Malcolm
X had a large number of literacy sponsors, ranging from real people, the
writings of real people, and entire institutions. They include the library at Norfolk
Prison, by providing the books which he read during his imprisonment, Bimbi, who
first inspired Malcolm to learn by always leading the conversations with his
personal knowledge. Another person who sponsored Malcolm, this time through
books, was Elijah Muhammad, who wrote the books that most impacted Malcolm, and
lead him to fight for black rights. Muhammad only became a sponsor for Malcolm
through the help of Charles H. Parkhurst, who donated a bunch of books for the
prison. Other sponsors include authors
and intellectuals such as Will Durant, H.G. Wells, W.E.B. Du Bois, Carter G.
Woodson, J.A. Rogers, Gregor Mendel, Arnold Toynbee, and ideas such as when he
found the horrors of slavery, and philosophy. Also included are the pamphlets
from the anti-slavery society.
Since
his sponsors included all sorts of people, it is almost guaranteed that some of
his readings were from a white perspective, which makes it possible that there
were some writings that were against his ideals. One case that comes to mind is
the writings of Arnold Toynbee, who, as stated by Malcolm, “…Toynbee is among
those who have helped to bleach history” (pg3), which means that in his
ultimate ideals, Malcolm misappropriated Arnold’s sponsorship.
from the reading, we can ask about the issue of race relations, and their state in today's society.
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