Gabriel Hudson
No introduction, lets just get into it.
When reading this book one thing that stuck out to me was when Malcolm explains his short and unsuccessful boxing career. Not the fact that he got beaten so badly twice but the fact that every "negro" in the neighborhood knew about it. Initially I thought that this is due to them having a united community but it has changed to: Does this mean they have a united community? Possibly. It could mean that everyone knew Malcolm. Or that they knew him as " that boy over there that got beat." This could mean that everyone knows each other one way or another. Perhaps they know Malcolm as Philbert's brother because of his reputation of being a natural boxer. Was it the same way the other way around? Did everyone in the"white boy's" community know that he beat a "negro?" Did he walk through his community with his head high while Malcolm hid his? Perhaps no body knew or cared? Would that make the black community more united than the white?
Another part of the text that stuck out to me was when Malcolm had to stay with the Swerlins in the detention home. Specifically the part where he remembers fondly of when the Swerlins would have conversations about negros right in front of Malcolm. How did he not realize the relationship between whites and African Americans right then and there? How is that possible? The Swerlins even stated, "I just can't see how ni**ers can be so happy and be so poor." At that moment how do you not even feel slightly offended at how they talk about your race as if their animals and to make it worse right in front of you? At least Malcolm did eventually realize that the Swerlins looked at Malcolm as a pet but this moment right here should have been the turning point. What was the difference between the moment with Mr.Ostrowski and the moment with the Swerlins that made Mr.Ostrowski's statement eye-opening but not the Swerlins'?...
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