Malcom X
Malcolm Little, otherwise known as Malcolm X, was born on May 19, 1925 in Omaha, Nebraska. He was one of the eight children of his parents. His mom was Louis Little, she was a stay at home mother and took care of the children. His father was Earl Little, he was a Baptist Minister. He was also a strong supporter of Marcus Garvey who was a Black Nationalist leader. Because of his beliefs the family had many death threats from the Black Legion. In result the family was forced to move twice before Malcolm was four. Although they tried to ignore the threats their home in Michigan was burnt to the ground. Two years later Malcolm’s father was found dead laying on trolley tracks. They believed that the Black Legion was held responsible for his death. Malcolm’s mother was committed to a mental hospital because she had an emotional breakdown year after her husband’s death. After the incident Malcolm and his siblings were split between foster homes. He was one of the smartest in his class throughout junior high and when he told his teacher his dreams of being a lawyer his teacher made a rude comment saying it was a “no realistic goal for a nigger”. He then lost interest in school and dropped out. He started doing odd jobs and traveling to New York where he started committing crimes. He was then dealing with drugs, prostitution and gambling. His friend and him moved back to Boston and then were arrested for stealing. He changed his last name to X because he no longer wanted his tribal slave name. He then was a minister and a national spokesman for the Nation of Islam. He made many new members it went from 500 in 1952 to 30,000 in 1963. He was “silenced” for criticism after John F. K died and another one was because he ended his relationship with the Nation of Islam and founded the Muslim Mosque Inc. He went to Saudi Arabia and had a new outlook on integration and started preaching to all races instead of just blacks. People working for the Nation of Islam started threats and tried to bomb his car. After that he didn’t travel anywhere without bodyguards. In 1965 his house where his daughters and wife lived was firebombed they escaped but had injuries. On February 21, 1965 three gunmen came and shot him 15 times while he was on stage speaking. He was 39 and pronounced dead when he got to the hospital. 15 hundred people attended his funeral in New York. The three men who killed him were members of the Nation of Islam.
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