Practicing Feedback

Jamie LaBelle
English 101-Internet Course
July 17, 2002

Gaining Freedom Through Language

To hear Malcolm X speak now, people might think he had gone to school much past the eighth grade. Malcolm X rose from the street and an eighth grade education to become one of the most articulate and well-spoken African Americans in history. Helen Keller lived from 18 months old to seven years old without a formal way to communicate. Helen grew up to be a teacher, writer, and motivator to those with disabilities. Malcolm X and Helen Keller both discovered something in the process of learning a new language. They learned that language is liberating; and an event or an awakening of some kind can spur the thirst for knowledge and can set a person on the path to freedom.

Malcolm X, in the article, "Coming to an Awareness of Language," made a realization when he was imprisoned at the Norfolk Prison Colony that he couldn't express what he wanted to say in letters. He was frustrated that he was barely functional to write a simple letter. When on the street, Malcolm commanded attention by the words he said. But how could he effectively write, "Look daddy, let me pull your coat about a cat. Elijah Muhammad . . ."(64) when he wanted to share the plight of the black man in America? Furthermore, when Malcolm would read, he skipped over the words he didn't understand. This made it very hard to understand most of the materials that he read. Bimbi, another inmate, who seemed to captivate his audience with the spoken word, impressed him. Malcolm needed to learn what words meant and how to write. Similarly, Helen Keller, in the article "The Day Language Came into My Life," makes the same realization in her life when her teacher helps her discover that everything has a name. Three months before her seventh birthday, Ann Sullivan came to live with the Keller family to teach Helen how to communicate. While holding a new porcelain doll, Ann spelled D-O-L-L into Helen's hand; Helen only saw this as play and got angry when Ann handed her the rag doll and tried to show her that hand-spelling D-O-L-L applied to both. Reacting with her primitive emotions she threw the porcelain doll to the floor, her only sensation was being intrigued by the feel of broken doll pieces at her feet. In Helen's dark world, there was no feeling of sentiment or tenderness. Helen Keller and Malcolm X were both waking up to a new world.

Malcolm X had few choices but a significant desire to command the written word. Along with copying and studying every page in the dictionary, his penmanship improved. With these simple yet committed acts, he finally began to understand the words in the books that he read. "It was because of my letters that I happened to stumble upon starting to acquire some kind of homemade education" (64). Where Malcolm's education was self-taught, Helen Keller had a teacher. Ann Sullivan was able to draw Helen out of her dark, bitter, angry world and connect Helen with the gift of language. After the incident with the broken doll, Ann took Helen outside to the waterspout and repeatedly spelled W-A-T-E-R into one of her hands, as the water gushed over the other, finally it clicked. "Suddenly I felt a misty consciousness as of something forgotten - a thrill of returning thought; and somehow the mystery of language was revealed to me." (71) Similarly, Malcolm began realizing there was so much more to life as he copied, studied and devoured words from the dictionary. Not only did he improve his writing, but his manner of speaking also became something people would listen to. He was finally able to convey his message about Allah, Islam and Mr. Elijah Muhammad. After the mystery of language was revealed to her, Helen wanted to learn. "Everything had a name, and each name gave birth to a new thought." (71) The ability one has to grow when given tools and a motivation can lead to extraordinary results.

Malcolm X was imprisoned when he made a choice to improve himself. Helen had many reasons not to change her place in life; the lack of sight and hearing did not hold her back. Those who think they are being held down due to social, economic or physical reasons should look to a role model and follow the paths of those like Malcolm X and Helen Keller. Finding a reason to get motivated may be their only justification for not improving their lives, but all they need to consider is the freedom mastering language can give them. When I talk of language, I mean becoming educated, finding a language of the scholarly type. After just learning the basics of words and meanings, Malcolm X became "one of the most articulate and powerful African Americans in the United States in the 1960's" (63). All it took for Helen Keller was to realize that everything had a name, and she was able to blossom into one of the most notable teachers of our time. "Her rapid intellectual and emotional growth as a result of language suggests that we, too, have the potential to achieve a greater measure of our humanity by further refining our language abilities" (69). Having a better understanding of our language can free us from what holds us back in our jobs, careers and social standing in life.

Works Cited

Eschholz, Paul. Rosa, Alfred. Clark, Virginia. Language Awareness Readings for College Writers. Boston-New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 1974.