Malcolm X a strong leader for the Black Revolution learned a lot of valuable information through the people and the experiences he faced. These situations include his encounters with the famous jazz musician Ella Fitzgerald, his unforgettable prison experience and his adult pilgrimage to Mecca. Those situations helped shape Malcolm X into the proud and highly intelligent young man with a goal of self -identity for his people. .
Malcolm X met many people in his lifetime, Ella Fitzgerald (1917-1996) being one of those people. Fitzgerald was an American jazz singer, who was considered one of the greatest singers in the history of jazz. Fitzgerald received the name "first lady of song"(Ella Fitzgerald, Encarta), when she successfully brought jazz into the mainstream culture. Within the 60 years of Fitzgerald's life she had created an everlasting record of art, Fitzgerald's jazz styles and scat singing ("improvised nonsense syllables usually sung to instrumental accompaniment"), (Ella Fitzgerald, Encarta). She was born in Newport News, Virginia, Fitzgerald later moved wit her mother and stepfather to Yonkers, a suburb of New York City. Fitzgerald first dream was to become a dance. But she was later inspired by the voice of Conne Boswell, who performed in a vocal trio. As a teenager she won numerous amateur talent contest at Harlem Opera House and The Apollo Theater, both located in New York City's Harlem Neighborhood. The recognition of her talent got her invited to sing with noted drummer and bandleader Chick Webb and his band at Savory Ballroom in Harlem. Unfortunately in 1939 Webb died, leaving Fitzgerald as a leader of the band. In 1941 she decided to go out on her own: by the 1940's she had established the style that made her famous.
Malcolm's first experience of learning was in the Norfolk Prison Colony.
While in prison he focused on life, and his sinful ways. He reviews his level of education and compared it to the homade education he had been using so much of in the past.