Civil Rights is my thing. When people find out I have a history degree, they almost always ask about my favorite period of history. And I almost always reply, "Contemporary. New Deal through Reaganomics, especially the Civil Rights Movement." In fact, I'm pretty sure I could out-talk most people on the subject because I find it so fascinating and horrible some of the things that happened in my parent's lifetime.

I thought I knew about Malcolm X, but I didn't know anything. I've always believed Malcolm X to be a complex and misunderstood man, but how much I had no idea. I remember teaching Malcolm X to classes of 11th graders when I was student teaching, and after reading this book I'm appalled at the diservice I did them. I'm even more appalled that my supervising teacher didn't stop me. If I were teaching today I'd put the autobiography of Malcolm X on the reading list. I'd probably get shut down, though, by some bigot parent who knows even less about Malcolm X than I knew before I read his autobiography.

Midway through the book I found myself overwrought with hopelessness and guilt, miserable at the life so many non-white people face at the hands of the atrocities committed by white people through history. But with Malcolm's trip to Mecca that brought him such hope, hope became mine as well. Hope that if I behave in a human manner and don't allow myself to believe stereotypes or racist ideas (even subconsciously), I can make the world a better place. I know it sounds cheesy, but it's true. Hardly anyone these days will admit to being a racist. But I challenge you to truthfully say that you never think a generalization of a particular group of people that, without you even realizing it, affects the way you behave.

I'm not the same after reading this book. I highly recommend it to anyone with an open mind who wants to make him or herself a better thinker.