Malcolm Little/X (1925-1965)Racial beliefs started in Malcolm X's life before he was born. His house outside of Omaha, Nebraska was bombarded by Ku Klux Klansmen in search for his father, Earl Little, an outspoken African American speaker. It just so happened that that Christmas Eve night in 1924, Earl was not home. The Klansmen instead just smashed some windows and threatened Malcolm's mother, Louise. Five months later Malcolm was born.Malcolm's family was treated harshly because of the color of their skin. Their house in Michigan was taken away because it was documented that it was not a house to be sold to non-whites. In 1931 Earl left the house because of an argument with Louise. He was later found dead, cut in half by a tram. Louise suffered from a mental breakdown trying to raise eight children on welfare. The children were sent to foster homes.Malcolm started to rebel. He was expelled from school and was sent to a juvenile detention house. When he was fifteen, he moved to Boston with his sister and became a shoe shine boy and eventually a drug supplier. When Malcolm was seventeen he met a white woman and moved to Harlem with her. There he worked as a waiter and a drug dealer. He worked as a criminal for the next three years and ended up in a burglary gang. He was sentenced to jail in 1945 for eight to ten years. After two years he was transferred to Concord, where he first heard of the Nation of Islam, a Muslim organization.The Nation of Islam was put together in 1930 by Wallace Fard Muhammad. It was a religious/political organization that used beliefs from the practices of Islam but was made for black Americans to free themselves from the white domination.Malcolm was very interested in this. When he got out of jail at the age 27 of he joined the organization. In it he became a public speaker. He preached against whites, saying things like, "The white man was the devil." Malcolm rose very high and successful for his controversial lectures. By 1956, he was carrying his message across the country.Malcolm left the organization in 1964, and founded Muslim Mosque Inc. Malcolm traveled the globe, and when he came back his racial beliefs were softened. He no longer believed that the white man was evil. In 1964 he founded the Organization of Afro-American Unity. It was dedicated to the interests of all blacks whether they were in the United States or Africa.In February of 1965, Malcolm's home was firebombed, but he and his family were able to escape. A week later, he spoke at Harlem’s Audubon Ballroom. A few men in the front started to form a riot when Malcolm started to talk. He shouted, "Let's cool it brothers," but Malcolm was unaware that the three men in the front were armed with revolvers and a shot gun. The men opened fire on Malcolm. Malcolm died at the age of 39. Three members of the Nation of Islam were charged with his murder. One of the man revealed that they were hired, but they refused to tell who hired them. The three men accused of the assassination of Malcolm X were sent to prison.It is extremely likely that a person like Malcolm X, with such strong controversial beliefs, is bound to have many people disagreeing with him. People will riot, and people will be offended. It is just too bad that people have to take it to such extremes because of a disbelief with someone to kill them. Although it was found the people that assassinated Malcolm were from that same organization and likely had the same beliefs as he did, I believe Malcolm was killed out of jealousy because he was very successful.
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