Malcolm X Summary

Malcolm X

Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little on May 19, 1925 in Omaha, Nebraska. His mother, Louise Norton Little, was a homemaker who took care of the families’ eight children. His father, Earl Little, was an avid supporter of Black Nationalist leader Marcus Garvey. Earl's civil rights activism prompted death threats from the white supremacist organization Black Legion. Because of this the family had to move three times before Malcolm was four years old. Regardless of their attempts to evade the Legion in 1929 their home was burned to the ground. Two years later, Earl's dead body was found lying across the town's trolley tracks. The police decided both of these events as accidents, but the family knew that the Black Legion was responsible. Years later the mother had an emotional breakdown and was committed to a mental institution. The children were split up among various foster homes and orphanages. 

Malcolm was a smart, focused student who graduated for junior high top of his class. He dreamed of being a lawyer when he grew up. However, his mother told him this was “not a realistic goal for a nigger.”  Malcolm dropped out of school after 8^th grade and began working odd jobs in Harlem, New York. Malcolm and his friend were arrested for burglary at age 20.  They were both sentenced to 10 years in prison and Malcolm got out 7 years later on parole.

 While in prison Malcolm converted to Islam and became a minister of the Nation of Islam. His mentor was the leader of the Nation of Islam, Elijah Muhammad. He taught that the white society actively worked to keep African-Americans from coming to power and achieving political, economic and social success. When he got out of prison he started working towards equality between the races. However, Elijah was teaching his followers that the white men were the problem that made then unequal. Because of this Malcolm sent the message that the blacks needed to separate themselves from the whites; he taught that we should be separate but equal. Blacks started to join the nation of Islam in huge masses. When Malcolm became a minister of the NOI the number of members increased by approximately 600% in 11 years.

Malcolm X protested and held speeches all over the east coast with many speeches in the New York area. His speeches made many white people scared or uneasy because it seemed like he was encouraging violence. However, this was not the case. He specifically said only to use violence as self-defense from the white people.

“Concerning nonviolence: it is a criminal to teach a man not to defend himself when he is the constant victim of brutal attacks. It is legal and lawful to own a shotgun or a rifle. We believe in obeying the law…… The time has come for the American Negro to fight back in self-defense whenever and wherever he is being unjustly and unlawfully attacked”

All of these actions by Malcolm X were a part of the civil rights movement. He was one of the few blacks who stood up for their race and fought to win their right to equality.  Malcolm X is an important person in history because he motivated so many African Americans to stand up and defend themselves against the white population that was trying to hurt and take advantage of them. Malcolm X became such a vital part of this civil rights movement because he had one thing that many black people didn’t. He was an educated black man who found something to believe in and something to fight for.