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Compare And Contrast Malcolm X And Frederick Douglass

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Have you ever witnessed or experienced something that made you feel blessed, but also burdened from what you have learned? Frederick Douglass in “Learning to Read” and Malcolm X in “A Homemade Education”, both experienced the burden and blessing from gaining an education. Douglass was a slave in the 1800s and Malcolm X was a prisoner in the 1940s. Both men went through a great deal of trouble to gain knowledge in reading and writing. The knowledge Douglass and Malcolm X learned caused them great miseries in their hearts, but also gave them the freedom they deserved. Achieving education is what made Douglass the greatest social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer and statesman, and Malcolm X to be a minister and human rights activist. Similar …show more content…

An example was when Douglass got hold of a book called The Columbian Orator; he used every opportunity he could to read that book (34). He was inspired by the readings, which then made him heart broken from what he had learned. I related to Douglass when I picked out my first book on my own in middle school. The first book that made an impact on me was A Child Called It by Dave Pelzer. Oh boy! That book sure caused me a great deal of heartaches and tears. It was about a boy being abused and starved by his mother. As far as I can remember, it was the first book that made me feel pain. The agony I felt when i realized such terrible people existed in this world. The book made me aware of the dark side of people. Just as Douglass felt, “As I writhed under it, I would at times feel that learning to read had been a curse rather than a blessing” (35). When he learned more about slavery, it made him feel miserable because he could not do anything about it. The book, A Child Called It, was not the only book that made me feel miserable. Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah is about a girl being considered bad luck by her powerful family. It opened my eyes, knowing that people can go through terrible events but are still be able to pick themselves up. By reading these stories, I felt empowered to be better, even though I was irritated knowing I could not have done anything to help those with the same

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