Malcolm X was an African American who fought for equality for the African Americans. Malcolm X was an African American who fought for equality for the African Americans. He was shot by his former allies the Nation of Islam. He died at the age of 39. He fought against most of America for equality and later in his life, he fought against the Nation of Islam. He was trying to get equality “by any means necessary.” He was the son of Earl little who also was fighting for equality. Malcolm X was a lot like his dad as he was also a preacher. His dad however was a Baptist and Malcolm was a Muslim. He raised the Nation of Islam’s popularity from 300 to 30,000. He was also a very intelligent man with dreams of becoming a lawyer however, he was told not to pursue them. After dropping out of school and moving to Boston, he was involved in the underworld and survived by using his intelligence. He hustled, gambled and even burgled. After getting caught he was arrested; and in prison converted to the Nation of Islam after his brothers did. He became a very good preacher but he fell out with the Nation of Islam after it was revealed that the leader had several affairs. This led to his conversion to Sunni Islam. His philosophies changed throughout his life on ways to get freedom. He was famous though for saying that the black people should get freedom “by any means necessary.” The Nation of Islam assassinated him at one of his speeches.

Malcolm X was born in Omaha Nebraska in USA in 1925. He has lived with his seven siblings and had one half brother and two half sisters who did not live with him. He had a difficult upbringing after the Ku Klux Klan lynched his father supposedly and mother was sent to a mental institution. He lived with several foster parents after his mother was sent to a mental institution. He was one of the brightest students in his class. He inspired to become a lawyer however after a teacher told him the he could not become a lawyer (due to his skin colour) he dropped out of school. He decided to move to Boston to live with his half sister Ella. His life then started to spiral out of control. He started to become friends with pimps, drug dealers and hustlers. Through his friends, he himself became a hustler. He then even became a drug dealer. He himself had a problem with drugs. He was heavily addicted to drugs. He himself said, “I viewed drugs as most people regard food.” He started to get into burglaries and eventually was caught. In prison, he found the Nation of Islam, which subsequently changed his life. When released form prison he became a preacher. He also stopped hustling, using drugs and girls. He became a very successful preacher and because of Malcolm X, the nation was able to constantly build new mosques and pack them in a short amount of time.

Malcolm X was fighting for equality for the black race and after his death; this was finally achieved. This was his main achievement. Many people in America opposed Malcolm X. This was mainly white people as many thought he was a racist and anti-Semitic. This was because he often called the white man a devil. He justified this however by saying he referred to their deeds such as slavery. People also did not like his methods of trying to get equality. He famously said, “By any means necessary.” He was not against violence or non-violence. He only however supported violence as a measure of self-defence. Most of his views mainly came from the Nation of Islam. He was a very successful preacher and boosted their popularity amongst the black people immensely. He was so good a preacher that the leader of the nation of Islam turned slowly turned against Malcolm X, as he was getting paranoid. This led to his conversion to Sunni Islam (mainstream Islam). He converted after going on a holy pilgrimage. During his holy pilgrimage, he met many African leaders.