Malcolm X Essay, Research Paper

Personally, I have easily come to appreciate Malcolm X’s willpower,

dedication and his ability to grow as a human being. I never understood how

much change he encountered throughout his short life. It only shows me how

open-minded he was and how willing he was to except the truth. Being a Muslim

myself, I am very proud to have had a leader such as El-Hajj Malik

El-Shabazz. You notice that I didn’t say a leader like Malcolm X, for he did

not teach the real religion of Islam at that point of his life. I had a few

problems with Malcolm X’s views while he was a part of the Black Nation of Islam.

While being a member of the Black Nation of Islam, Malcolm X taught racism and discrimination which I have a big problem with. If he knew the true

religion of islam at that time, we would have never said such ridiculous and

hatred speeches against the white people. I do understand that he was

frustrated and in fact I can even understand where his hatred of the whites

came from. He had lost his father, his mother and all his siblings to people

who believed in white supremacy. But whatever the case, I do not

believe in violence and hatred, especially coming from such a powerful and

respected leader of a very large number of people. Non-violence is what

attracted me and made me respect Ghandi as leader. Ghandi also had so

much will power and dedication to his tribe yet never hurt anyone. I did

appreciate Malcolm’s willingness to change!

From a rebellious child, to a leader of the Black Nation of Islam,

to becoming the leader of Muslim Mosque Inc, and finally a founder of the Afro-American Unity. From inheriting the name Malcolm Little and then

adopting the name Detroit Red, later on voluntarily changing it to Malcolm X

and finally chose to be called El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz. As you can easily

see Malcolm was a man of change. It didn’t seem to matter to him how often he

changed his name or what organization he was a leader of as long as he was

getting to the truth. I admire his passion and commitment to learn and teach

the truth about God. It’s very encouraging to see how much a person can

change. From being convicted of a crime and sentenced to ten years in

prison, to becoming an unforgettable religious leader. I think his story

gives a lot of hope for those youth who are struggling through their

rebellious adolescents.

I don’t think I’ve ever known anyone as fearless as El-Hajj Malik

E-Shabazz. He had his house burned down and constant threatening phone calls

made to him, yet he never even considered giving up on his tribe. He

lost his life fighting for a good cause. I will never forget or devalue

Malcolm’s story. I do wish there were more people like Malcolm in this

world.

Over the years I have often heard the name Malcolm X, yet I never

appreciated what he really did over his life span. Malcolm X’s most well-known

quote is “..by and means necessary..” what many don’t understand including

myself when I started researching Malcolm X was that he stressed the fact

about knowing what is necessary in each situation. He didn’t believe that

you should kill a white man that disagrees with your ideas for there are

other alternatives to choose from. Yet he did believe that it was necessary

to kill someone thet was going to kill you.

Malcolm was an aggressive leader, yet he wasn’t violent. In fact if you try to find situations that he had physically hurt anyone, you won’t! It was never necessary for him to do so. Malcolm’s Story is very touching and very educational. A very important question that comes to mind when speaking of Malcolm X is did he reach his goal? The answer to this question is very simple to me especially being a Muslim. Islam is the truth and the right religion for

me; therefore, Malcolm reached his goal for he did end up teaching Islam while

discouraging racism and discrimination. Malcolm also improved the position of

the black tribe for many had to take them more seriously. I am very happy

to have chosen Malcolm X for my presentation. Now I know more of a very

important individual in our history. He also gave me much hope that people

could change for the better. More people should learn about Malcolm’s quest

because it is bound to have an impact on anyone. Malcolm did not only have

an impact on those of his time, but it seems he has an even bigger impact on

those like me who came years later.