Malcolm X
On May 19, 1925 Malcolm Little was born to Louise and Earl Little. He was born in Omaha, Nebraska. Malcolm was the seventh of eleven children. Malcolm's father, Earl, was a Baptist minister from Reynolds, Georgia. His mother was raised in Grenada in the British West Indies. His father was also became an organizer for Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association. Marcus Garvey and his followers fought for racial separation and more power for blacks. Growing up, Malcolm's family moved a lot due to violence and prejudices aimed at his family. They finally decided to settle in Lansing, Michigan in the late 1920's. In 1929, the Little family's house was firebombed while the whole family was inside sleeping. It was suspected that racists or members of the Ku Klux Klan committed the arson. However, since police and firemen just stood watching as the house burnt to the ground, they did not believe that the arson was a hate crime. In September 1931 Earl Little was found dead beside the local trolley tracks. He had apparently been crushed by the trolley tracks. Earl was believed to have been murdered by a group of racists. Malcolm's mother was left to raise the children on her own. They lived in extremely poor conditions. In 1939, Louise Little was declared legally insane and committed to a mental institution in Kalamazoo, Michigan. With no one to care for them, Malcolm's younger siblings were placed in foster homes. Malcolm, himself, was already under foster care due to juvenile delinquency. (Haley)
Malcolm graduated from junior high at the top of his class. He exceeded academically and athletically. He had always dreamed of becoming a lawyer. However, a teacher shattered his dreams by t...
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...t-degree murder (Stine).
Malcolm was an intelligent an incredible man. He lived a life full of racism and not a day went by that he wasn't aware of it. The hurtful acts of racism and prejudice made a huge impact on Malcolm's life. The events that Malcolm endured lead him down many different paths. Ultimately, Malcolm used religion as his way to make a breakthrough. America and the rest of the world influenced Malcolm X to become the person he was. His life influenced America and the rest of the world.
Bibliography
Breitman, George,ed. Malcolm X Speaks: Selected Speeches and Statements. Grove-
Atlantic. 1990.
Compton's Encyclopedia Online.
http://www.optonline.com/comptons/ceo/02959_A.html
Haley, Alex and Malcolm X. The Autobiography of Malcolm X. Ballantine. 1992.
Stine, Megan. Story of Malcolm X, Civil Rights Leader. Dell. 1994.
Of the people whose names are mentioned in history, some men like Thomas Edison are praised for their genius minds, while others such as Adolf Hitler are criticized for leaving a depressing legacy behind. While it is relative easy to notice the type of legacies these two men left, legacies of other men are often vague and they seem to be imbedded in gray shadows. This is how many people view the life of Malcolm X. Malcolm X during his lifetime had influenced many African Americans to step up for their rights against the injustices by the American government. One on hand, he has been criticized for his hard stances that resemble extremism, while on the other hand he has been praised him for his effort in raising the status for African Americans. The extremes in viewing his life from the modern day perspective have often come from reading his climatic speech The Ballot or the Bullet that he gave in many cities across America in 1964. When he was with the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X favored Blacks to be separated from the Whites, and during this time he strongly opposed White Supremacy. This also seems quite prevalent in his speech The Ballot or the Bullet. However, one events during the last year of his life reveal that he wanted the Blacks and the Whites to coexist as peaceful Americans.
he had grown frustrated with the non-violent, integrated struggle for civil rights and worried that blacks would ultimately lose control of their own movement. The reason Malcolm X was so beloved and iconic was due to him being a key figure in the black movement about the same time as Martin Luther King jr.. The era of the 1950-1960, advocating black pride, a separate black community and violence disguised as self defense. He stood against white aggression. Changing the last name of his to an x to demonstrate how he denies what he said to be a “slave” name. Charismatic and eloquent. His death in 1965 is what sparked and later laid the firm foundation for the Black Power movements in the late 1960s and 1970s. Opposite to popular belief, this man had done more harm than good in using violence against the white “devil”. It only proved those that though African Americans were only violent animals right. Even Martin Luther King Jr didn't like what how Malcolm X was going about gaining their civil rights , even going as far as saying he hated the use of the words “black power” because. Ultimately Malcolm didn't make any type of immensely big impact on the civil rights movement in a good way or help them stop the spread of racism and
Malcolm X was a very interesting and complicated person. Throughout his life, Malcolm had exposure to practically every type of person the world had to offer. In his younger years, he excelled in his community predominately surrounded by whites. He then got into the hustling business within the black community which supplied for all types of people. After that, he joined the Nation of Islam, joining himself with many Muslims. Lastly, Malcolm went on a Hajj to Africa, where his communication with a diverse group of people expanded. Each time Malcolm had a new group of people in his life, he had a different alias to go by. Whichever one is remembered most, Malcolm Little, Malcolm X or El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, his impact on society will be remembered forever.
He was born Malcolm Little, to a Baptist lay speaker and a Grenada-born homemaker, Malcolm’s family had to be relocated several times because of constant death-threats toward his father. At the age of six, Earl, Malcolm’s father was killed in a streetcar accident that the family believed was the work of a white supremacist group called the Black Legion. At thirteen, Malcolm’s mother was institutionalized at a mental hospital, leaving her children to be separated into foster homes. Although an excellent student in junior high school, Malcolm dropped out of school when a white teacher told him that his dream of practicing law was “no realistic goal for a nigger”. After a youth of petty crime and a young adulthood of larger infractions, Malcolm found himself in jail for larceny and breaking and entering.
The autobiography of Malcolm X captures the personal growth and the journey of Malcolm Little, also known as Malcolm X. Throughout his life, Malcolm’s experiences shaped him into the human rights activist that we are all familiar with today. In his early age Malcolm believed every white person was malicious, he was a criminal, and he believed that Christianity prevented the progression of African Americans- later on in life, Malcolm became a controversial human rights activist, believed that white people were “well-meaning” people, and was a devout Muslim (pg. 383).
Malcolm X had an interesting childhood that ended up shaping how he would end up as an adult. Malcolm had a very large family, he was one of eight children. His mothers’ name was Louise Norton Little. She was a stay at home mom and cared for her children. His father, Earl Little, was a very outspoken Baptist minister and an avid supporter of the Black Nationalist leader Marcus Garvey. This is where his life started to get interesting. Earl's civil rights activism prompted death threats from the white supremacist organization Black Legion, forcing the family to relocate twice before Malcolm's fourth birthday. ( www.malcolmx.com p 1). Earl wanted nothing to do with violence and wanted to keep his family safe from harm. He tried to put as much distance between him and the Black Legion. Despite his efforts to elude the Legion, in 1929, their home in Lansing, Michigan, was burned to the ground. Two years later, Earl's body was found lying across the town's trolley tracks (www.malcolmx.com p 1). Police declared that both of these incidents were in fact accidents and not attacks on the family by the Black Legion. This violent end to Malcolm’s father’s life ...
Malcolm X was born May 19, 1925, and he was assassinated on February 21, 1965. Malcolm X was a Muslim leader and Civil Rights leader. He was born Malcolm Little to Earl Little and Louise Norton, who were both activists in the Universal Negro Improvement Association. Malcolm X was a bright student but was very bitter towards white authority figures. X quit school after a teacher said that his desire to become a lawyer was not a “realistic goal for a nigger.”
Malcolm X is born Malcolm Little in Omaha, Nebraska. His life is full of discrimination and racial violence. When Malcolm as a child he moved to Michigan with his family where they continue to experience persecution and violence. White people murder Malcolm’s father and forced his mother into a mental hospital. Malcolm moves to Boston, to live with his half-sister, Ella. In Boston Malcolm quickly becomes involved in urban nightlife. Malcolm was into gambling, drinking, doing drugs, and dating an older white woman, Sophia. He then moves to New York, where he begins working as a hustler in Harlem. Malcolm’s various jobs there include running numbers, selling drugs, and steering white people to black brothels. When life becomes too dangerous is Harlem, he returns to Boston, where he becomes a house burglar and is eventually arrested. In prison, Malcolm transforms himself, converting to the branch of Islam promoted by the Nation of Islam. Inspired by faith, Malcolm stops using drugs, he reads voraciously, prays, and studies English and Latin. The prison releases Malcolm on parole. Malcolm rises quickly from the rank of temple assistant in Detroit to the Nation’s first national minister. Malcolm X becomes known throughout the United States, even outside of Muslim circles, as a fiery advocate for black unity and militancy. The Nation of Islam’s leaders resent and fear Malcolm despite his allegiance to their cause, and they suspend him from the organization. The Nation of Islam’s frustration with Malcolm intensifies, and Malcolm begins receiving death threats. After a divisive argument with Elijah Muhammad the leader of Nation of Islam, Malcolm leaves organisation.
Malcolm was born on May 19, 1925, in Omaha, Nebraska to Louise and Earl Little. His Father, Earl, was a Baptist minister and an active member of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (founded by Marcus Garvey). Due to his involvement in civil rights, Malcolm and his family were harassed and experienced racism from an early age, and Malcolm’s encounter before he was even born. In his own words, Malcolm said: “ When my mother was pregnant with me, she told me later, ‘ a party of hooded Ku Klux Klan riders galloped to our home, brandishing their guns and rifles, they shouted for my father to come out’.”
Malcolm X was a great Civil Rights leader that was ahead of his time, dealing with the inequalities and the black struggle of the 1960's. The 1960's was an era that defined the black race as a lower status than the white race merely based on color. Malcolm X defined race through his Muslim religion believing that blacks would one day reign supreme if only they accepted Allah as God, took Islam as their only religion, and followed the honorable Elijah Muhammad as their messenger. He also believed that the White race was ungodly and they were doomed for their unjust rule unable to accept Allah because of there evil nature. Clearly X's definition of race was that the Black race was "good" and "godly", and the White race was wrong and evil. This idea of race was taken from author David Howard Pitney's book, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and the Struggle of the 1950s and the 1960s A Brief History with Documents. The main source document of these ideas is based on one of "Malcolm's classic, fiery denunciations, as spokesperson for the Nation of Islam, of white America and the Western word" (Pitney113). Called "From God's Judgments of White America". The strengths of Malcolm X s approach towards his definition of race appealed to Black America by giving hope to the struggle of the civil rights movement. However, the weakness of his approach was one-sided alienating the white race, non-violent black people taking part in the Civil Rights struggle, and all other religions besides Islam. Malcolm X's intended audience for his views on race were the American people of the 1960's during the civil rights movement and all future generations of America. Malcolm X's views both fit into and countered the views of the time.
Racism is a problem that the American people have grappled with since colonial times. The 1960's saw the rise of Martin Luther King, Jr and Malcolm X, who not only influenced the civil rights movement but attempted to solve the problem of racism in this country. On February 16, 1965, Malcolm X gave a speech called Not Just An American Problem, but a World Problem. In his speech he provides a theory on the relationship between media and racism called image making which still has validity today. On first reading, Malcolm's tone is angry and his theory on image making sounds absurd. He states: They (racists) use the press to get public opinion on their side. . . this is a science called image making. they hold you in check through this science of imagery. They even make you look down upon yourself, by giving you a bad image of yourself. Some of our own Black people who have eaten this image themselves and digested it -- until they themselves don't want to live in the Black community. Yet, current television programming seems to favor this idea. Local news programs continue to show colored communities as dangerous and gang-infested. They continually rely on the reports of these areas for the bulk of their news and overlook the positive images that residents of these areas try to create. For example, KNTV news continually reports on the thefts and shootings in East San Jose but does not make an effort to show how residents are dealing with these situations.
Malcolm Little aka Malcolm X was born in Omaha Nebraska on May 19, 1925 to his parents Reverend Earl little and Louise Little. He had a total of 8 brothers and sisters from his parents because his dad had three kids with another woman before he met Louise. At an early age he lost
Throughout history there have been many people who have stood out and made an impact in the way we think and comprehend things. During the late 1950's and early 1960's, Malcolm X was no exception. His militant views that Western nations were inherently racist and that black people must join together to build their own society and value system had an important influence on black nationalist and black separatist movements of the 1950s and 1960s. At the beginning of the movie, Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little. He was a young child trying to adapt to society's changes. He was looking so hard that he fell into the wrong crowd.
Malcolm X Assignment Malcolm X was a very important figure in American history and had a huge impact on In April of 1964, Malcolm X made a pilgrimage to Mecca, which led to his second conversion. He met brothers of the faith who were from many nations and of many races, black, brown, white, and all the sons of Allah. The reality dawned on him that advocating racial cooperation and brotherhood would help resolve the racial problems in America and, hopefully, lead to a peaceful coexistence throughout the world. Malcolm X's transformed ideas and dreams reached full fruition and were ready for both national and international implementation. Again he changed his name, this time to El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz.
Malcolm X Read an excerpt from the book, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, by Malcolm X and Alex Haley. In this part of the book, Malcolm discusses his quest for knowledge. He starts off by telling us about how he wrote to his Harlem, hustler friends and told them all about Allah and Mr. Elijah Muhammad, the two main figures in the Islamic religion. He never got a single reply and figured it was because the average hustler and criminal couldn't read. He also thought that maybe they thought he had gone crazy, because after all he was writing to them about the devil; the white devil.