Malcom X & Sherman Alexie

In Malcom X's article, "Learning to Read" and Sherman Alexie's article, "Superman Me", they discuss how race, class and status affected the opportunities they were given to learn to read and write.  Each is similar in their own way, but very different.  The biggest difference is that they learned to read and write at different points in their life.  Both being minorities, but Malcolm X taught himself how to read while he was in jail.  He was also much older than when you think of a typical age of a child today learning to read and write.  He was an adult.  It's hard enough being an adult and having all the tools necessary to achieve becoming literate today, so being an adult minority in prison, must have been overwhelmingly complicated.  Sherman Alexie on the other hand, taught himself how to read by picking up anything he could get his hands on by the time he was three.  He did not have the privledge of public schooling since he was Latin American and growing up in a time where this generally was not accepted.  As a result he taught himself to read by picking up comic books, automobile manuals and even newspapers.  Both men did not have the ends to make means meet as far as becoming literate goes, but with perserverence and steady dedication these men helped themselves do something incredible.  Something we take advantage of day in and day out.