Victor Thomas holds a copy of “The Autobiography of Malcolm X,” one of his favorite books. (Photo provided by Victor Thomas)
By Devin Blake
This story was originally published by Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service, where you can find other stories reporting on fifteen city neighborhoods in Milwaukee. Visit milwaukeenns.org.
Malcolm X once wrote that, “People don’t realize how a man’s whole life can be changed by one book.”
For Victor Thomas, who is about halfway through a 40-year prison sentence, one book that has had an effect on him is the one in which this quote appears, “The Autobiography of Malcolm X.”
The book was published nearly 60 years ago, but its racial and political ideas have current-day applications for Thomas and, he argues, all Americans.
“Even those who are not justice-impacted, they might, after reading this book, come away with a different outlook,” Thomas said.
As Malcolm X’s 99th birthday draws near on May 19, there is continued interest in his life and legacy.
Then and now
While Thomas draws such far-ranging lessons from the book, he was initially struck by the personal parallels between X’s life and his own while growing up in Milwaukee’s 53206 ZIP code, notorious for high rates of incarceration and poverty.
“Just like Malcolm, I was born into and came up in poverty, had a parent murdered while still a child, was removed from my parents’ custody for some years,” Thomas said.
Also like X, Thomas said he had ”many untapped intellectual abilities and other gifts as a child,” the encouragement of which could have “led to a very different path in life.”
But, like X, Thomas dropped out of school.
Thomas ran away from home as a teenager and then “got off into the life of crime,” he said.
Eventually in 2007, he was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
By the time X was 20, he also was serving a lengthy sentence.
A journey of self-education
But X’s story did not end with prison, of course.
Neither has Thomas’.
“I ended up in prison rigorously pursuing a journey of self-education and transformation,” Thomas said.
Others in Thomas’ life see the change, too.
“The Victor that I know today is completely different,” said Kamonti McFarlane, Thomas’ cousin. “I think he had a lot of time to think about how life has unfolded for him.”
Forgiving the man who murdered his mom and letting go of the anger were essential parts of the change, said McFarlane.
“My unresolved grief was very much unknown to me, and it was no one but me who was finally able to draw that correlation,” Thomas said. “When I did, I reached out to Cedric Robinson, the person who murdered my mother, and I expressed my forgiveness towards him.”
Thomas eventually wrote a letter supporting Robinson in his pursuit of parole “because he also deserved a second chance at life,” he said.
Jodi Melamed, a professor in the department of English at Marquette University, said that creating room for this kind of change is an enduring legacy of X’s autobiography.
The book “shows us that prisons can be schoolhouses of the oppressed, where people learn practices of personal and collective liberation,” she said.
From inside to outside
It is the connection between the personal and the collective that Thomas describes as a particularly eye-opening aspect of X’s writing.
The book “has helped me to understand how my experiences were not unique to myself, how other people who had encountered the same experiences were able to transcend,” he said.
He tells fellow incarcerated individuals about the book routinely.
“A lot of them are very pessimistic and have very low expectations for themselves,” Thomas said. “So with regards to them, I tell them that this book is an example of being able to be rehabilitated, transform your life and exceed all expectations that was placed on you.”
He also recommends the book to prison staff but for different reasons.
“A lot of staff members are jaded by their jobs,” Thomas said. “I also would like for them to be able to read the book so that they can understand how a person can go from one end of the spectrum to the other.”
From prison to purpose
Thomas works as a certified peer specialist for other incarcerated individuals.
He supports those with substance use disorders, mental health disorders as well as those who have trauma and conflict issues.
“Every day, I’m passionate about this, like my supervisors don’t even set the bar as high as I set for myself, in order to truly make a difference in people’s lives,” Thomas said.
This devotion to strengthening others, echoes a quote from X’s autobiography, a quote that could have easily come out of Thomas’ mouth:
“Don’t be in a hurry to condemn because he doesn’t do what you do or think as you think or as fast. There was a time when you didn’t know what you know today.”
Devin Blake is the criminal justice reporter for the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service. His position is funded by the Public Welfare Foundation, which plays no role in editorial decisions in the NNS newsroom.