Sears, 1
Sears, Jenesis
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
Alex Haley and Malcolm X
Chapter 1: Nightmare
Quotes​
“The Klansmen shouted threats and warnings
at her that we had better get out of town
because ‘the good Christian white people’
were not going to stand for my father’s
‘spreading trouble’ among the ‘good’ Negroes
of Omaha with the ‘back to Africa’ teachings
of Marcus Garvey.” (p. 3)
“He believed, as did Marcus Garvey, that
freedom, independence, and self-respect could
never be achieved by the Negro in America,
and that therefore the Negro should leave
America to the white man and return to his
African land of origin.” (p. 3-4)
“It has always been my belief that I, too, will
die by violence. I have done all that I can to
be prepared.” (p. 4)
“So early in life, I had learned that if you
want something, you had better make some
noise.” (p.4)
Jun. 20, 2017
English 10 (H)
​Notes
It’s ironic how the Klansmen and other call
themselves so called “good Christian white
people”. If they are so good and religious,
why do they threaten, harm, and lynch those
who disagree with their view and superiority?
I also noticed that this irony is similar to the
one within the police force. The police are
supposed to be citizen protectors, but some
officers subject citizens to unjustified or
unlawful beatings and deaths. (C)
This belief is sort of strange , but it is
somewhat true. Black Americans are seen as
one of the most inferior races known.
Therefore we are pushed to our limits and
discriminated against. One thing wrong about
the belief is that freedom, independence, and
self-respect can be achieved by blacks. There
are Black/Afro-Americans graduating and
getting careers, creating paths for others to
follow. Therefore, these things have been
proven to be accessible to Negroes and other
races in America. (R)
I do remember that he did die by violence.
Malcolm X was murdered by people from the
Nation of Islam during a speech and took on
multiple body shots from close and far range.
(CL)
I too have learned this lesson. You don’t
necessarily need to have a tantrum or throw a
fit to get what you want, but you should be
able to voice your wants and needs. You also
have to be able to work for it as well. (C)
 Sears, 2

Sears, Jenesis
Jun. 21, 2017
English 10 (H)
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
Alex Haley and Malcolm X

Chapter 1: Nightmare
Quotes ​Notes
“She had always been a strange woman in this This reminds me of a show called “That’s so
sense, and had always had a strong intuition Raven”, which is about a young girl that can
of things about to happen.” (p. 12) see into the future. I also get similar feelings
about people. It’s almost as if I can tell how
they are before getting to know them and
most of the time I’m either correct or partially
correct. (C)

“We couldn’t understand why, if the state was
willing to give us packages of meat, sacks of
potatoes and fruit, and cans of all kinds of
things, our mother obviously hated to accept.
We really couldn’t understand. What I later
understood was that my mother was making a
desperate effort to preserve her pride -- and
ours.” (p. 16)
I know a lot of people like this, most of them
are black. We don’t like asking for a lot of
help because we have been working
collectively together to get ourselves where
we needed to be. (C)

“Whites have always hidden or justified all of
the guilts they could by ridiculing or blaming
Negroes.” (p. 19)
This actually reminds me of Adolf Hitler and
the Holocaust. When Hitler got a hold of
political power he blamed everything that
went wrong with Germany on the Jewish
people. (C)

“Hence I have no mercy or compassion in me
for a society that will crush people, and then
penalize them for not being able to stand
under the weight.” (p. 26)
Malcolm X is trying to say that he can not be
kind to and forgive people who degrade and
punish those whose spirits are weakened
when a lot of pressure is pressed upon them.
This is particularly what the state welfare
people did to his mother. They bothered,
pressed, and criticized her until she went
crazy, and then shipped her to a mental
institution. (E)

The Autobiography of Malcolm
Alex Haley and Malcolm X
Chapter 2: Mascot
Quotes
“What I am trying to say is that it just never
dawned upon them that I could understand,
that I wasn’t a pet, but a human being. They
didn’t give me credit for having the same
sensitivity, intellect, and understanding that
they would have been ready and willing to
recognize in a white boy in my position.” (p.
32)
“She was plainly very proud of her very dark
skin. This was unheard of among Negroes in
those days, especially in Lansing.” (p. 39)
“The way she sat, moved, talked, did
everything, bespoke somebody who did and
got exactly what she wanted.” (p. 39)
“‘We all here like you, you know that. But,
you’ve got to be realistic about being a
nigger. A lawyer -- that’s no realistic job for a
nigger. You need to think about something
you can be. You’re good with your hands --
making things. Everybody admires your
carpentry work. Why don’t you plan on
carpentry? People like you as a person --
Sears, 3
Sears, Jenesis
Jun. 22, 2017
English 10 (H)
​Notes
This actually reminds me of the movie
Freedom Writers.​ The teachers and staff
didn’t give the “at risk” students credit for the
progress they were making with Mrs.
Gruwell. Mrs. Gruwell was the only one,
besides Dr. Cone and a few others, that
showed and gave these kids credit for their
intellect and well beings. (C)
This is something that is starting to become
very common now. We have black people that
are growing up to be lawyers, business
people, doctors, motivational speakers,
presidents, and more this century. All those
people work very hard and are proud of
themselves and the things in their lives that
got them to that point despite all the
hardships.(C)
This reminds me of Lena Younger from ​A
Raisin in the Sun​. Lena Younger was a black
woman who swelled with pride in everything
that she did. Lena did what she wanted when
she wanted to and made sure people knew
who she was.” (C)
These are the words of Malcolm X’s teacher
Mr. Ostrowski. He tries to deter Malcolm’s
dream of becoming a lawyer and tries to sugar
coat what he’s really trying to say. The
meaning of the words are really just him not
wanting Malcolm to become more successful
than him: That’s why in those day blacks got
menial jobs simply because knowledge is

you’d get all kinds of work.’” (p.43)
“What made it really begin to disturb me was
Mr. Ostrowski’s advice to the other in my
class -- all of them white. Most of them had
told him they were planning to be farmers.
But those who wanted to strike out on their
own, to try something new, he had
encouraged. Some, mostly girls, wanted to be
teachers. A few wanted other professions,
such as one boy who wanted to become a
county agent; another, a veterinarian; and one
girl wanted to be a nurse. They all reported
that Mr. Ostrowski had encouraged what they
wanted. Yet nearly none of them had earned
marks equal to mine.” (p. 43-44)
“All praise due to Allah that I went to Boston
when I did. If I hadn’t, I’d probably still be a
brainwashed black Christian.
Chapter 3: Homeboy
“This was my first, really big step towards
self-degradation: when I endured all of that
pain, literally burning my flesh to have it look
like a white man’s hair. I had joined that
multitude of Negro men and women in
America who are brainwashed into believing
that the black people are ‘inferior’ -- and
white people are ‘superior’ -- that they will
even violate and mutilate their God-created
bodies to try to look ‘pretty’ by white
standards.” (p. 64)
“We were in the world of Negroes who are
both servants and psychologists, aware that
Sears, 4
power. Just as in slavery, the whites of
segregation didn’t want blacks to be able to be
working in jobs of superiority, so they gave
them all the less important jobs with
important sounding titles such as, fourth cook
which is really just a dish washer. (E)
In this paragraph Malcolm had asked the
other kids in his class what Mr. Ostrowski
said about their future careers. It was no
surprise to me that the classmates said that the
teacher encouraged them. It really just
expressed how racist Mr. Ostrowski really
was and the thing that made it worse was that
Malcolm was smarter than nearly all the kids
in his class. This makes me feel as if some
people were just made to denounce others to
feel superior. (R)
Malcolm X must be speaking about how most
blacks couldn’t see past the whites fake love
because they like to sugar coat the truth.
Therefore, if he wouldn’t have moved to
Boston he wouldn’t have been able to see the
true meaning of what those white people did
and said. (E)
There are people that alter themselves to
become something they aren’t. I once heard of
this girl that bleached her skin to become light
skin. I don’t know why, but it seemed kind of
offensive because she was a nice dark
complexion. (C)
I believe that Malcolm X was trying to say
that some people saw through the facade and
 Sears, 5

white people are so obsessed with their own have seen that white people would do
importance that they will pay liberally, even anything to feed their egos. This must be how
dearly, for the impression of being catered to some of them became arrogant in those days.
and entertained.” (p. 88) (R)

The Autobiography of Malcolm X
Alex Haley and Malcolm X
Chapter 6: Detroit Red
Quotes
“All women, by their nature, are fragile and
weak; they are attracted to the male in whom
they see strength.” (p. 107)
“Both white men and women it seemed,
would get almost mesmerized by Negroes.”
“ I told Reginald what I had learned: that in
order to get something you had to look as
though you already had something.” (p. 121)
“‘Daddy-o, now you and me, we’re from up
North here, so don’t you tell nobody….I want
get sent down South. Organize them nigger
soldiers, you dig? Steal us some guns, and kill
us crackers!’
That psychologist’s blue pencil dropped
and his professional manner fell off in all
directions. He stared at me as if I was a
snake’s egg hatching, fumbling for his red
pencil….A 4-F card came to me in the mail,
and I never heard from the Army anymore,
and never bothered to ask why I was
rejected.” (p. 123)
Sears, 6
Sears, Jenesis
Jun. 26, 2017
English 10 (H)
​Notes
I believe that when he said this Malcolm X
was thinking about his mother. His mother
was a strong woman, but when his father dies
that strength slowly seeped its way out of her.
(C)
It is pretty interesting to find this out
especially since during segregation days.
Someone from that time period probably
wouldn’t even think of it.” (CL)
This reminds me of I quote I’ve heard or seen
before. I don’t know when or where I heard or
seen it, but it was, “If you want that part, you
have to look the part.” (C)
I’d like to start off saying that if Malcolm X
was alive I would have given him an award
for the best dramatic acting performance. I
honestly never knew he did this and found it
interesting and very funny. How can a
well-trained professional psychologist believe
that act? (Q)
 Sears, 7

Sears, Jenesis
Jul. 5, 2017
English 10 (H)
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
Alex Haley and Malcolm X

Chapter 10: Satan

Quotes
“I was going through that hardest thing, also
the greatest thing, for any human being to do;
to accept that which is already within you and
around you.” (p. 189)
​Notes
Just as Malcolm X does, I think that accepting
things the way they are is one of the greatest
and hardest things to do. There are people that
either make their lives or other people’s lives
miserable because they can’t accept the world
as it is. (R) (C)

Chapter 11: Saved

“...the history of the Negro had been covered When I was working on US History in middle
in one paragraph…” (p. 200) school there was only a paragraph about black
people in a certain section. That was a bit
upsetting. (C)

The Autobiography of Malcolm X
Alex Haley and Malcolm X
Chapter 12: Savior
“In the years to come , I was going to have to
face a psychological and spiritual crisis.” (p.
247)
Chapter 13: Minister Malcolm X
“When I saw our Brother Hinton it was all I
could do to contain myself. He was only
semiconscious. Blood bathed his head, face,
and shoulder. I hope I never again have to
withstand seeing another case a sheer police
brutality like that.” (p. 269)
“(After that operation, the Nation of Islam
helped him to sue; a jury awarded him over
$70,000, the largest police brutality judgment
that New York City has ever paid.)” (p. 270)
Sears, 8
Sears, Jenesis
Jul. 20, 2017
English 10 (H)
Malcolm X must be talking about when he
broke off his connection to the Nation of
Islam because he did hit a few rough patches
concerning in his belief in Elijah
Muhammad’s words and teachings. (CL)
This reminds me of Marlene Pinnock’s case.
The damage wasn’t as severe as Hinton’s, but
she was repeatedly punched in the head and
face. (C)
When Marlene Pinnock sued the Highway
Patrol she won a large sum of money which
now keeps her off the streets. (C)

The Autobiography of Malcolm X
Alex Haley and Malcolm X
Chapter 16: Out
Quotes
“But the threat of death was much closer to
me than somewhere in Louisiana. What I am
telling you is the truth. When I discovered
who else wanted me dead. I am telling you --
it nearly sent me to Bellevue.” (p. 339)
‘But in the physical divorce, I could not evade
the obvious strategy and plotting coming out
of Chicago to eliminate me from the Nation of
Islam… if not from this world. And I feel that
I perceived the anatomy of the plotting.” (p.
351)
Sears, 9
Sears, Jenesis
Jul. 25, 2017
English 10 (H)
​Notes
As he had mentioned earlier in the book, he
has an intuition of things to happen. This must
be that intuition telling him that the Nation of
Islam is planning his due date soon. The other
person that must’ve wanted him dead had to
be none other than Elijah Muhammad. It
seems to be the only logical explanation for
Malcolm X to be nearly sent to Bellevue since
he basically believes that Elijah Muhammad
is godly. (R)
I think that he means that even though he
wasn’t mentally ready to leave the Nation of
Islam, he couldn’t help the things that were
being done to get him kicked out. Also he has
caught on to the plan of his isolation. (E)

The Autobiography of Malcolm X
Alex Haley and Malcolm X
Chapter 17: Mecca
“Ella had started studying under Boston
orthodox Muslim, then she founded a school
where Arabic was taught! She couldn’t speak
it, she hired teachers who did. That’s Ella!
She deals in real estate , and she was saving
up to make the pilgrimage. Nearly all night,
we talked in her living room. She told me
there was no question about it, it was more
important that I go….A strong woman. She
had broken the spirits of three husbands, more
driving and dynamic than all combined. She
had played a very significant role in my life.”
(p. 367)
“He also pointed out how color, the
complexities of color, and the problems of
color which exist in the Muslim world, exist
only where, and to the extent that, that area of
the Muslim world has been influenced by the
West.” (p. 385)
“The ​color-blindness​ of the Muslim world’s
religious society and the ​color-blindness​ of
the Muslim world’s human society: these two
influences had each day been making a
greater impact, and an increasing persuasion
against my previous way of thinking.” (p.389)
“‘There were tens of thousands of pilgrims
from all over the world. They were of all
colors, from blue-eyed, blonds to
black-skinned Africans. But we were all
participating in the same ritual, displaying a
spirit of unity and brotherhood that my
experiences in America had led me to believe
never could exist between the white and the
non-white.” (p. 390)
Sears, 10
Sears, Jenesis
Jul. 26, 2017
English 10 (H)
I think that this explains his appreciation and
admiration for Ella. This is Malcolm X’s half
sister who took him in and dealt with his
growth and changes. She was there when he
was wild with zoot suits, conks, and lindy
hopping. She has showed her pride for dark
skin and her physical and psychological
strength. Ella has even paid for the great
pilgrimage to Mecca. She is indeed a strong,
independent woman. (R)
This is pretty ironic because people come to
America to escape problems similar to this.
Yet we have issues with race and sexuality,
which is pretty weird because America is
supposed to be the land of the free. (R)
By color-blindness, Malcolm X means that
the true Muslim religion is open to people of
all color. No person in the Muslim religion is
discriminated against for their skin
complexion or racial background. (E)
Back in America, Malcolm X lived disliking
white people. Being with the Nation of Islam
has taken that dislike further to the point
where white people were seen as demons that
have been created to make non-whites’ lives
terrible. On the pilgrimage though, he realized
that they were just as human as anyone else.
(E)

The Autobiography of Malcolm X
Alex Haley and Malcolm X
Chapter 17: Mecca
Quotes
“Perhaps it could be in time to save America
from imminent disaster -- the same
destruction brought upon Germany by racism
that eventually destroyed the Germans
themselves.” (p. 391-392)
Chapter 18: El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz
“I saw that people who looked alike drew
together and most of the time stayed together.
This was entirely voluntary; there being no
other reason for it. But Africans were with
Africans. Pakistanis were with Pakistanis.
And so on. I tucked it into my mind that when
I returned home I would tell Americans this
observation; that where true brotherhood
existed among all colors, where no one felt
segregated, where there was no ‘superiority’
complex, no ‘inferiority’ complex -- then
voluntarily, naturally, people of the same kind
felt drawn together by that which they had in
common.” (p. 395)
“The true Islam has shown me that a blanket
indictment of all white people is as wrong as
when whites make blanket indictments
against blacks.” (p. 416)
“Why here in America, the seeds of racism
are so deeply rooted in the white people
collectively, their belief that they are
Sears, 11
Sears, Jenesis
Jul. 27, 2017
English 10 (H)
​Notes
I believe this sentence is referring to the
Holocaust. In the Holocaust, Hitler turned the
whole country against Jews who not only dn’t
cause any trouble, but were also Germans like
everyone else. (CL)
This reminds me of the movie ​Freedom
Writers​. The kids in Mrs. Gruwell’s class
hated each other in the beginning so they
stuck with their crews. Blacks with blacks,
hispanic with hispanic, asian with asian, etc.
(C)
As I understand blanket indictments are
basically like stereotypes. The blanket
indictment being held against whites was that
they were devils created on earth to make
non-white people’s lives miserable, which is
pretty bizarre to me. That’s pretty bizarre
though because no one is born to be hateful or
born to make someone’s life a living hell. (R)
Racism isn’t just born or rooted within
people, but it can be something that must be
very common in that area for a racist person
 Sears, 12

‘superior’ in some way is so deeply rooted, to think that it’s just okay. So it is true that
that these things are in the national white some white people are unaware of racism, but
subconsciousness. Many whites are even it’s only because they’ve been around it long
actually unaware of their racism.” (p. 417) enough to think that it’s a normal thing. (R)

“Nearly through the night, my telephone kept What did the Nation of Islam think of this
ringing. My black brothers and sister around speech? (Q)
New York and in some other cities were
calling to congratulate me on what they had
heard on the radio and television broadcasts,
and people, mostly white, were wanting to
know if I would speak here or there.” (p. 417)

The Autobiography of Malcolm X
Alex Haley and Malcolm X
Chapter 19: 1965
Quotes
“‘What you are telling me is that it isn’t the
American white man who is a racist, but it’s
the American political, economic, and social
atmosphere that automatically nourishes a
racist psychology in the white man.’” (p. 427)
“You only get action as a black man if you get This statement must mean that as a black
regarded by a white man as ‘irresponsible’.”
(p. 439)
Alex Haley: Epilogue
“I had noticed that while Malcolm X was
talking, he often simultaneously scribbled
with his red-ink ball-point pen on any handy
paper….I begin leaving two white paper
napkins by him every time I serve him more
coffee, and the ruse worked when he
sometimes scribbled on the napkins, which I
retrieved when he left. Some examples are
these: ‘Here lies a YM, killed by a BM,
fighting for a WM, who killed all the RM.’
(Decoding that wasn’t difficult knowing
Malcolm X. ‘YM’ was for yellow man, ‘BM’
for black man, ‘WM’ for white man, and
‘RM’ was for red man.)” (p. 447)
“...this was the kind of evidence that caused
many close observers of the Malcolm X
phenomenon to declare in absolute
Sears, 13
Sears, Jenesis
Jul. 28, 2017
English 10 (H)
​Notes
The meaning of “it isn’t the American white
man who is a racist” is that American white
people aren’t born with racism in their blood
lines. The meaning of the second part of the
statement is that it’s the environment that
influences them, or someone in general, to be
and act the way they do. To make it simpler
the fault isn’t all on the person that acts a
certain way. (E)
man, when a white man calls you
irresponsible, you are actually getting under
their skin and discovering their weakness. (E)
This pointed out that Malcolm X was good a t
multitasking. Also, the things he wrote on the
napkins are pretty interesting. I think the
reason for the coding was distrust and it felt
like he was testing Alex Haley. (R)
I feel as if Malcolm X was sort of expecting
for Alex Haley to eventually mention this
rumor at some point simply because of his flat

seriousness that he was the only Negro in
America who could either start a race riot --
or stop one. When I once quoted this to him,
tacitly inviting his comment, he told me tartly,
‘I don’t know if I could start one. I don’t
know if I’d want to stop one.’” (p. 455)
Sears, 14
reaction. He wasn’t very surprised when it
was brought up. I did find his reply interesting
and therefore, Malcolm X had a very unique
way of thinking. (R)