Malcolm X

So we just began reading Malcolm X last week and so far I really enjoy it. The style Haley writes in keeps me wanting to turn the page and read more. I also am interested in all of the topics that are being addressed in the first two chapters. It is very informative already. When Haley first starts discussing the KKK in the opening of the autobiography it allows me to picture the event actually happening. One specific example is when he writes, "Still shouting threats, the Klansmen finally spurred their horses and galloped around the house, shattering every window pane with their gun butts. Then they rode off into the night, their torches flaring, as suddenly as they had come"(Haley 1). Another informative piece Haley writes about is explaining the different classes of African Americans. I thought that all were treated the same during that time period; however, I was wrong. Haley explains, "Back when I was growing up, the 'successful' Lansing Negroes were such as waiters and bootblacks. To be a janitor at some downtown store was to be highly respected. The real 'elite,' the 'big shots,' the 'voices of the race,' were the waiters at the Lansing Country Club and the shoeshine boys at the state capitol"(Haley 5). This book gives the reader a lot of insights. 

The other issue that I took a lot from is when Malcolm's mother does not take any money or food from Welfare. This shows that she is a very strong woman. She does not want to seem weak or show any whites that she is not as great as them.