Call for Change: #3

Target Audience:

While there is no doubt that Malcolm X's autobiography touched and inspired people of many ethnic groups, the target audience is not simply anyone who has access to the book. The target audience for Malcolm X's autobiography was the same as that of his worldview, which is black people in America. During the more violent stages of his movement, he was seen urging his fellow African-Americans to be more vocal and assertive in their ideals. Because of his bluntness and lack of a filter in regards to his views on white people, this urged the oppressed to try to find a voice, and feel like they were not alone. This triggered a more direct and loud response from his audience. As his worldview changed to be less hostile against whites, his perspective still remained consistent. His worldview was not that white people were terrible and something to be defeated, but instead, that black people needed to work harder to be empowered and free.

The target audience is not white people for some very obvious reasons. An argument could be made that if a white American were to read the book, their perspectives on oppression would change. However, I feel that his goal was to empower black people, rather than receive pity from white people. His experiences in the ghettos of Boston and New York lead him to a very violent worldview, which was that black people should not accept help from white people. As his views of white people changed, his views on black people did not.

I believe that he wished to communicate a few things that he believed were important to his target audience. One of them being the aforementioned, that black people should be striving to be free and empowered, by any means necessary. Another perspective that he wished to communicate to his fellow African-Americans was that Islam was the right way to go for them. In an interview, Malcolm says "I believe that the Islam religion is the best religion for our people because it creates unity and gives everyone dignity". His conversion to Islam, joining and then leaving the Nation of Islam, and then founding his own Islamic organization were all pivotal points of his life, which helped to understand the true meaning of Islam and change his views on peace. His approach to violence changed dramatically, and I personally believe that his conversion may have had a lot to do with it.

While I believe that everyone can benefit from having read this book, Malcolm X's target audience was the audience of people who experienced the same things that he did, who he wished to save and empower. He wished to create a world where people no longer had to worry about surviving, where they could simply live independently without being harmed.