"Homemade Education"

I enjoyed “Homemade Education.” In history books or in references I have heard of Malcolm X but have studied little over his biography or movement. Since he was famous for being a prominent speaker and leader among the black culture, it’s surprising to learn he became educated during his movement.

Malcolm was inspired to learn “some words” because he never received any responses back from his letters. Articulated and proper language appeals to audiences. It’s interesting to observe that members in high society respond better to articulated and proper language more efficiently than slang and broken language, even if the overall letters or speeches of both languages have the same message. Articulated language represents education. Maybe that is why high standing people respond better to articulated language. It represents knowledge and perhaps the author or speaker has an important point on a topic. However, if the language is not articulated, most likely the person is ignored because it is automatically assumed they are not educated. If they are not educated with proper and articulated language, then what ever voice on a topic they have does not matter.

After Malcolm learned articulated language and a broader vocabulary, he described it as “never been so truly free in my life.” Personally, I can relate to his feeling of freedom. We all have our own personal views over the world’s issues. However, sometimes we find it hard how to express our views. In Malcolm’s case, he obviously had to express his views through penmanship and speeches. He found freedom is sharing his views through a broad and articulated knowledge about his language which enhanced his movement. I found my freedom over expressing my views through art. In grade school and middle school, I had always been decent with art. When I reached high school, I had so many new opinions and topics about the world and current issues. The best way to get my opinion across was through art work. My English writing skills are poor but I had a talent in a field that still allowed personal expression over anything. So I put my skills to use and pursued to learn more about art.

On a final note, I have to applaud Malcolm for recording a whole dictionary through penmanship. Reading the dictionary and recording a few words a day would increase my vocabulary. However, unlike Malcolm, I do not think I would have the patience or focus to achieve this goal.