Malcolm and my Grandfather- part two. (post two)

I know I just posted, but this was too interesting not to share. I was just talking to my dad and I told him about the entry I just wrote about his father. He told me more about my grandpa's journey to this country, and the story he told me sounded like something that Malcolm talked about in previous chapters of the book.

"The say God takes care of fools and babies. I've so often thought that Allah was watching over me. Through all of this time of my life, I really was dead- mentally dead. I just didn't know that I was (Haley 128)."

I couldn't find the exact quote, but that one also relates to the story I am about to share. I was thinking about the part of the book where Malcolm says that he believes God has events all planned out for somebody the second they are born. No matter what someone does to change their life, every action has a reaction that happens for a reason. This ties in about what he said about Allah looking over him so he could move on to pursue bigger and better things in life. 

Anyway, my dad told me that when my grandpa and his family went to board the ship to take them to Ellis Island, one of my grandpa's brothers got extremely sick, and my family was not allowed to board. Heartbroken and disheveled, they searched for a tiny apartment to live in for a couple of months until another ship was back to take them to the states. 

The original boat that they were denied from getting on never made it here. In the middle of the sea, a German naval ship attacked them, and the Italian boat sunk to the bottom of the ocean, killing everyone. If my grandpa's brother had not gotten sick, they would have been on that boat, and I wouldn't be here today. 

I believe that God was watching over my family at that time because he knew that they had more things to achieve in life. My grandpa was a very successful man who helped and inspired many people in his life, including me. I just learned this story, so it's really weird to know that one boat ride could have changed my life- well, the one that wouldn't have existed. 

* The picture in the upper left hand corner is the S.S. Taormina, the boat that was sunk by the Germans on January 19, 1917. 

Malcolm and my Grandfather. (post one)

Today in class, Mattessich told us that we should try to make our blog posts personal, and I couldn't think of how I had been personally attacked by racism. She told us to think back about our heritage and the origin of our family, and then I remembered a story my dad told me recently about how my grandfather immigrated to America when he was four years old from Italy. He was the youngest of his six siblings, and the most determined to succeed. When he got to the US, he started school with all of his siblings, and was the only one in his family to finish high school and go to college. In order to do this, he had to face being made fun of every day and be called derogatory names, but he didn't let that stop him. If I put myself in his shoes, I honestly  think I might have dropped out of school like my great aunts and uncles did. It must have taken so much courage and strength to continue throughout all the hard times he faced and all the mocking he had to put up with, and I don't know if I could handle it.

 Malcolm was strong enough to put up with all of the harsh things people would say, too. Both him and my grandfather possessed an immense amount of courage to keep strong, and I admire them both, even if Malcolm did fall at one point. 

For my weblink, I found an article on Italian immigration in the early 1900's. It does not mainly focous on racism, however, it gives an in-depth description about poor living conditions and how hard Italians had to work in order to live here, like Malcolm's family. 

click here :] 

Malcolm x- the irony of conking

At the end of chapter 3, Malcolm talks about the first time that he conked his hair. Back then, African Americans conked their hair to make it straighter so they would appear to have "white" hair. It was a really painful process, and the men would literally burn their heads to straighten it. Malcolm considered it to be really cool when he was 16 and continued to do it for a few more years. At the end of the chapter, he talks about how stupid it was for him to do it. He even said he was degrading himself. 

The irony in the situation is that black people did this to appear more white, and now, white people do things to appear black. In any town, you can find a group of kids who try to be all "gangster," walking around with their pants around their ankles and flashy jewelry. In the early 1900's, black people were inferior, but presently pop culture is influencing all people to act like them. I think it would be really interesting to see Malcolm's reaction to this and hear his opinions.