Themes such as reading and literacy, reading and knowledge and the creation of influential rhetoric were prevalent in the private and professional life of Malcolm X. Ideally, Malcolm X’s rhetoric became and was his reality throughout his public speaking life. Malcolm X is known, in part, for his distinctive reading. The evident roles of ethnicity, religion, money and politics plagued yet influenced his great life.
Malcolm Little’s favourite subjects in school were English and history (Haley 30). One of the reasons he favoured English the most was because of his teacher who always gave advice about becoming something in life (Ibid 30). Another early exposure to reading was when Malcolm’s Grenadine mother, Louise Little, reformed into the religion of Seventh Day Adventists. Malcolm is quoted as saying, “[Seventh Day Adventists] would talk to [Louise] for hours at a time, and leave booklets and leaflets and magazines for her to read. She read them, and Wilfred… His head was forever in some book (Ibid 17).” Familial influence through reading became a strong motivational source for Malcolm X.
The renowned black politician differed in many ways to other people in his community as a young boy. In his autobiography told by Alex Haley, Malcolm could point out the obvious distinction of race within his school: “As the “nigger” of my class, I was in fact extremely popular — I suppose partly because I was kind of a novelty (29).” He was clearly different from the other ‘readers’ in his community because of his race and his social status; books were not easily accessible for a young black boy living on welfare. As written by Mattijs Kalmijn, the children and grandchildren of Caribbean immigrants in the 1930s, are probably less likely to be exposed to Caribbean culture, and they may be more likely to speak English fluently (915).
The difference between Malcolm X and other leadership figures of African-American descent was their educational background. According to Andrew P. Smallwood, the non-formal education Malcolm X gained through his life experiences would eventually prepare him for his role as an African American leader (249). He transformed himself from being a poor black boy to a successful public figure.
“The angriest black in America” is how the late activist had described himself during his late thirties (Hoyt 108). As Archie C Epps says: “Malcolm X seemed haunted by his anger — driven, even captured by it (66).” His anger towards the white Americans drove his civil movement to its controversial acknowledgment in the 21st century. His public discourse often shadowed values such as violence, whiteness and greed. In the case of “whiteness” as a shadow value, Rhett Jones describes Malcolm’s choice of words reflected the rhetorical values of the United States (346), but he believed that race should not be the sole reason to cause a war.
Although Malcolm X’s radicalism, according to Keith D. Miller, was evident in his regular denunciations of Martin Luther King, Jr, … and other contemporaneous, nonviolent leaders, [he] rarely mentioned noteworthy historical figures of African American descent — such as Frederick Douglass (200). However, Malcolm X overcame the obstacles of being a controversial public figure by becoming “the second most sought-after speaker on college campuses” in 1964 (Terrill 9). One of Malcolm’s speeches, which was closely reviewed by Archie C. Epps indicates that Malcolm was influenced by Shakespeare’s tragedy, Hamlet. He was enticed by the character’s personal conflict and the conflict with his nation as he could closely relate to Shakespeare’s famous protagonist. According to Mark Lawrence McPhail, “[Malcolm X] was an orator whose use of language reconciled the tensions between poetics and rhetoric, between being and becoming (113).”
Malcolm became increasingly popular with the public; as a successful speaker and a television celebrity (Epps 65). According to Robert E. Terrill’s essay “Judgment and critique in the rhetoric of Malcolm X,” Malcolm’s public addresses can be considered as his unique contributions to political culture (125). His audience was able to emulate his own interpretations proving that he had mastered the ability to shift the meanings and implications of key terms through his public rhetoric.