Letters from Prison, On Becoming Summary and Analysis

Eldridge Cleaver was eighteen-years-old in 1954 when the U.S. Supreme Court outlawed segregation. On June 18 of that year, he began a sentence in Folsom Prison for possession of marijuana. Cleaver says it was an important year for him in many ways. Not only did he begin the prison sentence, he became aware of his position as a "black in white America." Cleaver assures the reader that he's always been aware of the color of his skin, but was suddenly awakened to what it meant. He talks of the social status - or lack thereof - that he hadn't known existed until the mass demonstrations began. He said he and other blacks were suddenly against everything that represented America, right down to hot dogs and baseball.

Cleaver's own opinion is to dismiss the segregationists...