Malcolm X Sparknotes

In Malcolm X’s autobiography, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, he says “All of our experiences fuse into our personality. Everything that ever happened to us is an ingredient” (153). This quote holds true throughout the whole autobiography. Malcolm tells us about his whole life from the time his family suffered through the Great Depression to the time he was fighting for black rights during the civil rights movement. Malcolm goes through many challenges in his lifetime and throughout this book we witness him struggle to get by living on his own and eventually convert to Islam and find his path in life. From the time Malcolm was a young boy in Lansing, Michigan he has always faced difficult challenges because of his race. He grew up in a hardworking

Shorty gets Malcolm his first serious job as a shoe shiner for a popular ballroom. This job is the beginning of his life in Boston and also the reason why Malcolm eventually ends up in prison. While working as a shoe shiner he was introduced to alcohol, cigarettes, and weed which he started using regularly. When Malcolm got tired of shoe shining he quit and was left without a job. He found a job as a steward on a train which allowed him to make money and travel. Shorty told Malcolm he would be able to make even more money if he sold drugs and Malcolm didn’t hesitate to do so. He started out selling marijuana and eventually got into heavier drugs. His business was growing fast but it was also becoming a huge risk. Malcolm began carrying multiple guns with him in fear that a meeting would go bad and had to move around a lot when he noticed cops giving him suspicious looks. Just like his other job, Malcolm got tired of this and needed to move onto something new. Malcolm, Shorty, and a couple of girls began burglarizing rich houses throughout New York City. The girls would pretend they were taking surveys and find a way inside to map out the place. Later that night the guys would sneak in and steal any valuables they could find and sell them as soon as possible. At this point Malcolm was dependent on drugs and was smoking four packs of cigarettes a day. “Looking back, I