Malcolm moves with a white foster family names Swerlins in 1937. Despite being good at school, his teachers don’t think that he will be able to achieve his dreams of being a layer. Over the years, Malcolm works as a dish washer and visits his mother and siblings as often as he can. In 1940, Malcolm moves with his half-sister Ella in Boston is a wealthy black neighborhood. While the Swerlings don’t understand his decision, Malcolm feels that he will be stuck in a menial job if he remains with them and so he decides to leave. Malcolm is fifteen when he decides to look for a job, knowing that he will able to pass as being several years older.
During his stay there, Malcolm changes drastically and he begins to drink, use drugs and he also changes the way he used to dress until then. After a while, Malcolm quits his job there and becomes a regular customer.
Malcolm begins to work as a clerk at a drugstore and it there where he meets Laura. Malcolm tells Laura about his dreams of becoming a lawyer and she encourages him to follow his dreams. Laura likes dancing and during one time when Malcolm and Laura are dancing at the Roseland, Malcolm meets Sophia, a white woman. Malcolm dumps Laura for Sophia and he begins to enjoy the status he has by dating a white woman.
Malcolm moves in with Shorty and after a few years he finds that Laura never recovered after Malcolm dumped her and she eventually became a prostitute. Malcolm begins working various jobs washing dishes or selling sandwiches until he earns enough money in the numbers racket. Malcolm also meets Sammy the Pimp and they soon become friends.
Malcolm moves into a rooming house where he learns many things about men in general from prostitutes. Malcolm’s life takes a turn for the worst when he loses his job after offering a cop to take him to a prostitute and losing his job. Malcolm begins to sell marijuana but the police prevent him from expanding his business. Malcolm soon becomes addicted and because he is unable to sell the product in his area, Sammy suggests that he should try and alternate between trying to sell marijuana in one place and then move to another area.
World War II begins and because many white men left for war, the population is more reluctant to accept interracial relationships. Malcolm continues to meet in secret with a white woman named Sofia while also escaping being drafted by the military.
Malcolm becomes unable to travel by railroad after an incident where he threatened someone with a gun during a train ride and because the police began to know him and his drug dealing business, he also became unable to sell drugs. As a result, Malcolm begins to traffic guns and be involved in robberies while also starting to use harder drugs.
Malcolm’s brother Reginald moves in with him and Malcolm arranges for him to sell different products on the streets. Things changed drastically in Harlem and the Savoy Ballroom is shut down, riots take place and prostitutes and hustler remain with no other choice but to find a legal job. Malcolm is also affected by this changes and he finds himself forced to live on what Reginald makes on the streets.
Malcolm works various illegal jobs and even gets involved with bootlegging with a Jewish man but that didn’t last long either because the man soon disappeared. After a disagreement Malcolm had with a man against who he betted, Malcolm is forced to run away to Boston in order to save his life. Shorty and Ella are amazed to see how much Malcolm has changed and Malcolm continues his relationship with Sophia while Shorty starts seeing Sophia’s younger sister.
In order to earn some money, Malcolm, Shorty and an Italian man named Rudy form a burglary ring and they rob the houses of rich white people with Sophia’s help. Malcolm is caught when one day he sees Sophia on the streets with one of her husband’s friends and blows her cover. Malcolm is eventually sentenced to serve ten years in prison.
During his time spent inside the Massachusetts state prison, Malcolm meets Bimbi who helps Malcolm grow by pushing him to learn more and use the small library in the prison to learn about various subjects. When Malcolm is moved to another prison with a bigger library, he continues to teach himself using the books he has. Malcolm also becomes a Muslim in prison and accepts the Nation of Islam’s principles.
During his stay in prison Malcolm becomes a member of a debate group and during his debates he always finds a way to bring the theme of racism into his speeches and begins to be obsessed with the idea of converting as many as he can to Islamism.
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Explanation:
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