Free Essays on Malcom X

of Malcolm X shortly before he was gunned down February 21, 1965. An inspiration to millions, Malcolm X’s life provides an insight to how difficult life was in the mid-1900s for a penniless black man. His was a story of the powerful effect faith can have in transforming a once pitiful life into something meaningful. An advocate for civil rights, Malcolm X was one of the rare gems who spend their life devotedly dedicated towards a cause with no thought of personal gain, fame, wealth, or pride. He lived for his God, Allah, and until the betrayal of his lifetime, was the loyal servant of Elijah Muhammad. His was the story of the gradual evolution of a man and his struggle to make sense of those around him. Most importantly, it was his struggle to make sense of who he was and what he stood for. I believe that El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, as Malcolm X was commonly called after performing the obligatory pilgrimage to Mecca, was one of history’s most greatly misunderstood men. The Autobiography of Malcolm X sent a message of hope to its audience. Here was a chronology of the life of a black man struggling to first cope and then break away from the white world. Regarded as an extremist by critics for his earlier calls for voicing his then radical thoughts, Malcolm X’s life may help to account for such an opinion. This book and its theme were about the evolution of Malcolm throughout life and his responses to his circumstances. The theme dealt with the idea that no matter how bad life may be, no matter how bad it may seem for you, only you can dictate what life will do to you. Only you can decide what your self-worth is, no one e... Free Essays on Malcom X Free Essays on Malcom X A black militant, Malcolm X championed the rights of African Americans and urged them to develop racial unity. He was known for his association first with the Nation of Islam, sometimes known as the Black Muslims, and later with the Organization of Afro-American Unity, which he founded after breaking with the Nation of Islam. Malcolm Little was born in Omaha, Neb., on May 19, 1925, the seventh of eleven children. The family soon moved to Lansing, Mich. There they were harassed by whites who resented the black nationalist views of the father, Earl Little, an organizer for Marcus Garvey's "back-to-Africa" movement. When Malcolm was 6 his father was murdered. His mother later suffered a nervous breakdown, and the family was separated by welfare agencies. Later in his life Malcolm came to believe that white people had destroyed his family. Placed in a series of schools and boardinghouses, Malcolm became a fine student and dreamed of becoming a lawyer. A teacher, however, told him that b ecause he was black he should learn carpentry instead. Discouraged, he left school after the eighth grade to live with a relative in Boston, Mass.Malcolm shined shoes and worked at a soda fountain, in a restaurant, and on a railroad kitchen crew. In 1942 he moved to the black Harlem section of New York City. He lived as a hustler, cheating to make money. He was wary of the police. A pusher, he sold drugs and became an addict himself. Pursued by a rival hustler, he went back to Boston, where he organized a burglary ring. In 1946 he was sent to prison for burglary. While serving in prison Malcolm adopted the Islamic religion as practiced by a group that later became known as the Nation of Islam. They stressed ethical conduct with other African Americans but taught that white people were "devils." Released from prison in 1952, Malcolm joined his younger brother in Detroit, Mich., where, in Muslim fashion, he replaced his slave last name with an X to symbolize h... Free Essays on Malcom X Anything I do today, I regard as urgent. No man is given but so much time to accomplish whatever his life’s work†¦I am only facing the facts when I know that any moment of any day, of any night, could bring me death†¦I never have felt that I would live to become an old man.†(Page 385) These are the words of Malcolm X shortly before he was gunned down February 21, 1965. An inspiration to millions, Malcolm X’s life provides an insight to how difficult life was in the mid-1900s for a penniless black man. His was a story of the powerful effect faith can have in transforming a once pitiful life into something meaningful. An advocate for civil rights, Malcolm X was one of the rare gems who spend their life devotedly dedicated towards a cause with no thought of personal gain, fame, wealth, or pride. He lived for his God, Allah, and until the betrayal of his lifetime, was the loyal servant of Elijah Muhammad. His was the story of the gradual evolution of a man a nd his struggle to make sense of those around him. Most importantly, it was his struggle to make sense of who he was and what he stood for. I believe that El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, as Malcolm X was commonly called after performing the obligatory pilgrimage to Mecca, was one of history’s most greatly misunderstood men. The Autobiography of Malcolm X sent a message of hope to its audience. Here was a chronology of the life of a black man struggling to first cope and then break away from the white world. Regarded as an extremist by critics for his earlier calls for voicing his then radical thoughts, Malcolm X’s life may help to account for such an opinion. This book and its theme were about the evolution of Malcolm throughout life and his responses to his circumstances. The theme dealt with the idea that no matter how bad life may be, no matter how bad it may seem for you, only you can dictate what life will do to you. Only you can decide what your self-worth is, no one e... Free Essays on Malcom X During the 1960's civil rights protest took place. In particular two civil rights leaders stood out the mos,. Malcome X and Martian Luther King Jr. Although both fought for black freedom, each had different theories of getting it. Malcom X was born in Omaha, Nebraska 1925. While growing up Malcome moved to many of the United States major cities, a main effect of this was turning little Malcom into a hardened criminal. At the age of 20, he was arrested for burglary and served seven years in prison. While in prison Malcom found that the white society was oppressive to the black people. From then on Malcom started to preach for black power, he spoke at â€Å"non violent movements† saying he was becoming impatient because equity wasn’t coming fast enough. Malcom disagreed with all the early race protest saying they didn’t spread the black word out fast enough. In February 1965 Malcom X was shot dead in New York City during a rally. Martian Luther King Jr as Malcom X set his sights on stopping segregation that had been around for ages. Threw Matians life he felt the full fury of racism as a result of growing up in the deep south. Martian was arrested over 20 times for participating in many civil rights movements. In 1963 Martian along with others organized a march that would end up in front of the Lincoln monument at the heart of Washington, DC. This is where Martian made his powerful â€Å"I have a dream speech† which made him a part of history forever. Martian believed in non violent movements and said violence was not needed to spread the word of black freedom. In April 1968 at the age of 39 Martian was shot down and died shortly after. A man named James Earl Ray was convicted with Martian Luther King Jr, death. Martian Luther and Malcom although led short lives they significantly influenced this great land forever. Martian along with other Baptist clergymen started an organization (The Southern Chris...

Are data and sales publishings driving forces

Are data and sales publishings driving forces Are data and sales publishing's driving forces? Reedsy was at The Frankfurt Book Fair this year. The conferences from the self-publishing program were interesting, but often too short to really dig into details. Luckily, I had registered ahead of time for a panel that went almost unnoticed thanks to poor programming; by Saturday morning, most of the trade visitors had either left or were too exhausted to reflect on the state of the industry with any wit or coherence.Porter Anderson, journalist for The Bookseller’s Futurebook and Thought Catalog; Orna Ross, â€Å"indie† author and founder of ALLi; and Marcello Vena, founder of All Brain, a publishing consultancy, convened to answer one brilliant, pertinent question: Is it all about sales?The dissection of a publisher by Marcello VenaPorter opened, putting the question to the panel. First up was Marcello Vena with a 15-minute dissection of a publishing company. Marcello didn’t try to be elaborate or- heaven forbid- present us with another blueprint of how to â⠂¬Å"disrupt† the publishing industry. Rather, he drew a clear, structured picture of what publishing should be about, going back to the fundamentals.Here’s what I took away from Marcello’s contribution: Yes, publishing is a business. The biggest publishers are owned by multinationals and are under the pressure of the markets. And the markets care about sales. Whether this should be its philosophy or not, a publishing company is always there to make money, because else it cannot be sustained. It’s that simple.However- and this is where the beautiful twist comes in- even though sales are just as important to Penguin as to Pampers, selling books isn’t like selling diapers. Publishing is a creative industry. Sales depend on two different capabilities: first,  acquisition (luring the best authors who write the best books, and developing their careers), and second,  marketing (i.e. ensuring that the books get into the hands of their target audience).T his is what makes publishing such a puzzle, an industry resistant to standard strategies of â€Å"disruption†: you have to compete both for content and distribution.When both are done together, and done well, that equals†¦ sales.When the balance is not respected†¦Good debate needs common ground- something we can all agree on. Now that we know how a publisher should work, we can identify what is going wrong (if, indeed, something is going wrong).And no one better than Orna to help with that. You can read her story here. Orna’s publisher didn’t respect the necessary balance between acquisition and marketing. Her publisher took her book about â€Å"strong women rising above their inherited circumstances† and turned it into a love story with a neon-pink cover. â€Å"For the mass market,† she was told.This is not the first â€Å"horror story† (Polly Courtney has a similar one), nor will it be the last. They always follow the same classi c plot: author takes book to publisher, publisher uses book as raw material for making something more â€Å"marketable,† author feels like giving up.To widen the debate: a reflection on data and creative industriesThis is when Porter kicked in with a comparison to the news industry. Before the data-era, the power in newspapers and magazines resided with the editorial team. Journalists wrote what they wanted, how they wanted - and this often resulted in well-written, in-depth pieces on critical subjects.Now, power has shifted to the advertisers. Journalists are not supposed to write what they think is â€Å"good† or relevant; they have to write what data shows will be read and clicked on.This comparison led the audience to a crucial question in this debate: is data compatible with creative industries?Data-driven strategies are all about testing and iteration, repeating what works. Obviously, Marcello points out, big publishers do other things too. If they didn’t, we’d be drowning in a sea of erotica right now. But things might be moving that way, just like they have for journalism.Trying to be iterative in a creative industry is problematic because it stops publishers from finding the next â€Å"big hit†. Big hits are almost always books that uncover a market that either didn’t exist or looked dead (exempli gratia: Harry Potter, Fifty Shades of Grey). Sometimes the acquisition team of a publisher has to take a leap of faith- a leap unsupported by data- and marketing has to trust it.Closing remarksThe balance between editorial and marketing is maybe only one of the challenges facing publishing companies nowadays, but it might be the most important. The balance is at once about publishing itself, what it means, what it does.As Porter has repeatedly pointed out in his articles for The Bookseller or Thought Catalog, we often forget that the big shift happening in the publishing industry is a relatively recent one.   We ar e in this industry and this makes us impatient to see progress and adaptation to change, but we must not forget that no other industry would have reacted quicker or better to such a paradigm shift. It’s not exactly the most comforting of thoughts, but it’s true.Nevertheless, hopefully when I’m in Frankfurt this time next year we’ll have started to see some sort of response to all this kind of thing.Thanks for reading.RicardoCOO, ReedsyIf you enjoyed Ricardo’s thoughts on the business of publishing, you might want to check out some of these posts†¦Patience: The Modern Author’s Lost VirtueAuthorpreneurs VC PublishersUncommon Author - An Interview with Eliot Peper