so many thoughts #2: malcolm x

i just finished alex haley's book called "the autobiography of malcolm x". from @1959 until malcolm's death in (i think) 1964, haley became one of the few, and i mean FEW, people that malcolm x trusted with his life secrets and stories, as well as with the monumental task of compiling a book out of these deeply emotional and zealous opening-ups of x's mind and heart.
by the time the book was to be completed, malcolm x had long been burned (not literally) by the "black muslim" groups led by the claimed Messenger of Allah, Mr. Elijah Muhammad. he had taken his "hajj" to Mecca, which clearly marked the turn of his thinking in many ways: going from a zealous, angry african american "muslim", to a deeply orthodox, increasingly open-minded, angry african american muslim. his thinking (taught to him by mr. elijah muhammad) that all white people were "devils" shifted into an awareness that it wasn't the white man he hated and considered evil, but the systems and structures in america that allowed ANY race to think they were superior--and therefore maintain their way of living in that superiority--to another race. he began to come across scores of white people who respected him, who hated what had happened to the african race in america, and who wanted to join with him in changing the ways of thinking of so many whites at that time.

i just want to say that the book has stayed with me for many days. the first few were a bit hectic, including feelings of paranoia that i was being followed, as well as a deep anger at the countless poverty-stricken africans i live near to, the shacks i see everywhere, the clear line that still runs deep between white and black in this country. however, after these intense emotions subsided, and i started realizing I was not the one being chased by crazed gangsters-turned-"followers of elijah muhammad", i was able to really think about the book in a thankful, productive way.

it's incredible. it's challenging. it's heart-breaking. it's unlike anything else i've read. to quote spike lee, "the most important book i'll ever read. it changed the way i thought, it changed the way i acted. it has given me courage that i didn't know i had inside me. i'm one of the hundreds of thousands whose life was changed for the better."