Malcolm X

Born Malcolm Little

● Omaha, Nebraska- 1925 ● Father was a Baptist minister.

– Supporter of Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association.

Family moved to Lansing, Michigan.

● While in Michigan, Malcolm's father killed by KKK.

● His mother was committed to a mental institution.

Malcom's transition.

● Dropped out after the eighth grade, he began selling and using drugs, & burglary.

● 1946, was sentenced to a ten-year prison term on burglary charges.

While in prison he learned about Black Muslim [NOI]sect.

● headed by Elijah Muhammad. ● They accepted the basic argument that evil was

an inherent characteristic of the "white man's Christian world."

● Unlike Muhammad, Malcolm called white people "devils,"

Malcolm becomes too outspoken.

● He was eventually suspended from the Black Muslim movement by Elijah Muhammad.

● Malcolm formed his own organizations, the Organization of Afro-American Unity and the Muslim Mosque Inc.

The Hajj.

● In 1964 he made a pilgrimage to Mecca, and adopted the name El-Hajj Malik El Shabazz.

● This was a turning point for him.● Pre-Mecca Malcolm; Post Mecca Malcolm.

His views changed.

● He also adopted views that were not popular with other black nationalists. – Not all whites were evil

– that blacks could make gains by working through established channels.

As a result of Malcolm's new views, he became the victim of death threats. ● In 1965, Malcolm was shot and killed in Harlem,

while preparing to speak. ● Three of the men arrested were later identified as

members of the Nation of Islam.

Malcolm's legacy.

● The memory and image of Malcolm X has changed as much after his death as his own philosophies changed during his life. – At first thought to be a violent fanatic.

– he is now understood as an advocate of self-help, self-defense, and education.