Malcolm+X

=**BRODIE HARVEY**= = = =**MALCOLM X**=


 * ( May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) **

 Born Malcolm Little, his father was killed by white while he was still a very young age. Later on, his mother was placed into a mental hospital, after she had been impregnated by her recent boyfriend. Malcolm and his other siblings bounced around from foster home to foster home. Before the father was killed, the family moved around a lot because of constant threat from white supremacist groups. The group known as the Black Legion had burnt down their house in Michigan and it was believed that they were responsible for the death of Earl Little, Malcolm's father. The police claimed that Earl's death was an accident, however many African-American members of the community disputed this claim. In junior high, Malcolm was one of the best students, however, he dropped out after an eighth grade teacher told him that his dreams of becoming a lawyer were unrealistic because he was black. After living with a series of foster parents, Malcolm moved to Boston in February 1941 to live with his older half-sister, Ella Little Collins.

Malcolm was astounded by the amount of African-Americans in his new neighbourhood. While in Boston he worked several odd __#|jobs__. Then he moved to Harlem, New York. It was around this time he started to commit petty crimes. By 1942 he was coordinating several narcotic, gambling and prostitution circles. Eventually he would return to Boston, with a friend. They were both arrested for charges of burglary and Malcolm was sentenced to 10 years in prison, he only served seven.

While serving his sentence, Malcolm converted to the Nation of Islam. His brother Reginald, who visited him often in prison, was the one who convinced Malcolm to make this change. Elijah Muhammed was the leader of the NOI, Malcolm was very intrigued by his teachings. The Nation of Islam was all about black independence. They stated that the white man was oppressing them from succeeding in life. Malcolm changed his last name from Little to "X" because he said that Little was a slave name and X was to represent his lost tribal name.

Malcolm X went through the ranks of the Nation of Islam rather quickly. He became the groups national spokesman and set up several mosques in cities such as Detroit and Harlem. Malcolm is credited with the huge spike of __#|membership__ in the NOI, it went from 500 in 1952, to 30 000 in 1963. As the face of this group, X was faced with much controversy; he became a media magnet. He became very famous, but this made him uncomfortable because his fame had eclipsed that of his mentor, Elijah Muhammed. Racial tensions ran extremely high during the early 1960's. Malcolm was now not only a target of the media, but the government was very curious was well. They had CIA agents infiltrate the organization; they even went as far as having one of their agents be a security guard for X.

In 1963, Malcolm faced a huge dilemma. His mentor and leader of the Nation of Islam, Muhammed had several affairs. This went against the Islamic faith and X felt like the whole organization was filled with lies. Malcolm could not look past the deception and in 1963, he left the NOI to __#|form__ his own religious organization Muslim Mosque, Inc. This departure from the NOI was faced with several death threats and attempts on his life.

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During the same year, Malcolm performed his pilgrimage to Mecca, which is required of all Muslims. This trip changed his life. He no longer had hatred for all white men, as he stated he met, "blonde-haired, blued-eyed men I could call my brothers." When he returned to America, he preached of a united society. Elijah Muhammed, the leader of the Nation of Islam, was not happy about the fact that Malcolm had left his organization, and reportedly marked him for assassination. There were many attempts at X’s life, however, on February 21, 1965 in the Audubon Ballroom in Manhattan, three gunman shot Malcolm X 15 times while he was speaking in front of an audience. He was pronounced dead on arrival at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital.

What Malcolm X did for the community of African-American’s was truly remarkable. Fifteen hundred people attended his funeral, he was a true hero. He left a great impact on the world and made huge progresses in African-American rights. He preached to the black community to empower themselves and not listen to what the white man told them. What he preached still reigns true to today and without him, our society could still be segregated.

Sources

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wikipedia