Part 2 Summary

This section opens with Malcolm being restrained and beaten by prison guards as the other inmates yell from the sidelines. The only exception is a thirty-year-old man named Luther, who tells the others that Malcolm makes trouble because he is not fit for a confined life like some other men who like to be locked up because it is a relatively easy life.

Luther befriends Malcolm and attempts to persuade Malcolm to overcome racial barriers with his head, not his fists. Luther wants Malcolm to embrace his heritage and accept his physical characteristics as beautiful, even his nappy hair, which Malcolm has spent years straightening. Luther's premise for black success is that white men will always have power over black men as long as black men attempt to become white.

Malcolm has never viewed his plight in this manner before and adopts Luther's...