Chapter 1 - Summary, The Autobiography Of Malcolm X | The Autobiography of Malcolm X -Summary, Themes & Characters - Novels PDF Download

Nightmare

• The Ku Klux Klan is on Malcolm's doorstep before he's even born. They show up when Malcolm's mom is pregnant with him, and threaten to harm his father for spreading the Pan-African message of Marcus Garvey. Luckily for him, he's in Milwaukee, so the Ku Klux Klan just rides away.
• When Malcolm's dad gets back, he's pissed. As soon as Malcolm is born, the family moves to Milwaukee. They move again to Michigan, but all is not well. When Malcolm is just four years old the Black Legion burns down his family home.
• After that, they move into a house on the outskirts of East Lansing, where Malcolm finally has somewhere stable to grow up.
• Malcolm's next memories are mostly of the arguments between his father and mother. He also remembers that his father treated him better because he was lighter skinned than his siblings.
• The reverend, Malcolm's dad, was a visiting Baptist preacher. Malcolm remembers going to church but not really getting it, while his older brother Philbert loved religion. Through these speeches at different churches, Malcolm gets to know the black people in his neighborhood. He doesn't have a great impression of them. He thinks they're just obsessed with status symbols and integration, not equality.
• Even though Malcolm's family isn't rich, they are better off than most of the other black families because they have a farm and don't have to buy food.
• Most of their money comes from Malcolm's dad's job. But that's not what Malcolm notices as a kid. What impresses him is his dad's work spreading the message of Marcus Garvey. But even though he's impressed by all of these Pan-African slogans, Malcolm doesn't connect them to an idea of civilized black people in Africa.
• Around this time his mom and dad are constantly fighting, and mostly about food. Malcolm remembers that his mom was way harsher on him than his dad. He guesses that she was trying to keep him humble and not let him become too proud of being light-skinned. Around the same time, Malcolm discovers that if he whines enough he'll get what he wants. He's not exactly what you would call a good kid.
• So back to that argument over food. One day Malcolm's dad forces his mom to cook a rabbit. He's so mad that while she's cleaning it he rushes out of the house. Malcolm's mom gets a vision that something bad is about to happen and tries to stop him, but he won't listen.
• The next time we hear about Malcolm's dad, he's dead. His skull is crushed and his body is almost cut in half by a train. Malcolm's only six years old.
• He doesn't have a very clear memory of the funeral, but he knows that lots of people came to it.
• After the funeral, other problems start. Money problems. Malcolm's dad had life insurance, but the company doesn't want to pay. So Malcolm's big brother, Wilfred, starts going to work and his big sister, Hilda, starts taking care of young children. And Malcolm? Well he's too busy fighting and causing trouble to contribute to the household.
• Since she's very light-skinned, Malcolm's mom starts working for the people in town. But once they find out who she is, they normally fire her. So eventually she's forced to go on welfare.
• She hates being on welfare. The state welfare inspectors treat Malcolm and his family as if they are objects and try to turn them against each other. At first, Malcolm doesn't understand why his mom is so upset about it, but as an adult he realizes why it was a problem.
• Around this time, the family starts to starve. Sometimes it's so bad that they eat dandelion greens to keep their stomachs full. Even though they used to be proud not to need free food assistance, things get so bad that they have to accept it.
• But Malcolm has other plans. He starts going to other people's homes around dinnertime, you know, just coincidentally in time for food. Before long, Malcolm becomes a regular little thief and gets in trouble with the law.
• That's a perfect entrance for the state welfare people to start placing Malcolm and his siblings into foster homes. You can guess how Malcolm's mom felt about that.
• Malcolm's mom manages to get a boyfriend, and he provides for the kids for a while. While he's there the state welfare people don't come to the home. But this doesn't last. Soon enough, the boyfriend decides he'd rather not deal with all of these kids and leaves. It shocks Malcolm's mom so much that she starts to go insane.
• That's when Malcolm's family starts to disintegrate. The welfare people take Malcolm away and make him live with the Gohannases. That's cool and everything, but Malcolm would prefer to live with his family.
• While he's living with the Gohannases, Malcolm goes to a Holy Roller's church and learns how to shoot rabbits.
• Eventually, Malcolm's mom has a complete breakdown and is taken to the Mental Hospital at Kalamazoo. Malcolm and his siblings become wards of the state, and his mom stays in the hospital for 26 years.
• Malcolm goes to visit her occasionally. He stops when she can’t remember him anymore. He thinks that the welfare people destroyed his family. He also realizes that his family isn't the only one destroyed by social agencies.
• Even though the family breaks up after Malcolm's mom is institutionalized, they still keep in touch with one another.