One of the Most Influential Civil Rights Leaders: Malcolm X

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Malcolm Little better known as Malcolm X or El-Hajj Malik El- Shabazz was a Muslim minister and a human rights activist. He was one of the most influential people of the civil rights movement during the time of racism and hatred for blacks. He was also known for joining the Nation of Islam and became one its leaders teaching the ways of Islam. Also speaking against the ways of integration than to help it like other civil rights leaders (Martin Luther King). All of this was going well till his death in 1965 at Audubon Ballroom while making a speech.
Malcolm X was born May 19, 1925 in Omaha, Nebraska, the fourth out of seven kids to Louise and Earl Little. His dad was a preacher and a leader of UNIA (Universal Negro Improvement Association). Because of this they had moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1926 because it was "spreading trouble" with the K.K.K. (Ku Klux Klan). After moving in 1926 the Little's family was still being harassed, but by the Black Legion.in 1931 Earl Little was killed by the Black Legion but it was ruled out as a suicide, and his mom was put into a mental home (Kalamazoo State Hospital) after having a nervous breakdown.
Malcolm and his brothers and sisters were all separated and put into foster homes. In junior high Malcolm was one of the best students in his class and wanted to become a lawyer, but dropped out after his white teacher told him a goal like that wasn't realistic for a black. Because of this Malcolm would start a life of crime until his imprisonment in 1946. While there he met John Bembry who helped turn his life around and become a Muslim. In 1948 Malcolm wrote Elijah Muhammad who told him to “renounce his past, humbly bow in prayer to Allah, and promise never to engage in destructive behavior aga...

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...n death threat calls to his house. On February 14, 1965 in the middle of the night his house was set on fire while Malcolm and his family were still in there, but survived the fire with no harm. On February 21, 1965 while preparing to address the Organization of Afro-American Unity at Audubon Ballroom, someone yelled out “Nigger! Get your hand outta my pocket!” While trying to quiet down the disturbance three members of the Nations of Islam shot and killed Malcolm X. Malcolm X left a legacy behind of bringing up the self-esteem of African Americans, reconnecting them back to their heritage, and the spread of Islam in the black community in the United States. Malcolm X is a person that has come from a life of crime to becoming a Muslim, that we don’t have to belittle ourselves of doing crime but showing skies are the limit and we can do anything we put our mind too.

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