Malcom X

Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little to Earl and Louise Little in Omaha, Nebraska on May 19, 1925. Malcolm's father was a minister that worked with Marcus Garvey, a famed activist who fought for the rights of black people. Both Garvey and Earl saw the racist world around them as near impossible to change and believed that all black people in America should return to Africa. This outlook would later influence Malcolm's own civil rights movement. Despite being from a black family, Malcolm had an advantage that his seven siblings did not have due to his lighter skin tone making him more acceptable to the white community. However, Malcolm experienced racism from the start. The Klu Klux Klan, a white supremacist group that believes that purebred white people are the superior race, attacked and threatened his family, eventually forcing them to move to Lansing, Michigan. Malcolm's family moved into a white neighborhood, which angered the residents and lead to them burning down Malcolm's house. His father built a new house outside of Lansing, but the people of the neighborhood were not done with the Littles and beat Earl Little to death when Malcolm was six. Louise, who was light-skinned like Malcolm, could not keep a job after it was found out her children were black. This caused her to become mentally unstable and unable to take care of her children. Malcolm's family was split up by social welfare services and Malcolm was sent to a nice neighborhood family named the Gohanneses. While trying to maintain a relationship with his now scattered siblings, Malcolm excelled in his middle school as the only African-American student and was voted class president. However, he felt more like a pet or entertainment to the students rather than a respected individual. Malcolm dropped out of school at 15 and moved to Boston with his sister, Ella, after his teacher told him that black people could never improve their lives.

After moving, Malcolm found work as a shoeshine at the Roseland Barroom. He frequented the rough bars and pool halls and eventually found out that he could make much more money selling drugs. He did just that and quit his job. He got caught up in the fast life, chasing after women and becoming addicted to the same drugs he sold. He carried this with him when he moved to Harlem. He was involved with bad people and constantly fighting, at this time being known as Detroit Red because of his reddish hair. His life was constantly in danger and he always had weapons on him, picking up more bad habits as he went along. He was arrested in 1946 after he was caught trying to sell an item he had stolen from a house he burglarized. He would go on to serve six years in prison, a place that would change him into Malcolm X.

While in prison, Malcolm sought to educate himself on the world around him. He learned about a group of African-Americans led by a man named Elijah Muhammad. This group was called the Nation of Islam and Malcolm wrote to Muhammad frequently. This group differed from the views of the original religion of Islam. They believed that white people were the source of all evil and that one day black people would rise above as Allah's (God) chosen people. Malcolm became fond of this group because of all the hate and racism he experienced at the hand of white people. When he was released from prison in 1952, he joined the Nation of Islam and changed his name to Malcolm X. The X represents how black people in the past, especially slaves, usually did not have last names, therefore it is simply replaced with an X. He quickly became a lead spokesperson and recruiter for them and even began to run his own temple in Harlem. Malcolm married a member of the group named Betty "X" Sanders on January 14, 1958 and they would go on to have six daughters. Malcolm stood up to white hate in a way most people were too afraid to express. He believed that a black person should be able to defend himself if he was attacked by a white person, making his views very different from fellow civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. who preached non-violence. He created a national newspaper for the Nation of Islam and was featured on a nationally-televised CBS documentary called "The Hate That Hate Produced". Malcolm became more popular than ever in both a positive and negative way. He gained many new followers but also received more hate from people of all races that believed he was encouraging violence. He was also being closely watched by the FBI, who were sending spies to his meetings and listening to his phone calls. When Elijah Muhammad became sick, Malcolm stepped up and took charge, causing much jealousy from his fellow members. They twisted a comment he made about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy to make it seem like he was happy that he was killed, making him look like a traitor. This led to Malcolm parting ways with the Nation of Islam and negative criticism from people he used to call brothers and sisters.

In 1964, Malcolm made a religious journey to Mecca, the center of true Islam. There he saw Muslims of all types of races and was amazed at their unity. This changed his views on white people as he saw there was a possibility people of all colors could co-exist. He also saw that the Nation of Islam was incorrect on their views. He came up with the idea of Pan-Africanism, which meant that people of African descent would support only each other when it came to purchasing products and become economically independent from white people. Malcolm spoke all over the world with leaders of different nations. He also became more inclusive stating, "My friends today are black, brown, red, yellow and white!" He created the Organization of African-American Unity (OAAU) as a way to work for human rights for all black people. Even though he did not allow white people into the group, he welcomed their support and encouraged them to teach others about the unfair treatment of black people by whites. Malcolm also established his own mosque (Islamic temple) in New York City. Despite this new Malcolm, now known as as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, he still received backlash, especially from the Nation of Islam. His family narrowly escaped a major fire after a firebomb was thrown into his house in Queens. Malcolm took his last speech in Harlem on February 21, 1965. In the middle of speech in front of hundreds of people and his pregnant wife and four daughters, Malcolm X was shot 16 times. He was pronounced dead hours later. Though Talmadge Hayer, a black non-Muslim, admitted to the assassination, many suspect that there was foul play involving the Nation of Islam. Louis Farrakhan, who took over after Malcolm left, is also believed by many to have ordered his assassination, as he had denounced Malcolm just two months prior. Even though Malcolm was killed at the young age of 39, he inspired many major figures and groups to carry on his fight. His name still holds tremendous influence today and he is celebrated nationally as a hero and standout leader of black people everywhere.