeal in this way is especially important when describing a biographical profile of a single character. This is one of the biggest advantages in writing my essay as an in-depth portrait analysis rather than an academic essay; it is not seen as discreditable to utilize emotional appeal in my essay to persuade my audience. Because my audience already knows before reading my essay that I will be writing about Malcolm X’s life story, they are open to the fact that I am going to describe his story with emotion. I can then use this to my advantage by starting my essay out with an emotional hook, then backing it up with strong evidence from historical sources.

In my later paragraphs comparing Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr, I leveraged my creative freedom and freedom of form to effectively convey the most philosophical ideas in my essay. I transitioned from a sole focus on Malcolm X to a broader look on the dynamic between Malcolm X and his complementary “counterpart” Martin Luther King Jr. In the last paragraph, I wanted to go beyond the portrait analysis of Malcolm X and communicate a more broader theme that relates to today’s society: “Despite these differences, both men shared one trait that leveraged the civil rights movement into the right direction: passion. What really matters is the difference that they made for all blacks in American society, not the way they achieved their goals. Without these two leaders, the black community would not be where it is today” (Vu). This is the most important takeaway from my essay because it connects themes of inequality from the civil rights era to themes of inequality of today. I wanted this to resonate with my readers and encourage them to critically think about the state of our society regarding black inequality.

In writing my RIP essay, I wanted to choose a genre that would best communicate the importance of my thesis on Malcolm X. This is especially important in writing about Malcolm X because of the stigma around his violent methods of protest during the civil rights movement. Knowing that my general audience would already have a slight bias against Malcolm X, I’d have to work extra hard to persuade them otherwise. The genre of creative nonfiction best helped me achieve this due to the creative freedom that it gave me in all aspects of writing. I used artistic and descriptive diction in describing the life story of Malcolm X to emotionally appeal to my readers. I established my personal presence into the essay by actively injecting my personal opinions and philosophical thoughts on the topic. I adopted a storyline narrative to make my long-form article easy and digestible to read. Using the genre of creative nonfiction allowed me to effectively convey the significance of Malcolm X’s role in the civil rights movement of 1950s-1960s America.

Works Cited

Borich, Barrie Jean. “What Is Creative Nonfiction?” Barrie Jean Borich, Barrie Jean Borich,

2013, barriejeanborich.com/what-is-creative-nonfiction-an-introduction/.

Figueroa, Jocelyn. “Literary Journalism: The Elements of Creative Non-Fiction.” LetterPile,

HubPages Inc., 27 May 2017, letterpile.com/writing/Literary-Journalism-The-Elements-of-Creative-Non-Fiction.

Gutkind, Lee. “What Is Creative Nonfiction?” What Is Creative Nonfiction? | Creative

Nonfiction, Creative Nonfiction, www.creativenonfiction.org/online-reading/what-creative-nonfiction.

Kasia Kovacs. “How to Engage Readers with Digital Longform Journalism.” American Press

Institute, American Press Institute, 1 Dec. 2016, www.americanpressinstitute.org/publications/reports/strategy-studies/engaging-longform-journalism/.

Nordquist, Richard. "Creative Nonfiction." ThoughtCo, Apr. 19, 2017,

thoughtco.com/what-is-creative-nonfiction-1689941.

Vu, Emily. “A Portrait of Malcolm X.” The Great Mixon, Tumblr, 5 Dec. 2017,

writingformixon.tumblr.com/tagged/rip.

[writingformixon]

A Portrait of Malcolm X

 By Emily Vu

December 5, 2017

A portrait analysis of Malcolm X and his role in the civil rights movement.

Malcolm X’s Story

Malcolm X does not have the best legacy--many prefer to praise King for his more peaceful and controlled approach. Evidently, Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a widely celebrated holiday, but there is seldom praise for Malcolm X and his works. Malcolm X believed a “bloody revolution” was the only way to gain freedom, igniting the fury of the black community with his passionate speeches: “It’s the ballot or the bullet. It’s liberty or it’s death. It’s freedom for everybody or freedom for nobody” (Media). At first impression, it’s easy to label Malcolm X as a sort of villain, but given the way that whites treated blacks with extreme brutality, it makes sense that Malcolm had seen no other way. In order to understand his ideologies, one must understand the origin of his passion and rage.

This is the context of his story. It’s the late 1950’s; blacks continue to experience segregation and discrimination in both the North and South. The mindset of American society still views blacks as inferior and unequal to whites. There are stories of lynchings, KKK riots, fires, and countless murders. Every day, blacks are forced to deal with the brutal and life-threatening bullying from whites everywhere. What can you do? It’s difficult to exercise peace in a time like this. With all of this, young Malcolm X begins to believe that the “white man is the devil” (X 105). His anger towards the white man manifests into his movement through violence. If the whites are allowed to treat us with violence, why shouldn’t we do the same?

In the ghetto, Malcolm noticed that there was a strong omnipresent hatred among the people. But it wasn’t towards the whites--it was towards themselves. He saw self-hatred. “Negro men and women,” he wrote, “have been brainwashed into believing that the black people are ‘inferior’” (Byrd 151). From seeing this, Malcolm X decided to take action and change the thinking of his people. He inspired his followers to turn their shame into pride, and to redirect their self-hatred towards the white society. At this point in his life, young Malcolm’s rage had taken him too far. He had believed that blacks could not feel like men until they could defy whites. As on a seesaw, blacks could only be up if whites were down (X 45). But nonetheless, Malcolm’s core philosophies still had good intentions. He knew that the solution to the race problem was largely internal. The blacks first had to change and improve themselves individually in order to change society as a whole (Cruden 170).

Malcolm X’s Pilgrimage to Mecca

Several years later, Malcolm X took a Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca to learn about the Muslim religion. During the trip, Malcolm spent eleven days in the Muslim world, where he lived among white Muslims. In his letter he wrote this: “We were truly all the same (brothers) -- because their belief in one God had removed the ‘white’ from their minds, the ‘white’ from their behavior, and the ‘white’ from their attitude” (Byrd 259). Malcolm’s hatred for the white man was unjustified, and he realized that not all white men are evil. This pilgrimage to Mecca had broadened his perspective and to quote, “re-arranged his thought-patterns” (Byrd 212). Towards the end of his letter, he explains what he thinks is the best solution to such a destructive problem of race: “...perhaps if white Americans could accept the Oneness of God, then perhaps too, they could accept in reality the Oneness of Man--and cease to measure, and hinder, and harm others in terms of their ‘differences’ in color” (Byrd 123). After experiencing the Muslim world in Mecca, Malcolm’s outlook on white society had changed. His once violent ways had transformed into a more peaceful and uniting fight for freedom. This had a significant effect on how he would lead his followers in the civil rights movement.

Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.

Malcolm X and King had many political and philosophical views that could not be reconciled. King believed that Malcolm “urging Negroes to arm themselves and prepare to engage in violence...would reap nothing but grief”. Malcolm’s supporters saw King as a “polished Uncle Tom” (Baldwin 8). But toward the end of Malcolm’s movement in the mid-1960s, Malcolm and King’s philosophies began to converge. Both men believed that solutions to America’s race problem would increasingly be economic rather than political. Malcolm X argued that “the American black man should be focusing his every effort on building his own businesses, and decent homes for himself” (Cruden 41). To no surprise, time proved them right. The proportion of black workers with white-collar jobs has risen from 10% to 40%. The assimilation of blacks into American life could not be done without the crusades of both King and Malcolm. King’s faith in integration and Malcolm X’s emphasis on pride were both important attributes to the progression of the civil rights movement.

Malcolm X is often misunderstood. The separatist “prophet of rage”, the violent civil rights leader that white Americans loathed--these are the flattened caricatures that people liked to see him as. However, Malcolm was much more than that. He was not the rival against Martin Luther King Jr, but rather the complementary civil rights force needed to balance with King. King was for peace; Malcolm was for violence. King would not be able to fight equality with peace alone, and Malcolm’s violent methods would be catastrophic to the movement (X 256). Despite these differences, both men shared one trait that leveraged the civil rights movement into the right direction: passion. What really matters is the difference that they made for all blacks in American society, not the way they achieved their goals. Without these two leaders, the black community would not be where it is today.

Works Cited

Baldwin, Lewis V. “Malcolm X and Martin Luther King. Jr: What They Thought About Each

Other.  Islamic Studies, vol. 25, no. 4, 1986, pp. 395–416. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/20839793.

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