Malcolm X was an influential person. He was a leader of the 60's civil rights movement, and a

former minister of the Nation of Islam. He had many different views throughout his lifetime and

was characterized as an African American radical activist.

Malcolm Little was born on May 19, 1925, the son of Louise and Earl Little of Omaha,

Nebraska. During his childhood he was an excellent student. Before dropping out in the 8th

grade, he was receiving good grades and was voted class president. His family eventually moved

to Boston when he should of been starting high school. Malcolm got a job as a shoeshine boy,

but quickly decided dealing drugs was an easier way to make money. He got heavily involved

with the hustler society and eventually moved to New York city. In New York Malcolm,

became a very important member of the black mob. He later got into serious trouble with

another gangster and returned to Boston in 1945. By 1946 Malcolm was in jail for robbery. He

served a 7 year sentence in Charlestown, MA. While in prison, Malcolm became a follower of

Elijah Muhammad, the leader of a small, urban prophet-cult, the Nation of Islam. On his release

from prison Malcolm became a member of the Black Muslim Movement. Also, he changed his

name from Little to X, because he felt that Little was a name given to his slave ancestors by

whites. Malcolm became a influential leader of the Nation of Islam and helped it to reach its

peak of membership with 30,000 people by 1963. The Nation of Islam preached racial

separation in both government and society called "Black Nationalism". Later, Malcolm became

critical of Elijah Muhammad. Elijah "silenced" Malcolm for 90 days. However, before the

"silence" was lifted Malcolm left the Nation of Islam and started his own group called the

Organization for Afro-American Unity. Also he converted to an orthodox Muslim. Malcolm X

went on his obligatory (for orthodox Muslims) pilgrimage to Mecca in 1964 and there began to

consider changing his views toward racial separation. He became more optimistic, and he

started to preach about racial brotherhood and about how whites could help with the Civil Rights

struggle. After the pilgrimage he adopted the name El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz.

On February 21, 1965, a sad date in history, Malcolm X was assassinated. He was shot

several times while delivering a speech. Talmadge Hayer, Norman 3X Butler and Thomas 15X

are the three men who are convicted of killing Malcolm. They were later sentenced to life

imprisonment. There are many theories about who was behind the murder of Malcolm X. The

FBI, CIA, and the Nation of Islam are just some of the theories. The most popular and

believable theory is that of the black Muslims of the Nation of Islam had him killed.

Works Cited

World Book Encyclopedia, volume 13, copyright 1990, usa

http://stallion.jsums.edu/~awil0997/malcolm.htm

this excellent paper was written by Joseph E. Harroff