Journal entry of Malcolm X Assassination
“Run, catch the men, this was planned by them! Don’t let them get away with murder, they have killed our leader!” This is what everyone screamed who chased after the killers. In shock, I sit here today to tell you my story of what I have witnessed in the assassination of my leader Malcolm X. I have no idea where to begin but I’ll let you know that, that day is still vividly impactful for me till this day. But before I begin, I would like to let you know more about Malcolm X. He was very devoted in what he preached.
He first began his journey by learning a lot from Elijah Muhammad, who was the leader of the Nation of Islam (NOI). The nation of Islam supported Black Nationalism and racial separation, and they disapproved Americans of European descent. The NOI members were only black Muslims. Elijah Muhammad’s teachings intrigued Malcolm who educated himself more about the NOI and took the last name of X which symbolized his forgotten African identity. Malcolm promoted self-defense and the liberation of African Americans. This is one of the main reasons why more and more African Americans admired Malcolm X because it made them feel like they do have a stand in their life and they can take charge in their beliefs. Within time he developed a better outspoken philosophy than Elijah Muhammad whom he felt didn’t support the civil rights movement. Eventually Elijah Muhammad realized that Malcolm X became too much powerful that he suspended him from the NOI. This is when troubles began to arise slowly for Malcolm X.
In few months Malcolm made a Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca where he for the first time realized the different races among the traditional Muslims. They believed in unity. He returned to Ame...
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...o a hospital!” About 4 policeman stormed towards him and took his body on a stretcher and carried Malcolm through the crowd, the crowd was in a state of shock and fear, but two people said softly “he’s not going to make it. I hope he doesn’t die.” We all were scared! We could only hope that he could survive this horrendous attack! At one exit I saw some of Malcolm’s followers beating up the three men angrily. The Police had to fight their way toward the three men in order to arrest them. But finally, I was able to find an exit and I told the news reporters what I witnessed. As stated on the news on Feb 21, 1965 Malcolm X was shot 15 times. He was pronounced dead when he arrived at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital. He was only 39 years old. The three men were convicted of the assassination of Malcolm X and shockingly they were all members of the Nation of Islam (NOI).
During his stay in prison, Malcolm continually lashed out at the guards and fellow inmates. After realizing that this would never get him anywhere, he began to study the teachings of Islam. With the aid of a fellow convict he cam to the mindset that it was his new mission in life to convert fellow blacks in order to unify them as a people. He felt that there was no real way that blacks and whites could come to a mutual agreement in America, and the only solution would be a great Diaspora back to his "homeland" of Africa.
This was due to the fact that Malcolm felt his hero and mentor, Elijah Muhammad, had betrayed him. Muhammad had violated his own teachings of marital affairs when he had fathered several children out of wedlock. After this fallout with Muhammad, Malcolm went on a journey to Africa where he did the Hajj, which was the traditional Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca. After his pilgrimage to Mecca Malcolm X converted to traditional Islam and again changed his name to El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz.
The Nation of Islam, which Malcolm X was an important member of, is not a religious organization as the name suggests but rather an organization whose goal was to make the lives of African Americans better instead of actually teaching the proper ethics of Islam. One of the main objectives of this organization was Black Nationalism, through which Black leaders can control the areas where there is a majority of African Americans. This cause was greatl...
Malcolm X was often encountered by Muslims from other countries who wished to “enlighten” him with what they felt was true Islam. He was initially very skeptical towards these claims but eventually his curiosity got the better of him. To get to know the religion better, Malcolm was directed by his friends to an Egyptian professor in New York, Dr. Mahmoud Youssef
Malcolm X, as a character in his Autobiography, believed that fate and prophecy guided his life. When he was sent to jail for ten years, he believed that his incarceration was part of his predetermination to find Allah in the Nation of Islam; it didn't ever dawn on him that he was solely responsible for his time in prison. Malcolm viewed his indefinite suspension from the Nation as a prophecy he was destined to fulfill, not as an act of jealousy and underhandedness by his fellow "Black Muslims." His own violent death was not a surprise to him, for he always had chosen to believe that he would die at the hands of another and that it would be his fate. He did not believe his tragic death was only a result of his recklessness in offering his candid opinions to the press. Although he sometimes believed that he was powerless to resist fate, the happenings in the life of Malcolm X were caused by his choices and were influenced only by the circumstances he was brought into without his control.
Malcolm set everything in motion when he converted to the Nation of Islam, an African American movement that combined elements of Islam with Black Nationalism. While in prison, his siblings persuaded him to write to the Nation’s leader, Elijah Muhammad. X was uneasy at first, but came around shortly. Malcolm wrote Muhammad a one-page letter each day in curiosity about the Nation of Islam. Muhammad replied as the “Messenger of Allah” welcoming Malcolm into the “true knowledge” (Haley 195). Before X’s release in nineteen fifty-two, he went under an intense self-educated program by reading books in the prison library, and even memorizing an entire dictionary. He also sharpened his forensic skills by participating in debate classes. When Malcolm was released from prison he had his first official visit with Muhammad in Chicago, he devoted his life to the Muslim ministry. Soon Malcolm began traveling and preaching with other ministers. He picked up their techniques and devoured their knowledge. Malcolm quickly rose in the Nation of Islam ranks becoming minister of Temple number eleven in Boston and Muhammad’s most effective recruiter and spokesman. Soon after, X was rewarded minister of Temple number seven in Harlem, New York, the largest and most prestigious after the Chicago Headquarters and eventually named the National Representative of the Nation of Islam, second in rank behind Muhammad himself. Under X’s lieutenancy the nation claimed a membership of five-hundred thousand, as the numbers grew X’s teachings began to change; he wanted to make a vast difference. He spread the glorious history of African Americans. He urged the Nation to become more active in the civil rights protest instead of being a critic on the side. X articulated the Nation’s racial doctrines of evil
In conclusion, ‘The Autobiography of Malcolm X’ is an interesting and infromative book that should be read by everyone. However, for those does not have any interest in History, you must prepare yourself physically and mentally to completing this book. From the book, we can extract many moral issues that arises without we know. Hence, as a Muslim, we should always concern and be knowledgeable as possible in order to preserve our
When Malcolm x was known as Malcolm Little which was from his birth until during his time in prison went he converted to the Nation of Islam ( Malcolm X 154-172) he experienced traumatic events that laid the foundation in terms of how he came to view white people u...
His starting point was rocky but trials and mishaps made him into the person he had become. In 1946, at twenty years old X was convicted of burglary and served ten years in jail. On the contrary, going to jail was the best thing for him because he soon meet Elijah Muhammad. Elijah taught X the beliefs and and methods of The Nation of Islam. Malcolm was released early after eight years ,and in no time he started visiting various countries and speaking the style taught by Muhammad. He started to do the Aboriginal black power movement in Australia. He became a minister at a mosque in Boston, Philadelphia, and New york. He was in many debates on radios, newspapers, radio stations, TV programs, and some of the most prestigious schools in the country. These accomplishments were broadcasted to the world and are the reason he was and still is praised for his
Three events in Malcolm X’s life were very significant in Malcolm’s development and influenced his ideas. His interaction with Mr. Ostrowski opened his eyes to a new, more aware, point of view that marked his transition from childhood. His time in prison turned him against white people and led him to completely accept the ideas of Elijah Muhammad and transition away from hustling and crime. Malcolm’s pilgrimage to Mecca transitioned him from the hate-driven society of the Nation of Islam and towards a more accepting society of traditional Islam. All these events progress or completely change Malcolm’s ideas about systemic oppression, racial identity, and separation verses integration and push him to a new period of life and the next event.
“On 21 February 1965, just a few weeks after his visit to Selma, Malcolm X was assassinated. King called his murder a “great tragedy” and expressed his regret that it “occurred at a time when Malcolm X was…moving toward a greater understanding of the nonviolent movement” (King, 24 February 1965). He asserted that Malcolm’s murder deprived “the world of a potentially great leader” (King, “The Nightmare of Violence”). Malcolm’s death signaled the beginning of bitter battles involving proponents of the ideological alternatives the two men
Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little on Tuesday 19th of May 1925 in the town of Omaha, Nebraska. His parents were called Earl and Louise. Earl, was a follower of Marcus Garvey and was a Baptist minister, he died when Malcolm was only six years old, likely murdered by the Black Legion a sub-section of the KKK. As a result his mother, became the lone carer of nine children, and was later commended to an institution for the insane, consequently of a mental breakdown linked to Earl’s death. Malcolm went to a school in East Lansing, Michigan, flunked out at the eighth grade, and then relocated to live with an older sister in the Roxbury part of Boston. There he became caught up in petty illegal activities. As an out of work street hustler and the front-runner of a multiracial crew of robbers in Roxbury, and shortly in Harlem, he was well-known as "Detroit Red" for the reddish tinge of his hair. In the course of his prison years, he undertook the first of his two conversion occurrences; he embraced the Nation of Islam headed by Elijah Muhammad. Following the tradition of the Nation of Islam, he replaced his surname with an X, embodying what he had been and what he had become: "Ex-smoker. Ex-drinker. Ex-Christian. Ex-slave.” Islam is a religious system centred upon the experiences of Mohammed, who said he was selected by Allah (god) to perform as his divinely inspired demonstrative on Earth. The Nation of Islam is an Islamic sect, an organization with particular beliefs or values that functions within a larger group. The Nation of Islam asserted that most African slaves brought to the Americas were Muslims.
The central theme of the report is to reflect the perspective of a black man in an era that called for equality struggles between races in the United States while battling views on racism and his rise and fall within the Nation of Islam religion. The research paper was constructed so that the reader would gain knowledge of Malcolm X as an individual and not as a phenomenon. A reflection regarding amiable truths that spanned his brief lifetime and the apparent transformations the man and his psyche underwent from childhood to his untimely death.
The history of the United States has in it much separation or segregation due to race. For a long time our country has seen racism as a large problem and this has caused ethnic groups to be looked down upon and forced into a lifestyle of difficulties and suppression. Due to this, races, particularly African-Americans, have been forced to deal with unequal opportunity and poverty, leading to less honorable ways of getting by and also organizations that support change. Malcolm X is one strong example of an African American man who became apart of a group acted against it, uniting people to promote the advancement of colored people and change. Malcolm's thoughts towards race and civil right in the previous years were displayed in a less way to the people and "by any means necessary" perspective. After his pilgrimage in 1964 his view of civil rights had quickly changed into a more complete view of civil rights, and the peoples views towards him. No one really knows what kind of impact Malcolm X would have had on history if he had not been assassinated. His beliefs and philosophy did gain him a place in history as one of the best-known Black Nationalist Leaders. Everyone seems to have known who Malcolm X was, and he ranks high with all other Black leaders. His ideas were radical and he was very out spoken. He was a major force in the development of black history. He fought not only for his people but also for all oppressed people everywhere. He was well spoken and he laid the groundwork for the black power movement of the late l960's.
Malcolm gained permission from Muhammad to search for more recruits out in Detroit, and this is where Malcolm earned the legendary “X”, to represent the unknown African name he would have had if his ancestors not been kidnapped and enslaved. Islam gave Malcolm X a chance to forgive others, but to first forgive himself. Short after Malcolm is appointed as a leading spokesperson for the Black Muslims. Malcolm continues to gain recognition as well as loyalty from his fellow muslim brothers, he travels from city to city, to aid in the foundings of new temple’s for Elijah Muhammad. After Muhammad becomes ill, Malcolm faintly takes the lead while calling shots without asking Muhammad. The Nation of Islam becomes more and more furious with his actions although his comment on J.F.K’s assassination “the chickens coming home to roost”, is what exiled him from the Nation and every muslim brother was told to never speak to him