Malcolm X Thesis

Adnan Basic
As a Muslim growing up in the United States, I always had an innate curiosity for Malcolm X. I knew very little of him, with the only information I knew was that he was a black civil rights leader who converted to Islam, and was synonymous with the Nation of Islam. Through reading his autobiography, I not only got to learn how he became a Muslim, but why he had converted. This conversion not only lead to him becoming a better person, but a better leader, which helped him become a key figure in the civil rights movement.
Most importantly, Islam saved his life. Before being introduced to the religion, Malcolm X was headed toward a path of certain demise. He was in jail, serving time being charged with robbery. Not only was he a criminal, but a drug addict as well. He became dependent on cocaine, and had a terrible time trying to give up the habit. He suffered from withdrawal, making him an angry mess. He was a disobedient prisoner, which lead to him suffering a long time in solitary confinement. At
Before conversion, Malcolm tried to fit in with white culture. He added chemicals to his hair to make it seems more white, and would date white women in order to gain acceptance with the white man. He begun to forget that, throughout his life, he suffered due to the hands of white people. White KKK members burned down his house and killed his father. A white women seperated his family and locked his mother up in a mental institution. White cops arrested him, and a white judge sentenced him to a much longer jail sentence that was legally allowed. Through Islam, and the teachings of Elijah Muhammad, he begun to realize how much of his life was ruined by someone that was white. He ends up dropping his last name after Elijah explains to him that black slaves had their last names given to them by their white master. Without Islam, Malcolm might have continued to conform to white