Malcom X.1.wowzers.

Wow...

That is how I feel about chapters seven to ten. Wow...

I guess we often feel that great leaders come from difficult backgrounds. Divorced parents maybe, a bad neighborhood, motherless, fatherless, the loss of a close sibling, poverty-stricken, sickness, etc. Many leaders are conquerers of some sort of challenge or misfortune, able to stand back up and lead others to do the same. Malcom X, however, went through a heck of a lot more than most people do. I was shocked as I read through the book at just how low he stooped and how involved he got. He was reduced to an animal addicted to drugs, involved in scandals and robbery. Malcom describes his mental situation in chapter nine:

"I viewed narcotics as most people regard food. I wore my guns as today I wear my neckties. Deep down, I actually believed that after living as fully as humanly possible, one should then die violently. I expected then, as I still expect today, to die at any time. But then, I think I deliberately invited death in many, sometimes insane, ways." (Haley 141)

Though Malcom's story of his teenage years amazed me, his ability to overcome it, and the way he decides to overcome it, shocks me still. Although I have not read to the point where he actually decides to turn his life around and start living for his god, Allah, I know enough about his life to realize the difficulty of that act. Its amazing that someone coming from his situation would be able to turn his life around so thoroughly. There were also a few passages in chapter 10 that showed his amazing self restraint and self motivation. Malcom had an incredible power over his body. For example, when Malcom's brother Reginald writes to him and says that he should stop eating pork and stop smoking cigarettes for a chance to get out of prison, Malcom immediately obeys for the chance at freedom. Malcom wanted to be free so badly that he was able to stop his addiction to cigarettes, and did not smoke ever again after 1948. He had no struggle in doing this, he writes about his quitting in one simple paragraph. I can't imagine, how much strength it takes for someone who had been living like him to give up something so simply. Mind over matter, I suppose, or just finally having hope. Malcom's ability to take control of his life just plain amazes me.

I also have a friend who overcame drug abuse when he became a Christian. Joe, as I will call him, had become completely dependent on drugs. He doesn't like to talk about the details of his teenage years, but I know that he was depressed, immoral, and overall, unhappy with the way his life was turning out. Joe was eventually introduced to Christ through family and friends. He was able to turn his life around, quitting drugs and other immoral acts he was involved in. Joe has since then become a missionary in Africa. He spent more than a year witnessing to muslims in Morocco, learning their language, forming personal relationships with them, learning to love as unconditionally as possible, and realizing how important it is to be strong and sure in his faith. His life is completely dedicated to Christ, and I am inspired by that fact. The following link has videos of many different inspiring Christian testimonies: http://www.precious-testimonies.com/TestimonyCategories/SampleTopics/BAvideosIndex.html . The second has various muslim testimonies: http://www.answering-islam.org/Testimonies/index.html . It is clear that no matter what the religion is, testimonies are powerful and show just how much, even the hope of having a God, can change a person's life. 

So wow...