Malcolm X and the African American Philosophy of Education

Name ____________________________________________________ Date _________

While in prison, Malcolm enters as a menace and still in a mentally dead mindset.
Malcolm is angry, fighting a drug addiction, and the guards and his fellow inmates nickname
him Satan. However, after encountering Bimbi who he remarks “Was the first man I had ever
seen command total respect . . . with his words,”1 Malcolm begins to evolve his thinking. Bimbi
advises Malcolm to “take advantage of the prison correspondence courses and the library.” 2
When reflecting on his decision to begin to use the library and take a correspondence course in
English, Malcolm states, “When I had finished the eighth grade back in Mason, Michigan, that
was the last time I’d thought of studying anything that didn’t have some hustle purpose.” 3
While Malcolm is studying in prison, he is also introduced to the Nation of Islam through
his brother Philbert. With his introduction to the Nation or as Philbert names it “the natural
religion for the black man,”4 Malcolm intensifies and focuses his studies. Not only is Malcolm
interested in furthering his education out of genuine curiosity, but he is now focusing his study
on his racial identity. Malcolm begins to understand his presence in this world has been
constructed under a false European notion of what it meant to be Black. Therefore, his
education must accomplish three things: 1) Trace the true meaning of what it means to be
Black, 2) Dispel the European notions of what it means to be Black, and 3) Examine,
understand, and destroy European constructs and institutions that benefit off of the European
myth of Blackness. Malcolm correctly linked his oppression to his ignorance of identity which
prevents him from understanding his reality. Again, power is the ability to define reality and
have others use these definitions as if they were their own. Malcolm’s identity of self was
totally dependent on European constructs, consequently his being was reduced to surviving a
reality which stated he was not fully human. His independent education process is an attempt
to redefine reality and gain power. The relationship between power and education best
explains Malcolm’s devotion to The Honorable Elijah Muhammad. Due to the teachings of Mr.
Muhammad, Malcolm learns
How history had been ‘whitened’ – when white men had written history books, the
black man simply had been left out. Mr. Muhammad couldn’t have said anything that
would have struck me much harder. I had never forgotten how when my class, me and
all of those whites, had studied seventh-grade United States history back in Mason, the
history of the Negro had been covered in one paragraph, and the teacher had gotten a
1
Malcolm X with the assistance of Alex Haley, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, (Grove Press, Inc., New York,
1964), 155.
2
Malcolm X with the assistance of Alex Haley, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, (Grove Press, Inc., New York,
1964), 155.
3
Malcolm X with the assistance of Alex Haley, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, (Grove Press, Inc., New York,
1964), 155.
4
Malcolm X with the assistance of Alex Haley, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, (Grove Press, Inc., New York,
1964), 156.
 big laugh with his joke, ‘Negroes’ feet are so big that when they walk, they leave a hold
in the ground.” 5
From Mr. Muhammad’s teachings, Malcolm is motivated to continue to uncover the truth, as
he saw learning about history was connected to the larger project of learning about himself. As
Malcolm explains, “Mr. Muhammad, to whom I was writing daily, had no idea what a new
world had opened up to me through my efforts to document his teachings in books.” 6 By
learning about the history of Black people, Malcolm is humanizing himself and evolving past his
teenage image in which he was reduced to a criminal attempting to survive. Malcolm
understood that the education of Black people was crucial to a larger mission of Black
liberation. With education, Malcolm sees that Black people will understand themselves to be
human, and if Black people understand themselves to be human, then Black people will have a
better understanding of what “the white man” deprives Black people of. Moreover,
understanding oneself as human allows for the imagination of what society should look like and
unequivocally rejects the substandard conditions of the Black ghetto which framed Malcolm’s
existence. Malcolm explains this explicitly when he states,
The American black man is the world’s most shameful case of minority oppression.
What makes the black man think of himself as only an internal United States issue is just
a catch-phrase, two words, ‘civil rights.’ How is the black man going to get ‘civil rights’
before first he wins his human rights? If the American black man will start thinking
about his human rights, and then start thinking of himself as part of one of the world’s
greatest peoples, he will see he has a case for the United Nations. 7
As Malcolm comes into an understanding of self, he sees that in order to make a real
difference, he must find ways to spread the information he was learning himself. Malcolm
explains, “I’ve never been one for inaction. Everything I’ve ever felt strongly about, I’ve done
something about. I guess that’s why, unable to do anything else, I soon began writing to people
I had known in the hustling world, such as Sammy the Pimp, John Hughes, the gambling house
owner, the thief Jumpsteady, and several dope peddlers. I wrote them all about Allah and Islam
and Mr. Elijah Muhammad.”8 Similarly, Malcolm decides to debate because, “[he] had to start
telling the white man about himself to his face.”9 The prison debates serve as Malcolm’s
introduction to public speaking and later upon being released from prison Malcolm becomes
known in history as a phenomenal orator. Malcolm’s speeches are done with the purpose to
5
Malcolm X with the assistance of Alex Haley, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, (Grove Press, Inc., New York,
1964), 175.
6
Malcolm X with the assistance of Alex Haley, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, (Grove Press, Inc., New York,
1964), 180.
7
Malcolm X with the assistance of Alex Haley, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, (Grove Press, Inc., New York,
1964), 180-181.
8
Malcolm X with the assistance of Alex Haley, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, (Grove Press, Inc., New York,
1964), 171.
9
Malcolm X with the assistance of Alex Haley, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, (Grove Press, Inc., New York,
1964), 185.
excite his audience, but also to teach about the crimes of White supremacy. Malcolm’s need to
teach best explains what Theresa Perry names “The African American Philosophy of Education.”
In short, the African American Philosophy of Education understands that freedom is intertwined
with the ability to redefine reality and the redefinition of reality is possible through education.
Therefore, African Americans learn to redefine reality and then pass these teachings on as a
part of a larger project of Black liberation. This can be reduced to the popular phrase, “Each
One, Reach One, Teach One,” or if you come into knowledge you are then responsible for
passing this knowledge along as the collective knowledge is what makes liberation possible.
1. Explain the African American Philosophy of Education in your own words.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
2. What is the relationship between power and education?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
3. Do you think Malcolm would have succumb to a life of crime if he had been exposed to
positive teachings of Black people prior to going to prison? Defend your response.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Critical Race Theory and the Shortcomings of the Nation’s Education of Malcolm
Although Malcolm’s reeducation which he credits to Elijah Muhammad gave Malcolm a
great deal of clarity to his life experiences and serves as a pivotal gateway of Malcolm beginning
to respect himself. Malcolm’s education and early teachings have some slight holes regarding
Malcolm’s understanding of Blackness.