In Malcolm x learning to read shows the power of education and how it strengthen someone’s mind and their way of thought. Malcolm x shows the effort he puts in to educate himself even though he was in prison. Malcolm soon started to realize how his people are being treated during this era. Even though Malcolm was imprisoned for petty theft being in jail made him realize what he needed to educate himself. In the text it stated “it was sad. I couldn’t even write in a straight line” pg 258. This is what made Malcolm realize that it was disappointing for him as a black man not to be educated. And this lead to him realizing that prison was actually the right place he needed to be to educate himself. Malcolm also described the white men as “devils”(Pg263) . Showing the struggle minorities went through that time and how the whites use “trickery and manipulations” to destroy others lives and to gain more power to rule and suppress others. Through education that Malcolm received in prison hr then now had a voice to show other what torment they are going through, and how they are being used and abused. According to the text it states “I read, a little bit more sensitivity to the deafness, dumbness, and blindness that was afflicting the black race in America (Pg 265). A huge amount of black in America was uneducated in this time period they were kept far from education, and without education you are looked down upon on like an animal. This is what allowed Malcolm to take the necessary steps he needed to educate himself. I took a lesson from “Learning to read” is to realize that the importance of educating yourself, and fighting against odds that are trying to stop you from achieving knowledge. No matter what time of position you are in and the struggles that comes ahead push yourself and keep pushing. Malcolm who was sent to prison for a common robbery showed us there is no excuse not to educate yourself and with education it allows doors to be open for you.
