Kevin Cho's response to Malcolm X

There is a similarity among Franklin, Douglass, and Malcolm X that they all sought education. Franklin mentions his love for reading and his project to build a library. Douglass, despite the slave owner's opposition, constantly tried to learn to read and write. Malcolm constantly feigned sleep in order to continue reading at night while avoiding the guards. Like Cody said, they all realized that having the necessary skills to convey their points effectively through both writings and speeches were a powerful tool. For Douglass and Malcolm X especially, these tools were essential in gaining support for their argument, abolition.

There were several interesting points that Malcolm brings up. One of them was having a college degree. He argues that having a degree merely “confers a status symbol upon its students”(217) and that his “homemade education” (217) allowed him to have more “sensitivity to the deafness, dumbness, and blindness that was afflicting the black race of America” (217). I agree that “homemade education” can give one more understanding of the society and problems one wants to study because of the self-driven motivation. However now that going to college has become norm for most Americans, homemade education might be considerably more difficult now than before. Another interesting point was “whitened” history. Even today, I cannot recall learning much about various cultures or societies from Africa countries or Asian countries other than China and Japan from my world history classes. It is easy to focus on major powers from the history and forget about nations with unique arts, cultures, and traditions.

Reading Fraklin's memoir, Douglass' narrative, and Malcolm X's excerpt, it astonishes me how passionate these men were in learning. I hope I can learn from their dedication and passion and apply it to my work ethic here at Tech.