Malcolm X

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Malcolm X was born as Malcolm Little on May 19, 1925 in Omaha, Nebraska to Earl and Louise Little. Right off the start Malcolm was faced with harsh racism for his father was an active member of the local chapter of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and avid supporter of black nationalist leader Marcus Garvey. The cruel attention gained from white supremacists caused Malcolm’s family to have to move quite often. All the moving didn’t help though, and Earl Little was found dead on the city streetcar tracks in 1931. It was evident that his murder was on the hands of white supremacists, but the authorities ruled it as a suicide and prohibited the family from collecting death benefits. Earl’s death affected the whole family greatly, but Louise took it especially hard and had to be checked into a mental institution in 1937. This left Malcolm and his siblings to fend for themselves in foster homes. Despite the jarring circumstances, Malcolm continued his schooling and even excelled until 1939, when a teacher informed Malcolm that there was no point in a black child pursuing education. Unfortunately, Malcolm took his teacher’s words to heart and dropped out at the age of 15. He then moved to Boston to live with his older half-sister where he was, against his sister’s wishes, introduced to the city’s criminal underground, thus beginning Malcolms rapid deterioration towards the life of a criminal. Malcolm lived the criminal life for almost a decade. His criminal lifestyle was halted in 1946 though, when he was caught and arrested on charges of larceny. He was then sentenced to ten years in jail. He wasn’t alone during these times though, his brother, Reginald, visited him often and taught him the ways of the Nation of Islam (N... ... middle of paper ... ...age to Mecca and discovered that it wasn’t just African Americans that he should preach to; white men could be his brothers as well. After his resignation from NOI and his declaration of Muhammad’s inappropriate relations, Malcolm’s life turned into one of danger. Malcolm rarely went anywhere without bodyguards due to the several attempts on his life by NOI and other organizations. His efforts were in vain though, and on February 21, 1965 at a speaking engagement in the Manhattan’s Audubon Ballroom, Talmadge Hayer, Norman 3X Butler, and Thomas 15X Johnson (all members of NOI), got on stage and shot Malcolm 15 times. Malcolm was pronounced dead on his arrival to the hospital; he was 39. Works Cited http://www.malcolmx.com/about/bio.html http://www.biography.com/people/malcolm-x-9396195#awesm=~oCQ9PkgCrcagzj http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/malcolm-x

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