The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X

From the beginning of the book, Payne frames Malcolm’s primary message as that of challenging the idea that people with dark skin are inferior to whites. In the introduction, Tamara Payne describes her father’s response to Malcolm’s message. After hearing Malcolm lecture, “Payne was irrevocably changed. White were no longer superior. Blacks […] were no longer inferior” (xii). He heard Malcolm’s challenge to the message of inferiority and internalized it, as would Malcolm’s many followers.

Malcolm’s parents provided his earliest example of dignity and pride in the face of white racism. Louise and Earl Little subscribed to Marcus Garvey’s philosophies, which overlapped with many of Malcolm’s later beliefs. They refuse to submit to white superiority, which gets Earl his reputation as “uppity” (9). Their children followed their example, which allowed them to do the same with their own friends and families. Louise and Earl showed their children how to live with dignity, confidence, and pride in who they are. Wilfred describes the attitude that his parents instilled in them:

Our attitude made a difference in how they dealt with us compared to some of the other Negroes. When white people find out that you don’t have the inferiority complex, they deal with you at that level; it makes a difference.