Malcolm X: Exploratory Draft

            I am writing about how Malcolm changed so quickly after Mecca after holding on to his beliefs with Elijah Muhammad for so long. Under Elijah Muhammad, he was basically advertising for the ideas that the Nation of Islam held, going to speeches and trying very hard to convince others of what he thought, and what the Nation of Islam thought as well. He was, besides Elijah Muhammad himself, the face of the NOI, and so when he suddenly and completely changed his views to the near opposite, I found that to be very troubling.

            Malcolm had done so much against white people in America, because basically his whole career was devoted to fighting the white “devil”, that I found it very odd that he could suddenly just go back on that without even giving it too much thought- obviously he thought about it, but he just seemed to decide after Mecca that he should change. He seemed so intent before Mecca to keep on doing what he was doing, and keep on going where he was going for a very long time, even after he left the Nation of Islam, he still didn’t seem to have changed very much. This makes his change all the more interesting, but troubling at the same time. Why would he change because of one experience after having so many with the Nation of Islam? What did Mecca do to him that gave him these ideas? These kind of questions lead up to give the situation a more troubled one for me.

            I think this change is very important to look at because if we look at it deep enough, and discover a lot about it, we can discover things about how Malcolm looked at his life, and what Malcolm thought about change, which is, in my opinion, vital to understanding Malcolm’s life, which was full of changes that were very influential to how his life went on. Understanding these changes can make us see how Malcolm’s life went on in a new and unique way that will give us a deeper understanding to many other parts of his life, like what he believed throughout his life and why, for example, or any other part of Malcolm’s fast-paced and sometimes chaotic lifestyle.

For example, if, let’s say, looking at the changes in Malcolm’s life leads me to say that Malcolm changed because he had little regard for people he previously worked with when he had other views, so he changed quickly because he didn’t care what the other people thought, and he decided this would make him a better person (this in no way reflects what I believe my understanding will be). From this, I could perhaps be lead to believe that Malcolm was actually a more carefree person who decided what he wanted to without looking at possible consequences, or that Malcolm changed often because he often disliked people he shared ideas with. This just goes to show that from having an understanding of Malcolm’s reasoning for change can give a person further understanding in other parts of his life that are also important to his life as a whole.

My claim is that religion allowed Malcolm to change without having to look at what he was leaving behind and instead focus on the future and the challenges he faced ahead of him. My reasoning behind this is that because he realized that the Nation of Islam was being basically misled, because the people were not being taught the “true” Islam of the East, and the rest of America were not into Islam at all either, so I think that once he saw the benefits of Islam at work in Mecca, he changed his views to try a different method of ending racism and segregation in America- a religious method that would be correct, and would be beneficial to everyone of all races like in Mecca.

The best example of this is in Malcolm’s letter to himself at the end of the chapter Mecca. In the letter, he talks about the only way to get America away from its racist self is to basically be shown the spiritual path away. He talks about what Islam in Mecca did to his views- how he was changed. The main part that is still ambiguous is why he would do it so quickly- but it almost seems like Malcolm was surprised himself in the speed in which his views change. He says in the letter that it might be shocking to hear his new views coming from himself, but that he was able to change because of his flexibility and, in a way, realist attitude. But this, of course, is not the whole story, because, in a way, he is not always true to the point with what he says. Later on in the letter, he claims that blacks should never be blamed if they themselves are racists. So another question that comes to mind for me is: What made Malcolm keep some views and change certain others? But for now, I can see from his letter that he looked to religion at least in some ways to help fight his problems. Obviously, after discovering Mecca and “true” Islam, religion became extremely important to him, so this is also another reason I think religion could help him change his views despite his past.

Overall Malcolm’s changes were troubling to me due to the speed in which they occurred and based on his past experiences. His time with the Nation of Islam would, after these changes, seem like a waste of time in a way if so suddenly he decides to completely go back on his previous views. To look into how he managed this change, I think religion played an important role to change his ideas so that he didn’t have to look back and instead could look towards his goals that he found important with “true” Islam.