Rousseau said that, “We are born weak, we need strength; helpless, we need aid; foolish, we need reason. All that we lack at birth, all that we need when we come to man’s estate, is the gift of education” (Rousseau 1). He claims that education provides us with strength, hence without it, we are weak.

Malcolm X had very low literacy skills before he went to prison. To everyone else, he was just another oppressed black man in a white-ruled society. He was unable to write strong, articulate letters, ”  I became increasingly frustrated at not being able to express what I wanted to convey in letters that I wrote, especially those to Mr. Elijah Muhammad. In the street, I had been the most articulate hustler out there. I had commanded attention when I said something. But now, trying to write simple English, I not only wasn’t articulate, I wasn’t even functional. How would I sound writing in slang, the way 1 would say it” (X 1). Basically, he was unable to convey his ideas.

This fueled his desire to learn. After studying the entire dictionary while in prison, he gained the ability to read and write, as well as the ability to articulate his thoughts. After becoming an educated man, he was then able to speak out against the oppression black-Americans were facing in society, and gain the support of many people nationwide. The way I see it, Malcolm X was always a strong man, but without any education, he could not put any of that strength to good use, until he became self-educated.