Malcom X

Who was Malcom X? He was a civil rights activist who was assassinated at age 39 on February 21, 1965. Throughout his life he had some major realizations that impacted his life majorly. Growing up he had the same opinion about every white person. He believed that every one of them were evil because of the way they enslaved people of color since the beginning of times. From a young age Malcom X was exposed to civil rights issues. His father Earl Little, was a part of a controversial group called the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), which was created to call for black Americans to return to Africa to form a new nation. Malcom’s father favored Malcom over all his other siblings. He often wondered why that was but he knew it was because of his light skin. Earl would go to meetings for the UNIA and out of all Malcom’s siblings, Malcom was the only one who Earl took with. When Malcom X was in eighth grade he became class president. He was very popular. Although, he dropped out of school after eighth grade because one of his favorite teachers had asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up and he told him that he wanted to be a lawyer but the teacher told him that he needed to be more realistic and said that carpentry would be a better choice. When his teacher told him that it definitely discouraged him. He dropped out of school that year. Malcom was basically on his own at that point. His father had been run over by a streetcar when Malcom was only 6. His mother believed that the white supremacist group called the “Black Legion” was responsible for Earl Little’s death. During that time she started to become mentally unstable and shortly after she was officially declared insane and was taken to a mental asylum. Malcom and his siblings were separated and placed in different foster homes. Luckily Malcom had a half-sister who lived in Boston so he left to go live with her. Malcom loved Boston because he felt accepted by the people and he loved the city life. Eventually he ended up moving to Harlem, New York where he began hustling and robbing rich white people. At the age of 20 Malcom was sent to prison for 8-10 years for larceny and breaking and entering. While in prison, Malcom learned of the teachings of Islam. As he learned more about it, the more he wanted to be a Black Muslim. He wrote a letter from prison to the head of the Nation of Islam, Elijah Muhammad. Elijah wrote back asking Malcom to join the movement and so he did. From that point on Malcom felt like he finally had a place in the world. He no longer wanted to be a criminal but he wanted to be a better and changed man. At age 27 Malcom was released from prison. He began spreading the message of the NOI (Nation of Islam.) As he preached his message to many people, many others often thought that his message was hateful. He spoke of all the terrible things that white people had inflicted on the blacks. But Malcom was a fiery speaker. “You see me-well in the streets they use to call me Detroit Red. Yes! My mother’s father. She didn’t like to speak of it, can you blame her? If I could drain away his blood that pollutes my body, and pollutes my complexion, I’d do it! Because I hate every drop of the rapist’s blood that’s in me!” Malcom didn’t call for acts of violence, he wanted blacks all around the world to rise up together to demand their rights. Malcom was appointed minister and national spokesman for the Nation of Islam (NOI.) He was also responsible for increasing the membership in the NOI