Malcolm X and Literacy
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As a child Malcolm Little, later known as Malcolm X, suffered through discrimination, racial violence and economic oppression. In his retrospection of his childhood Malcolm X's life was very rough and harsh. Malcolm X knew what it was like to be dirt poor. To escape poverty, he made money by selling drugs, committing robbery and burglarizing houses, which eventually led to his imprisonment. Life at the Norfolk Prison Colony started what Malcolm X now refers to as "A Homemade Education". Through reading and writing, Malcolm X became literate. Literacy gave him the ability to decipher books, documents, magazines, poems, and other literature. Some might say being incarcerated at this particular prison was fortunate for Malcolm X because he was encouraged by many people within the facility to practice his reading and writing.
Starting out with copying the dictionary onto numerous tablets, Malcolm X learned an immense vocabulary. This vocabulary was very important in the process of becoming literate...