Malcolm X Quote.

Quote: "I had never tatsted a sip of liquor, never even smoked a cigaratte, and here I saw little black children, ten and twelve years old, shooting crabs, playing cards, fighting, getting grown-ups to put a penny or a nickel on their number for them, things like that."

          This quote is definitely been before Malcolm X started hanging out with Shorty and working as a shoeshiner. Malcolm was so use to Lansing and The whole Boston scene and he never know that playing cards and playing the number was okay at such a young age. He had just been introduce to a lifestyle that he had never seen before.

Quote: "It hadn't taken me long on the job to find out that Freddie had done less sheshining and towel-hustling than selling liquor and reefers, and putting white "John" in touch with Negro whores.."

        This quote means that Freddie is a hustler and instead of doing his job, he'd rather live the exciting life and be a hustler. But I'm sure Malcolm X looked up to Freddie because Malcolm didn't want to be a shoeshiner. But at the same time it makes it look easy to become a hustler, so Malcolm has that in the back of his head.

Quote: " This was my really big step towards self-degradation: when I endured all off that pain, literally burning my flesh to have it look like a white man's hair. I joined that multitude of Negro men and women in America who are brainwashed into believing that black people are "inferior" - and white people "superior" - that they will even violate and mutilate their God-creared bodies to try to lokk "pretty" by white stadards."

This is a true quote pretty much all the black people are brainwashed to think they are inferior because of the white people. Back than if black stepped out of line white would be right there and wouldn't have a problem putting them in Jail.