At various times in the 1950’s and 1960’s Malcolm X served as the nation’s public face, minister, human rights activist, and prominent Black nationalist. The Nation of Islam grew from a mere 400 members when he was released from prison in 1952 to 40,000 members by 1960 because of his efforts.
Known for his fiery speeches, Malcolm X encouraged his fellow African-Americans to fight back against racism “by any means necessary,” even if it meant using violence. Shortly before his assassination in the Audubon Ballroom in Manhattan in 1965, the fiery civil rights leader broke with the Nation of Islam.
Early Life and Family
Malcolm X was born in Omaha, Nebraska, on May 19, 1925, and died in 1965. As one of eight children raised by his preacher father and his homemaker mother, Louise Little, he was a staunch supporter of Black nationalist leader Marcus Garvey and a member of the local chapter of the Universal Negro Improvement Association.
The Little family was frequently harassed by white supremacist groups like the Ku Klux Klan and the Black Legion as a result of Earl Little’s civil rights activism. Even before he was born, Malcolm Little was subjected to acts of racism.
“A party of hooded Ku Klux Klan riders galloped up to our home when my mother was pregnant,” Malcolm recalled later. “They yelled for my father to come out as they brandished their shotguns and rifles.”
Local Klan members smashed the windows of Malcolm’s family home when he was just four years old. As a precaution, Earl Little relocated his family from Omaha to Milwaukee and then to Lansing, Michigan, in 1926 and 1928 respectively.
However, the family encountered more racism in Lansing than Omaha. The town’s all-white emergency responders refused to help the Littles after a racist mob set their house on fire in 1929.
This house was on fire when the white police and firefighters arrived. Malcolm X recalled this later in life. In East Lansing, Earl Little built a new house for his family.
Two years later, in 1931, the body of Earl Little was found across the tracks of a city streetcar. A life insurance policy Malcolm X had purchased in order to provide for his family in the event of his death was voided after Earl Little’s death was ruled an accident by the police even though Malcolm’s family believed he was murdered by white supremacists.
It’s safe to say that Malcolm X’s mother never fully recovered from the loss of her husband. While in a mental institution, she was held for the next 26 years. In 1937, she was committed. In order to protect Malcolm and his siblings, social workers placed them in different foster homes.
Education
As a teen, Malcolm was expelled from school and imprisoned in a Mason, Michigan, juvenile detention facility in 1938. In his autobiography, he describes how he was treated less like a human than a “pink poodle” or a “pet canary” by the home’s white owners.
He went to Mason High School, where he was one of the few African-Americans in his graduating class. He was elected class president because of his high academic standing and popularity among his peers.
In 1939, Malcolm Little’s English teacher asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up, and he replied that he wanted to be a lawyer. If you want to be a realist in this world, think of something you can do. Why not plan on doing carpentry?, said his teacher.
Malcolm X dropped out of school the following year, at the age of 15, after being told in no uncertain terms that there was no point in a Black child pursuing education.
Malcolm X moved to Boston after dropping out of school to live with his older half-sister, Ella, whom he later recalled: “For the first time in my life, I saw an outspoken Black woman who was truly proud of her heritage. Despite the fact that she was proud of her dark skin, she didn’t hide it from anyone. In those days, Negroes had never heard of this.”
Malcolm got a job shining shoes at the Roseland Ballroom thanks to Ella’s recommendation. After spending time on the streets of Boston on his own, Malcolm X became acquainted with the city’s criminal underworld and began selling drugs.
On the Yankee Clipper train between New York and Boston, he got a new job as a kitchen helper and fell deeper into a life of drugs and crime. Wearing brightly colored zoot suits and dancing the night away in clubs, he turned to crime in order to pay for his extravagant lifestyle.
Time in Jail
Malcolm X was convicted of shoplifting and sentenced to serve ten years in prison in 1946. He read constantly while in prison, devouring books from the prison library in an effort to make up for the years of education he had missed by dropping out of high school.
Many of his siblings visited him in prison, and they had joined the Nation of Islam, a small group of Black Muslims committed to the Black nationalist ideology, which holds that in order to achieve freedom, justice, and equality for all Black people, a separate state must be created.
Prior to his release in 1952, he changed his name to Malcolm X and joined the Nation of Islam, which he did while serving time in prison.
Nation of Islam
With his freedom gained, Malcolm X traveled to Detroit, Michigan to work with Elijah Muhammad, leader of the Nation of Islam, to broaden the movement’s appeal to African-American communities across the country..
Temple No. 7 in Harlem and Temple No. 11 in Boston were all established under Malcolm X’s leadership, and he also started new temples in Hartford and Philadelphia. To further the Nation of Islam’s message, he started Muhammad Speaks, a national newspaper, in 1960.
To free themselves from racism, Malcolm X called for the use of “any means necessary,” including violence, and was widely regarded as an inspirational orator in this regard. “I’m not sure you can have a peaceful revolution in this country. According to him, “you don’t have a revolution where you turn your cheek.” It’s impossible to conduct a peaceful revolution.”
A violent revolution to establish an independent Black nation was Malcolm X’s most popular idea, but it also enraged many of his fiercest opponents. The Nation of Islam grew from 400 members in 1952, when Malcolm X was released from prison, to 40,000 members in 1960, largely because of Malcolm X’s efforts.
Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.
For many people in the civil rights movement during the early 1960s, Malcom X represented an extreme alternative to Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision of peacefully integrating all races.
Malcolm X’s destructive demagoguery was highly criticized by Dr. King. I believe Malcolm has done himself and our people a disservice,” King once said.
Becoming a Mainstream Sunni Muslim
In comparison, the breakup with Elijah Muhammad was a lot more difficult. After learning that his hero and mentor, Muhammad Ali, had violated many of his own teachings, most flagrantly by having many extramarital affairs, Malcolm X became deeply disillusioned in 1963. Muhammad had in fact fathered several children outside of marriage.
Malcolm X left the Nation of Islam in 1964 after feeling betrayed by Muhammad and making insensitive remarks about the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
Malcolm X went on a lengthy trip to North Africa and the Middle East in the same year. For him, the journey was both a political and spiritual awakening. He grew to embrace socialism and pan-Africanism as he learned to situate the American civil rights movement within a broader anti-colonial struggle.
While in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Malcolm X made the traditional Muslim pilgrimage known as the Hajj, during which time he converted to Islam and adopted the Muslim name El-Haj Malik El-Shabazz.
Malcolm X returned to the United States less enraged and more hopeful about the prospect of a peaceful resolution to America’s racial issues after his Mecca experience. Seeing the true brotherhood influenced him to realize that anger can impair one’s ability to see. When it comes to a bloodless revolution, “America is the only country that has ever done so.”
Assassination
He was assassinated just as Malcolm X appeared to be beginning an ideological transformation with the potential to drastically alter the course of the civil rights movement.
Malcolm X delivered a speech at Manhattan’s Audubon Ballroom on February 21, 1965. In the middle of his speech, a group of men stormed the stage and began firing their weapons.
When Malcolm X arrived at a nearby hospital, he was declared dead from multiple gunshot wounds. Three members of the Nation of Islam were convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison.
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
Malcolm X began working on his autobiography in the early 1960s with renowned author Alex Haley. A biography of Malcolm X’s life and thoughts on racial pride, Black nationalists, and pan-Africanism is included in the book.
Malcolm X’s Autobiography, published after his death in 1965, received near-universal acclaim. Time magazine named it one of the 10 most influential nonfiction books of the 20th century, calling it a “brilliant, painful, important book.”
Movies
Actors like James Earl Jones, Morgan Freeman, and Mario Van Peebles have played Malcolm X in films, stage plays, and other works.
Malcolm X, directed by Spike Lee in 1992, featured Denzel Washington as the titular character. Several awards were given to both the film and Washington’s portrayal of Malcolm X, including two Academy Awards.
Wife and Children
In 1958, Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz were united in marriage. Six children were born to the couple.
READ ALSO: Gamilah Shabazz: Wiki, Malcolm X Daughter, Age, Husband, Net Worth
Legacy
The immediate reaction to Malcolm X’s death was to dismiss him as a violent rabble-rouser and ignore his recent spiritual and political transformation.
Because of Malcolm X’s autobiography, the value of truly free people was made clearer, and he will always be remembered for his demonstration of how far people will go to secure their freedom.
“Freedom-defending power, he argued, was superior to that used to uphold oppression. We have real power because of our convictions that lead to uncompromising actions.”