Malcolm X

Malcolm X (1925-1965) was one of the most influential African American leaders of the 1950’s and 1960’s. He transformed himself from a petty criminal into an important defender of the rights of Black people.

Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little on May 19, 1925, in Omaha, Nebraska. His father was a follower of Marcus Garvey, a Black leader who worked to establish close political and economic ties to Africa. In 1931, Malcolm’s father was found dead after being run over by a streetcar. Malcolm believed white racists were responsible for his father’s death. When Malcolm was 12 years old, his mother was committed to a mental hospital. Malcolm spent the rest of his childhood in foster homes. He also became discouraged by racial prejudice around him.

In 1941, Malcolm moved to Boston. The youth became involved in criminal activities. In 1946, he was arrested for burglary and sent to prison. In prison, he joined the Nation of Islam, commonly called the Black Muslims. The Nation of Islam taught that white people were devils. After Malcolm was released from prison in 1952, he adopted X as his last name. The letter stood for the unknown African name of Malcolm’s enslaved ancestors.

Malcolm X quickly became the Nation of Islam’s most effective minister. He was a fiery orator, urging Black people to live separately from white people and to win their freedom “by any means necessary.” But he became dissatisfied with the Nation of Islam, in part because the group avoided political activity.

In 1964, Malcolm X broke with the Nation of Islam. Soon afterward, he traveled to the Muslim holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. He met Muslims of many ethnic backgrounds and rejected the view that all white people are devils. Malcolm X adopted the Muslim name El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz. After returning to the United States, he formed his own group, the Organization of Afro-American Unity.

Malcolm X rejected nonviolence as a principle, but he sought cooperation with Martin Luther King, Jr., and other civil rights activists who favored militant (aggressive) nonviolent protests. But by this time, some Black Muslims had condemned Malcolm X as a hypocrite and traitor because of his criticisms of the group’s leader, Elijah Muhammad. On Feb. 21, 1965, Malcolm X was fatally shot while giving a speech in New York City. Three members of the Nation of Islam were convicted of the crime. Two of them were exonerated (freed from blame) in 2021, after having spent many years in prison. Malcolm’s views reached many people after his death through his Autobiography of Malcolm X (1965).

See also Black Muslims.