| You'll be surprised to discover that Malcolm X was | | | | new world to him. In the Autobiography of Malcolm |
| not self-taught but became interested in reading and | | | | X, he says: |
| writing because of a phenomenal educational program | | | | "Let me tell you something; from then until I left that |
| intended for prisoners all across the country. | | | | prison, in every free moment I had, if I was not |
| Elijah Muhammad, the leader of Nation of Islam | | | | reading in the library, I was reading on my bunk. You |
| created a mail campaign that gave money to | | | | couldn't have gotten me out of books with a wedge... |
| prisoners that would write a one page letter to him. | | | | Months passed without my even thinking about being |
| Imagine in the 1940s illiteracy in American prisons was | | | | imprisoned. In fact, up to then, I never have been so |
| possibly 60 percent or higher with many people | | | | truly free in my life." |
| never attending school in those days. So writing a | | | | The autobiography of Malcolm X is a great book that |
| one page letter was no small task for many in those | | | | proves what reading can do for anyone anywhere -- |
| days. | | | | even in prison. |
| Malcolm X himself had finished the 8th grade, but | | | | However if Malcolm X was writing to you today |
| admits that he was so ashamed of that one page | | | | instead of me, I know he would encourage every |
| letter he wrote to Mr. Muhammad that he wrote it | | | | man and women to go to school and utilize the |
| over and over about 25 times before he sent it. | | | | educational opportunities that he and others, black |
| In order to improve his penmanship Malcolm began | | | | and white (yes whites too) fought and died to give |
| copying words out of the dictionary. But the words | | | | to you. |
| became so fascinating to Malcolm that he copied the | | | | I'm sure he would not want you to make the same |
| whole dictionary. | | | | mistake he made of going to prison only to learn that |
| As Malcolm's vocabulary grew so did his thirst for | | | | your mind and your time is a terrible thing to waste. |
| reading. Malcolm admits that books opened a whole | | | | |