WHO İS MALCOLM X?

Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little on May 19, 1925. Malcolm's parents were activists who supported Marcus Garvey, a Black Nationalist and leader of the Pan-Africanism movement. They relocated from Nebraska to Michigan because the Ku Klux Klan was harassing them, but the threats continued. Firefighters watched their house burn in 1929, and Malcolm X's father was found dead in 1931. He had received multiple death threats from the white supremacist organizations the Ku Klux Klan and the Black Legion, but his death was ruled an accident. Malcolm's mother was eventually institutionalized due to the trauma, leaving Malcolm to be raised in the foster care system until he moved to Boston to live with one of his sisters when he was fifteen.

Black Nationalism:  a popular movement occurring in the 1920s and again in the 1960s and 70s that advocated for a separate set of black-only institutions so African Americans could escape the barriers put in place by white Americans.
The Pan-Africanism movement: a movement that worked to connect people who are of African descent all over the world.


Although his sister found him a job shining shoes, Malcolm gravitated toward a life of parties, drugs, and crime, and he was sentenced to ten years in prison when he was twenty-one. Malcolm spent six years in prison reading books and meeting with family members who were members of the Nation of Islam, a small group of Black Nationalist Muslims. By the time he left prison in 1952, he had converted to Islam and changed his last name from Little to X in honor of his unknown African surname.


Malcolm X quickly became an influential member of the Nation of Islam and worked closely with its leader, Elijah Muhammad. Malcolm is widely believed to have grown membership from 400 to 40,000 between 1952 and 1960. His eloquent and fervent, or passionately intense, speeches inspired listeners but worried critics. Malcolm believed it was up to African Americans to stop allowing white Americans to hold them down and that they should carve out their place in society, even if the consequence was violence. White Americans and the government saw this as a threat, and the FBI put Malcolm under surveillance. Other African American leaders, such as Martin Luther King Jr., respected Malcolm X but felt he was going about things in the wrong way.


Malcolm X considered Elijah Muhammad his mentor, and he took Muhammad's teachings to heart. Malcolm followed the Nation of Islam's strict rules to the point that even the FBI agents assigned to spy on him took notice. When Malcolm found out Muhammad was breaking his own rules quite often, he was devastated. Malcolm could not get past his feelings of betrayal, so when he was reprimanded by Muhammad in 1964 for making callous remarks about the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Malcolm X chose to leave the Nation of Islam.
After he left the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X decided to explore North Africa and the Middle East and fulfill his Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca. Malcolm X changed his name to El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz in Saudi Arabia when he converted to traditional Islam. Being outside the United States allowed Malcolm a broader perspective that altered his political and spiritual outlook. Malcolm X came back to the United States a changed man who was ready to embrace the idea of solving America's race problem without bloodshed.


On February 21, 1965, Malcolm X began a speech at the Audubon Ballroom in New York when multiple men ran toward the stage and began shooting him at close range. Malcolm X was pronounced dead shortly after in a nearby hospital. Three Nation of Islam members were tried and convicted for his assassination. Malcolm X is buried as Hajj Malik El-Shabazz in Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York.

Quotes by Malcolm X

“If you have no critics, you'll likely have no success.”

“Stumbling is not falling.”

“There is no better teacher than adversity. Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance the next time.”

“The future belongs to those who prepare for it today.”

“You can't separate peace from freedom, because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom.”