It took me 26 years to find someone I genuinely admire. It took that long because I never knew someone well enough to admire him or her and because no one met my admiration standards.
I read Malcolm X’s autobiography and fell in love with his character. I was actually obsessed with him and talked non-stop about him the whole time I was reading the book. After I finished the book, I was hungry for more information about him; I wanted to know all that is available about him, even the smallest details. So, I watched the docu-series about his murder that is on Netflix. I wanted to watch the movie as well, but it’s too long and too old (I have this rule that I don’t watch movies that are longer than 2:30 hours and older than 2000).
I realized that most of what I admire about him are characteristics I lack. I admire his eloquence. He had amazing persuasion skills and was an outstanding influencer, even though he never learned to become an orator. He was simply an incredible speaker.
He was intelligent and gave the cleverest comebacks. He would answer provocative questions in such a manner that his questioners would have nothing else to say; they would storm off angrily because they failed to provoke him or would just be in awe of his brilliance.
He was also incredibly brave. He knew his cause would kill him, but that didn’t stop him from striving to achieve his goal. There were multiple attempts on his life, and he received death threats, but he never cowered. He knew he might die at any moment, but he continued on courageously.
He was charismatic. You couldn’t know him (not necessarily personally) and not love him and admire him.
It’s hard to find someone quite like him or who has lived a life like his. It’s so sad that during his time, they didn’t see him for what he was. His intelligence and passion were under-appreciated, if at all. He was quite an angry man, but his anger was understandable.
People with influence are always perceived as dangerous, even if their influence is positive. It only emphasizes humans’ fear of change.
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