Post #4

Yesterday when we went to Harlem it made me feel grateful for what I have. The tour guide kept saying how Harlem is such a beautiful city with no garbage and a very clean place to live. In my opinion, it was not a very clean place at all. This shows how different life styles people have and how they change when you go to different locations. Another interesting thing that I thought was when the tour guide kept saying that we were his family. That enlightened me because even though he was black he was able to share that we were all equal. It was such a great experience to be in a place where the black people don't always hold grudges on the white people. It made me feel great because now we can finally say that racism is not becoming such a big issue in the world. 

Another thing that really shocked me was Neal Shoemaker. He said that the black people received their names after the jobs that they did when working for their white slave-master. I thought it was interesting how he still carried the name "Shoemaker" after one of his relatives who was a shoemaker. 

My favorite part of the trip was the Apollo Theater. I thought it was absolutely incredible to be in a place of so much history and where many famous artists have performed. The tour guide at the Apollo, Billy, was an amazing singer and to be that is just amazing. He was full of energy and loved being around us, which made me love being around him too. 

The Apollo Theatre and Billy reminded me of a place that I go on vacation to, Woodloch Pines. I go there every year with my family and we absolutely love it. It reminded me of the Apollo Theatre because every year when we go there, there is a fancy night where everyone dresses up in their best clothes. In addition to this, there is a performance of singers that we get to watch and be entertained by. The signers are amazing as well as the dance moves and songs. 

http://www.woodlochedge.com/magazine/content/magazine.htm

This is the link to one of the pages of Woodloch Pines. This website gives you a preview on what activities will be available, which makes the vacation even more fun. 

Post #3

I am really bothered by the fact that Malcolm always talks about the "blue-eyed devil white man". I understand that back then the whites had treated the blacks which much disrespect. This disrespect was beyond anything I have ever heard of, and it is absolutely horrible to even think of it. Every time Malcolm says something about what whites did to blacks in the past, it makes me feel guilty that I am white. Malcolm says while lecturing," I want you, when you leave this room, to start to see all this whenever you see his devil white man. Oh, yes, he's a devil! I just want you to start watching him, in his places where he doesn't want you around; watch him reveling in his preciousness, and his exclusiveness, and his vanity, while he continues to subjugate you and me"  (217). Malcolm takes a stand about these white men and think that they are all devils. I completely disagree with what he says. What he feels toward the white men is beyond hatred. I feel that every black man was against every white man. The "devil white man" has definitely acted horribly to people of different races, including blacks. But, some white men were actually good and did help the black people get away from their slave-masters. For example, during the times of slavery, some white men did help their slaves escape to the under ground railroad. This shows that some whites were sympathetic towards how blacks were treated. So when Malcolm says "the devil white man" I get so mad because not everyone feels the same way and everyone has different opinions on certain things. I know that I am speaking from a white persons point of view but if one black person did something horrible to me I wouldn't take it out on the entire race. It just seems to me that Malcolm is making the racism movement worse when at times in the 50's and 60's they were just getting better. And what also bothers me is that Malcolm openly says it to the media and public that he white man is the devil. That takes a great amount of courage because the way that the white men acted towards the blacks, I feel that Malcolm could have gotten killed for expressing his feelings. 

http://actingwhite.blogspot.com/2008/03/acting-white-black-racism-white-racism.html

This article tells stories of racism and reverse racism. It tells how whites treated blacks and how the blacks retaliated. 

Post #2

After Malcolm was put in jail, he began to follow Elijah Muhammad and the Islamic religion. Mr. Muhammad wanted Malcolm to become a recruiter and recruit black people into the Islamic religion so that their religion could be spread and well-known throughout the black societies. This was a trouble that Malcolm had to overcome because whenever he tried to recruit people, they would not listen to him. Malcolm said, "It angered me that only now and then would one display even a little curiosity about the teachings that would resurrect the black man (203)." This troubled Malcolm in the first place because he felt so strongly about Mr. Muhammad's teachings and he wanted others to share the experience with him.  Most of them would not follow because they were followers of the Christian religion. Malcolm said at a lecture," ... this blue-eyed devil has twisted his Christianity, to keep his foot on our backs... to keep our eyes fixed on the pie in the sky and heaven in the hereafter... while he enjoys his heaven right here... on this earth... in this life (205)." Malcolm tried to convince those that followed the Christian religion that they were followers of the white mans teachings when they should be staying faithful to the black man and follow the Islamic religion. 

I understand how Malcolm felt when he was trying to recruit people into his religion. I have never tried to recruit someone into a religion, but I have tried many times to recruit people into running cross country.  Our cross country team doesn't consist much of a girls team. I believe that this is because many girls are scared to run.  If you have two legs, you can run. It doesn't matter if you are slow or if you are the fastest girl in the world, just come to a practice and see if you like it. But what bothers me is that no one will even try to run and they think its too hard. Running is running, it is never too hard once you get used to it. You can even ask Christa, we always try to recruit people and they don't take the time at all to even show up and see what we are all about. 

http://www.temeculalipstick.com/Join_my_Team_.html

This is just an example of how this woman, Kelly, tried to recruit people into using her products. 

Post #1

Reading chapter 11 while Malcolm is learning about the Islamic religion, it makes me think of how people learn today. Malcolm studies in a way that people who have a good education today would not quite understand. Malcolm questions," Where else but in prison could I have attacked my ignorance by being able to study intensely sometimes as much as fifteen hours a day" (183). I disagree with what Malcolm says here because Malcolm is using his studying method out of boredom. It seems to me that if he had never went to prison, he would have never even thought to pick up a book and read about certain topics. He also would have been satisfied with living his life robbing houses and selling drugs because he received money in return. People today, study of out achievement. They want to study to accomplish a certain goal that they have, which takes hard work and dedication. I'm not saying that people who have a poor education can't study and accomplish goals, I am just pointing out that Malcolm doesn't use his methods of studying the right way. 

In addition to Malcolm's studying, this reminded me of one of my friends. She is extremely into her social life and cares more about her friends than she does her school work. The day she found out she was failing some of her classes she decided to be a diligent worker. She studied all the time and found her grades suddenly approving. 

This relates to Malcolm X because my friend picked herself up from a bad situation because she felt that it would be better for herself. Malcolm, on the other hand, only decided to start his studying because he had no other choice in prison and would keep him occupied.

http://www.edquest.ca/content/view/57/

I found this website about studying tips that can improve the way you study. This also reminded me of Malcolm X because Malcolm wanted to learn new vocabulary so he read the dictionary and some of the methods he used are in the article above.

In response to the video that we watched in class, I felt extremely emotional. For me, I did not realize how much racism was incorporated into the daily lives of blacks and whites. It made me feel sorry for the black people that they had to go through such hard times. I think that blacks should be treated just like the whites. I think this because if everyone treated each other equally, we would live in a society where everyone would get along. In addition, I think that it is unjust how the white people treated the blacks. Beating and killing black people for their own pleasure or even if they didn't follow a certain order was inevitable during those days. Today, I think white people still feel racist against black people, but it has improved greatly. I am glad that today we do not treat others, including black people, with such disrespect like the whites used to do towards the black people. 

Another significant event in Malcolm's life was when his friend, Shorty, conked his hair. The black people did this because they wanted to be just like the white people so this straightened their hair to look like the white peoples hair. After Shorty was finished with Malcolm's hair, Malcolm said,"How ridiculous I was! Stupid enough to stand here simply lost in admiration of my hair now looking 'white,' reflected in the mirror in Shorty's room. I vowed that I'd never again be without a conk, and i never was for many years" (56). This expresses how at first, Malcolm was ashamed with himself because he was just like every other black man who was trying to look white. But after this, Malcolm liked the way that he looked and didn't care if he tried to look white.

I believe that one of the turning points in Malcolm's life was when he was sent to the detention home to live with Mr. and Mrs. Swerlin. Even though he was the only black kid in the school and thought of himself as a "pink poodle", he still was able to achieve success. He was his class president and was in the top of his class. Mrs. Swerlin said one day,"Malcolm, we're just so proud of you! (33). Malcolm was treated as a "good Negro". Back in those days, African-Americans were sometimes not even allowed to be the class president or even go to the same school as the white people. Even though Malcolm knew he was misplaced, he still felt that he was treated with respect compared to others.