Learning to Read..(Malcom-X)

       In class we have been discussing an essay by Malcolm-X that is titled; "Learning to Read". This essay impacted me the most out of the essays we have been reading and discussing, because I am able to relate to it the most. Malcolm-X spent seven years of his life in prison, that is were he became inspired to learn how to improve his reading and writing skills. Growing up Malcolm did not finish his education, therefore; his writing and reading skills were what he calls "slang", in other words not proper. He became frustrated of not being able to write his letters in a proper and organized way. Malcolm-X then stumbled into a dictionary and that is were his life and vocabulary changed. Malcolm began to read and copy the dictionary word by word, he became dedicated to learning new words and to broaden his vocabulary usage. As time went by his skills increased in both writing and reading and it became a lot easier as well. As time went by he began to read a larger variety of books, it is because of these books that he gained a deeper knowledge about the different religions, cultures, races and even slavery. Reading this essay made me realize that we take our writing and reading skills for granted. There are many out there in our country that do not know how to read or write and wish so bad that they could learn, when we are here not using our knowledge and  putting it to waste on unnecessary things. An example would be my aunt, she has been trying to learn English for years but she does not put any effort in her studies, instead she just mingles and goes out to eat with her classmates and in result she has not gone really far in learning. But on the other hand, Malcolm-X had determination and the willingness to improve. Even if he was in prison and did not have as much "freedom", he still did not let anything stop him not even the guards that lingered the halls at night. He could have easily given up but he kept working hard and accomplished his goal in improving his writing skills. I became inspired by Malcolm-X and realized that if i have a goal, I must not let anything stop me to achieving it and to keep pursuing it to improve. Sadly in our society today many have become lazy and unwilling to improve their writing skills, because with all the gadgets and technology out we have relied on it to do things for us and to make life easier. But as a result of this a lot of our dictionaries and books are being abandoned in shelves not being picked up once, and our minds are not getting the knowledge it needs or the imagination for children to learn and grow. Children today and even adults are being programed to be educated by technology, with the i-pods, computers, electronic dictionaries and books. That in mind, I think that Malcolm-X being in jail all those years was a blessing in a way, because if he was out in the "streets" hustling then he would have never gained that thrive and excitement on reading books and writing every word in the dictionary, instead he would of been sucked into technology like many of us have in today's society.