Malcolm X

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February 21, 1965. A man in Manhattan’s Hudubon Ballroom was shot 15 times by 3 gun men associated with the Nation of Islam. Who was this man? Malcolm X, an 8th grade drop with a dead dad and a mentally unstable mom who started with a life of crime, but after learning about Islam, had a new outlook on things. An Ironic quote from Malcolm X is [If you're not ready to die for it, take the word 'freedom' out of your vocabulary]. Malcolm X, a devout Muslim, who saw the injustices in the Muslim African American community used his voice to fight for equality and freedom.
Malcolm X or at the time was known as “Malcolm Little” was born in Omaha, Nebraska on May 19, 1925. He was the fourth out of seven children born from his mother Louise and his father Earl. Earl was a Baptist Minister, who was heavily influenced by Marcus Garvey who once said [The Black skin is not a badge of shame, but rather a glorious symbol of national greatness]; Garvey is remember for helping unite African Americans with the creation of the UNIA (Universal Negro Improvement Association). Following Earl’s involvement with UNIA, he received death threats from several white supremacist groups and had to move himself and his family several times. Earl accused the Black Legion (a white supremacist group) of burning down his house in 1929.
[When my mother was pregnant with me, a party of hooded Klu Klux Klan riders galloped up to our home... Brandishing their shotguns and rifles, they shouted for my father to come out] says Malcolm. In 1931 Earl’s body was discovered by train tracks in Lansing, Michigan and was ruled by the local police as “accidents” but the Little family knew it was the Black Legion. By 1937 Louise was dating a man who was possibly getting married t...

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...veral crimes that when against the NOI’s teachings. Malcolm lost his trust and faith with the Nation and decided to start his own religious organization, the Muslim Mosque Inc. Many Nation members now saw Malcolm as a threat to Elijah and the Nation itself. Soon after leaving the Nation Malcolm converted to Sunni Islam.
After the conversion to Sunni Islam, Malcolm decided to go on a personal pilgrimage to Mecca, which is required by every financial and physically able Muslim. While staying in Mecca, Malcolm learned that the current Prince of Saudi Arabia had assigned Malcom as a state guest and personally invited Malcolm to converse with him. Malcolm later in life cited that the trip to Mecca and that seeing [“"(people) of all colors, from blue-eyed blonds to black-skinned Africans”] finally made him understand people can overcome the racial problems they face.

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