If you’re interested in knowing more about the life of Malcolm X, you’ve come to the right place. The American Muslim minister was a human rights activist and a prominent figure during the civil rights movement. He was the spokesman for the Nation of Islam until he died in 1964, advocating for Black empowerment and promoting Islam within the Black community.
Malcolm X’s childhood
Malcolm X grew up in a working-class neighborhood in Atlanta. He was a very gifted orator and used his voice to advocate for blacks to cast off racism. However, he also advocated violent revolution and the establishment of an independent black nation. These beliefs gained him widespread support and many critics. Nevertheless, he became the Minister of the Nation of Islam, and his Nation of Islam movement increased in membership to 40,000 by 1960.
After he joined the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X’s biography grew more dense and challenging, focusing on his work with the group. As a leader of the Nation of Islam, he spoke out for black human rights. In addition, the book details his relationship with the FBI and his organization’s religious and humanitarian efforts.
His early life
A series of upheavals mark Malcolm X’s early life. His guardians were white, forcing him to grow up “white.” When he was young, he became involved in drug use and criminal activity and developed negative attitudes toward authority. He joined the Nation of Islam after spending time in prison.
Despite the hardships he endured in his early life, Malcolm X managed to excel in school. At thirteen, he moved to Boston with his mother, a psychiatric patient. While living in Boston, Malcolm began to engage in petty criminal activities, and his hair turned red. He became a street hustler and a drug dealer.
His relationship with the media
In the late 1960s, Malcolm X was the subject of a documentary about his life. It was intended to be a drama, but people close to Malcolm X refused to participate. As a result, the film ended up being a documentary. Its message is that racial inequality in America is still a problem, and the media must change its approach.
Malcolm X’s relationship with the media is essential because it reveals how the media is shaped by power. He understood that undemocratic media must be directly challenged. This is why he started a newspaper and pursued the dominant narratives through a broader audience. This strategy revealed media collusions with state and corporate power. This legacy offers a valuable lesson to those willing to speak the truth to power.
His relationship with the Nation of Islam
Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam’s relationship was turbulent. At one point, both organizations were hostile toward each other. Still, after Malcolm traveled to Africa and performed the Muslim Hajj, he adopted the Muslim name “el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz.” Hostility between the two organizations increased and eventually led to violence against Malcolm. He was shot and killed on October 17, 1965, while delivering a lecture at the Audubon Ballroom in New York. His body was taken to an emergency clinic. Thousands of mourners attended his funeral at Unity Funeral Home, and his body was later cremated.
As a youth, Malcolm spent much of his time in foster homes, and after his father’s death, he tended to engage in illicit activities. In 1946, he was convicted of breaking and theft. While incarcerated, he chose the name Malcolm X to symbolize his unknown African ancestral surname. He had rejected his former white slavemaster’s name, “Little.” Once released from prison, he became a prominent leader in the Nation of Islam and was a crucial figure in the organization’s history.
His relationship with Ella
Ella Mason-Little was born in Butler, Georgia, in 1914. She was the daughter of a wealthy entrepreneur and real estate investor named Earl Mason-Little. She joined the Nation of Islam during the mid-fifties and was instrumental in starting a mosque in Boston. Later, she left the group before Malcolm was murdered.
The two began dating in 1952. However, their relationship deteriorated after a bitter argument. In 1954, Malcolm was convicted of racial abuse. He returned to Boston to start Temple 11, which taught black empowerment and Islamic values. He renamed himself Malcolm X and eventually became an icon in the civil rights movement.
His assassination
When Malcolm X awoke in the Hilton Hotel in New York City on February 21, 1965, he was alone and had lost his home. His family had gone to an undisclosed location to stay with friends. However, during the night, someone set a bomb that exploded and killed him. A year later, his assassination takes place, robbing the world of a crucial Black leader.
Despite his efforts to defend the African American community, a group of Black Muslims was planning an attack on him. The Black Muslims had threatened him for a while, but they had success. They wanted to assassinate the black leader and the Organization of Afro-American Unity.