Analyzing African American Literature

Analyzing African American Literature

Introduction

Malcolm X and James Baldwin are important historical figures. Malcolm X also is known as Malik el-Shabazz was a popular figure who advocated for the rights of blacks by speaking and preaching against violence and racism. He was a human rights activist and also a Muslim minister. However, his conflict with the Nation of Islam led to numerous death threats that eventually came to pass during his assassination by Thomas Hagan (Johnson,79). James Baldwin is popular for his essays that explore distinctions of class, sexual and racial discrepancy in Western societies. He was a novelist, activist and also a playwright. Some of his works such as Remember this House was nominated to be used as a documentary film in the cinemas and his novel ‘If Beale Street Could Talk’ was adapted in an Academic dramatic field (Rodgers et al,148).

Social and Historical Analysis of Malcolm X

The personal conditions that created Malcolm X begin early in his childhood after his relocation to New York after harsh experiences of living in foster homes due to the hospitalization of his mother and the death of his father (Malcolm X, 10).   He had dropped out of school due to discouragement by his teacher who claimed that there was no future for a black person to practice law. His teenage life was thereafter filled with the mischief of gambling and robbery. This led to his imprisonment due to breaking in and larceny crimes. He was transferred to Concord Prison in 1948. It is in prison that he joined the Nation of Islam due to his brother’s (Reginald Philbert) letters who constantly spoke of Islam as the natural religion for the black man (Malcolm X, 14).  His brother further encouraged him to follow the teachings of abstaining from smoking and eating pork.

After joining the Nation, he became an influential leader in the parole in 1952. It was still in the 1950s when the civil rights movement took place that Malcolm X advocated for racial integration and black supremacy (Malcolm X, 27).   He was suspected by the FBI to be linked with communism and thus was monitored closely. This was because of the letter he wrote to himself expressing his opposition to the Korean War. After his completion of Hajj, his name was also known as el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz. He got disillusioned with the Nation’s leader Elijah Muhammad and in turn embraced Sunni Islam (Hart and William David, 58).  He discovered that the tales of Elijah Muhammad infuriated Muslims from the East on the basis that they did not make effort to make real Islam be spread in the West thus increasing the probability of fake religions stepping in and in turn misleading people (Hart and William David, 63).

Malcolm X expanded temples in Boston, Philadelphia, and Harlem and the FBI’s suspicion of his engagement in communist activities increased. In 1960, he got married to Betty Sanders who bore six daughters. Hinton Johnson was a key person in making Malcolm X known. Hinton was a member of the Islam Nation and on April 26, 1957, he was beaten severely by police officers who later took him to prison. Malcolm X heard of this and went to the police station and took Johnson to Harlem hospital (Hart and William David, 69).    It was upon returning to the police station that thousands of people were gathered outside and Malcolm was able to control them by the use of a hand signal. Malcolm insisted on finding justice since police officers were not lawfully meant to beat and injure citizens. The grand jury intervened on the case but the police officers denied and the police were startled since Malcolm X depicted great authority in his actions (Malcolm, 26).   It was after this that he was featured in radio stations, television stations, and newspapers concerning Islam Nation.

His prominence increased and in September 1960, he was featured in United Nations General Assembly and thereafter met several influential leaders such as Gamal Abdel Nasser and Ahmed Sékou Touré. Malcolm endorsed the teachings of the Islam Nation that included terming whites as inferior to blacks and the demise of the white people. This changed the view of many people and the Nation of Islam was viewed as a racist community (Malcolm, 26).  The blacks felt that Malcolm’s speeches were more powerful and sensible than those of civil rights movements. Malcolm advocated for use of any means including violence to express the rights of blacks instead of waiting for justice and freedom (Malcolm, 36).   His different ideologies with the nation of Islam led to his departure from the Nation and he returned to the United States where he addressed a number of audiences (Hart and William David, 68).    He received death threats by Nation of Islam and was assassinated Audubon Ballroom in Manhattan.

Life of James Baldwin

James Baldwin has similarity with Malcolm X since he relocated to Harlem with his mother after separation with the father due to drug abuse. His mother moved on and married David Baldwin who was a Baptist preacher and bore eight children with him. James was treated harshly than the other children and for this reason spent most of his time in the library and during his adolescent years, he discovered his passion for writing (Baldwin,16) His popular book ‘The Fire Next Time’ expresses his life in a unique storytelling technique. He expresses the suppression of blacks by whites and he depicts the hardship of being a black person.

His personal life was characterized by many obstacles. When he was studying in Harlem, he wrote songs and plays. One of his teachers noticed his potential and offered to help him by taking him to real plays after he wrote the play ‘Notes of a Native Son’ and was directed by the same teacher. However, his parents hindered this since his stepfather had a dislike for white people and the mother did not see the need of the teacher “straining” making a trip just for a play. In middle school, Baldwin was encouraged by his math teacher to be editing the school newspaper which was called ‘The Douglass Pilot’. This was a good milestone since he became the editor of his high school magazine (Lucas et al,24). Despite this, he was disliked by other students due to the constant racism that existed.

His religious life was at first influenced by his stepfather who wanted him to be a preacher. He did not want to follow the footsteps of the stepfather since he viewed him as hypocritical and also due to the fact that he was constantly being abused by him. However, he found some solace in religion and constantly attended meetings at a Pentecostal church. He began serving as a junior minister but later had a different view on Christianity as a religion based on false premises (Lucas et al,28).  Thus, he continued to serve but he did so in order to overcome his personal crisis.

His book contains two parts and it depicts themes of racial injustice and religion. The first part is called ‘My Dungeon shook’ is written as a letter to Baldwin’s nephew. Baldwin writes to his nephew telling him that Americans have the ability to destroy black people (Lucas et al,36). He thus writes to his nephew to express anger because of the mistreatment that is executed to black people. He further encourages him to broaden his stance about Negro experiences. ‘You were born where you were born and faced the future that you faced because you were black and for no other reason’ (Baldwin, 23). This part shows Baldwin’s hopelessness in blacks ever being treated rightfully and with justice. He also views being a young black person as a burden full of disappointing outcomes. All this he observed while growing up in Harlem where there was mistreatment of African Americans. Baldwin also relates lack of freedom in a political way to his childhood experience in Manhattan where he never did anything apart from following his parents around. (Baldwin,10)

‘Down at the cross’ is more of an autobiographical account of Baldwin’s experience when growing up in New York. He encounters Christianity and Islam through the Nation of Islam. Thus, he establishes and views religion as the root cause of oppression in America since according to him, religion encourages narrow thinking and urges racial violence (Lucas et al,46) He gives his views on how racial division can come to an end. His solution is centered on the enaction of unity between blacks and whites to compel radical social change and understanding of one another (Lucas et al,46). He adds by saying insisting on relative consciousness of love to drive change in how whites treat blacks and how blacks view white.

Conclusion

Both Malcolm X and James Baldwin have personal experiences in the context of historical events. Their social activities are influenced by their personal encounters and affect their religious views. It is due to the social activities that they are able to achieve certain landmarks of history that are greatly significant.

Work cited

X, Malcolm; Haley, Alex (1965). The Autobiography of Malcolm X (1st hardcover ed.). New York: Grove Press

Baldwin, James. The fire next time. Vintage, 2013.

Lucas, Carly Renee. “Prophetic Urgency: The 1963 James Baldwin and Martin Luther King, Jr. Warnings to America.” Symposia: The Journal of Religion. Vol. 8. 2017.

Hart, William David. “Malcolm X as Religious Peripatetic.” Malcolm X: From Political Eschatology to Religious Revolutionary (2016): 5.