Reading and thinking..

Sorry for the slow updates. Things have been fairly slow recently due to the recent holiday weekend in Korea nor has there really been anything peaking my interest so far over here news wise; so instead I have spent my time recently reading some new books I've picked up recently. One of books I've picked up is something some people would probably be surprised I never read; the Autobiography of Malcolm X by Alex Haley.

My initial reaction so far has been filled with love for the book. I started reading it last night and kept reading until my body was physically incapable of reading anymore. More importantly, in the first half of the book it made me realize how pointless the "Malcolm X vs MLK Jr" debates I occasionally see among the internet. Most people don't realize was that both figures were making critiques and responses to racism in their own areas. Dr. King was in an area where segregation was a legal reality, and getting legal recognition was necessary. Arguments of "integration" were important to him because they did not exist in any form. In contrast, Malcolm X was in an area where integration was already accepted to some degree and most whites were claiming to be against segregation. Malcolm X himself went to mostly white schools. The problem for the northern parts of the USA was that racism was more systemic and not in the open. Because of this, Malcolm focused more on the system itself and calls for integration wouldn't have been as effective there as it was in the south.

I'm not even halfway through the book (I stopped when Reginald begin introducing NOI to Malcolm) and I've already found myself reviewing my values and how I thought the world worked. Might be the best $7 I spent in a long time.