Malcolm X represented the Nation of Islam during the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Unlike Martin Luther King, Malcolm X called on African Americans to cast off the shackles of racism “by any means necessary,” including violence. A skilled and passionate speaker, Malcolm remains one of the country’s most important African American leaders.
Early Life
Malcolm Little was born in 1925, in Omaha, Nebraska. Malcolm’s father, Earl Little, was a pastor and a vocal supporter of black nationalist leader Marcus Garvey. Due to his father’s support for the civil rights movement, the family was often targeted by white supremacist groups, including the Ku Klux Klan and the Black Legion. To protect his family, Earl Little moved his family to Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1926 and then to Lansing, Michigan in 1928.
The harassment continued. When a group of white supremacists set the Little’s house on fire in 1929, the town’s all-white emergency responders would not come to their aid. “The white police and firemen came and stood around watching as the house burned to the ground,” Malcolm X recalled. In 1931, his father was found dead. While the family believed he was murdered, the police concluded it was an accident, which voided a large life insurance policy that Earl Little had purchased in case of his untimely death. When Malcolm’s mother subsequently suffered a nervous breakdown, Malcolm and his siblings were separated and sent into foster care. While Malcolm did well in school, he quit at the age of 15.
Nation of Islam
In 1946, Malcolm was sentenced to prison for larceny and breaking and entering. While incarcerated, he joined the Nation of Islam and changed his name from Malcolm Little to Malcolm X. As he later explained, “Little” was the name that “the white slavemaster … had imposed upon [his] paternal forebears.”
The Nation of Islam was premised on black nationalism, the belief that in order to secure justice and equality, African Americans needed to establish their own state that was completely distinct from white Americans. After he was released from prison in 1952, Malcolm worked with the leader of the Nation of Islam, Elijah Muhammad, to expand the movement. Malcolm quickly rose through the ranks to become a prominent member of the Nation of Islam, helping it grow from just 400 members in 1952 to 40,000 members by 1960.
Malcolm broke with Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam in 1964. He subsequently set out for Africa and the Middle East to study Islam. After completing the Hajj, he again changed his name, preferring to be known as el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz. Upon returning to the United States, Malcolm spoke out against the Nation of Islam and began to embrace integration. To further his new agenda, which included protecting the human rights of black Americans, he founded Muslim Mosque, Inc. and the Organization of Afro-American Unity.
Malcolm X was assassinated at the Audubon Ballroom in Manhattan, New York, on February 21, 1965. However, he continued to exert influence on race relations even after this death. His bestselling book, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, was often cited in the Black Power movement of the late 1960s and 1970s.
