A Life of Reinvention

Malcolm’s life is an endless journey of becoming. His relentless pursuit of the truth and constant urge for love make him persistently introduce invention into existence. This inevitably holds the promise of redemption for us – no matter who we are or where we come from, we are always capable of salvation, our past – no matter how dark it is can weave into a redeemed future. Whether Malcolm is “Detroit Red” as a hustler, “Malcolm X” as a minister of the Nation of Islam, or “El-Hajj Malik El-Shahbaz” after his pilgrimage, he is always in the process of reinventing, in the hope of redemption.

Malcolm is imprisoned after an incident of armed robbery. He has not studied a word since he retired from eighth grade in Michigan, yet he decides to take advantage of the prison library. Malcolm immediately grasps a dictionary and obsessively begins to learn words. Finally, he begins copying words, in his painstaking, disjointed handwriting into his tablet and reads them back to himself. As his word-base widens, he begins to read books which ultimately opens a “new world.” Even when the lights would go out at night, he would sit on the floor and read under the glow being cast into his room by the corridor light. Malcolm harbors an unrelinquishing desire to grow and learn. Even though his past is a story of family trauma, racial bias, gambling, hustling and what not, it does not become his ultimate destiny. He remains ceaselessly striving towards a redeemed future, to which books were providing a gateway.

His growth further continues under the guidance and mentorship of Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam. He becomes Elijah’s most faithful servant and replaces his last name with “X” to portray the unknown history of his ancestry. He begins to address crowds and emerges as an excellent orator. Finally, Elijah Muhammad appoints him as a minister at the Detroit temple. He is an ardent advocate of segregation at this time and whole-heartedly commits to the cause, purely driven by the deep reservoir of love for his people.

 Malcolm undergoes yet another transformation after his Hajj. Hajj made it possible for him to conceive that segregation was not the solution to the Black problem. He had only seen a Manichean society in America, and was thus deeply amazed to see the “white, black, brown, red, and yellow people, blue eyes and blond hair, and my kinky red hair all together,” at pilgrimage. Malcolm at this point is a stigmatized product of the American press, infamously labeled as a “racist” and “anti-white,” separated from the NOI, now bearing the accusation of using Islam as a pretext for his activism. The baggage of his past perhaps disenchanted him and deluded him into believing that a life devoid of love and respect was his foregone conclusion. However, he experiences the epitome of hospitality, compassion and dignity in Saudi Arabia. This convinces him of the possibility of redemption.Therefore, he departs from black separatism in favor of seeking racial harmony, emerging as El-Shabazz.  He begins to reappraise the “white man” and perceives that it is primarily a reference to complexion and only secondarily does it connote attitudes and actions. An anecdote perhaps best expresses his growth: Once a white man asked Malcolm if he would mind shaking hands with a white man. Malcolm responded, "I don't mind shaking hands with human beings. Are you one?”

Malcolm calls his life “a chronology of changes.” He is constantly aligning the reality of his life along new experiences and knowledge, as they unfold. His story reminds us that we as human beings are often frail, confused, and haunted by our past, choices and actions. But what is life if not a continuous process of growth and a journey of becoming? His story is ultimately the promise of redemption for everyone. It is a reminder that as long as we keep our hearts open, the world too can be kind, our past does not become our end, and we too can reinvent our existence, as Martin Luther King says, “Salvation isn’t reaching the destination of absolute morality, but it’s being in the process and on the right road.”