The Autobiography Of Malcolm X And The Black Power Movement

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Born Malcolm Little, he changed his last name to X to signify his rejection of his “slave” name. Charismatic and eloquent, Malcolm became an influential leader of the Nation of Islam, which combined Islam with black nationalism and sought to encourage and enfranchise disadvantaged young blacks searching for confidence in segregated America. After Malcolm X’s death in 1965, his bestselling book: “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” popularized his ideas, particularly among black youth, and laid the foundation for the Black Power movement of the late 1960s and 1970s. Malcolm X, the activist and outspoken public voice of the Black Muslim faith, challenged the mainstream civil rights movement and the nonviolent pursuit of integration championed …show more content…

He became a loyal disciple and adopted an X, a symbolic of a stolen identity, as his last name. After six years Malcolm was released from prison. Later, he became the minister of Temple No. 7 in Harlem, his indictments of racism and his push for self-defense gave him admiration, as well as made people fear him beyond the New York black community he was the minister in. White people were the most afraid, reacting to his sustained proclaims of crimes against black people. While most people compared him to Martin Luther King Jr, they were quite different. MLK wanted peaceful protests and the Black Muslims wanted a more violent approach. But Malcolm didn’t really agree with what Elijah Mohammad was preaching anymore. He became convinced that Elijah Muhammad was lacking in sincerity and compassion, a view painfully validated by corruption at the highest level of the organization. Muhammad seemed threatened by the popularity of Malcolm, whose influence reached even into the respected Student Non-Violent Coordinating …show more content…

Kennedy’s assassination amounting to “the chickens coming home to roost” led to him being suspended from the Black Muslims in December 1963. A few months later, he left the organization, traveled to Mecca, and discovered that orthodox Muslims preach equality of the races, which led him to abandon the argument that whites are devils. Having returned to America as El-Haj Malik El-Shabazz, he stayed convinced that racism had “corroded the spirit of America and that only blacks could free themselves.” In June 1964, he founded the Organization of Afro-American Unity and moved increasingly in the direction of

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