Victoria Durden on Malcom X

For my summer reading I chose to read the autobiography of Malcom X. My original reasons for reading this book varied. A very close friend of mine had recommended the book to me profusely, explaining that it had changed his life. I was also drawn to Malcom X's radical reputation, and was interested in how such an iconic figure in American Black history rose to such a positon. From reading Malcom X's autobiography I was given a veritable window into African American life and culture. From the streets of Roxbury to the streets of Harlem, Malcom X colorfully describes the pleasure and the pain of black America in the 1940s with a frankness that cannot be ignored, and can only be admired. Through reading the book it is easy to understand how many people may mistke Malcom X's philosophy for the liberated black man for black supremacy, however upon closer examination, one can see that Malcom is above all an advocate for African American equality in its truest sense.